I’ve always loved catalogues. One of my only memories of early-early childhood is of visits to my grandmother’s home. For years she kept a battered old copy of the now defunct Witmark catalogue. It was well worn, loved, and thumbed through each and every visit. As a small child, I dog-eared many, many pages of that wish book {mostly of the toy section!}.
Even today, I’m a lover of them. A great mail day, for me, is getting multiple Pottery Barn, Crate & Barrel, The Container Store wish books. I love to save them for browsing right before bed.
What I don’t love? The prices of all that “stuff.” I have Pottery Barn dreams on a TJ Maxx budget. And, there’s nothing wrong with that, in my opinion. One of my favorite uses of all those wish books is to use them for inspiration. It’s fun to get the look for less and shopping at off-price retailers like TJ Maxx, Marshalls, and Tuesday Morning gets me more bang for my buck.
I’ve been re-reading {does one read catalogues?} the March 2010 issue of PB for two years. I love look of the Coastal Curiosity Collection {now unavailable :(}. By the way…if you’re interested in seeing the photographs that appeared in the Pottery Barn catalogue, you can view the photographer’s work here.
Honestly, I don’t have a need for another set of dishes and I don’t do any entertaining {yet} here in Arkansas but I don’t see the need to deprive myself {hahahaha!} of pretty things either. So, when I saw these melamine dishes that looked WAY similar to my wish-book dishes, I knew I had to have them. I chose to buy just two place settings that Thom and I could use on our picnic dinners down at the Cove.
Love, love, love these melamine dishes! Just because there’s only two for dinner doesn’t mean dinnertime can’t be pretty.
Other looks I’m hoping to recreate:
For our deck that overlooks Greer’s Ferry Lake. How awesome are these hanging lanterns?
For the back entryway. I’d love to find some old worn-looking, vintage map wall paper.
What wish-books do you love {I could always use more inspiration!}?
Disclosure: I have not been compensated in any way for this post. All opinions are my own and this post does not serve any purpose other than sharing my shopping enjoyment. While I am employed by a popular, well-known off-price retailer, I am not an authorized spokesperson for the company and/or any of it’s vendors.
