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What NOT to Buy New

September 18, 2015 mithra ballesteros

Today's post is Part One in a new series called "What Not to Buy New."  I've grouped vintage objects into still life compositions to illustrate that the patina of time makes things more beautiful. 

I'm not alone in this opinion. This week, Martha Stewart proclaimed that "old is the new black." The latest issue of Veranda Magazine uses the word 'vintage' ten times in the first five articles. The CEO of One King's Lane says that his company can't keep enough vintage in stock to satisfy the thirst of their tens of thousands of customers. 

What does 'vintage' mean? Technically, it describes an item that is more than twenty years old and less than one hundred years old. After that, the object officially qualifies as an antique.

This photograph is about making a case for you, my friend, to think twice before purchasing a new set of 12 water glasses from Bed Bath and Beyond. 

Every morning, I drink out of vintage juice glasses in my cupboard. I have ten of them, from the 1940s, each etched with spiky ferns. I imagine the family who previously owned the glasses. Did the mom drink her juice with curlers in her hair? Did the dad wear wool pajamas? Who broke the two glasses missing from the presumed set of twelve? 

So 'vintage' also means a connection between the past and the present that is only partially revealed. 'Vintage' means mystery. Daily use of vintage objects fires the imagination. Vintage objects that were used before we were born keep us from becoming too self-important. We are reminded that others came before us and others will come after us.   

Next time you're at the mall, forget about the glass vase at Pottery Barn. Go shop a consignment store instead. Or peruse my shop! I've done the footwork for you. And imagine how much happier your flowers will be in a vessel that once held their ancestors. 

Photo by Renn Kuhnen


If you want to see more in the still life series, "What Not to Buy New", consider subscribing to my Friday posts. The next one is about Millennials, God love them. 

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In Vintage Finds Tags vintage, estate sales, thrifting
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Welcome! I'm Mithra (pronounced Mee-thra). I'm an interior stylist and a writer. I'm also a vintage and antiques lover. I have an online shop, Finder Not Keeper, where I sell my best finds. (That's a white lie. I keep the best finds.) Read more about me and the blog here. 


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Instagram posts

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A few days back in the ‘Quon. All of February is the price I’m willing to fork over for one week in September.
Latest blog post about our new outdoor shower and the differences of opinion between this guy and his mother (me) on how it should be used. #linkinbio
Latest blog post about our new outdoor shower and the differences of opinion between this guy and his mother (me) on how it should be used. #linkinbio
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Brainy, brave, kind, genuine, indefatigable, funny, patriotic, fair, hard working, gentle, strong, iconic.
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Those aren’t my hands forming baguettes. But I took the pic. @heat_her_all_a_man has it down and I’m ready with my salted butter and honey. What do you eat with baguettes?
Surveying the herb garden after a good weeding session. Basil took a hit the last couple weeks but everything else is flourishing like summer lasts forever.
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First restaurant account for @littlelaurentide! Also first time eating out since the snow was flying. Really really fun night. (Not to mention that building’s white with black trim paint color scheme is 💯)
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Surprise lilies, also known as naked ladies, fit in well here at the farm for reasons we will let you ponder.
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This is son #2, the farmer. Walter is working hard to turn this place into a sustainable organic farm. Follow us @littlelaurentide for the latest on how mother and son align, clash, argue, hug.
On the blog today, the newest bachelor at Little Laurentide. Will he draw viewers or is he a train wreck along the lines of Juan Pablo Galavis? Read the latest blog post to find out! Link in bio.
On the blog today, the newest bachelor at Little Laurentide. Will he draw viewers or is he a train wreck along the lines of Juan Pablo Galavis? Read the latest blog post to find out! Link in bio.
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On the blog today: a tour of the best places on the farm to sit for a spell. And I write a bit about what it’s like to cohabit with a son who used to give me every kind of gray hair. He could teach a polar bear how to be grumpy and I could teach a grizzly bear how to be grumpy. It’s a new world for the two of us, farming together, and can you guess how it’s going??

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