Show and Tell

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.
—popular idiom

Generally, I’ve found that “one man’s trash” has the same value to me. I’m not big on garage sales or second-hand stores. One evening I came home from work and an old-fashioned, garish mantel clock was sitting on the kitchen counter. In response to my quizzical expression, Tom explained that he passed by an estate sale and had some extra time on his hands, so went on in. “What a deal, huh? It was only $20!” Yeah, right. No matter where I set it, it stuck out like a sore thumb. That old clock, which surprisingly still keeps perfect time, finally found a home in the sitting room off our master bedroom. Its tick-tick-ticking often lulls me to sleep at night.

That said, I couldn’t resist going to an estate sale yesterday. The VP of my department is a renowned interior decorator and has impeccable taste (he even has a can’t-miss-it design column in SPACES Magazine). He recently sold his beautiful home in historic Hyde Park to relocate to a condo he’s refurbishing near the Country Club Plaza. Well, all the contents of his home couldn’t fit into the condo…thus, the estate sale.

I missed the first day which I hear was a tremendous success, but the second day offered the few things left at half-price. It was a little discouraging finding item after item that I’d love to take home with a “sold” sticker or a note stating that it was to remain in the home. Finally my eyes landed on a set of round bamboo platters—one jumbo, two large and five small (bet there were once a half dozen). I liked how they looked and thought the large one would display nicely on a recessed shelf in my entry. Breaking up the set was a “no-no,” but another shopper and I agreed to split it. So I took home one of the large ones and the smaller set of five. As you can see in photo on the far right, the large platter on a stand makes a lovely monochromatic statement with my Devonshire* walls (doing my best to talk design-ey here), and as shown in the other photo, the small platters work beautifully as chargers.

Lesson to this story: one person's castaway truly might be another's treasure. And, for the record, the clock has definitely grown on me.


* A Ralph Lauren interior paint color.