As promised on Thursday, more from the “Best Of” Better Homes & Gardens Creative Collection: 100 Ideas Flea Market Style 2009 magazine. Like I said before, I don’t usually buy new magazines like this. The reasons fall into two categories: “How I live,” and “What I know.”
I live with kids and pets, plus a typical “I don’t want to pussyfoot around the delicates” husband. So while I love to look at and admire the gorgeous photographs, I’m skeptical (at best) about the “place your glass and pottery on benches” and “display delicate knick-knacks around your marble edged bathtub” advice. Not that I actually own wooden benches or have such a bathtub, marble ledge or no; but I think you get my point about the dangers of wagging dog tails, curious cats, and less than careful family members.
Better Homes & Gardens Flea Market Style Tip 91
It’s all so pretty, but equally impractical in my house. Your mileage will likely vary. And if the pretty pictures take you on an emotional dream vacation to another life, where you can decorate without such worries, well then you’ll love this magazine.
Now for “What I know.” Not to be all stuck on myself, but I find that these magazines are full of articles and tips I already know. Hey, I’m clever. I hang with clever people. And I own a ton of vintage magazines which say pretty much the same things. (Because I’m clever, I know how to adapt the old ideas to modern ways &/or with modern materials; of course, being a poor bohemian type helps too.)
A few examples of things I already knew… Like how to use old architectural elements in funky “new” ways.
Tip 11: Old Porch Rail As Mail Organizer
Better Homes & Gardens Flea Market Style Tip 31
What the magazine fails to tell you is that old porch railings, newel posts, ginger breading, mantles, and other architectural elements — even antique table legs etc. — are priced higher than the sky. I’m not saying they aren’t worth every penny; but your eclectic summer cottage look is going to have beach-side property pricing. (Oh, and you’re going to need a lot of white paint; this publication lurves white paint!)
Among other things I already knew, using antique steamer trunks to store stuff. I personally wouldn’t do this outside because the metal fittings are going to rust and critters will nibble & infest the wooden parts… But if you have a more enclosed patio, perhaps. I do love this photo though because A) I’m a girl who loves to “nest” and put things away in drawers and stuff (ask hubby; I drive him nuts with this storage lust), and B) I get a hoot out of seeing the stored contents on display — only in magazines *wink*
Flea Market Style Garden Ideas
Also on that page, using “pretty fencing” as a trellis. I knew that too. Hubby and I have used antique metal baby crib parts and almost two years ago The Dean showed us all how to get even more creative and use parts from antique foot treadle sewing machine stands in your garden.
One of Better Homes & Gardens’ favorite ideas must have been #77, a “furniture remix” given two pages. It shows turning an antique workbench into a kitchen island — something else The Dean wrote about here at CQ nearly two years ago. (Not to be all “braggy” about Collectors’ Quest or The Dean, but his is bigger and better. *neener neener*)
Better Homes & Gardens Furniture Remix
Antique Workbench Becomes Kitsch Island
But Better Homes & Gardens proves with their 100 Ideas Flea Market Style 2009 that sometimes even I can still be surprised.
For example, tip #66 is a surprising “twist” on how to use old upholstery springs to display fluted glassware.
Recycle, Recoil (With Fear), Glassware Holder
I fear the photo may be misleading… They show just a section of what is supposed to be the coil springs from an old chair — holding (precariously to me) glassware. Just how big is this thing? And how/where do you set it? And won’t vibrations make the coils “spring” or at least move… Just enough to maybe drop the glassware? Maybe I’m a worry-wart. But it certainly is an idea I never thought of.
But I just love tip #49, which comes from bottle collector Micheal Breddin. Look at his cool idea to display his antique lavender bottles (once clear, but with age & the sunlight’s UV rays the manganese within the glass has transformed the glass into beautiful shades of purple). The bottles are inverted and placed over bamboo & rebar sticks stuck in plant beds for a stunning burst of color.
Stunning Way To Display Antique Bottles In The Garden
I suddenly want to collect bottles.
So while I don’t think I’ll be rushing out to get more issues of new home decorating magazines (it will dip drastically into my budget for vintage decorating magazines), I did enjoy “Best Of” Better Homes & Gardens Creative Collection: 100 Ideas Flea Market Style 2009. It did, after all, teach this jaded junk junkie a few new tricks. If you’re looking for inspiration (be it decorating or maybe even a new collection of bottles for your backyard garden), it’s totally worth the $5.99 cover price for the flip-through.
