Last week, I headed out with my friend Laurie for yet another urban picking adventure. We make a day of it with the goal of heading to our favorite estate company and then thrifting and shopping the whole way home. This trip did not disappoint and although I would say I am not really in spending mode right now, I got some great items at a relatively low cost which always is good! The highlight of the trip is always a great view of Manhattan from NJ. I find that shopping in this area gets me a different selection of goods that are not readily available in the more country area I typically shop.

My favorite picks are the two Flokati rugs I bought home. I already have one of my own, so both of these are listed for sale. The Flokati is of Greek origin and is made of wool. The pile is left long and it has a great shag. They are used as a throw over a couch, bed or bench and as a rug. They have some weight to them too. These are both in excellent condition and have no stains or issues. One is a larger rectangle size and the other is smaller and almost square. Take a look and see if you can accommodate one. They are great for MCM purists, boho and eclectic decors and more. They add a real nice texture to a space and are a great neutral cream (natural wool) color. Both are listed in my etsy and chairish shops. Great holiday gift!

WIKI: A flokati rug is a handmade shag wool rug. Making flokatis is a long-time tradition of the Vlachs in the Pindus mountains. The natural color of a flokati rug is off-white, but they may be dyed different colors. The entire rug is wool, including the backing from which the tapered shag emerges. After the rug is woven, it is placed in the cold water of a river to fluff the shag. They continue to be handmade in the mountains of Greece and are regarded as desirable in American modern decor and children's rooms.

Next up, to go along with my recent Asian kick, which, by the way, is TRENDING right now! I buy what I love, but so many times I come home with stuff and start poking around or get an email and whammo, there is my new found style, already being marketed and discussed in one of my markets! I just got a mailing from F Schumacher, fine purveyor of fabrics, wallpaper and accessories that I have a trade account with and they are launching a fabulous fabric panel line all with beautiful Asian designs. I do pay attention to current trends in the design world as that is how I stay relevant. So I found some beautiful Vietnamese Silk Lanterns. In Hoi An, they celebrate every full moon with a beautiful lantern festival in which thousands of silk lanterns are hung about town all aglow. I picked up 3 of these lanterns, all with an inner bamboo frame system that collapse for easier storage and shipping. They are VERY large and I find them very attractive in a grouping but am pricing individually. The smallest one needs some glue and I have not repaired it yet so have not listed it. You can find them on etsy.

I get lost in this beautiful painting. The black background is actually green foliage and pink accents. It was amazingly done!

I have worked through the art and ming tables I picked up the other week and most everything is live on etsy and chairish. I hung the paintings in my living room for safe keeping while they wait for a home and I am in love with them. The details are lovely and it really classes up my space. I know whomever takes them in will love them just as much. I added everything I know about the artist, which sadly, is not much. Most of it from observation of being in her home and not necessarily facts about her art career.

I just accepted an offer on the Adrian Pearsall Jacks end tables. The kidney shaped cocktail table is still available. I will hopefully be looking to bring some of the upholstered items from this lot home shortly. I keep going round in my head about them. For as much as I'd love to restore them and then list them for sale or even coordinate the restoration for the buyer, I really do not have the kind of budget to invest into them without having someone lined up to fund it. I may just offer them as is for the buyer to do their own coordination. I have a house full of items I have a lot of money invested into and they just do not seem to find homes fast. It makes me sad but it is what it is. I cannot tie more money up into things that sit for a year or more. That said, if you really love them and want me to help you get them done, I will gladly and enthusiastically take on the project.

As the push to the holiday season approaches, I will be trying to get through some back stock to list and may even thin some of my personal collections. I did just list an amazing tension pole lamp that I was planning on keeping but decided since I have another to restore that can replace it, I will let it go. Keep checking my Facebook and instagram for latest additions to the inventory as I usually post it there first.

Heading out for the weekend so any sales that come in will be shipped Monday. Have a great weekend! xo Malissa

I am in between projects right now so what better time to add some new items to my own collection! I do sell off the finest things but I will buy for myself if I can work it in to my home. I have been working with a craigslist seller all week to buy a Bertoia Diamond Chair. It is my holy grail of chairs, and I love many! I found the ad and it was still available. Appears to be in good shape, but for this kind of buy, I would plan on having it powder coated at some point as I promised my daughter it would be hers some day! There is a full upholstery cover on it. He did tell me the first person who looked on it mentioned the foam had degraded. I know those covers are crazy expensive to replace but I also have the cover to use as a template and a mom who is very capable of patterning it, so that is half the battle. I am willing to risk that detail. I am going to buy it on Sunday, since that is when we are both available. I cannot wait to sit in it! It is the larger style lounge chair, which is no longer produced new. Meanwhile, I need to bump my Grandmothers spinny slipper chair out of my living room! It was technically given to my daughter, so I am hoping we can make room for it in her bedroom.

