French porcelain is divine!

July 02, 2018 by Nina Neimarlija

Remember our number 1 rule about collecting? It's not to chase after the value or to strategize your retirement savings fund around your collection.. it really is that you collect what you love. For us, Limoges porcelain fits the bill in more ways than one!

Limoges porcelain is a hard paste porcelain that is produced in the city of Limoges, France. Limoges manufacturing began in the late 18th century and maintained the position it established in the 19th century as the premier manufacturing city or porcelain in France.

French porcelain is hand made and hand painted. It often contains brushed gold detailing and really is a magnificent piece of craftsmanship. The piece we're sharing with you here contains a delicate rose vine motif across the entire piece.

Adding to the value and authenticity of this piece - it is both dated and signed by the artist. Our rose bowl was created in 1910 and truly has been a treasure enjoyed by generations.

The second treasured piece of this collection was found in an antique store in England. Despite the similarities to the Limoges bowl featured first - the unique features of this serving dish are to be admired. From the fine gold brushed handles to the soft petal pink roses, there isn't much not to love here!

Now this is a true and true FIND of our Limoges collection! Believe it or not, this burgendy and gold jewelry dish was found on a side street in Paris where there was a charming flea market. In fact, there were merely two people circling around the overflowing table of treasures and we went back and forth on the sale price for this piece. It was perfectly authentic and everything we love about antiquing - and collecting! Unlike the first two pieces features, this one portrays two figures in a nature setting and has a much more traditional detailing as a border.

Nonetheless, we believe that collections should have depth and variety. They should continue to grow and evolve the way in which your taste does. It's also perfectly fine to fall in love with pieces and then move on from them.. collect what you love - you can never go wrong that way!

Happy collecting!

Xox

Flea markets make our hearts sing!

May 24, 2018 by Nina Neimarlija

There is no better way to spend a weekend than immersed in rows and rows of old, previously loved, vintage finds that are waiting to find a new home. Not only is it one of our favorite ways to spend a morning but it also happens to be the best place to meet fellow collectors! We usually set out with little to no expectations when we hit one of these fairs.. because frankly, you can either hit the jackpot or go home empty handed. A lot of it can come down to luck - right place, right time kind of thing..and a bit of a trained eye!

A large part of the fun of antiquing is discovering pieces you instantly fall in love with but never knew existed previously. It's like going to a candy store and discovering a new flavor of your very favorite brand of candy - mind blowing, priceless and the epitome of successful day! Like any candy store, it becomes easy to get distracted so there are two very valid ways to approach a flea market:

1) Focused - You know exactly what you're looking for and have done all your research. You know what the item should be valued at and you know what all the proper stamping/trademarks look like. In fact, you even know what separates a real antique piece and one that was reproduced a few decades later.

2) All that's gold, glitters! - If it's shiny.. you're there in a split second. You didn't know you needed it 5 minutes before, in fact, you didn't know the piece existed before but all of a sudden you must have. And just like that, it goes home with you! And you both lived happily ever after, happy new impulsive owner!!

If you're sitting there thinking which one is the 'right' type of collector to be - let us put you out of your misery. There really aren't any rules when it comes to this stuff.. in fact, one day you can be that focused collector and the next day you could decide to turn into the person who went home with half the flea market!

Personally, we are 'focused' buyers when it comes to our true passions - one of which is undoubtedly blue and white Delft pieces from Holland. However, every once in a while it's significantly more fun to let your wild side shine through.. and go home with pieces you never thought you needed! And last weekend was exactly that for us, so here are some of our finds that we just had to have.

This find was our jackpot piece..a mid-century Asian inspired bowl - And what's not to love here?! The colors are unique here and often hard to find when it comes to this particular period. The detail of the hand painted piece is exquisite - and what really sold us is the detail on each of the characters featured here.. WINNER!

We also fell in love with a blue and white decorative plate from England, hand painted, a sugar bowl from Germany and a gold detailed desert plate from France!

We couldn't be happier with our finds.. and perhaps, these are a sneak peek into what could become 'your finds' soon!! We cannot wait for the exciting launch of Our Finds on Friday, June 1st - a place where we will continue to share all our treasures with you and help them find a new loving homes!

Until, our next hunt!

Xox

Flower power in full swing..

March 21, 2018 by Nina Neimarlija

We've had an obsession with flowers for what seems like forever. In a bouquet, in a garden, on the side of the road.. we aren't picky - we love them all! In fact, we tend to prefer that free spirited, side of the road, just picked wild flower look in general. And although those types of looks can seem 'effortless' they are anything but! This past weekend, we attended a workshop on how to build the perfect mason jar arrangement and we can't wait to spill all the tips and tricks we learned!

When it comes to interior design - flowers add a level of playfulness, an addition layer to a color palette, and ultimately, they give the space life. Now, the flowers you surround yourself with certainly don't have to be custom designed and delivered to your home weekly as fresh replenishment - although, all of that sounds like a dream come true! Instead, flowers can be or should be, another opportunity to put more of your personality into a space that you spend your time in. Flowers really become the ultimate personalization element.

As a result, it only makes sense that you learn some tips on how to put together the perfect floral arrangement for your home!

Here's the skinny on what we learned:

1) Start with Greenery! - Despite not being the 'most' glamorous and often underrated part of any arrangement, greenery serves to anchor the floral composition. It also reduces the amount that the flowers will shift and move on their own and serves to 'protect' the stems of the flowers placed right up against the glass vase.

2) Get the right angle! - Now that you have your greenery in, add flowers one by one and angle them through the 'grid like area' you've made with your greenery. This will serve to stabilize the flowers in your vase and allow you to position them in their most scenic angle!

3) Focal flowers are key! - Someone has to be the star of the show - so you best pick wisely! This doesn't have to be your favorite flower.. although it can be. It should be one of the first one's you place within your arrangement (best to cut this one shorter - to prevent movement) and it becomes more interesting if you put it off to the side of your arrangement as opposed to dead center. This flower will help draw your eye into the arrangement!

4) Repetition does wonders! - Selecting a single flower and then repeating it throughout your arrangement by changing it's height and position makes everything more interesting!

5) Be daring with your color palette! - Don't be afraid to try out color palette's together that you aren't sure go together. The best way to do this is to hand select your flowers one by one and hold your flowers together in a bundle.. one beside the other in your hand will showcase which colors play off each other and how they compliment one another! You'll be surprised at what you come up with.

6) Make sure you include dancing flowers! - These are the type of flowers that give your arrangement movement. They tend to stick out or to be perfectly imperfect.. exactly what any good composition needs!

So make sure you take the time to play around with the building of your next floral arrangement. If we've learned anything, it's practice makes perfect! Finally, remember rules are meant to be broken.. so let these tips be simply that!!