The Vintage Kiddo Collective Blog: children's furniture

VKC: Tell us a bit about yourself and your shop.

Jeannie: I am 31 years old and I live in the Detroit, MI area. I am married to a great guy and I have two children- Bobby,2 and Catherine, 10. We just moved from the city to the country and the house we are in actually used to be a barn. I love gardening, cooking, doing arts and crafts with my kids, children's books, art, movies, traveling and learning. I have a degree in elementary ed. and I taught preschool and Kindergarten for a few years before becoming a stay at home mom. I am really interested in Montessori education and I try to do Montessori inspired activities with my kids.

VKC: Why are you drawn to vintage?

Jeannie: I am not just drawn to vintage. I am pretty well obsessed with vintage! It began probably when I was in high school. I would pick up a vintage purse or other accessory here and there. I have always been into interior decorating and even as a teenager I liked to spend lots of time collecting, rearranging and decorating with found objects. Over the past few years, I have been collecting vintage like crazy. I am an avid thrift shopper and I can hardly pass up a great vintage find. Starting my etsy shop allowed me to pick up vintage items I don't have a need for so I can admire them and pass them on to others who will love them. I think I am drawn to vintage because I love to imagine the history of a piece based on it's use, where I found it, where it was made and what was going on in the world during that time period. I also love the quality of vintage items relative to many of the mass-market items of today. I also adore the fact that many vintage items, particularly garments are almost one of a kind!

VKC: Where do you find your treasures?

Jeannie: I live in a great area for vintage. I have a couple dozen resale shops within a 30 mile radius of where I live. I am particularly fond of garage and rummage sales. I occasionally stop by an estate sale if it's not too much out of the way. I often find estate sales to be a little stressful though, with large crowds and high prices. I often like to use my thrifting time as my relaxing "me" time and I love a bargain! My husband and I like to take a weekend away when we can and take our time to reach our destination- taking secondary roads as often as possible, often discovering small towns with antiques for sale and interesting people to meet.

VKC: What is your process when working?

Jeannie: I think that no matter what I am doing at any particular time, I always have an underlying awareness of the space and objects around me- the colors, shapes, textures and how things are working together. Things in the environment really jump out at me if they are visually pleasing to me in some way. For this reason, I really love digging for treasures in boxes of "junk" and sorting through racks and racks of clothing to find one or two amazing pieces of children's clothing. When I uncover a vintage gem or two, it brings me joy! I love to share my treasures with my husband, children and friends. My son is my little vintage fashionista (see above photo). Both my daughter and my son are my thrifting buddies and my husband is very supportive of my addiction!

VKC: How do you promote your business?

Jeannie: Honestly, that is something I need to work on!

VKC: What do you do when you are not creating/working?

Jeannie: When I am not working on the domestic end of my life, I love working on my etsy shop and vice versa! I do also enjoy reading a good novel, watching old and new films, drinking microbrews, walking and bike riding.

VKC: What is your favorite item in your shop or that you have sold and why?

Jeannie: I have so many favorite items that it's impossible to name just one. A recent favorite that just sold are these amazing knit girl's bellbottoms by Healthtex. I think they were in my shop for only a day before they sold. They had the most spectacular 70s partridge print on them. It is so hard to find vintage children's pants, especially ones like these so I was pretty elated when I found them.

VKC: How do you juggle your business and your personal life/motherhood?

Jeannie: My children love thrifting like their mommy! We tend to drop off a lot of old books and toys at the back door of resale shops and go around to the front door to buy replacements. When I go out by myself to do grocery shopping and errands, I plan my thrifting route depending on where I'm headed. I work on my shop when my two year old is napping and after both kids are in bed for the night. It is the perfect job for a stay at home mom!

GIVEAWAY

Jeannie is so kind to offer a GIVEAWAY for a

$20 Gift Certificate to Sweet Shop Vintage!

Enter to win by visiting Sweet Shop Vintage and leaving a comment on this post letting us know your favorite item.

OTHER WAYS TO ENTER:

(Leave a separate comment for each one!)

Become a follower of the VKC blog (along the right sidebar).
Blog about this giveaway and comment with the link.
Become a follower of the Sweet Shop Vintage Blog.
Follow VKC on Facebook.
Subscribe to the VKC via RSS or email (along the right sidebar).
Visit another member shop and let us know your favorite item (one comment per shop visited).

Giveaway ends Sunday, June 5th at midnight (EST).

GOOD LUCK!

I am smitten with vintage furniture for children. It charms me so, I think that even when my children are grown, I will still surround myself with little chairs and tables to set my drinks and potted plants upon.

I have always found some irony in the child's chair, though. Neither of my children ever really sit for any length of time! In fact, here is a photo of my Little Man posing so nicely for me, sitting on a little vintage step stool that he uses around the house for various things.

I wanted him to sit in the vintage bear rocker behind him, a favorite antique store find of mine that I'm sure I will never part with. I think he sat there for a second or two but had moved to the stool by the time I got my camera ready. He's got his mischevious twinkle in his eyes here. You will see why in the next image!

I have a little play kitchen set up in my living room, as most mommies of toddlers do. Next to the stove/cupboard area is a table and chair set that we use for setting up pretend meals and for various other activities. The chairs are great little chrome mid century pieces. They were recovered at one point in pretty current red and blue damask fabric. I'd love to recover them in vintage 60s fabric when I get a chance. The table is just a plastic thing from Ikea. It's nice and sturdy and covered here with a vintage tablecloth.

The next table is a recent find from my favorite thrift store. I think I paid about $2.50 for it. I love the print on the top. There are a few 80s food stickers that some kiddo stuck to the top of it. I think they are great so I left them on there. I've been using this little table in my kichen next to a shelf with various activities on it.

The rocker was mine when I was a little girl. My grandparents bought it in Hong Kong about 30 years ago. My aunt just shipped it across the country to me. She used it for her daughter who has now outgrown it. It was so sweet of her to send it all this way for my Little Man to use. He likes it more than the Bear Chair rocker, probably because he can get it to rock much faster. He is a wild child.

Though I've amassed quite a collection of children's furniture, I still often find myself poking around online to look at more. After all, even if you have a small space, you can fit many more tiny chairs and tables in your home than grown up size furniture! Here are a few favorites.

Vintage Chrome Table and Chair Set from ebay seller cassiashopper999
70s Folding Child's Table and Chair from pour toujours on etsy
Mid Century Child's School Chair from Bellalulu on etsy
Pair of Child's Chairs from Select Modern on etsy
Vintage Folding Child's Stool or Table from Dirty Birdies Vintage on etsy
Vintage Children's Desk with Red Chair from Heartland Vintage on etsy
Vintage Old School Aluminum Child's Rocker from Rerun'z Vintage 2 Modern on etsy