PART DEUX

More from my shopping adventures in St. Louis a couple of weeks ago.  The Green Shag Market informed us that there was another shop a block down, around the corner.  So we braved the cold and wind and blew down the street to Quintessential Antique and Furniture Company.  And were we glad we did!

What a wonderful shop.  Truly, the wonders.  So many unusual items, we found a very well curated selection.  

They had the most fantastic selection of corbels that I've ever seen, some beautiful wall hangings from needlework pieces to oil paintings.  Two of my personal favorites that I wish I could have found a home for in my home were a armillary sphere lamp for under $50 ( thought that was an unbelievable price for such a statement piece) and a large wall pocket, for lack of knowing exactly what its original use was.  I wondered if it had at one time been a wall mounted refuse can but in this incarnation I could see it filled with forsythia branches in the spring and red twig dogwood branches and evergreens in the winter, on a porch or entry of a house.

They also had a large selection of beautiful architectual pieces and furniture.  Here's the catch, they are only open the first 7 days of the month from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.  That's easy enough to remember, though, 7 days, 7 to 7!  They are located at 5707 Manchester.  Find them on the web at www.antiquesstlouis.com or on facebook search for Quintessential Antique and Furniture Company.  Call them at 314-531-9701.

Next up was the furniture and home decor consignment shop Consign and Design Galleries, located at 10036 Manchester Road (one mile east of Lindbergh Rd.)  They had such an eclectic selection of items from new to vintage to antique.  Fun painted furniture pieces, repurposed items, like a sweet silver tray chalkboard, even jewelry.

Owner Nancy Cullen has done a beautiful job merchandising and organizing the store.  And there is so much to take in.  You really have to look up, down and all around to take it all in.  Why you'll see chairs hanging from the ceiling, just too cute!

With spring coming they had some wonderful wicker pieces to brighten any sunroom or porch and great accessories to go with them!  Find them on facebook and take a look at all the photos of their inventory.  You can check them out on their facebook page Consign And Design Galleries.  They are open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and even Sunday (I LOVE stores that are open on Sunday) from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.  Their phone number is 314-394-2222.

Next up (later this week or next week) I'll give you the 411 on Modern Vintage Decor.  I also visited there on my trip but I'm going back this week to consign some items so I'll fill you in on both sides (buying and selling) of the shop in another post!  In the meantime, get out there and shop!  And tell them you heard about them from Debbie's Bargain Basement!

QUICK STOP

I made a couple quick stops in resale shops this week and scored in a matter of minutes!  First up, I stopped at The Shelter Shop in Belleville at the corner of West Main and the North Belt West.  There I found two men's vintage Pendleton wool shirts, for just $2.50 each.  I bought them with making pillows for the bed at the cabin in mind.  But the red one is my size and pretty cute so I may keep it for wearing hiking at the cabin and make the other into a pillow.  Well, I won't actually make it into a pillow, oh no, I don't sew.  But I know people who do, so I'll barter, beg or buy their services.

I also stopped at Variety on a budget on Lincoln Trail in Fairview Heights and scored two jackets.  I don't usually buy secondhand clothes (except for projects such as the pillows)  but every once in awhile something catches my eye while I'm looking at other things.  I'm hard to please when it comes to clothes as far as their condition and fit and I'm really pretty good at finding clothes cheap firsthand.  But I made an exception this day.  I found a yellow jacket that had a vintage look to it and I just loved the sunny color.

Plus I've bought a few new navy shirts for spring and it will look so nice over them.  Then I found a coral jacket, a favorite color of mine and I love wearing the color with my turquoise jewelry.  The jackets happened to be on sale for a $1 off that day so I paid $2 for one and $3 for the other, what a splurge!

Can't wait to see what's in store (haha, get it) this weekend!  Hope you all have a GREAT weekend!

