It’s auction time again!!

Hooray! While I usually can’t get enough of the local auctions here in South Jersey, so far this year I haven’t had NEAR enough! I’ve been so busy laying groundwork for the Phillies Wives big Covenant House makeover project that I’ve neglected to pursue my true happiness – AUCTIONS!

I made two today. And I could have scored BIG had I not been – (a) late and (b) chicken shit. I previewed one auction yesterday and had my sights set on these fab lamps:

There was a pair. And they were big and bodacious. Gloss white ceramic with nary a chip, crack or craze. I couldn’t believe them, so smart and richly detailed.

Even without a place to put them, I bragged how I would easily spend $200 apiece if I could only make it in time to the auction to bid. YUUUP!!!

I did make it. Just in time. It was stunning to see them sitting there in all their glory and I was hyperventilating as I rushed to get my bidder number. I jumped into the bidding at 20 bucks and  predetermined that I would stay in until 200 if I had to. They were being auctioned at 2X the money but I wasn’t afraid. I really wanted them. In the blink of an eye, I was at 80 apiece, someone went 90, the auctioneer looked at me for 100 and I dropped my head and dropped out. WTF!! It all happens in, literally, 15 seconds or less. That’s all the time it took for some alien part of me to run like a scared little puppy and let someone else take my lamps away.

I tried to console myself by saying that I have no place for them. UH, HULLLLO – Century Storage, Storage Center and Extra Space Storage. I actually have three places they could have gone. WITH THE REST OF MY HOARD!!!

I did get back in the saddle – and quickly – in time to snag these:

Also big and beautiful and $15 apiece… so I thought. They too were being sold at “2X the money”, but when I went to pay, it was $15 for the pair! Because that’s how the auctioneer’s assistant had entered them into the computer. My gosh, if the lamp winning peeps got those two ginormous, beautiful lamps for $90 the pair – they got a heck of a deal. That’s the kind of shit that goes down at auctions. That’s way I never want to be away so long again.

I don’t know what these 2 went for, but by the time I got to the second auction some dealer had already won ‘em and slapped their sticker on:

They were quite a handsome pair and I swear, I would have paid $200 apiece for them if only I had had the chance.  Maybe more.

Yo! Check out this makeover project!

I am a part of the Philadelphia Phillies baseball family and am spearheading a Phillies Wives project to makeover several key spaces at Covenant House Crisis Center (a shelter for homeless youth) in Philly. It’s something I’ve been longing to do and am happy that the organization is behind us as we move forward with this worthwhile undertaking! Here’s the BEFORE pictures.

The space that the program directors of Covenant House identified as a top priority is the lounge that is used by the girls and their children. As with all the rooms we will be redecorating, I’m working elements into the design plan that have quality and durability, as well as functionality. And because the residents are coming to the Crisis Center from chaos and trauma, my design goal is to create an atmosphere of tranquility that is organized and inspirational.

 

Another area that we’re taking on is the coed basement lounge which is the favorite gathering spot once everyone is back at the shelter after their day of job searching, work or school. Covenant House Crisis Center accepts young people that have aged out of the foster care system – ages 18 – 21. The “This End Up’ furniture right there? It’s staying! I think once we refinish it and have new cushions made, I’m gonna be all about it. And, Ellen Kravet ( yes Kravet – who I talked to on the phone and might have squealed at just a little) is donating fabric to us! Yep, this gig is LEGIT!

This landing in the dorm area of the girls who are pregnant or have children is getting a facelift too. We’re trying to find an artist who can create a fab mural that is nature inspired. If you know anybody, hit me up! 

 

The boys here are hoping for a Phillies themed lounge and would love to see that green wall painted. If our fundraising efforts are fruitful and we have good support from Philly area businesses, we’re going to try and spruce this space up as a bonus!

Living on the street sucks and Covenant House is working hard out there with an outreach team and programs to teach and train these kids. The Phillies Wives are proud and excited to be a tiny part of the tremendous good this organization does. For the youth that find their way to this shelter, the facilities they provide must seem like heaven. We’re striving to make it just a little bit prettier.

All books, no blogs

Even though I haven't been blogging, I've been that same tweeking design junkie ho who prowls Barnes & Noble, Amazon and eBay looking for my bound fix - magazines of every nationality and books old and new. Not to mention forays to the auctions of the used furniture mecca in South Jersey and thrifty shops everywhere.

And I've scored.

An Amazon jungle's worth of printed paper. And a few decor items.

Mostly lamps, mirrors and rugs. Those bits will be headed South soon enough and hopefully I'll produce artful arrangements of them all. Somewhere or other.

I'm still waiting to be hooked up with the shelf full of new stuff I found on Amazon, but a number of vintage books have been delivered by my eBay pushers and they have been keeping me quite busy.

These images are all from a book, published in 1971, titled Modern Furniture and Decoration. The interiors here just spoke to me. And they say "we are your people". They must be, because I feel right at home looking at them all.