Today we were hanging local and stopped by a few places we like to hunt and research at. No luck at the thrift store, the used furniture place had a cool supposedly Knoll butterfly chair with a turquoise canvas sling for $125. I hate seeing the Google print outs attached to things! These butterfly chairs were highly imitated and I am pretty sure were not marked or stamped. Too high for me to not be sure if it was the real deal, plus, with my other chair moving in, I really didn't need it. So we left there and headed to one of the antique malls nearby. I shop retail for myself if the price is decent and the value is there and it is something I collect or want. I always remind myself that these folks are paying rent, picking expenses like gas, etc and have overhead. So if I feel the price is good, I want the item and don't think it is something I will run across any time soon, I am in. I came across a very cool wool Rya rug today. I don't usually deal in textiles as I don't tend to run into them when I do my sourcing. Rugs, lighting and art are, in my humble opinion, the most expensive items you can buy when sourcing for your home. Those are the things you are likely to not find when out thrifting, yard sale combing and more. Those are the things you should splurge on when you find that special piece that speaks to you and works in your space. Of course, I put chairs in this category as well, but since I like to fix them, I can shop in the scratch and dent section! ;) I do not know much about this rug as there are no tags on it. I will try to describe it to you the way I saw it and how I determined it was a worthy investment. Hopefully it will help you if you are contemplating a special textile and also, how I cleaned it up.

This plush pile rug was placed under a coffee table to display. The texture drew me in. I have carpet in my 11 year old home. No choice for hardwood unless we pull the rug up and invest in them. Only draw back to new construction. We had a toddler mishap many years ago and there is a large pink stain in the middle of the living room rug. I have been using a throw on it for a while. I recently found a hipster yard sale and picked up this awesome teal/turquoise rag rug from Urban Outfitters on the cheap. I have been in the store once, and surely that was a $200 rug. It tied the turquoise accents in my totally bland room of brown and tan (really, it sucks!) together. I have a turquoise lamp and my grandmothers chair. The rag part of the rug added a very cool texture to the room and I like that. When I saw the rya rug, I immediate thought….oh yes, this baby would be sooooooo cool under my diamond chair!!!! As soon as I bent over to feel it I got super excited as I knew it was wool! (I am addicted to my 2 70s Icelandic Wool ponchos….I love wool! The itchier, the better!!!) When I pulled up the corner to check for tags, the bottom was actually very smooth and tightly woven. It felt like my ponchos. There is a lot of weight to this rug too. No skimping on the threads at all. I did notice some surface stains and spots. Nothing horrible and I figured it had not been cleaned. I know enough about fabrics thanks to my sewing and quilting mother to know that wool is a pretty cool fiber. It has properties that synthetics do not. Wool is known to self clean. Well, not in the way you think, but things that absorb into other fibers won't always penetrate the wool fibers. I was confident it would clean up ok. So I purchased it, met the booth owners who just happened to come in before I checked out and had some quick words about our businesses and travels and home I went with my treasure!

Cleaning. I did not want to go on instinct alone, so a quick google search showed me that I can use water and dish soap to safely clean wool. I used warm water, but not hot as I know wool shrinks in hot water. I got to work finding the spots and stains and using a cloth dipped in my soapy water, started to gently rub the spots. Some of the dirt was lifting right away! There are 2 areas of a more yellowy stain and those were lightening as well, but not coming as quickly as the others. I slowly worked my way around the whole rug. Then I tried to rub lightly around the rest of it. I can tell you my bucket was pretty dark gray after this and my ringing in between dips. It definitely was pulling out the dirt. The pile on this rug is deep, so I was taking care to inspect down deep as I went. There were some dirt and leaf/sticks/grass residue down in the rug. I did shake and beat it to try to knock some of that out but I think it is impossible to get rid of all of it. Once I was happy with my cleaning, I hung it over my deck railing to dry in the sun. One last step. I buy this spray called Wondercide. I get it at a local pet store, but you can order directly from them online. The BioDefense spray (about $40 per bottle) is the best stuff I have found to really douse my upholstery and fabric items with when I bring them home. It kills every bug known to man. Fleas, ticks, lice, bedbugs and a host of other pests. It is all natural and smells strongly of cedar (which I love because I am a total hippy like that! ). The smell disappears in a few days but I use it to freshen up my couch, curtains and more. I like it better than febreeze and it is not a chemical cocktail. It is safe for humans and pets too. For items I cannot wash…..the yard sale rug, my wool sweaters and ponchos, upholstery on chairs I pick up….it is a godsend! I do spray any of my used upholstery items I sell with it as well. I sprayed both sides of the rug and let it dry in the sun. Then I moved it in! Looks great! I am putting it just next to a higher traffic area so hopefully it will stay clean. I love it!

I would not have guessed this much dirt would come out of the rug!

So for my next project, I think I may take a look at this adjustable slat bench I picked up a month or 2 ago. It seems to have been stripped so I will clean it up and really inspect it, see what needs to be repaired in the structure and I am hoping I can teak oil it as a finish. It will make a nice piece for a sunroom or open space area holding some plants. I am looking forward to getting to know it. xo Malissa

The Blog.

Flokati- it's a rug, it's a throw, Vietnamese silk lanterns.

Collection acquisitions, cleaning and pest avoidance advice.