Markets: Porta Portese

Perhaps it is the frequency of my visits to the Porta Portese this summer, or maybe it is the fact that I am looking at things differently ... but I am finding all sorts of great stuff at the Sunday market! I am not buying it all - that really would make Chez Schultz a haven of clutter and me, by association, a serious pack rat. But I am thinking about the things I find and how they could be re-fashioned, re-used, re-purposed. For instance take this old foot rest:

I love the brown pony cowhide cover but those huge gold rivets have GOT to go. I am thinking smaller rivets, in a darker metal to match those excellent legs. It wouldn't take much to give this old stool some new getty-up and go. (By the way, I was also diggin' the pile of vintage suitcases in the background...more on vintage suitcases in a later post.)

And what about this sweet little cabinet Lauren spotted hidden behind a pile of wooden boxes and old paintings:

The shabby-chic, peeling paint in the amazing blue green color is fantastic! All it needs is some new hardware - maybe a glass hand-pull ... It is very country-cottage, but I could picture it paired with many styles of decor. It would make a great bedside table, or maybe in a bathroom?

You see a lot of old books at the market, but the bindings on these were especially beautiful. This brought to mind something Jennifer told about a while back - about a shop in Portland called
ex libris anonymous that refashions old book covers into new journals. They take the old book jacket off and rebind it with new, blank paper inside ... but they also retain any beautiful cover pages, illustrations, maps etc. from the original book and intersperse them throughout the new pages. Wouldn't these be great recycled as journals, sketchbooks, guest books, scrap books, albums, etc?? Maybe I should take a bookbinding class ...

I LOVED this huge plate with the octopus. Loved. But Lauren talked me down. Again. After all, it really was big ... and extremely heavy. But Lauren is now back in Seattle so ... maybe next week?

This set of 6 small glasses were almost too good to pass up. They had a tiny etched star pattern that I liked and they were a great size ... but I don't need them here in Rome and cannot justify lugging them to Seattle. So, they are still out there. Any takers?

There are many many times that I wish I had my own home in Rome. This was one of them. The true find of the day were these fabulous metal garden chairs. There were 8 total - two sets of 4 in different styles. If I lived here I would get them all and mix them, perhaps paint them a bright color, but maybe not - the white is really great. I could even see them used indoors. Cushions? Ahhhrgh. They were fantastic and I hated letting them go!!

Hooray! Lauren finally bought the vintage Ray Ban Wayfarer sunglasses she had seen on my blog and been eying up for two weeks. They really look great on her - the masculine frame is a nice contrast to her feminine style. And these babies are going for 120 euro new so the market price could NOT be beat. (Justin is looking pretty good here rockin' his Roy Bans ...)

Last find of the day was this beautiful old plate from a Serbian vendor I have been frequenting for years. But I did not buy it ...


So, what did I buy - another rustic pitcher for my collection (the dark green one in the upper left). Yes, it is a "heavy breakable", but what the heck?!

LS