Daddy and the Big Red Couch

It's a beautiful fall day and I am on the hunt for vintage night gowns. I think with a little embellishment,

they could be made into beautiful tops. I have decided to go to the Antique Trove as they have several vendors that specialize in vintage clothes. Walking around I do not find what I am looking for so I head across the street to the Goodwill Store. It looks like they have remodeled as the store is very clean and neat.  Looking for the lingerie section I spot a big red couch marked down to $50.00! OMG, I have to have! But wait, where would I put it! My pulse is beating fast! This couch is mine!  I am going to buy it, haul it home, sneak in into the house, sit on it, sleep on it, decorate with lots of pillows, find a lamp to match, find a  new coffee table, look for vintage books, have my sister Vicki crochet a new throw!  Oh, the possibilities!  But wait, I already have a couch that I like and I do not have room for another one. Plus, didn't  I promise my husband no more impulsive purchases (the puppet show was the last straw and I will discuss later).  Sighing loud enough for the entire store to hear, I decide not to buy the couch and leave the store without looking for used night gowns.

Getting into my car, I start to chuckle as I start to remember my first big red couch. When I was ten years old, our 1919 Bruning Drive home was a 3 bedroom rancher. The front door was painted "Chipped Red" and you would be in the living room as soon as you walked in. The room was a perfect rectangle and it had many uses...dining room, den, tv room, playpen, diaper changing area, folding clothes section, place to color, place to do homework,  an area to wrestle with my sisters, a place to dry off after our nightly bath, have our hair brushed, kiss our parents good night even though we weren't tired. The room had many changing parts but the one thing that always remained the same, was our big red couch. Nothing really matched in this room as we had a a lot of hand me downs from my grandparents. I so much wanted the room to look like my friend, Eileen's living room but we had one additional child in our brood, so there went the matching coffee and end tables. This was about the time that I discovered that I had a knack for furniture placement. While pretending to work on a science project, my mind would wander....How could I make this room look prettier? I know! I will move the couch from the back wall to the front of the picture window. But wait, what about the framed picture of a farm painted by "Paul Detlesfen"? I could put the dining room table there, put the playpen where china cabinet was and then move the cabinet to where the dining room table used to be. The endless possibiitlies! Kinda of sort of but not really getting my parents permision I decided to tackle my project. So one night, while my dad was at work and my mom was next door playing bridge, I decided to redecorate!  My sisters did not want to get in trouble, so they just sat back and watched me move everything around. Something does not look right. I know! I will divide the room with the couch, keep the dining room table where it once was, put the china cabinet next to the framed farm picture and move the playpen into the middle of the room. But what about the front of the picture window? I know! I will take two chairs from the dining room set and put them in the front of the window!  Perfect! The room is beautiful. I just need to add a few more things. Tomorrow I will go to Ben Franklins and buy two matching throw pillows and a Teen Beat Magazine for the coffee table that I placed in front of the couch. I went to sleep that night feeling quite confident knowing that  I did a good job. I knew that both my mom and dad would love the changes I made. They were raising a perfect little "Susie Homemaker"! Still half asleep I wake up to the sounds of some moaning coming from the living room.  Who could that be? Slowly, I peak my head out the door and what do I see?   My dad flat on his back in the playpen. Oh No! When he came in from work the house was dark and he did not know that I had used the couch as a room divider. He had just worked a grave yard shift at Amoco Chemicals and only wanted one thing....to go to bed. Well, you know what happened next. He trips and flips over the couch, hits his head on the coffee table and lands in the playpen.  I didn't know what to do, laugh, cry or hide. Thank God my dad had a sense of humor because he made the decision for me. He looks at me with this funny but yet stern look. "Hey Kid, I like what you did to the place"!" Yes, he was proud of his "Susie Homemaker" and even though he landed on his backside he was able to laugh at my whole hearted efforts. After a day of taking care of my dad I go back to my room for much needed sleep. As I dose off I start to dream....what if I moved the couch where the dining table is and move the playpen into the kitchen!

September Sunday and a Memory

Today is Sunday and I am on my way to my cabin in Show Low, Az. It is a beautiful September morning and only 62 miles until my first stop, Granny's Antiques in Payson, Az. Good ole' Granny, she certainly knows how to bring in the goods. It is a charming store off of Highway 260. She specializes in just about everything,  but today I am on the hunt for Frankoma dinner ware. I have given myself a $20.00 budget and I know that I will be able to spend it wisely. Today I am lucky! There, as I first walk in is this beautiful golden and latte colored Frankoma serving bowl. Only $16.95!   It is in perfect shape and I know that it will be a welcome addition to my other dishes from this collection. Happily,  I am back on the road listening to great classic rock music. As I approach Show Low I discover a new organic farm stand, Plant Think. It is off of the road a bit and sits in the middle of a beautiful pine tree forrest. They have a variety of fresh vegetables and fruits. Their peaches and tomatoes are locally grown so I hand pick a few of each and head on down the road.  As I am driving, I start to think of a time when I was little and I was picking peaches with Mammaw. She had several peach trees on her farm and they were planted behind her clothes line. It was always a special day when we would do the wash and pick peaches. After a long day of chores, I will never forget sitting on her porch, catching lightening bugs and happily eating a  piece of her peach cobbler. And on those special nights, I would always ask her the same thing, "Mammaw, how did we get to be so rich?" And each time I asked this question, her reply never changed, "Honey, make sure those peaches are real hot before you put the cobbler in the oven!"

