...or possibly not so little, actually. I've decided to revive the Etsy store of which, once upon a time, I was proprietor. It's stocked with a little bit of vintage everything, from beautiful antiquarian books to spiffed-up thrift store finds. My apartment is stuffed to the brim and I'm forbidden to buy more things, so rather than trying to make room for my favorite finds (or leave them behind - anything but that!), I'm offering them up to you. In addition to vintage housewares and décor, I'll also be selling ephemera, vintage stamps, and rare books chosen for their particularly beautiful bindings.
Here's what's in store right now...
I have to say, I have always been firmly on the side of utter disgust when I see books used for purely decorative purposes. This little trend that went around the stores a while ago (Pottery Barn, Ballard, Restoration Hardware, etc.) makes me cringe, and this just makes me sad. Why do designers create beautiful built-in walls of shelving for clients who don't have any books and will never touch or look at the "purely decorative" books their designers bought to artfully fill them with? And, having worked in not one but three different libraries over the years, the disturbing trend of displaying books spines inward almost makes me gag. Please tell me that nobody does this in real homes:
In short, destroying or shamefully hiding books to make a room look "styled better" is not okay in my book [see what I did there? ha.] Buying books for their covers, however, is something I can kind of get behind. Just like antique furniture and ephemera, rare and antiquarian books are valuable for many reasons, not least of which is their aesthetic value - the "they just don't make 'em like that anymore" factor. Though starting a collection of books with their covers torn off might get you some dirty looks from book-lovers and design enthusiasts alike, a collection of beautifully illustrated bindings is pretty legit. And if that's not a good enough argument, a lot of these sound like pretty interesting reads...
Vintage postage stamps have become quite a trend in wedding and party design lately, and I can't argue - who wants [a] when you could have [b] or [c]? ...
So here you are: a huge selection of vintage stamps, sold in packets of 44¢ or in custom lots for weddings and parties. And if you are looking for something to match your color scheme, style or theme, well - I've got it. What you see listed is just a teeny, tiny portion of what's available...
Go check it out!
And if you're wondering why I have a near-unlimited supply of vintage stamps, well, that's a story for another day...
Glad your store has reopened. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd I COMPLETELY agree with your comments about books. Spine in arrangements drive me nutty. I'm a book editor, and we spend months if not a full year designing each cover, so I might take the trend a tad personally. :) I also kind of cringe on design shows when designers talk about buying these random, not-personal-to-the-homeowner books to "style" the shelves. It goes against making your home personal and surrounding yourself with things you love. That definitely makes me gag!
Ugh, I have never understood the concept of using books like that. I always wonder why somebody who doesn't enjoy reading would even want to decorate with books.
ReplyDeleteI've been on the hunt for nice vintage books lately though, because I've been itching to make one of these: http://www.designsponge.com/2011/08/diy-project-vintage-book-travel-tech-organizer.html#more-112280 and all mine are too small.
Agree- don't like books facing in. I have been known to buy old books for their covers though. Recently I scored 10 old Dickens books for $22. Pretty siked about the old look and condition AND I think I may read most of them too.
ReplyDeleteWow! You have so many treasures in there ♥
ReplyDeleteI love buying books with wonderful covers...