"GREEN"ER PASTURES

The Green Goose Resale and Consignment

Go Green!  I'm talking The Green Goose Resale and Consignment and The Green Shag Market, two shops I visited last week.  And I mean it, GO visit them both!  The Green Goose, located at 5611 Hampton in St. Louis is open 7 days a week, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.  I spotted some wonderful finds there:  A wonderful dropleaf table, a sweet antique sideboard, whimsical art and beautiful sparkling glass.  Robin, the owner and her crew of employees (family and friends) were so friendly and as helpful as you wanted.  They let you browse at your leisure without interruption but were there to answer your questions and visit if you wanted.  I enjoy visiting with shop owners, in part I suppose, because I admire their ambition and hard work to make a dream come true.  For more info on the shop find them on facebook or at www.GreenGooseResale.com.

Wild, wonderful, whimsical ART!

I LOVE blue glass!

Another love - drop leaf tables!

Entrance of The Green Shag Market

A short 4 miles or so away is The Green Shag Market Reclaim and Exchange at 5733 Manchester between Macklind and Hampton.  They are open Wednesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.  They are made up of a variety of booths and also except consignment items.  You'll find a little bit of everything from antiques to vintage items, some repurposed, which I am all about.  I like to buy things that have a story and can be used one way and then when you're tired of that you can repurpose and use it in another way.  This kind of shop is great for shopping for "things" and for ideas on how to use "things", whether you buy them there or already have them at home but just hadn't had that idea yourself.  The coke cooler for instance, yes, of course you can fill it with ice and put bottles of beer, wine and soda in it for a party but how about putting some sort of top on it (wood, marble, glass?) and using it as a bar or table, or how about storing toys or blankets in it, or using it as part of a potting table/shed and that's just off the top of my head!  Oh, my mind wandered off and rambled on, now back to The Green Shag Market, you'll also find them on Facebook and on the web at www.TheGreenShagMarket.com.

Look at that beauteous wood - GORGEOUS!

FUN, FUN, FUN!! The things I could do with this!

Yes, another drop leaf table.  I told you I love these!

Too cool for school.  Old light fixture made into a floor lamp!  Ridiculously novel!

Another love?  Yes, anything turquoise and pottery!!

I suggest you "like" these shops on facebook.  Then you'll see them post new arrivals and you can easily communicate with them if you are keeping an eye out for something in particular.  And of course, they'll tell you when they're having a sale, but then, I'll do that too, if you "like" my facebook page or follow my blog (another shameless plug)!  So go GREEN and let your mind wander!  See what you come up with and let me know!

FREAKIN' (GREAT SHOPPING) FRIDAY

Explore St. Louis!  Resale shops, consignment shops, thrift shops and antique shops . . . My friend Kathy and I did just that on Friday!  Like Dr. Seuss says, "Oh, the places you'll go"!  We found some killer destinations!  Today I'm going to fill you in on our shopping itinerary that day and what I found.  In the near future I'll post photos of the shops and information on each of the ones we visited.


We started the morning off at Green Goose Resale and Consignment.  The shop is located at 5611 Hampton Avenue.  They can be reached at 314-352-5000 or by emailing them at Robin@GreenGooseResale.com.  You'll also find them at www.GreenGooseResale.com and on Facebook.  They had a great selection of items from smalls to furniture.  We fell in love with the vintage menus they had from a variety of restaurants throughout the United States.

We rifled through them, hoping to find one from a place we had visited.  I got lucky, and found one from Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood near Portland, Oregon.  It's from 1965, back when you could get filet mignon for $5!

We've visited there and ate lunch so I grabbed that one.  They were each $5, which I thought was a great price for a piece that I'm going to turn into artwork for a wall at our cabin.  It fits right in with my rustic cabin theme.  Its amazing how something so small and inexpensive can make my day, I knew we were off to a GREAT start!


Next up was The Green Shag Market, Reclaim and Exchange.  I love this concept.  Its an antique mall but they are putting an emphasis on repurposing, reusing and reclaiming antique and vintage items.  They are located at 5733 Manchester Avenue (between Macklind and Hampton).  They can be reached at 314-646-8687 (I hope I've got that right, the writing is kind of tiny for these old eyes).  Their website is www.TheGreenShagMarket.com and they're also on Facebook.  I had to show a great amount of restraint here.  So many things calling my name - but I picked one item that was a great buy and something I actually needed:  A vintage silverware set for 8, silverplated, a sweet pattern by Wm. Rogers/International Silver.  And just $30 for the entire set.  Really, you can't pick up a "cheap" silverware set at any "MART" for that, can you?