Marche' aux puces

"Flea Market" a market of fleas, an open field of second hand and used furniture, a market infested with buyers and sellers, a place to sell your goods....all words defining the workings of a Flea Market. But for me, anything that has the word junk, market, vintage, salvation/salvage, thrift, antique, flea, yard, auction or rummage suites me just fine. Additional words I will accept are rust, chipped, torn, worn, distressed, used, old, as is or bargain. Ahhh....these words are magic to my ears and beauty to my eyes. As I close my eyes and think about them, my heart starts to beat fast because as I am thinking, I know that I will discover something salvaged, chipped, worn and beautiful about me.

Frenchie and Robin

Waiting patiently for the next flea market,   I have been thinking about how my love affair with junk and design got started. I  grew up in a small town in the Midwest which I like to call my 1919 Bruning Dr. years. We were the typical nuclear family, mother, father, 3 sisters and 1 brother all living in an 1100 sq ft. 3 bedroom, 1 bath house. I shared my room with my sister, Vicki.  But since I was the oldest and forgot I was not an only child, I decided to take over and design the room to my liking. I was about 10 years old at the time and was obsessed with anything on TV.  Batman and Robin were big back then and I had an outrageous crush on Robin. I mean outrageous! We had twin beds and after devouring the Sears catalog, I begged my mom to buy us matching pink chenille bedspreads.  We got them right before Christmas and our presents that year were two matching, rather large royal blue and hot pink stuffed French Poodles. I was so excited that I spent the most part of Christmas making the beds and arranging the poodles so that they would be sitting perfectly on top of our new chenille bedspreads. Every morning I would wake up, make the beds and place  our new bedroom accessories with care on our beds. I named my poodle Frenchie and Vicki named hers Peanut. I spent hours brushing Frenchie's hair and even though I had passed the imaginary friend days, I talked to Frenchie as though she was my best friend. During those discussions I told her about my love for Robin. I had all of the Teen Beat magazines and cut out all of Robins (also known as Burt Ward)  pictures and put them in a file under my bed. Being the oldest, I was often teased about growing up so  I did not want my mom and dad to find out about my obsession. But one day I was at our local dime store  and there in the toy section were Batman and Robin cards. I counted my coins and after figuring out I had enough money to buy one set, I was on my way home with the love of my life. Now, I did think that Batman was cute, but Robin had my heart. As soon as I got home, I went to my mom's sewing kit and got our her straight pins. Standing on my pink chenille bedspread with Frenchie looking up at me I proceeded to pin all of Robin cards on the wall. I made the perfect collage and was excited to see that my room had taken on a new look. In my mind it was adorable and I felt closer to Robin that ever. I still took care of Frenchie but I did always give Robin an extra smile. My room was only missing one thing......a picture of Kurt Russell on my bedside table that  I found a few months later. As for Vicki's side of the room, thank God I fell in love with Wally Cleaver !

The first step of my dream - completed

I have wanted to write about my adventures in flea marketing for a long time.  I call them the "Fleasing" of America. There is something about pulling up to an open field full of tables with vendors and lots of wonderful old items just calling out your name "Take me home, Ginger".  And yes, I have taken home lots of stuff even I couldn't believe I had bought. But I totally dig not knowing the true history of the items I have purchased. I mean, it could of come from some famous person, a nut job or just some regular joe but I like to imagine and think about the story it could tell me about its life. The item could have had a happy life or it could have had sadness. I know that when I get it home I will put it in a beautiful place and make sure that it has a great life. There is just something about taking home a wonderful treasure that has a past. Like all of us, we can be happy and sad but with a little tlc everthing will be ok. That is how I feel when I rescue that wonderful find at the flea market.  Dream about junk and you will wake up tomorrow with beauty.

Getting ready to take a ride on the Flea Train

Hi, I'm Ginger Benson. My partner, Veronika Doyle and I want to share stories and ideas we have created in our never ending quest to have the perfect homes. We are two crazy chicks who are truly in love with treasures  that we find at flea markets and other places we will later mention.We have each travelled the world and have found some amazing collectables along the way. Members of both of our families think that we are funny (thanks mom and dad) so we can't wait to get started and share our ideas and stories.