More Random Ebay Purchases

As anyone whose been reading my blog for a while will know, I'm very partial to buying things on eBay. I used to be an eBay seller and enjoyed selling on eBay, but now I work in a charity shop, there is a conflict of interest with regard to selling online, so to make things simple I stopped and now just buy on eBay.

In recent months, I've posted a few times about the random things that I've bought, particularly through the last lockdown, but I've continued to buy things during the time the restrictions were lifted, mainly because I was looking for new decor for our living room.

Like many people, I've been making it feel cosy since we redecorated during the last lockdown and I decided that it needed a bit of a new look, so out went all the old random photo frames that we've had for 20 years, plus the random items on the mantel piece and in came a few vintage but new to me things that I really like and want to live with.

I began by buying a few gold coloured photo frames to blend with the gilt picture frames that were already in the room, and which I liked and wanted to keep. 

I then moved on to buying a few new things for the mantel piece, the first of which were these brass herons that I just love. We often see herons on the canals and rivers around where we live, so they seemed a fitting choice. They are lovely and shiny, more so than they look in this photo and look lovely against the blue paint on the wall which is actually darker than it appears in the photos on account of the flash. I bought one from an eBay seller and then went back and bought the second from the same seller. They are a pair after all and are meant to be together, so after being parted for a week or so, they were eventually reunited. I probably paid a bit more doing it that way, but I don't care as I really like them. (Please excuse the dust and dirt in these photos, the room needs a good clean, but there's no point until we've finished decorating the hall as we're still generating more dust)

I also bought a few vintage brass candlesticks for the mantle piece. One was from a car boot sale for £1.50, but the others were all from eBay. I think I paid about £16 for them in all. I went for the open barley twist ones as I really like the design.

Next, I turned my attention to adding some greenery to the living room.  I'm not that good with houseplants, but I wanted to give it a go. It's nice having living things in your home that you can care for, but I have to admit that the whole regular watering thing is a big learning curve for me and I have to try hard to remember to do it. To accommodate the plants, I've recently bought a variety of vintage copper and brass pots, mostly from visits to car boot sales. At one, I bought the smaller copper and brass ones pictured, plus a copper tray and a small brass door knob (not pictured) all for £5. Total bargain.  Car boot sales rock! It's just a pity that the season for them has ended.

The largest pot I bought was on eBay. I say pot, but it's actually a vintage copper coal scuttle that will fit a very large plant. I'm not sure the plant that is in there at the moment will be staying in there, I may buy a big palm or cheese plant instead.  It wasn't particularly cheap, but worth the £40 or so I paid for it, as I really like it.

In my next Random Ebay Purchases post, I'll show you what I've bought on eBay in recent months for when we redecorate the hallway. They are mostly small inexpensive items, but I can't wait to put them into use.