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Calling all eBay shoppers! 🙂 Arguably one of the best ways to add personality to a room is to incorporate one-of-a-kind pieces that come with a great story, or a unique point of view. Next to family heirlooms, shopping vintage and antique is the best way to discover fragments of yourself in someone else’s belongings. The search creates story, and story deepens connection because the more stories tie us to our belongings, the more connected we feel to our surroundings, and the deeper our sense of comfort and well-being at home, which is truly the holy grail of decorating.
I recently picked up a wooden carving of a hippopotamus. It’s silly-looking, slightly cracked and not at all what most people would display on their living room mantel, but I absolutely love it, and it makes me smile every time I see it (which is every time I pass through the living room). Personal expressions create that collected, storied look of a cozy house that feels like an old friend who knows and loves you for all the right reasons.
Quirky items found on antiquing trips, vintage textiles, antique furniture and art are all expressions of that within us which is uniquely authentic: perhaps its our playfulness, or a sense of humor, nostalgia, or a love of nature and animals – whatever that may be for you, it shines through not only with the grand decorative gestures, but with the minute and unexpected decorative choices we make.
In the absence of serendipitous finds like my hippopotamus, shopping vintage on eBay and Etsy is a great way to go out into the world wide web and look for that special object or fabric or wallpaper that will make your room a little bit more like you, and a little bit less like everybody else’s. The fabric could be discontinued, the wallpaper may have fallen out-of-favor with the fashion gods, but if you love it and it works in your home, that’s more than enough. Here are some of my recent eBay finds in the vintage textiles and wallpaper department, to get you started on your own wonderful rabbit hole. Happy Sunday, dear friends!
Vintage Thibaut 1970s Wallpaper Rolls
Thomas Strahan Historic Wallpaper 12single rolls /6double rolls
Victorian-Colonial-Early American Floral Bouquet Historic Reproduction Wallpaper
Thomas Strahan Vintage Wallpaper – Evening Symphony
5 ROLL LOT OF VINTAGE NEW COUNTRY GEAR WALLPAPER BG 2111 RUN 5 BLUE FLORAL
Vintage Thomas Strahan Wallpaper Roll Flowers Stripes Blue Beige Pink VT2735 USA
Wallpaper Waverly VTG Cottagecore Primitive Country Floral Beige 27inX9Yrds!
Carolina Irving Tamar Tonal Mushroom Fabric
Waverly Blue & Cream Candy Stripe Upholstery Fabric Polished Cotton 54×106″
Vintage Wallpaper Floral Botanical Victorian
Victorian-Colonial-Early American Historic Reproduction Wallpaper
Pair of antique Japanese woodblock bird prints, unidentified artist
12sr Red Thomas Strahan Designer Scenic Toile Wallpaper
I LOVE Etsy! So many unique and very reasonably priced items. (Off-topic, but I recently purchased from a seller on Etsy a straw belt for $20, same item at McLaughlin was $98!)
Anyway, I love all the wallpaper patterns you highlighted. So sad about Thomas Strahan–such a shame that all the rollers were destroyed! I think the problem with buying second-hand discontinued wallpaper would be that there wouldn’t be enough to do a whole room, unless perhaps a powder room?
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Me too, difficult to login without buying something! And yes about the vintage wallpapers, always making sure there are enough rolls. I’ve had luck with certain sellers who had enough stock for a medium size room, but powder rooms, bathrooms, hallways and any room with paneling below the chair rail can be a great candidate for a charming vintage pattern.
Wishing you a great week, Diana!