You’re a “chippy-shabby” person. You’re driving down a road. You spot one of those “OH MY GOSH – I HAVE TO
STOP HERE” places and if you’ve been married awhile, your husband has become
accustomed to braking and adeptly making a quick u-turn to get this woman to
where she needs to be. Last weekend, my
dear man whisked me away to Door County, Wisconsin for our 32nd
anniversary to the B&B we had stayed in 30 years earlier on our 2nd
anniversary (LOVE this man!). If you’ve
ever been to Door County, you know that there are lots and lots of cute shops
and antique stores. BUT – this one was
different.
When it says "Worldwide" . . . It MEANS worldwide. I practically fell out of the car trying to get to it all while my husband ambled inside. I was immediately drawn as if by built-in radar to these
two iron/metal folding chairs. How great is that
– they meet all of my ‘requirements’:
Vintage; Metal; Unique and check out that price – how can you argue with
34.00 for BOTH? And did I mention that they FOLD??
There was so much salvaged wood and doors and
ladders. Just look at the beautiful
chippiness of this door with the blue paint showing through.
I meandered my way (heart pounding the whole time;
mentally calculating just HOW much I could convince hubby to spend) around to
the side of the building where I saw these beautiful iron and wood arches
stacked up in neat piles.
Ladders . . . reclaimed wood . . .
This made me laugh . . . the tag says "Candle Holder -- or not". And when I saw this picture, I realized . . . I had meant to grab this and forgot. Poo.
While I was still browsing outside, my husband called me
and said, “You have to come inside.”
(This man knows me so well.) We
were greeted by Terence who gladly began to recount to me all about the shop
and how he acquires all of this great stuff.
Let me tell you, this place is huge and filled in every nook and cranny
with beautiful things literally from around the world (the sign does not lie!)
The building seemed to stretch forever (in a GOOD way!)
Terrence told us how and where he acquired a lot of the
pieces but truly, there was so much, I couldn’t begin to tell you where
everything came from. I do remember India, Vietnam, Germany, Hungary . . . But like the sign says, just ask!
There's that patient, long-suffering husband of a blogger . . .
The store also has booths that are rented by individual
vendors with lots of great vintage and antique pieces.
I saw this clothes rack giraffe and felt a rush of pure
joy. I had the exact, same one in my
bedroom as a little girl!
We had so much fun talking with Terence – half of the fun
of stopping here is listening to his stories!
Just so you know, it’s okay to “haggle” a bit with him but if it’s
something from a booth or a vendor selling on consignment, he’s not free to
haggle on those. However, he did give me
10% off of the chairs which was really nice.
I ended up with those folding chairs which are going to
go on my front porch.
I also found this adorable, vintage clip on night light
from the 1950’s. I immediately knew it
would be perfect in my newly redone, retro kitchen. It’s an interesting piece. It really IS a nightlight but it’s funny
because it’s all metal and that metal gets hot; also that it plugs in with a
cord. My how safety standards have
changed – haha! It’s the perfect little
accent light though next to my sink.
My last purchase was this very interesting wooden
crate/box. I’ve done a little bit of
research (should have asked Terence about it!) and it appears it is
German? The abbreviation Fa. means “firm”
and the Gebr means “brothers” so maybe it’s from the Firm Brothers? The rest is a town in the Netherlands. I don’t know what it would have been used for
(something for harvesting/carrying vegetables or fruit?) For now it’s on top of
my suitcase/side table.
If you’re ever in the Midwest, and if you’ve never been
to Door County – you simply have to go.
In any season, it’s a beautiful place.
AND if you are there – well, you would really be missing out if you
didn’t make a stop at Bay Trading Company. Be sure to give yourself plenty of time to shop and visit with Terence!
On
any given week (depending on how busy I am!) I love to participate in Linky
Parties. These gals put a lot of time
and effort into hosting these parties so I always want to show my appreciation
by directing my readers to these blogs.
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Bonjour chère amie,
ReplyDeleteUne idée parfaite... que de s'être arrêté dans cette "caverne d'Ali Baba" !... Il y a vraiment toutes sortes de choses extraordinaires !
Je suis contente pour vous deux, que vous ayez acquis ces deux merveilleuses chaises pliantes. Elles sont adorables ! La petite lampe dans votre cuisine est aussi adorable.
Un grand merci de partager ces superbes photos avec nous.
Gros bisous 🌸
Thanks so much, Lauren, for your visits and kind words!! I LOVED this post because I love places like this and I so enjoyed seeing this one!! Thanks so much for sharing with us!! I would be going home with a car full of things for sure!!
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Deb
This looks like my kind of place! Somewhere, in there, I'd find the perfect treasure. Thanks for the tour.
ReplyDeleteI would have had to use the credit card and get that metal mailbox with the lavender de Provence on it !!
ReplyDeleteOH MERCY!!!!!! That is one cool place. Wow! So fun and so glad you found a few treasures!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fabulous place! I don't know how you could even decide what to buy with so many beautiful treasures surrounding you!! So glad y'all had a good time. Maybe I will talk my darling into taking me there :)
ReplyDeleteI'm speechless! Wow! What an amazing treasure hunting paradise. Love all the goodies you found, especially that box.
ReplyDeleteThis looks like heaven! I'd love to visit someday. These pictures make me want to go thrifting ASAP!!
ReplyDeleteLove the chairs! That looks like my kind of place. I could happily stroll through all that great stuff for hours. Thanks so much for sharing at Vintage Charm.
ReplyDeleteAbout the text... it's not German, it's Dutch (from the Netherlands, same as Holland)
ReplyDeleteIt's short for "Firma Gebroeders Geluk, Tholen" wich means: Firm (corporation) Brothers Geluk (Geluk means "fortune/happiness", but is also al normal Dutch surname) Tholen is a small town (originally an island) in the southwest of the Netherlands.