i heart you

Apparently I haven't paid a bit of attention to the new year arriving and here it is February! Time flies. I'd best hurry offer up some Valentine's Day finds (and then pay attention before I look up and it's summer!).

So a little love to get things rolling:

a mod vintage lucite heart - decor or paperweight - listed on Etsy here

Looking for something a little more rugged? I love this old jewelers mold

great guy gift and h-e-a-v-y! find it here

Add a little candle light with a pair of classic Dansk heart candle sticks designed for tiny tapers

6 tiny tapers are included with these - ready to go here

or go classic with this fabulous paperweight with a genteel look

love springs eternal here

However you say it, be sure to say it. Happy February everyone!

Holiday Shopping with Sophisticated Vintage

Turkey's over, let's go shopping! A recent whirlwind shopping road trip (with my stalwart SV Chestertown sidekick Ellen) led to some pretty fantastic finds. We stocked up for the holidays (or maybe we just really like shopping and the holidays are a great reason to indulge our inner vintage-buyers!). The Etsy shop is stocked to the brim with terrific things - for giving, for your home, and for you - from modern to rustic to jewelry and glammy exotic boho finds! Here are some of our favorites from the road:

mid century brass and abalone ice bucket and tongs set with one from a set of Culver ruby roly poly glasses

a small pair of vintage snowshoes for the perfect rustic look

a huge Taxco Mexican modernist sterling pin

barware galore including a 4 piece set of Shannon Irish crystal barware

 

and a (heavy) token of your love - a jeweler's mold with a heart

However you spend your holidays, 

we at Sophisticated Vintage hope they are happy and joyful. 

Wishing you peace, love and vintage - marilyn

autumn style

Autumn is my favorite time of year. I'm happiest wearing a sweater. I'm a big fan of copper and brass and wood. Give me a birch tree and I'm swooning.

There. I've said it. For a gal living in Florida, this might pose a bit of a challenge, but I've adjusted my internal thermostat and once October arrives, I'm calling it Fall, regardless of the temperature. I might not be able to wear chunky sweaters just yet, but that doesn't stop me from sprucing up with fall decor.

The same goes for my Etsy shop. This is the time of year when I'm stocking up on rustic wood and fabulous barware and elegant table and serving items. Who can blame me if I throw in a little brass as well?

Here's a sneak peek. It might just get you loving Autumn too!

huge wooden dough bowl - a rare find!

stunning brass samovar with dolphin accents!

brass on a smaller scale - an elephant dinner bell

modern barware - a sterling sherry decanter label

an English stoneware beer bottle with great graphics

I'll wrap it up with something modern (you know I can't resist) with a very organic feel, elegant decor year round. The designer, Martin Freyer, is known for his ceramics for Rosenthal, and also for creating the Volkswagen logo!

a pair of onion (or pleated) vases

Just a taste of what's in store this Fall at Sophisticated Vintage Florida on Etsy!

Peace, Love and Vintage - marilyn

Sophisticated Vintage debuts a new brick and mortar location!

Official news! Sophisticated Vintage is now part of the Adjectives Market family! We've just set up shop at their location in Altamonte Springs, Florida, a bit north of Orlando. In addition to that location, Adjectives Market can be found at Winter Park and Winter Garden (their newest location), and there's also Adjectives Unhinged which offers a variety of workshops - design is everything! We're so happy to be part of this great vintage market.

Here's a photo of the Sophisticated Vintage booth, which we hope you'll visit soon!

And if you can't get there in person, you can still shop out great finds in the Etsy shop

SophisticatedFlorida, and follow us on Instagram as SophisticatedVintageFlorida!

Great finds for the holidays and gift giving! xo - marilyn

just can't wait to tell you!!

How incredible is this?? SophisticatedFlorida, our vintage shop on Etsy, was featured as one of

THE BEST ETSY SHOPS FOR VINTAGE HOME DECOR

by Katie Armour Taylor, whose blog The Neotrad - Daily Discoveries on Design, Travel & Life is eagerly read all over the world. We are, needless to say, over the moon! Thank you, Katie!!

What did she like specifically? Here are her top picks:

 A vintage lucite obelisk with an interior stamp collection from the 1970s

 Vintage Italian braided white cache pot

A rather fabulous pair of brass scroll bookends (we love them too!!) 

Time to celebrate here at Sophisticated Vintage Florida! Break out the champagne! (Should we say we have champagne buckets and flutes in the shop as well??)! Cheers!! - xo m 

on the road - just how i like it

We have a new annual tradition here at Sophisticated Vintage - an annual road trip to New England. It sets my heart all a flutter - not only because we get to visit family and friends along the way - but also because New England runs deep in my blood. From childhood summer trips to Lake Champlain to college in Boston and regular visits to the Brimfield antiques market, wherever I've lived, I've gravitated back to New England.

And the road trip itself is so much part of the fun. Different things can be found in different areas of the country; some finds from a recent whirlwind shopping trip to Pennsylvania, for example, yielded these treasures:

I just don't find these beauties here in Florida, and it's worth getting on the road and searching them out. The great thing about the "hunt" is you never know what you'll find -

...an old baseball glove - great for a sports collection...

cutting boards and bread knives...

old tin toys...

 

modern...and folk art shrines...

 

I'll be posting from the road, and you can keep up with me in the Etsy shop, on instagram and pinterest. Always an adventure! - marilyn

be yourself

I'm not much of a social media person. I admit it. But I've been doing it; I'm keeping my hand in. I've taken up Pinterest - www.pinterest.com/VintageFlorida/, and I'm a regular on Instagram
www.instagram.com/sophisticatedvintageflorida, but beyond that, I'm not in the game. If you need me, you can always find me fiddling away in my Etsy shop. 

Selling anywhere, online or brick and mortar, means staying on top of trends, so I find myself perusing many photos on those sites, and the ones I'm always drawn to are the folks who are mixing it up. Gold Italian mirror on a turquoise painted mantel with peonies in a McCoy matte white vase. That's style, to me. And it takes a certain boldness to follow your own style, but it's absolutely the key to having a home that "works", that feels authentic from the minute you walk in the door.

A friend said the other day "I like to come over to your house and look around". She couldn't have paid me a higher compliment. The things we have - whether it's furniture or objects - we have because they speak to us. We've thoughtfully acquired all of them over time and with intention. We place them, we move them, we freshen them up. They give us joy.

It's been my mission to bring the same process to my Etsy shop. So now, instead of buying as I see things at a shop or show, I'll make a list, walk around, consider and then edit. I find I'm buying less, but I'm always happy with what I've found. 

My point? Be yourself. Don't buy it because it's "in" or buy quickly to fill a space.The right piece will come, with patience. Buy what you love. You might ask if it really goes with what you already have. Trust me, it will. Because it speaks to you, it's a reflection of you. That's what makes it all work. I'm writing on my French country desk next to my modern sofa sitting on an oriental carpet with a linen wing back chair, a turquoise leather slipper chair with nailhead trim, and a side table created from a garden stool and a mirrored platform with antiqued gold iron flowers. Mid century and outsider art sketches hang next to 19th century French schoolgirl watercolors. Everyone wants to hang out here. I know.

Here's what I've found lately. Maybe some of it will speak to you.

two 1940s French oyster baskets in chippy paint

  

vintage english seltzer bottle and mid century chrome card suit ashtrays

lacquerware pencil box and chinoiserie tray

victorian faux bois fruit set

mid century F lle Mannelli travertine rhinocerous bookends for Raymor

Buy what you love. Be yourself. Thanks for stopping by - marilyn