Shopping Around...

I know I've written a couple of comparison posts before in my blogs distant past (here and here), but I thought I'd just do the same thing once more to tell you the story of one of my latest finds.

You see, to me, why would someone go off to Laura Ashley for example, looking for a traditional style dressing table and be willing to hand over £750 for this example:

(Photo courtesy of Laura Ashley)

Or £900 for this one:

(Photo courtesy of Laura Ashley)

When there is so much more out there waiting to be discovered?

Each to his own, I know. Of course the high street chains can provide the quick answer, but with a little bit of trawling around the small independent shops, who knows what you might turn up?

Something with a bit more character perhaps, and story to tell?

The 'house clearance' person told me that they had recently cleared a Manor House, which had belonged to a racing driver of the 1920's. (I'm trying to work out who that may have been...)

The home was filled with some beautiful items, one of which was this delightful hand painted dressing table.

I admit that I wasn't actually looking for a dressing table when I spied it sat in the shop window, but instantly knew it was for me. It will eventually go into one of our spare bedrooms when the girls leave home (middle daughter has decided to come home again and will be going to our local uni as from September - 3rd time lucky, as she's changed her mind again, bless her...so she'll be here for another 3 1/2 years yet! - but I won't go into that right now!)

The girls were not impressed with the 'new' dressing table, it has to be said, so for now I've found a home for it in our master bedroom...its a little bit cramped, but I will suffer the lack of space in order to keep it! ;-))

I already had the little blue French chair, which came from a flea market many years ago. It slotted underneath very nicely, as if they had been made for each other.

Lift up the heavy lid and there's a nice surprise - a mirror, with a void beneath for storing make-up etc.

A carefully hand painted flower garland decorates the narrow frame at the corners.

And there's more...

Lift up the side panels and there are two more storage compartments...

Revealing more pretty flowers!

And would you believe it? This little beauty wasn't even a quarter of the price of the Laura Ashley dressing table! So...I haven't been too extravagant...have I?

(A couple of photos taken with flash - I'm never keen on the end results with a flash, but as the dressing table sits in the window, it was tricky to capture.)

I think its that March feeling again; spring is finally starting to make an appearance, and so I do plan on doing a huge reshuffle around our home next weekend during the Easter break, and will justify my recent splurge by saying that I will be ruthless and let some other items go...a few of my treasures will probably end up for sale in my shop, eventually. As I've said in one of those previous posts - you can usually get your money back on a vintage/antique item, or even make a small profit - unlike most modern pieces that usually loose their value as soon as they are bought (unless you keep them long enough for them to become antique too!)

I'm signing-off for now; I have two days to do in the shop (I will be closed on Saturday this week) and then hubby and I have a romantic couple of days planned, as we are celebrating. I may report back next week! ;-))

Thank you to all who made a purchase from my on-line shop - I feel blessed that you hadn't forgotten about me now that more of my time is spent away from my website.

Have a lovely weekend, won't you?!

Niki xx