Guest Bathroom: Antique Shelf with Vintage Items
The guest bathroom upstairs has gotten a makeover within the last week. I have already shared a few different posts on this room, so if you missed them, make sure to check them out. The curtains and blinds really warmed up the room since we started with a blank space. “Blank space” as in nothing was hanging on the walls and there were no decorations. It was very boring, but I hadn’t taken the time. I also shared when I added some new items with my vintage items. They are practical pieces that are budget friendly, too, for those who don’t have vintage pieces in your area. We recently hung a shelf in the guest bathroom and its now decorated with vintage items.
![](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,<svg height="1200px" width="900px" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" version="1.1"/>)
Sources: Motorized Blinds / Cottage Style Curtains
Decorating with vintage items has always been my love. I bought my very first house in 1985, when I was 20. Back then, antique furniture was so inexpensive. Everyone wanted new furniture in their homes, but I loved the look of old pieces. I would spend my weekends at yard sales and auctions finding pieces for my home only spending $2 here and $5 there. I had a few tricks to finding fun decor pieces at auctions to add to shelves or things to display in my cabinets. And most of the time they were FREE.
If you have never been to an auction, the auctioneers add a lot of littles in boxes and line them up during the sale. A lot of times, there is no rhyme or reason for any of the random contents of the boxes. But, I always went through each box before the auctions to see if there was anything in them that I would like. If someone else bought the box, I would ask them what item they actually wanted from it. Almost 100% of the time, they didn’t want what I wanted and would say, “Here.. just take it.” I would, of course, offer to pay them for it but it was junk to them.
There is a rule to auctions that some people don’t follow. If you buy a box of items and only want one thing in the box, you are supposed to take the entire thing any way. Well, some people don’t follow rules. Lots of people grab the one item they wanted from the auction and leave the rest. Back then, there was always a pile at the end when the auctioneers were cleaning up that was going to either be donated or thrown to the trash. They let people go through that pile. I always found some great items that, of course, were free.
Man I miss those days!
This shelf, with all of the vintage items, reminds me of some of the items that I would have found at an auction back in the day. The shelf was found at a yard sale several years ago for not much money. I was thinking maybe $15. I ended up painting it with milk paint to give it a chippy look. And, recently I added old hooks since I was going to hang it here in the guest bathroom.
I actually have a few other things to hang here in the guest bathroom including an antique picture. Hopefully I can get that done this week. This room is actually going to get a makeover sooner or later as we will be adding either wallpaper or some other sort of texture to the walls. So, stay tuned for that. In the meantime, I love how this is turning out.
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You are so good at layering! I especially love how you put assorted hand mirrors in a pot on the bathroom sink. Clever and useful! I would love to use this bathroom as your guest!