bound for the curb

Some used furniture I'm leaving at the curb tonight. Read about where everything came from and how I decided to get rid of it all on my professinal organizing blog, here.

crown canning jars

Okay, so I was sitting in my back room last night trying to (unsuccessfully) wait out a migraine, and the late afternoon sunlight coming into the room hit a bunch of old canning jars sitting on a table waiting to be repurposed as display jars for my sewing notions.

I picked up these jars - which are so old that the glass is all warped and uneven - at a church rummage sale several years ago. Until recently they held dried beans and grains in my pantry, but I wanted food jars that were easier to clean, and switched them out for new wide mouth litre jars.

I changed the camera settings for the photo below...






















Added Thursday, March 24: I just looked up Crown canning jars online, and found this information:

Canadian Crown fruit jars can be quite common, and were made by several different Canadian manufacturers. A few rare variations do exist, however. If any have ground lips they would be worth more. Sometimes Crown jars have variations in the shape of the crown itself or extra embossing that makes them more valuable. Most of the clear ones from the 40s and 50s are worth about $1 to $3 each.

abandoned road construction sign score

Okay, so this was possibly illegal (if you consider taking road construction signs that have been left abandoned at the side of the road illegal), but I couldn't resist. Every day on my walk to work I'd been passing by this sign left over from road construction last fall, and I coveted it for my apartment. I was originally thinking of hanging it in my front room, but now I'm favoring the idea of hanging it in the hall opposite my kitchen doorway.

I love this sign on so many levels. The colour (while not, admittedly, blue like everything else in my life) appeals to me. I love graffiti, and while the sign is technically not graffiti, it definitely has that kind of feel. As you can see from later photos below, it's really beat up (although thankfully the wood is not rotting - it was a repurposed from an actual road construction sign (visible on the verso, immediately below), and therefore both made with marine-grade plywood and protected from dampness by the coatings on each face). I won't say any more, except that I find one of these photos really erotic, for some reason.

savon de marseille l'occitane

I bought this L'Occitane soap on Bloor Street and wanted a special dish to put it in. I repurposed a saucer from one of my teacups.

basket of pears and apples

Besides having a thing for chairs, I also have a thing for baskets. This photo was taken in September 2008, when I was housesitting for a favorite client in Toronto. She had an orchard on her property, and invited me to pick as many of her pears and apples as I wanted. I glutted myself on tree-ripe fruit the entire week I was there.

washbasin veggie bowl

I found this enamelled washbasin in a pile of garbage outside a home that was being renovated in my Toronto neighbourhood. The bowl was filthy, but after I got it home and cleaned it up, I loved its beat-up patina - a perfect container for late summer tomatoes.

delftware

I found this lovely little plate at a church rummage sale several years ago. I don't often use it for everyday, but on this particular occasion I wanted something that would complement the golden colour of the roti skins I was using as a flatbread with a meal of curry.

black creek pioneer village

I visited Black Creek Pioneer Village (Toronto) in the summer of 2008. I love recreated colonial villages because they're full of the stuff I like to have in my own home: natural wood and fabrics, cast iron, worn surfaces...

I took a million photos that day, but have only included my favorites here. Above is a shot of a wall in the tinsmith's shop. I love the intricate patterns they could make with only a few tools.

Below are some brooms from the broom maker's shop. I bought a cobweb broom in the gift shop before I left, and it hangs in my front room today.


Below is a chandelier from a Mennonite meeting house. I love its simple lines.


The meeting house itself was really spare. I'm not sure if it's an authentic representation of what the space would have looked like when it was being used for worship services.


Below is a tool shed, with plants hanging to dry from the rafters.


A cart in the tool shed.


Another chandelier, this one from the town hall.

The interior of the town hall. I love the colours.


A quilt in one of the homes.


Irons sitting on the stovetop.


A rusty wash basin full of water.


The weaver's shop.


The dining room in the doctor's house.


A shamrock sitting in the window.


One of the many photographs of chairs that I took that day. I also love the colour of the painted floorboards.


A cutting board for bread.


The cobbler's shop.


Rocking horse.


I love the rush seats in the next couple of chairs.




A simple table. Look how wide the boards are.


Another table.


Whimsical "creature" on a windowsill.


Tools inside the mill.


I love how deep the window sills are.


One of the mill doors, studded with nails.


A discarded mill wheel.


I really liked the exterior of this little house. Very simple.


Berries drying in a window.


Dried flowers in a bowl.


I absolutely love the colours in this quilt.


Another bed in the same house.


And yet another bed...


Another chair...


A basket of toys on a porch.


Fleece waiting to be carded.


Sunshine on another basket of fleece.


Inside a barn.


Check out the massive beams.