Thrift Store

I love walking around friends' dwelling and looking at the artwork. Some people have gallery walls, while others have a centralized image. People have, collections from trips, art work done by either their children or friends and relatives. And of course there are those that can afford established artists. My mother used to have art work from her trip to Paris. There also were some pictures that had been printed by an artist we visited in Florida. When my mother died I took the picture of the owl, done by the Floridian artist.

My walls mostly have artwork I have created as well as Thrift store finds. My apartment reflects my personality.

Years ago I took two trips to the western USA : New Mexico and Utah. For years my apartment had a tan mystique. I was trying to capture the atmosphere of my trip. As my life evolved so did my apartment . I realize that a lot of people choose artwork to complement the colors in the room. I tend to select artwork I like regardless of the color scheme.

Recently I purchased a drawing of two dogs. I do not have a dog. I just admired the composition and the artists skill. The glass was not broken when I bought it. That was my error. The bag broke, and the picture went crashing to the ground.

The picture was signed by the artist. I do tend to look for a signature. A handwritten one, not a printed copy.

In my bedroom I have one wall which is sort of sparsely decorated.

I have a toy drum hanging next to a painting of a dancer I painted . When I think of drums, I think of dance classes. The drum was a thrift store find, that touched my heart. It was in the toy section. On the same wall I have two figurines.

I sometimes give a wall a theme. One wall selection is devoted to the southwest. Another wall section had college banners, I had gotten from my mother.

The hall wall has an assorted collection of objects. The pottery is from a thrift store and is Native American Indian pottery. The mask I got from a thrift store. The wooden wall decor I got at an auction.

Usually when I look at friends' counters and bookcases. I see several pretty arrangements of objects. It is often common to have flowers. The interior decorating shows on tv suggest decorating coffee tables and shelves according to color. The focus tends to be on design verses practicability. My books in my bookcase are not displayed by the color of their spine. They are organized by topic. And then further subdivided by author. This way I can find what I need when I need it.

My counter tops are where I put my collections, and fake florals. Most of these items are from thrift shops.

A lamp sits on the desk with a gold pear. I had always wanted one of these lamps. So to me it was quite a find. Both had been owned by someone else before. On the counter between the kitchen and the living room is a Indian vase and some vintage pottery. The teapot was a great bargain. I got a teapot , a sugar bowl , a plate and two teacups for about sixteen dollars.

The other pink mugs , I placed there because they were pink. One incident where I did the designing by focusing on color. I actually did not get the mugs from a thrift shop. But they were from a consignment shop. The pink placemat was from the thrift shop. I actually do use these. They are not only for decoration. I have more coffee mugs hanging from hooks. Most of these also were thrift store finds.

I have very inexpensively decorated my apartment using thrift store finds. I have to admit that some of my purchases just stop here for a short visit, until they are passed on to a new owner. But certain purchases are here for good. The Indian pottery, and the dolls I have in my display case, have to be some of my most treasured finds. And there are certain things like coffee mugs and espresso mugs that I have taken off my shopping list. Enough is enough. My small kitchen can only hold so much. If some one was to walk through my apartment and look at the art I hope they would see a reflection of me.