Coffee Bag Rugs, Vintage Luggage and Authentic Stickers

Hey, hey, hey,  friends!! I wanted to share with you some fabulous finds that we discovered this last week! First, is this incredibly well preserved vintage suitcase with all its gorgeous stickers still in tact. 

 We got it for a bargain. Its brightly colored, slightly chipped stickers tell an incredible story of quite the world traveler. They sure don't make quality luggage like this anymore...

Check out the beautiful and vivid vintage images on these travel stickers.

 I could spend hours looking at them imagining and dreaming about all of the adventures that it's owner must have had...This is why I love old items, everything tells a story of the past. Were its owners a lover of world and all its cultures like myself? Did they sit in little cafes and people watch? What was the purpose for all these holidays? What do you imagine they did?

Penny and I adore the plaid inside too!

She enjoys our new burlap coffee sack rugs as well. 

 I scored these for two Euros a piece from a coffee shop in Trier. Way cheaper than buying area rugs, and they fit the spaces I needed rugs in PERFECTLY! Antique ones wouldn't be this cheap, but these have the worn and weathered look I love so much.

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The print is lovely isn't it?

On a different note, I have officially become the village hoarder. I love coming out to my front patio to find random gifts of old wood and German antiques that some of the locals are tossing away. I guess when you are raised in a country where EVERYTHING is old, many folks like new and sleek objects. I am happy to take everyone's trash ...I'll gladly swap my bright and shiny American stuff for their century old throw-aways!  

A way you can save money on your home is to let everyone in your circle of friends know that you would love to consider taking any of their old goodies that they want to fling, off their hands...or, make trades...it just takes some work.

That's how I have done my entire home (that's full of character) for less than people spend on one room of cheap, too matchy, partical board furniture. Don't feel like doing the work? I know a designer who would love to do your International shopping for you! ;)

Good luck fellow re-purposers!

xox