antiquing

I Started a Vintage Business!

fox-and-phoenix-vintage

This is old news if you already follow me on Instagram, but in case it’s new information…I started a vintage business! It’s called Fox & Phoenix Vintage — ‘Fox’ is for our family dog, and ‘Phoenix’ represents the rebirth of giving antiques and vintage goods new life. I love history and preserving items from the past — these unique items tell a story that I want to live on. I opened an antique booth at the One of a Kind Antique Mall in Woodstock, ON on March 1st, 2020 and it’s been a mild success these last several months. Despite being shut down for a couple of months due to Covid-19 (and only two weeks after opening!!!), I’ve managed to cover my booth rental costs and commission fees once they re-opened, and turn a small profit as well. My definition of success during the pandemic has been not losing money doing this, so even if profits are small, it’s still a win to me!

I’ve always loved antiques, having grown up surrounded by them both at home and at the cottage my family owned — my dad was an avid collector and his love of antiques was obviously passed on to me! I’ve written several posts about antiques and antique shopping over the years, and in hindsight, I’m surprised it took me so long to finally realize that becoming a vintage reseller was the perfect business for me. It satisfies a few things for me — for one, it allows me to indulge in the pastime of thrifting and antiquing but without filling my house with things I don’t need or have room for, nor breaking the bank since I’m reselling what I buy. Having a vintage business is also very practical as it adds a little extra income to the family bank account each month. And finally, it fulfills me professionally and is the perfect job as a stay-at-home mom of an almost 2 year old with a second baby on the way. It’s also been a fun creative outlet for me when it comes to certain aspects of the business, and I’ve really enjoyed styling and photographing the products I sell. Follow my Instagram account to see what’s available and get in touch if you see something you like! In the meantime, if you live near Woodstock, or are looking for a fun day trip, check out the One of a Kind Antique Mall, it’s located at 97 Wilson Street and my booth is number 965 in the middle aisle of the third floor.

Here are some of the vintage treasures I’ve either sold or are still available, and will give you an idea of the type of goods I curate for my booth:

And here are some booth photos! Booth design and merchandising has been quite the evolution and an ongoing labour of love. :)

Antiquing At The Lazy Farmer

I can't believe it's September already. Where did the summer go?! I'm just returning home from a 10 day stay at a cottage and wishing I didn't have to go back to work. We had great weather most of the week and on one of the cloudy days I got to do a little antiquing. Like many decor enthusiasts, going antiquing is one of my favourite things to do. If time allowed, I would be out at a different flea market, fair or boutique at least once a week, travelling around to various towns and cities to check out the local assortment. One of my all-time favourite places to hunt for antiques is at The Lazy Farmer Trading Post in Orillia, Ontario, a couple of hours north of Toronto on Hwy 11. It's one of my favourite places because of its great assortment, but also because the place holds good memories for me. My former family cottage of 26 years was just 40 minutes north of The Lazy Farmer and my dad loved to stop in a few times each summer on our way home from a weekend at the cottage. I can remember going there as a little kid and being enchanted by everything; my favourite items were the frail and torn centuries old piano books (I took piano lessons for most of my childhood). Adding to the enchantment of these visits is the building itself – the antique store is in a huge old barn, dimly lit by scarcely spaced pendant lights, the antique lamps for sale, and by sunlight streaming through the cracks in the barn board wall. After having a good look around the barn, my brother and I would go outside and play with the baby bunnies that the owners had roaming free on the property. My dad bought a ton of antique furniture and accessories from The Lazy Farmer and I grew up surrounded by them at our cottage and our home in the city. It's been several years since I've been back and I've been dying to go, so I took a day out of my week's vacation at a friend's cottage last week to drive down for the morning. It held the same charm for me as it did all those years ago. There were so many pieces I wanted to walk away with! However, I had neither the money nor a vehicle large enough to make any significant purchases. Instead, I bought a brass candlestick and wall sconce, and I took a ton of photographs to share. 

This shot perfectly illustrates the enchanting feeling you get when you first walk in to The Lazy Farmer, sunlight streaming through the spaces between the barn boards. 

This leather and iron chair was so beautiful and quite reasonably priced at $195. It was the first thing I saw upon entering the barn and I wished I could bring it, and its matching stool (below) home with me.  

My iPhone photo doesn't do this room divider justice because it's hard to tell that all of the detail is hand-carved and the wood dyed to create this beautiful design.  

Some lovely pink and white porcelain jugs and basins atop a pretty dresser. 

This old operator switchboard is the kind of thing my dad would have purchased - completely useless but full of interesting history. 

Antique writing desk, brass candlesticks, Victorian lamps, vanities and dressers... 

A dentist's chair? You can find pretty much anything at The Lazy Farmer.  

Piles upon piles of all kinds of chairs.  

These end tables!!!! They were already sold, but if available I would have racked up a bit of debt for sure. 

Massive moose head. 

Another gorgeous chair, likely with its original upholstery. 

Difficult to see because it was buried under and behind a lot of stuff, but this sideboard/washstand with its marble top, turned wood legs and blue and white tiles was absolutely stunning. It was priced at $400. I wish I had a bigger vehicle! And a bigger bank account. Because this would have for sure come home with me. 

