Thursday, May 24, 2012

Sterling Silver's Stepsister?

The purge of 2012 continues and yesterday I attacked my collection of sterling silver serving pieces.  
(Part of my extensive tray collection --in need of a polishing

Turns out I didn't have as much as I thought. I've got a lot of silver pieces, not so much sterling silver

How did I find out this disappointing fact?...

I invited my friend Nan from Silver Magpies over to appraise my lot. Nan is antique and vintage silver expert/dealer/blogger who advocates pulling your sterling out of storage and using every day. 
Turns out, most of my pieces were silver plate. I'm fine using silver plated pieces and I do all the time. 
I was just hoping to cash in on some things I've had for a while and don't use.  
(Nan points out markings that are intended to fool you into thinking it's sterling)

So I'm not going to get rich selling sterling. 
But I am going to get rid of some the silver plated pieces I'm not using. 
Nan told me what they are worth.

And, Drew and I had fun doing a little demo on a couple salt and pepper shakers 
that were is such bad shape, I was advised to just to melt them down.  


Not a lot of silver on these weighted babies. This is what they look like on the inside the shape is created with wax or plaster and a very thin layer of silver wraps around it--fascinating. 
















As Nan says, silver plate is NOT sterling silver's step sister. 
It's just not as durable and you shouldn't use it everyday. 

Whereas, sterling silver can and should be used everyday and she says to put in the dishwasher. 
If you use it everyday you won't have to polish it.

I encourage you to check out Silver Magpies to learn more about 
using, buying, appraising vintage sterling silver. 
















Saturday, May 19, 2012

At it Again

I've been playing musical furniture and rugs again. 

I haven't shown you much in the dining room, because it's an interior  room that is very hard to photograph. And, it's painted green, which is all wrong. 

It's a pass through room and the big formal dining table and chairs 

I've had in here made it a tight squeeze. 
So, I brought the round table from the sunroom into the dining room and moved the big double pedestal table out to the sunroom (I'll show you that in a different post).

This sideboard was a curbside pickup project. I used Chalk paint a lot of wood filler and some new hardware to bring it back to life. All things I had on hand.


I just need to take down the chair molding, paint the walls and work 
on the artwork and I think it'll be great.
 I think it feels roomier, more balanced and cozier all at the same time.



Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Love, Love, Love!

My Foxglove










Columbine, roses and peony aren't so bad either. 




My little slice of paradise.




Sunday, May 6, 2012

Busted & New Mirror

I've struggled with this corner of my living room from the start.
It's what you see when you walk into our house but an awkward little area.
A little while ago you all helped me sort out the lamp/lampshade situation. 

And some of you suggested I continue looking for a mirror 
that would work better than what I had before.



I found this mirror recently 
and thought the lines and color would work. 
Then I brought the bust down to display jewelry for my sale. 
She's been sitting here ever since.  
I like the way it looks, but I struggle with feeling that having a bust displayed is pretentious.  

What do you think of busts in a common person's home?