Possibilities and a Giveaway!

I dwell in Possibility.
~ Jane Austen

I love

flea markets

antique stores

occasional sales

Good Will....

As I enter any of these

my heart begins

to beat faster, my

pulse races 

and my mind

swirls with

possibilities.

Only problem

is, I am married to

a man who doesn't 

necessarily see 

what I see when

I haul some of

these treasures home.

I see vintage charm

He sees squeaky ~ needs oil

I see time worn and well-loved

He sees old and cast-off

I see chippy patina

He sees lead paint dangers

I see groovy, re-purposed

He sees fire danger!

Almost came home with one of these!

What's a girl to do?

Last Thursday I brought

home two cool, industrial-

chic chairs....great prices,

both fit their intended

places....BUT....I didn't

consider the lead paint

possibility when I piled

them into my friend's 

car to tote them home.

He did.

My Toledo school chair
is just like this only
it's chippy and white!
{And hopefully lead-free.}

According to Country Living

Magazine, "Not all painted furniture

from the past was created with 

lead-based paint, but much of it was, 

so you do need to be careful,

 especially with small children in the house.

The danger lies in ingesting paint chips and 

inhaling paint dust, not in touching,

so chipping surfaces pose the greatest threat."

They go on to explain that 

very old pieces most likely

do not contain lead; the biggest

worry is furniture made in

the early to mid 1900's.

How do you know?  The best

thing, of course, is to ask

the vendor who is selling it.

If you forget, like I did, or

the dealer doesn't know,

there is a test kit available

at most hardware stores 

that will test whether that

old paint is lead-based.

This one's available at Home Depot.

If you find that your piece

does contain lead paint, it

is wisest not to use it and certainly

to keep it away from 
where children play.  
The easiest remediation

would be to apply a low-luster

polyurethane varnish, but

it could affect the look of your

item.  It's best not to refinish

in this case because of the dangers

posed by stripping or sanding,

even with a face mask.

Country Living goes on

to say,  "Unless a dealer can guarantee 

that a piece of furniture is lead-free, 

the safest option for households with 

young children may be to choose new 

pieces that look old for now and purchase 

authentic pieces when the children are a little older."

Which leads me to 
another delightful giveaway 
from CSN stores!  

CSN sells everything from

nightstands to stand mixers

and they are giving one lucky

Privet and Holly reader a

$60 gift card to spend, as you

wish, at any of their 
on-line stores.

After reading the Country Living

article, I got to thinking about

new items that look old....or 

give the impression
that you've had them in your

 family for generations

and decided to peek around CSN,

just as if I were wandering through
a wonderful antiques store.

My heart started beating

faster....my pulse began

to race....my mind to

whirl!

Here are a few 
lovelies

that I found ~

{No, I wasn't

looking at price tags...

just dreaming!}

Inspired?

Want a chance to win?

Simply visit CSN and
leave me a comment

with the name of
a CSN item that
would make your
heart dance....

For a second entry,

let me know that you

follow my ramblings!

For a third,

shout it out

somewhere on your

blog, if you write one.


{Leave each comment separately}

That's it!

The giveaway

will wrap up on

October 20th.

Just think 

of

the 

**possibilities**

xx

Suzanne

[images: 6,9 google images;
2 Savvy City Farmer
4,5 Privet and Holly;
7 flickr ~ click for attribution;
1,3,8,9 Country Living;
10-14 csn.com]

Posted in flea markets , giveaway , lead paint