Old house enthusiasts are a special breed. Nothing seems to please us more than an afternoon of spelunking through a flea market or strolling around a swap meet. It’s not surprising that, for our 10th anniversary (kid-free) date afternoon, Dan and I chose to hit the Virginia wine country, starting with a leisurely stop in the nearby town of Lucketts, which has emerged as a really inspirational place to browse for vintage and antique items of every conceivable type!

Of course, you needn’t even buy anything. Just looking around allows you to leave richer: both in funds and in ideas. One of my favorite parts of the Lucketts stores is that there are so many salvaged doors to gawk at. How amazing would it be to put these on your house somewhere? I’ve thought of them as a wall decoration. Or what about a sliding door on a barn door track inside a room with a soaring ceiling?

Divine.

Perfect portals!

Around the corner from the doors, I found a seller’s booth that suggested a new and inspired addition to the Dewey Decimal System. We may long for our card catalog days (can you smell the library, folks?) but if you can’t have the cards anymore, you might as well make sure people know where to find “bottle.”

“B for ‘Bottle?'”

Down the road at another favorite store called On a Whim, I had to stop and take a picture of this fun idea for sprucing up an old dresser. Can’t decide between paint and stain? Why choose? I love how the drawers appear to have progressively darker stain with each drawer. I’m determined to replicate this look in my own house the next time I refinish a dresser.

Paint? Stain? Paint? Stain?

By the time we proceeded to our wine tasting, we had plenty of new ideas to discuss! It was a happy way to spend our anniversary, indeed.

Don’t you want to go?

Mirror Selfie!

Until next time, Lucketts!