I promised to post about my treasure hunting on Monday, and time just slipped away, so here it is 🙂

I took off of work on Monday to do some Christmas shopping. I was so successful, I had some time left over to pop into some of my favorite shops around my town.

The first stop was Nadeau. This fun shop has lots of unique carved furniture pieces. Take a look!

I want this in a farmhouse entryway. And, yes, when I see furniture, it tells me where it wants to go (mostly “take me home with you!”)

I can picture this carved, sage entertainment center in a pretty beach cottage.

I’m not loving the curved shape of this, but check out the ombre staining. Really interesting!

Shoes, hats, scarves, mittens, mail, books, files-whatever it is, I want to label the heck out of this thing and put it in my office…if I had an office. This is why I need a bigger place, so I can put all of my furniture inside!

Lingerie cabinet? Or swanky linen closet?

This piece doesn’t even need words. I mean, look at it!!! It is actually open on the back, but it’s sitting up against a glass wall. It’s so pretty and industrial, I would want all of my white stoneware collection displayed on it. *sigh*

And this little carved wonder was a “steal” compared to this one from Anthropologie.

The prices fluctuate between overpriced for some pieces and reasonably priced for others. But as you can see, they have some unique items, including this beautiful statement mirror that may or may not eventually come home with me…

It has the most intricate bird carvings, which will match my bird lamps in my bedroom. And you can’t tell, but there is a beautiful gold sheen which gives it just the right amount of elegance.

Once I left there, I couldn’t help myself, I just had to stop at Material Culture, which is only the coolest place ever. At least, it makes me feel cool because I know about it. “Material Culture? Oh, yeah, I go there…”

It’s a huge warehouse space with so much good stuff packed in, you can’t even see all of it! Lots of their items are antiques from China, India, and Africa. They have newer things too, like this fab trunk that was fully upholstered in cowhide. Even the drawers were lined in an army green felt. And they shut so smoothly, no wobbling. *swoon*

This amazing carved doorway, probably from 19th century India, was only $5,000. That may sound sarcastic, since I’m always on a bargain hunt, but seriously, if I was renovating, that seems like a small price to pay for such a dramatic impact. Look at Genevieve Gorder’s apartment reno. As soon as I saw this, I thought of her amazing bedroom doorway 🙂

Imagine brushing your teeth in this Italian-eque double sink every morning!

This stately carved mirror was so pretty in person, I had to take a close-up. See all of the detail? No reflection could compare…

And now, the piece de résistance…

Ummm, yeah, I just fainted, came to, then fainted again. I don’t have  a close-up of this, but it is completely inlayed with mother of pearl and is just absolutely magnificent. It must be 11′-0″ tall. I just want to stare at it all day…

I saw a lot of beautiful things, and then I saw this:

Hmmm…

There is one more place that I must mention in this post. The Liao Collection in Center City, Philadelphia. I was there a few times last year and have to share the photos with you. It is similar to Material Culture, in that most everything is antiques. These are all Chinese and Japanese antiques and you know that every piece has a story.

I actually purchased this Japanese chest ($1500) and the tofu mold ($500) for work. The chest is definitely one of those items that I would consider buying from work. It is just so old, you know it wants to say something. Unfortunately for me, it only speaks Japanese…but I can appreciate it’s good looks!

Now you can say you’ve seen a tofu mold in a shower…Woo Hoo!!