Saint-Gobain Miralite Bathroom Mirrors

Somewhere early 2017 the Man came home with a pile of standard sized 60 x 40 cm sized mirrors. There were six or maybe more. The kind I have in my social rental apartment. Normally not expensive, I just looked them up and found the cheapest just under €12. But the brand Saint-Gobain promises a way higher quality. Just can't find my size on their website anymore. Problem was some were slightly chipped on the sides.

I had just listed them when my friend from down the street came by and asked if she could have them. To line the lower part of the wall in her hallway. Something to do with cats stopping to scratch wallpaper. Of course she could after all the stuff her guy Freek gave me to sell!

More From 2016 Part V - Maxi Hoho

A haggler of a buyer just ruined my day who wanted a load of things for next to nothing. Sorry but I don't go cheaper on cheap and you can go to hell with your charity bbq-party. I am my own charity and I really want to sell to people who want something for themselves and keep it for a while. So I better sit down and write another post about such sales that made me feel good. I just don't feel like saying a lot. Well you can just look at the pictures and enjoy.

A small fold-up dog bench, bed included.

A large storage box made of woven cloth.

An extra large tray, marks of usage included.

A weird lamp. Another huge thing. I still don't know if I like it or not.

Another bottle with ear, but of a cheap make and not vintage. Sold the same day.

A plastic dish rack. Well perhaps it's some kind of designer label that my buyer recognized and I didn't. She paid about six times the sales price to get it shipped to Belgium.

I promise this will be last trash bin on the blog for a while. I'm just amazed that they go.

A stainless steel mixing bowl.

A climbing helmet. I was about to accept first bid, but the double amount was offered minutes later. Turned out both were members of the same group planning on a mountain climbing trip.

A mirror in a bamboo frame.

IKEA Hutten wine bottle racks. I had the one for years, but thought it was useless listing it knowing what they cost in the shop. The set was gone within a few days. Difference in height probably due to slight changes in design.

A very rusty lantern. The more rust the better sometimes. This sold very quickly too as most garden stuff.

A pile of an obscure 1970-s magazine. Man had them in his apartment since before selling trash times and I had forgotten until he presented them to me.

A Head tennis racket. Case included.

Another wicker dog bed.

Another item from the March big loot.

IKEA Finntorp dish rack. Funny items to sell after all. Sold one this year already and one will get picked up tomorrow.

And this is a stool with storage space inside. Kind of weird shape isn't it? I think it's 1990-s.

Getting tired now, but I feel a bit better. Thanks for looking!

More From 2016 Part I - J. Lumb

I've got such a backlog in things to show, I thought I'd better just start somewhere and stop when I get tired.

These are all things I found in the vicinity of my home. Following my administration shown here more or less in order of sales date, regardless of value or interest. So this post will contain some duller and some nicer objects.

Simple handmade coat rack. Picked up for a few coins. Fine with me, an earlier potential buyer wanted me to unscrew the hooks and ship them. No thanks!

I love this old toolbox that was one of my favourite finds of the year. Sold quickly and the sale made my day.

An old mini medicine cabinet. It needed some work but it went faster than I expected, after about six weeks.

Ikea rose print pillow. Ikea is hot, but sometimes not? Well in my memory it took ages to sell this, but looking back at administration this is not true. Found October 2015, sold February 2016. It went to a teenager girls’room.

Cute little mirror, but a cheaply made item. Definitely not vintage. Out after just ten days as a display to a lady who sells jewelry at markets.

A set of balcony plant boxes. You can simply hang them over the balustrade. The fun was that I found the two large ones plus the one other across the street, then the next morning the other round one around the corner with the exact same dry plant leftovers still in it. I suppose someone wanted to take it and changed his mind. Having the complete set made it worthwile listing and although they are available anywhere for affordable prices I sold them after about three weeks.

A versatile piece of fold-up furniture that you can sit on or use as a side table. With a handy transport grip on top. I thought it was pretty cool and it reminds me of the wooden stools in my aunt’s house that had a grip hole in the middle. The buyers did not so, it took months and finally sold for peanuts, but I was still glad I rescued the thing. Other pickers might have just taken it for the iron.

Here's another item you may think of who sells that on line? Well I do. Yes I know, go to the thrift shop and you have a choice, but people come to my door for it.

It gets a little bit more interesting. One of the luxury objects from my emigrated neighbour. See March last year. I made a good deal of money on it, but I didn’t show this stump candle holder before. At the time still available in the shop, but not in this colour. Got about a third from what’s marked on the bottom. Not bad for second hand.

A regular café terrace table brought in by the Man. Not pretty, fairly inexpensive wholesale, but sturdy and weather proof. I was sure to sell it quickly and it was out again within two days.

Last but not least:

Most likely mid-century piece of glass from Castleford, Yorkshire, England. The bottom markings said 'J. Lumb', but were barely visible and I only looked it up after a potential buyer informed about it. Although the bottles are not extremely sought after or valuable, apparently there are some collectioners for them. I was really glad the man wanted it, because I would not have had any clue.

