Well, why not?! Here’s five reasons why it’s a great choice for any home!

1. Uniqueness

   Most vintage items are singular finds. Each vintage item has lived a separate life, and because of that, most of the time, even if it was mass produced at some point, it’s unique circumstances have made it one of a kind. When adding vintage to a space, you’re adding an element that can’t be replicated easily. These add interest and depth to a space, as well as telling a story.  This is especially true with family heirlooms, things acquired in places that are special to us, or pieces that were just lucky finds.

2. Quality 

In a throwaway society, quality is available, but it is not always accessible on the average budget. Common things used to be built to last and to be enjoyed for many years and often many generations. Because these items are made this way, vintage is easy to maintain- and sometimes even gets better with age

3. Good for the planet

This seems like a no-brainer but it’s a big deal. The less demand for new items, the fewer resources used in manufacturing and transporting them. The less disposable goods we use, the less goes into landfills. That’s good for all of us, and future generations.

4. Fun to shop for

With sites like eBay and Etsy and Chairish and so many more, it’s easy to look for very specific pieces and find something that exactly fits the bill. The range in pricing also makes certain styles much more accessible for whatever budget you dealing with. If you enjoy shopping in person, what could be more fun than digging through local antique malls and flea markets and eclectic shops with vintage inventory? And then there’s the thrill of finding just the perfect thing- pure adrenaline! 

5. Supporting small businesses 

This is definitely another feel good aspect of purchasing vintage. Most businesses selling vintage are small businesses, run by a family or an individual. If you go the thrift store route, a lot of those support nonprofits. Your purchase makes a much larger impact for these sellers than for mass retailers. Everyone loves charming mom and pop shops. We all complain when areas become filled with chain stores, but without the community support, financially, this is a predictable outcome. Vintage stores are no exception.

I’d love to hear the reasons why you  sometimes choose vintage, please share in the comments!

 Well, it seems I have 470 blog posts already and I really thought maybe there was only a dozen still up. I’ve had this blog for pretty much a decade, maybe longer, and I keep reinventing it and leaving the old stuff too. I don’t know how wise that is since I have changed a great deal and find some of my older post to be judgmental and hyper religious which I am not anymore, ha ha ha. So my intent now is to chronicle my time as a full-time vintage and antique dealer. It’s going to be a part journal, part informational.

Here’s where I am now: I quit my full-time day job to pursue dealing full-time. I am currently contracting a room at the Safety Harbor Galleria here in Florida. I also have three online Etsy shops and two eBay businesses. I sell from Instagram and Facebook as well. My goals, and what I will write about on here, is getting into a couple more local stores and listing and selling enough inventory to close down my storage unit and clear out the inventory I keep in my home. I would love to get to the place where I source and immediately list and don’t have “dead piles“. (Dead piles is a morbid term for inventory that is just sitting around waiting to be listed but that you never seem to get to.)

Today I have already been to the shop and set up a new jewelry display that I hope will encourage more sales. I’ve made jewelry for years and I also have a penchant for vintage pieces so I’m hoping this is a good way to display both.

This vintage style frame has a padded burlap background. I’m using golden pearl headed pins to keep the jewelry on the board.

 Vintage ashtrays… beautiful, uniquely shaped, abundant and affordable in most thrift shops- it's a smoker's dream!  But what if you are not a smoker? Do you sadly put it down and walk away? I know if the piece is absolutely stunning, there's no way I'm leaving it. Once home though, what's to be done with an old ashtray?  I have thought long and hard about this and experimented and I've come up with a few ideas.

• Succulent planter
• Holder for buttons, baubles and curiosities
• Kitchen sponge holder
• Catchall for change or keys
• Jewelry keeper


 • Soap dish
 • Candle holder
 • Barrette and hair clip keeper
 • Desk holder for paper clips, thumb tacks, stamps, etc.
 • Taller trays can hold cosmetics tubes or brushes


 The one thing you do not want to do though, is use it  with any sort of food. These are not made out of products intended to be used for food and can have lead and other hazardous products that can leech into food.

If you've used a vintage ashtray for something unique, please share!