Develop Your Eye

Image from: imamuseum.org

Are you on a tight budget but love decorating?  Do you read Elle Decor and cringe (or just ignore) the cost to recreate a room piece by piece?  Have you stumbled upon vintage/thrift/décor blogs whose bargain finds – and their impressive subsequent repurposing - boggle your mind? 

Finding a great decor piece at a bargain requires luck, a good eye, and persistence.  Thrift stores (and some vintage/antique shops) can not tell you whether an item is MCM or MCM-like from Pier 1. 

If you would like to find the bargains others share, develop your eye so that you can spot the treasure amidst the junk.  This applies whether you are thrifting for clothing, furniture or knickknacks.  Just as you would need to know high-end label names or the markers of high-end clothing construction, you need to know the signs of high-quality furniture, art glass, lighting and silver.  The best way to do this is to learn from those with a good eye – established dealers.  Transition from browsing online to browsing in antique stores and museums.

As the daughter of a dealer, I can tell you there are two ways to approach this technique.  The first is to latch on to the first knowledgeable dealer you come across and barrage them with questions.  The second is to visit numerous shops, markets and museums and absorb tidbits of knowledge over time.  I cannot recommend the second technique strongly enough.  Not only is interrogating a dealer mildly obnoxious, a good eye cannot develop instantly (even if instantly consists of a hour-long Q&A).  Mastering the details of the construction of a Phyfe-style piece in one dealer’s store is a great start, but it does not mean you know what they know or will be able to recognize Gustav Stickley from Stickley when you come across a piece in an auction.

As you are developing your eye, where should you treasure hunt?  Auctions, thrift/secondhand stores, flea markets and even antique stores.  For tips specific to thrift stores, I really recommend the post on Apartment Therapy http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/how-to-a-few-tips-for-thriftin-151146

It reinforces the need to spot quality, the need for persistence (as evidenced by repeat visits) and the importance of considering not just what the item is but what it could be.  If you are planning on decorating a room, either from scratch or a re-do, keep a running list (in your head or on your smartphone) of your needs.  Spotting the treasures is a great skill, but it only benefits you in the long run if you spot a treasure you actually need.  Last week, Madame Trent and I found an Ethan Allen (not Duncan Phyfe or of any significant age, but solid cherry and a good look) small dining table for $30 (free of major condition issues). This was a steal for someone (the someone who bought it before Madame Trent could double back and invent a pressing need for it), but our only use for such a table would be to stage a few of our hundreds of antique chairs.  

Before you become overwhelmed by the selection in a store, you should create your list of items to look for – a bookcase for the office, a table for the entryway, a pair of wingback chairs, mercury glass gazing balls, a pair of lamps to bring a pop of color to your server a la last month’s Elle Décor --- whatever inspires you.