As I was checking out we were told there was another shop just down the block, Quintessential Antique and Furniture Company.  We visited that wonderful shop, plus the beautiful boutique The White Rabbit and Consign and Design Galleries (both on Manchester), a shop just busting at the seams with fabulous finds!  But, I'll write more about them in upcoming blog posts, I don't want to be too long winded here.  After those three amazing shops, we found two more, on Gravois near Sappington.  At Modern Vintage Decor I found a piece of creamware McCoy pottery.  I collect creamware and while I really didn't NEED another piece (I have over 50 pieces), I WANTED this piece.  My collection includes both marked and unmarked pieces but I really like McCoy pottery and it is usually more expensive, but this one was just $12.99, so that was in my budget.

There was lots of eye candy here, a really cool old projector, lots of vintage cameras, fun furniture and more.  The shop is located at 11433 Gravois Road.  They can be reached at 314-842-5555 or email modernvintagedecor@gmail.com.  You'll find them on the web at www.modernvintagedecor.com and on facebook.


Next door to Modern Vintage is the Exchange, a consignment resale furniture store that carries a great selection of jewelry too.  They can be reached at 314-842-7300 or email theexchange.shop@yahoo.com.  Their website is http://theexchangestl.com/ and you'll also find them on facebook.


I hope I've got you drooling, now go explore St. Louis resale yourself!

PICK OF THE LITTER

Our dog, Lucie, checking out our finds.

I'm not talking choosing a puppy!  We got back from the cabin yesterday and were summoned to a friend's house.  They're getting ready to sell their house and the wife is "assisting" her husband in cleaning out his barn/shed.  That "assisting" is inviting friends over to (please) take things from his shed.  So, generous as I am, I obliged.  From what I understand, otherwise, it was going in to the garbage or the burn pile.

We're hoping to remodel/renovate our cabin in the (here's the hopeful) NEAR future.  I would like to do that renovation with recycled materials as much as possible.  That's partly to appease the bargain shopper in me, partly to be "green" and partly for the creative challenge it presents.  I have to say, I felt like a full fledged "picker" in there.  And when my friend said the barn was stuffed, she wasn't kidding.  I'd say we just made it through the FIRST layer.

Here's what I scored:  3 nice pieces of marble - 2 white, 1 rose.  One of the white pieces and one rose piece are good sizes for shelves and I'll use one of them in the bathroom remodel as a shelf or a backsplash.  The larger white piece of marble I hope to incorporate into an inlay for our kitchen counter top and it'll be my pastry center (am I big in to pastry?  No but it sounds so cool!).

 We grabbed some beautiful wood beadboard.  I'd like to come up with enough beadboard to use it on the ceiling of the kitchen and as wainscotting in the bathroom, but we'll see.  We claimed 4 enameled porcelain hoosier or table tops.  I've not got a clear idea yet of how I'm going to use them but I do have thoughts:  I might be able to incorporate them into my kitchen countertops, use one as a potting table in the shed, use one as a table or island top and maybe even use some of them as kitchen counter backsplash.  We'll see where that goes.

My oh so patient husband, John

He's still smiling!!!

 I also nabbed a small box full of decorative wood pieces.  I'll find places for them - above doorways or mirrors or added to cabinetry in the kitchen.

 Also ours, are some metal pipes that were legs to banquet tables but we (or should I say John) is going to transform them into a base for a bathroom sink set on another piece of marble we already had and 4 rusty metal grates that John took.  I have no idea what his intent was but I'm thinking they could be made into a neat hanging pot rack.

Needless to say, we're going to be taking our friends out to dinner to thank them!  And hopefully we'll be invited back to go through the second, third and fourth layer of stuff!