Warren Platner is my people, for sure. And so is Alessandro Albrizzi.

Something huge on the wall is my people. I'm still trying to find some hugeness of my own.

Somebodies named Martin and Mimi Francis must be my peeps. They so fresh how they put those awesome Philippine rattan rocking chairs all up on that antique Turkish rug. Then, POW, they smacks down some cool stoneware and say "This shit for you, Missy."

Decorator Guy Chansioux tricked out this Parisian apartment in white and black plus, the calling card of my people, cool lighting. Not to mention that spare parsons style coffee table styled with an oh so deft touch. Imma comin' home Guy.

John Dickinson. I only wish he was really-o truly-o my people. This bed - constructed of iron scaffolding. Those lamps. The woolen walls and the simplicity of those tables and their arrangement.

It's all good in my hood. How's it with you and your peeps?

Reading blogs can be good

As it happened, at the exact time one blogger was giving a heads-up to another blogger about an auction in Virginia, I was reading that blog and as it happened, I was soon to be on my way from the north to the south with a planned stop in that exact part of Virginia at the exact time the auction was taking place. And, as it happened, Mr. Man say, sure honey, we can spend the whole day at the auction.

So we did. And I won a few things.

vintage wool blanket

  some kind of oddish lamp that nobody else wanted

desk chair

the exact desk chair I wanted

at a decent price

authentic

a vase

not nearly big enough

so, why can’t I find big, jumbo accessories?

why?

I'm about to get busy

decorating and blogging. I have a number of projects on tap, and now, maybe time to get them done. I hope to be blogging from the new and improved Design Junkies, too, at designjunkiesblog.squarespace.com.

Stay tuned.

Here's a little before and after.

My sister sourced this bench and I jumped on it. Of course I didn't have a plan for it so into the secret warehouse it went. Then, on my last trip to Atlanta, with my buddy needing a bench for her new bathroom reno, I hauled it up there for her to check out

There was extra shiny pleather left over from my dining room chairs

A keeper for sure.



Country’s not my thang

but when there was nothing else on the Winn-Dixie checkout magazine rack that I hadn’t already thumbed through, I picked up the latest copy of Country Living with decoupage pumpkins on the cover.

And I brought it home with me because maybe there’s a recipe there I want to try, or maybe I will decoupage pumpkins (not really). And there was a house I wasn’t completely opposed to.

I’m not opposed to those chairs.

I am not opposed to that bench or that runner.

I am not opposed to a frame like that with a plaster dog face next to it.

I am never, EVER, opposed to a natural zebra hide rug or Parsons tables.

Am not opposed to some pillows from Archival Decor. 

Never opposed to a bit of chinoiserie.

So, I probably had the wrong idea about “Country Living” houses. They don’t all look like this one from the same issue:

Not my thang.

Although I’m not opposed to Windsor chairs.

I’ve missed blogging!

Hi anybody! I sure have missed updating Design Junkies and reading all my fave design hot spots. My silly life with all the travel and crazy schedules has got the best of me. Plus, I’ve been busy turning the wheels on my newest pad project and getting in some much needed pool time. But here I am!

Yippee!

I’ve been pulling easy to reach pieces from the secret warehouses that I want to try to use in the villa. They’ve been collecting dust, sitting around waiting for tile and carpet installations. The walls have been all painted white (except for one bath with heinous vinyl wallcovering that got a once (or twice) over with off-black). The tile, which I thought was going to be black, because the description said “Black”, is actually a brownish-blackish-copperish mash up. I went with the clearance 12x12 tiles based mostly on the price of $1.03 sf. The carpet in the bedrooms (via a cost effective hook-up by a relative) is a dark taupe-ish gray. I’m working strictly on the CHEAP!!

Here’s some shots of the mish-mashed collection

coffee table gonna be stained top with painted base in a zesty lemon yellow

door to a cabinet that’s been stripped. the piece has a black slate top and is gonna be left natural. when finished, it will be a dry bar.

hanging rattan chair. gonna get a cushion.

  this aluminum screen is gonna to be a room divider

brass side table

smoked acrylic and monofilament fixture for the foyer. oh, so fab! LLUVIT!

faux bamboo bench for foyer. gonna be painted (maybe black), and I want some chartreuse in there somewhere, like on the upholstered seat. OR, do I paint the bench a green?

   brass for a wall somewhere. all interior doors are black.

lamp base. needs a black shade.

two black leather chairs for in the kitchen. i need a table to go with them.

chairs for the dining room, with seats to be recovered in a black and tan tweed

wee orange and gold lamp with a tall string shade

Wow, looks like a jumbled mess! But I’m betting I can make some sense of it all and pull together a cheap, but stylish, place.

And, just for the record, I positively DON’T think that MEG is an amazing designer. UGGGHHHHHH… HGTV designers and Design Star judges – STOP SAYING THOSE WORDS. Oh, such lame and common style. And I must be the only one who can’t bear to listen to her speak. UGGGHHHH….