David's Guide to Homekeeping and Organization

I like clothing. A lot. So my closet is chock-full at all times. One of the best things about moving to this condominium was the opportunity for a fully-fitted custom closet, which has in large part helped tame my beast of a wardrobe. What I'm good about is thinning the herd. When we decided to prepare to list this place weeks ago one of the first things I did was go through my closet to pull out things that no longer fit (because I'm thinner!) or that I no longer wear. The end result was four shopping bags of clothes, and a bag of shoes.

I often take things to a resale shop, and I've made some nice chunks of fun money in the past (and picked up an Etro shirt in perfect condition for 12 bucks!). The problem with the one I've used here locally is that you generally get a running review of your fashion choices before you get your cash. "Oh these really aren't selling" or "nobody wears these anymore..." I hate this, and I've often said something like "You don't have to justify, just pick out what you want." I hate it so much that the bags have been riding around in the back of my car for weeks, moved only when I needed to load something, or finally when I traded vehicles.

Flash forward to last Tuesday's twice-a-month consignment auction. A really nice sale, there was quite a bit of white ironstone. Pitchers, wash sets, tureens and platters, nothing terribly out of the ordinary, except for this:

It ended up being the only thing I bought all evening, but I didn't care. Six inches high and just over 11 inches handle-to-handle, it's in beautiful shape with just the usual crazing and staining (Connie, it's coming to visit you), and is by maker John Edwards.
I tried to get a detail shot here but I'm awful at shooting white. What you can't really tell is that the ends of each handle have lion heads.
So what do these things have to do with one another? I paid a lot for the bowl, more than I would generally pay for something that wasn't a piece of furniture. I could sell it on eBay and still make money, but I think we all know I'm not about to part with it. So to ease my mind on what I spent I loaded up my bags of clothing and headed up north to try a new resale shop I'd heard advertised on the radio.
The shop was fine, although their mens section was pretty small. The woman working was lovely, and after selecting all my shoes and over half of my clothes to buy, mentioned that they really needed good guys stuff. What she didn't take went into the Big Brothers Big Sisters charity bin. End result: My closet is in good shape, the lingering bags are gone, and the final net on a bowl I love is 20 bucks!

5 comments:

Raina Cox said...

Goodness, that's a pretty bowl. I used to collect ironstone ages and ages ago and still really appreciate and beautiful and unique piece like that.

Karena said...

It is beautiful! My daughter in law came over yesterday to help me with some organizing and rehanging of art. I think next are my closet and the den closet!

ChrisToronto said...

A charming tale, well told!

Decorina said...

I love an organized closet. Just makes me happy!

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