Caught my eye…vintage trade signs
My parents moved from Vermont to North Carolina two years ago and recently bought a home in Hillsbourgh NC. After a childhood in the cool, green, liberal North I wasn’t sure that I’d like North Carolina or the South for that matter, but, I’m a huge fan of Hillsbourgh (a sweet, charming town with a lot of character) and love my parents’ new house (after an initial smarting at losing my childhood home (a homage to it below)). And, much to my surprise the South doesn’t seem that much different than the North (well, people are much friendlier in the South, that much is true!).
We went down last weekend to celebrate my mom’s birthday and spent a lot of time discussing the decorating of the house, nesting, how to make a home comfortable, welcome and lived in. One thing they are looking to do in the kitchen (which they feel lacks a bit of personality) is hang a vintage trade sign. My mother had found the red key trade sign above on Ebay (and it was my job to win it, and I lost it!). You can imagine my guilt! One lesson I learned is this: if an auction on ebay is a live auction someplace in the US, bid by phone! Your chances of winning are much, much, much higher.
To make it up to my mama, I’m on the hunt for a wonderful sign to give my parents for their new home.
I was inspired by this huge scissors trade sign via fresh Reference Library.
A quick trip to Ebay yielded the signs below. I’m looking for images of interiors with huge trade signs in them — if you find some or live with one, let me know and I’ll blog it! Think of it as inspiration for Mom.
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September 23rd, 2007 16:00
Oh your parents’ house looks beautiful, I love it. Old wooden floors and white expansive rooms, so simple. Too bad about the ebay auction - so tricky sometimes! How do you bid over telephone though, never heard of that? I like the signs pics you found, I’m sure you’ll find an even more gorgeous one for your mom - good luck!
September 23rd, 2007 16:18
Thanks Caroline! What is so funny about those pictures of my parents house is that for my entire childhood it was a disaster — clothes, toys, kids underfoot. Its a funky old farmhouse and my parents only had the floor redone a few years ago — the man who did them was an artist — they are beautiful. Anyway, I had no idea my parents had such a clean modern aesthetic until much much later.
As to the auctions, there are some regional auction houses that do live auctions with an online component (ie, they have live bidders in person but also will take bids online via ebay live auction). That Key was in a “live”auction and it is very hard to keep up with the action because so much is happening in person. With the regional auction houses you can call up before hand and say what items you’d like to bid on and then the auction house will call you when that lot comes up and they take your bids over the phone/ keep you up to date on the action. The prices at live auctions are sometimes better than ebay too! The way you can tell on an ebay listing if it is a live auction is that they usually charge a buyers premium. I feel that this isn’t the best explanation, but hope it sheds some light. Thanks for reading, Abbey
September 23rd, 2007 22:14
ooh how lovely this spot is. am glad to land upon your savvy and hip blog. i adore these big scissors. have seen them for sale at pottery barn. they would be perfect over a sewing/craft table. i also love that wall covered in frames in that last post. i never was one to like looking at blank walls. thank you for the inspiration.
October 3rd, 2007 17:39
I’m about fifteen minutes away from your parents in Chapel Hill
but I’ll probably be moving to NY myself when I graduate in May.
October 11th, 2007 13:38
Ebay Auctions…
Ebay Auctions…