This juke box wasn't for sale but was filling the barn with great music to shop to. 

These were interesting pieces - a coffee table and two side tables that were made out of dug up tree roots.  

UPDATE: Unfortunately, this lovely antique barn has since closed since writing this post. I’m so glad I took these photos and shared them here for posterity.

Where I Shop: Angus & Company

I was going through all the photos on my iPhone recently and deleting some of them to free up space, when I realized that I have a ton of photos of products I snapped at various retailers around the city. It gave me the idea to create a new blog series about the places I shop for home decor accessories and furniture. I'd like to start with one of my favourite little antique boutiques, Angus & Company


Self-described as a design shop "with the feel of a general store and the ambiance of a cocktail party," Angus & Co. is full of carefully curated objects of desire and pieces of statement furniture that are difficult to resist opening your wallet for. Here are some of my favourite items from my most recent visit there:  


Be still my heart! There were two of these large ginger jar lamps for sale. If only I had a place for them in my home! 




A detail from the aforementioned lamp.  The chinoiserie-print linen napkins were also lovely. 



Continuing on the theme of blue and white...this little vase!!! 


More chinoiserie print, this time with pillows. But can we talk about this Mies van der Rohe cantilever chair? Just an example of the delicious goodies you can expect to find at this fine store. 




 A piece of coral. Crystal decanters. THIS CHANDELIER TABLE LAMP.  



I just might to back for these tuxedo-like lacquered boxes. 



I didn't buy anything on my most recent visit to the shop, but I'm still in love with the purchases I made last summer - my silver bar tray and grey calf hair coasters. 

Angus & Company is located at 647 Dupont Avenue (at Christie Street). 





Weekend Antiquing

Went antiquing in the Junction yesterday, it was another beautiful, hot, sunny Saturday, perfect for biking to and walking around the neighbourhood.  I saw these two gorgeous old bergere chairs for $350 each and it pained me to have to walk away from them without buying them.  But they were so old and delicate, I would be too afraid to let anyone sit in them, myself included!  I would rather have style + function together.  



These slipper chairs (I'm guessing from the 70s?) were not only comfortable but were really sturdy and reasonably priced.  No matter what chairs I end up buying for my living room, I will be reupholstering them in blue velvet (which is still unsourced - any ideas?).  I have a narrow living room so armless chairs will work best in the space and will offer more comfort than an occasional chair.  



I didn't end up buying anything yesterday, the hunt for the perfect living room chairs is still on.  I hope you all enjoyed your weekend!  






Weekend Decor Shopping

How is it Thursday already?!  This week went by really fast.  I'm excited that it's almost the weekend again which means more decor shopping.  Last weekend the weather was so beautiful - sunny and hot, it was such a nice change from all the constant rain we've been having.  So I hopped on my bike and rode up and down residential streets in my neighbourhood looking for yard sales, then I biked downtown to walk along Queen Street and pop into some antique shops and home furniture & decor stores.  Here is just a small sampling of things I saw and/or bought:

Drawers filled with drawer hardware at Chatelet

A table setting at Chatelet.  Such beautiful, romantic furniture and decor in this store; very French provincial.

The drawer pulls that I bought at Chatelet - see my blog post about replacing drawer hardware here.



I finally found a new lamp for my living room!  I love the Arco floor lamp (see it here) but it's too wide for my narrow room.  This one is not only more suitable for a smaller space, but I like that there are five different light sources instead of just one.  The marble base is going to be the perfect anchor for my marble-topped bar cabinet on the opposite side of the room.  Each light on the fixture swivels side to side for a customizable look.  This picture is of the floor model (from Urban Barn); I had to order it as it wasn't in stock so I won't have it for another 2-3 weeks.  I can't wait to see it in my space!


Also from Urban Barn - a cute set of plates decorated with chair sillhouettes on an even cuter dresser/cabinet that has a "reverse tromp l'oeil" effect to it of life imitating art.  


This was my one and only yard sale find of the day - scored it for only $2 and it actually works!  I love it because it reminds me of an identical clock that my grandparents had in their house, so this is my nostalgia piece.  

I found this trivet in an antique store.  At the time, I didn't know what the Chinese characters meant but I thought it was a really striking image, especially with the Greek key pattern in the surrounding circle.  There's a brass hoop on the back to allow the trivet to be hung on the wall, which is exactly what I'm going to do with it as soon as I find a place for it (if I had a home office it would definitely be going in there!).  I've since learned from a friend at work that the symbols are pronounced "foo-loo" and it means "prosperity in career."  

I might go back to Structube and buy this lamp - it is so sparkly and would look great next to my bar cabinet.  It's the perfect size, too; I need a slim shade for that corner of the room.

The best price I've seen so far for a replica of the Philippe Starck Louis Ghost Chair - $79 at Structube.  

This weekend I'll be heading to the Junction to check out the plethora of antique shops that are concentrated in that small neighbourhood.  Window shopping only though, unless I see something really inexpensive - that floor lamp I just bought wasn't exactly expensive, but it definitely maxed out the budget for now.