So, you don’t really need a vintage sewing basket , but you love the look of the woven wicker? Just think outside the box!

Many vintage items can be reworked in our homes to fit our modern lifestyles.

The old telephone table with lamp becomes a drop-off zone for keys and a place to change your shoes at your front door.

As for the sewing basket, our friend Gladys uses hers as a caddy in her guest bathroom. Why not ? It’s perfect for stacking toilet paper rolls on the bottom and for towels and small items in the top. Its size allows it to fit easily between a sink and a toilet in a small powder room or guest bath.

This is our transformation…

Vintage sewing box being used as a sewing box!

Vintage sewing basket transformed as a practical bathroom caddy ($175).

Take a leaf out of Hollywood decorator Mary McDonald’s book “The Allure of Style”. We did!

On her office desk, Mary has used a vintage silver tea set to corral all her office supplies. At Mrs. Nicholson home, we have put our pens in the teapot, paperclips in the sugar bowl and our business cards in the creamer. You get the picture!

Glamourize your workspace!

Vintage tea set as a glamourous office set! ($65)

I just love these vintage tablecloths – not just for their cheerful colours – but for what they tell us about how culture has changed.

Tablecloths from the 1930s (the Depression years) were distinguished by their bright, intense multi-coloured prints. The 1940s (the War years) saw more complex designs and subtle shading. The 1950s (prosperity!) brought in a more optimistic  point of view and the tablecloths reflected this excitement.

Their vintage cheerfulness is just as appropriate today. Never mind if the 1940s tea cloth you like is too small for your table. You can layer it over a modern solid-coloured larger cloth and have the best of both worlds!

At Mrs. Nicholson Home, we cherish these survivors, fascinated by the notion that they have endured much love and laundry!

Ref: “Colorful tablecloths 1930s-1960s – Threads of the Past” by Yvonne Barineau and Erin Henderson. And: “Collector’s Guide to Vintage Tablecloths” by Pamela Glasell.

Selection of vintage tablecloths ($20 – $90).

This rayon teacloth from the 1930s features beautiful bright clear colours ($30). 32 inch square.

Another view of the current selection.

Who can explain the 50s fascination with horse lamps?  We can!

It was the popularity of the cowboy heroes of the 1930s and 40s – everyone from Hopalong Cassidy and the Lone Ranger to Roy Rogers and Gene Autry – which spilled over into domestic design.

At Mrs.Nicholson Home, we have no fewer than three horse lamps in stock right now!

The first one, in raspberry ceramic, could be as early as the 1940s. It has a very stylized mane and a wonderful oblong shade with French trim.

Raspberry ceramic horse lamp ($195).

The second, in green ceramic, sports a brass bit in his mouth. His modern lampshade is trimmed in 70s braid.

Green horse lamp ($110).

The last, a prancing horse in a mottled brown and yellow ceramic, has a vintage fibreglass shade.

Prancing horse lamp (SOLD)

Hi-ho, Silver! Away!

I love these six glasses in the “Desert Rose” pattern! I found out this morning that this pattern in dishes was first manufactured in the early 1940s. It turns out this is the best-selling American dinnerware pattern in history! It is still being produced.

The pattern was modelled after the Rosa Rugosa. Franciscan Ware was produced in California (hence the name). The pattern was named “Desert Rose” to give it a California feel even though rugosa are not native to California.

These six glasses would be very pretty on any summer table!

Six pretty “Desert Rose” glasses. ($60)

The Franciscan mark

One of the fun things about having a vintage store is to discover the history behind a piece. Right now we have a J.C. Higgens cooler for sale. A real gem complete with its tray in a great green colour! So, I began to research this object and and what a story!

Turns out that J.C. Higgens was a real person named John who was a Sears employee. He came from Ireland and began working with Sears in 1898. He spent his whole career there and became vice-president of the company for a time. Sears decided to name their sporting good line with his name. He worked for Sears as head bookkeeper until his retirement in 1930. He died in 1950.

Here it is !

JC Higgens cooler (SOLD)