To be continued soon!

More Rubbish Out And Some Forgotten Things

I’m kind of glad the market season will end soon. Getting tired of the bags in my room, the repacking and resorting. Having to wonder what to bring next is actually a good thing. It means the mountain of junk is shrinking. I’m not sad taking some more expensive stuff now and get only half the money if it didn’t do anything on line. Getting fives or tens instead of ones or twos out of a sale saves the days results.

But that’s for later, here’s some more rescued ‘rubbish’ that found new owners on the parking lot earlier on.

This kitschy vase was gone in five minutes. Sold to a fellow vendor. My friend told me she saw it on her stall later on… I laughed and thought good luck with the cheap Chinese glass. Found by my co-picker in front of my door.

When I opened the door for him I peeked across and also saw this jar shaped vase. I flogged it but it was another euro extra on a slow day in July.

This mirror isn’t the best but it came with the Edwin name sign and it was a fairly long walk home. It went to a Moroccan guy who probably brought it to family in the home country. He wanted it for next to nothing but I thought of my effort and finally got the price that satisfied me. Did you notice my photography trick here? It was with one mirror before this one I finally got smart and shot it facing the sky to avoid reflections of junk in my yard.

These mugs are from a series issued by Douwe Egberts coffee. I wanted to list them but found them all over the site. It took forever but finally the bird-tree one found a lady who probably completed her collection with it. I may keep the cat-apple.

A tiny skirt found a tiny waist. Another thing out of my fall 2015 clothing haul.

This Mexx blouse almost sold on line up to three times I think. Got tired of that and was sure to sell it at first try in person. Can’t remember when I found it. It was stored over winter in my co-pickers warehouse.

Ikea ‘battery box’ vase, as we call them in Dutch. Surprised I sold a set of them on line in 2014 and again this one went at second try. Just glad glad glad not to have to pack up the heavy thing again.

I just looked them up and realized they hadn’t made it to the blog yet. They went after three weeks. I had forgotten that too. Maybe they are more popular than I think. But my market price was better!

The same day I shot this Ikea wall lamp. Had forgotten that as well, but I remember well selling it at the beach venue later that month. Picked up from across the street I’m sure too.

Another pair of cheap sneakers. I’ve got one pair to go now that nobody looked at so far. They are destined for free pick-up center I’m afraid.

A silly craft basket. I found it coming home from free pick-up center with yarn leftovers still in it. And a hook! I thought the thing looked ridiculous but my friend loved it. But then that’s her colour. To a neighbour vendor, but she bought it for herself. She had been looking at it all day before taking it while we were packing up.

Last for today: block candle holder. Parked neatly at the dump across the street, new in box. Probably from an employer’s Christmas gift box. The inedible things from them are invariably tasteless. I can understand they threw it out. I’ve done it in my days when I could afford to do so. Glad somebody liked it. 

The Mirror

I always appreciate it when people tell me a bit about the purpose of their buy. This mirror went to a young lady who had just opened a hair salon in vintage style. She came all the way from Tilburg to pick it up in Amsterdam!

It made me happy to hear that because I picked the mirror up for myself 15 years ago and only due to my current downsizing project it had to go. As you can see I had to take it outside to make the photo because I had no room indoors. Now it’s being used again instead of gathering dust in a corner of my house.

A Late Fifties Mirror Set

I found this mirror set about a year ago at only fifty yards from my apartment, at the corner of our block. I date it late fifties early sixties. The shape of the triptych mirror panels is still quite romantic, but the formica covered tablet with its plastic gold coloured lining definitely taste early modernism. Then the back support of the mirrors and the mini compartment below are solid wood. Only the knob of the flap is modern again. It’s a wonderful mixture of two style ages and I did not have to ask myself twice if I wanted to take this piece home!

What it was designed for is I think a mini dressing table for a tiny bedroom (so common still these days in my town, Amsterdam) or a as a hallway piece for a quick check up of the face and hair. The tiny compartment could have held a comb and brush, powder box and lipstick placed on the tablet. Which would have been handy to lay a pair of gloves on as wall.

I would have loved to keep it but the problem is I have a fairly roomy bathroom with a wash stand and a wide mirror with a tablet over it. And in my bedroom I already have a pretty large circle shaped triptych mirror. Then my hallway is so narrow I feared my tall BF or visitors would have bumped into the set constantly. So…

After having used the piece to photograph my felted make-up bowls on I decided to take it to the craft fairs as a display. Threatening to get sold of course. Not the first time, but that was in June when sales were low anyway. But last Sunday within a few hours one lady already inquired if it was for sale. She told me it was for a baby bedroom, an idea I didn’t like too much so I held her off saying she could pick it up at the end of the day. I didn’t really expect her back so when later a young woman was totally in love with the mirror I sold it to her immediately at the same price I had asked the first lady, 15 Euros. With the fading silver, hang-up hooks removed and rusty hinges I thought that was a fair price for a still quite unique piece. Not bad for rescued trash, isn’t it?