Shopping = Bliss

Yesterday, I got the opportunity to do a little shopping/antiquing on my own in and around downtown Franklin. Sometimes it's such a treat to just wander through stores aimlessly looking for inspiration. 


At my first stop, the Winchester Antique Mall, this greeted me on the front porch:

I'm a sucker for a good Chippendale bench. According to the tag, this one was made locally and was $325.

Heading inside, I found these goodies . . .

I loved this antique wicker chair. It's very small in scale so would really only be appropriate in my daughter's room, but it was a little too pricey ($300-something) for me.

The gilded bamboo frames on these were great, and the mat was more of a muted coral or salmon color, not such a bright orange as it looks here. I would switch out the butterfly watercolor prints for charcoal or line drawings. For $29 each, they weren't a bad deal. Still may go back for these. Sorry, my iPhone doesn't have a flash so these aren't the best quality photos.

I can't pass up a good bentwood or Thonet-style chair. The blue on this one captured my attention as I'm looking for a desk and desk chair for my son's room. After sitting in this one, I passed because it was a little too rickety and I'm not sure it was fixable.

I'm not sure you can even see, but there is a little Greek key detail on this alabaster lamp. 

This vignette of purple bottles really caught my eye. Reminds me of my mother's birthstone, amethyst.

Such pretty turtle shells. These were $45 each.

Love the over-the-top nature of this Italian tole lamp. Quite a statment piece!

Another cool gold lamp.

And on my way back to my car, I spied these little concrete foo dogs. Perfect guard dogs and only $29 each.

Next stop, Scarlett Scales, a great little shop in downtown Franklin. Scarlett has a great eye and her shop is always chocked full of cool stuff.

And what should greet me at the front door? A pair of the mama foo dogs. These would definitely ward away any evil spirits from your home. $235 for the pair.

Some of the great displays in Scarlett's shop.

A unique art deco style alabaster lamp. I'm not sure if I've ever seen one of these.

Yet another display of purple bottles. Is this a new trend?

At the Arbor Antique Mall next door, they had a new vendor with some really cool stuff.

I loved this chalk head sculpture. This would look amazing as part of a tablescape. 

My last stop was the Downtown Franklin Antique Mall across the street. Just a couple of gems here . . .

How cute is this elephant garden seat? I could pull this up next to anything. Maybe it could keep my lonely chair company?

And for some reason I neglected to take a photo of the white painted bamboo mirror (behind the elephant), but it was a beauty too.

And, lastly, this brass-plated lamp. Very elegant. Could go anywhere. And it was on sale for $54.

Speaking of lamps, I hit TJ Maxx earlier in the day and found a neat lamp.

Loved the shape, the faux snakeskin and brass accents. It looks expensive to me, but only $35. Bargain.

And since I'm sharing treasures, I've been selling some things on Craigslist lately. So, of course, I do a little browsing while I'm there. 

Here's what I found . . . 

This solid wood dresser was only $35. Call me crazy, but I think it would look fabulous painted orange or blue or green or some bright lacquer color. And the hardware is killer. Unfortunately, I have no where to put this, plus it's sold already. Oh well.

Once again, I don't know where I would put this fan/throne chair, but I like it a lot. It's $20 but the guy said he would go lower. 

Does anyone need a dining table? Because I think this Parsons-style one is fabulous, and for only $75! I so wish I had a place for this.

Well, I think that wraps it up. Do you see any treasures in the bunch?