Upcoming Auctions

Antique Helper Express Auctions: Instant new decor.

October 05, 2010 | view archive

It happens the Second and Fourth Tuesdays of every month at 10 AM.

The joy of instant gratification, combined with that pleasurable buyer’s rush, all mixed up in a compact four-hour sale mean that I can go to the auction, see my pals and bid on great area rugs and end tables and still make it home in time to pop dinner in the oven before running off for some afternoon errands.

Now, my days of obtaining and taking home furniture have just become a little easier. Dan Ripley and my friends at Antique Helper have decided to offer weekday auctions where folks with the urge to purge can unload alongside the hunters and gatherers who crave some change.I am thinking that this Antique Helper Express thing may be the perfect fit for the coffee crowd. Think of it: You drop the kids off at school, then head to Antique helper for a fun afternoon of auction delights and time with friends.

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After 11 years of marriage, I have learned that it is sometimes best to introduce a new item when my husband is away at work. Off goes the husband, in comes the new armoire, out goes the old bookcase. It’s a simple procedure that I’ve managed to schedule down to a science.

I freely admit that there have been times in my life where I was known to switch sofas and dining room tables several times a year. It was not unusual for a friend to come over one week and sit on a red frieze davenport one evening only to find a vinyl studio sofa sitting in its place the next. There have been 1950s sectionals and sweet little 1920s mohair couches in my life. I’ve luxuriated on down filled cushions atop a Drexel sofa and lounged on a sturdy cotton loveseats.

Sweet little Art Deco sofa one day...

Replaced by a cool Mod couch the next.

My poor husband has witnessed a constant parade of kitchen and dining room tables march past as well. From a Heywood Wakefield hard rock maple dining table to a 1920s porcelain topped kitchen table and chrome dinette sets to sturdy mission oak, his dining experiences since marrying me have pretty much encompassed the history of 20th design.

The urge to redecorate is a pretty natural reaction to a person’s environment. You repaint a room, and pretty soon, you realize that the table and chairs are all long. You order some beautiful new throw pillows only to discover that you now need a new sofa to match.

I know I am not alone in this problem. It’s some kind of acquisition syndrome. Maybe it comes from reading too many home décor magazines, topped off with those pop-corn and home makeover show television binges I regularly subject myself to on quiet Saturday afternoons. I’ve simplified the steps toward perfection—but they may vary widely, depending on one’s own personal tastes and sense of style.

After comparing note with others suffering from the same malady, I've narrowed this Collectors Syndrome down to a managable equation.  Here is one example.

Six Stages of Kitchen and Dining Room Table and Chair Ownership

1. Fresh out of college: Dine on grandparents' old card table with folding chairs.

Great vintage folding chairs make wonderful breakfast companions.

2.  Purchase porcelain-topped kitchen table from garage sale. Cover with vintage floral table cloth.

Vintage bark cloth offers limitless possibilities.

3. Upgrade to Mid-Century dinette set, purchased at antique mall.

Everything tastes better with a little turquoise vinyl.

4. First auction experience: Obtain set of four Goodform aluminum chairs. Ponder where to put them.

The highly covetted Goodform chair.

5. Decide the Dinette set just isn’t right. Go to another auction and purchase Mission Oak dining table. Pair it with Goodform chairs. Move table and chairs to dining room and recognize the the need for another kitchen table and chairs.

Miss Joni's very own oak dining table:  Good wood paired with Goodform aluminum never looked better.

6. See Eames Tulip table in a magazine and decide you must have one. Search internet, find one at auction. Bid, buy it, along with matching stools. Get them home and place in breakfast nook before the lasagne is out of the oven. Perfection.

Eames tulip table and matching stools:  swanky breakfast every day.