28.12.09

Preparing for a BIG sale!



We're getting ready to bring in new merchandise after our big sale. EVERYTHING in the store will be on sale beginning soon.

Dates to be posted this week.


22.12.09

Joy to you all . . .

A little smile, a word of cheer
A bit of love from someone near
A little gift from one held dear
Best wishes for the coming year


The best to you all 
Have a wonderful Christmas

~~

8.12.09

The Point Loma Holiday Home Tour was a Great Success

by Cordelia Mendoza
Thanks to everyone who participated: Our fabulous Marketplace vendors, volunteers, Best Friends' staff, not to mention our generous homeowners, everyone that made this a huge success. As a first-time event, we had a great turnout, about 500 attendees, 75 tireless volunteers. There were adoptable dogs and pups at each of the homes. Thanks to everyone who participated!





Little Sissy,(renamed Missy) the adorable 8 month old puppymill Chihuahua got adopted!

24.11.09

Christmas Decor


Bob, Debbi and I had so much fun decorating the store on Thursday - the time flew by but we worked and worked until the windows were dressed and the store decorated in holiday style. So, we are now officially celebrating the Christmas season!




We're very pleased, once again, to showcase Vintage-Ornaments.com in our store. The paperie items are fabulous - German cut-out lithos on foil over vintage sheet music make sweet ornaments. Their attention to detail is appreciated by collectors who come back each year to add more of Vintage Ornaments' pieces to their collection. The hand dyed and decorated bottle brush trees are always a big hit. There are silver embellished ones this year that are glitzy to perfection. Cindy and Amanda will be at the Point Loma Holiday Home Tour on December 5th, featuring all of their holiday creations.

From Martha Stauderman, Everything Ellie, brought in her Christmas banners, especially created for Cottage Antiques.

I just love our German Saint Nick - he is lifesize!




Photo album from Martha Stauderman.



We love to fill our antique apothecary jars with candies, it's such a simple way to add a nice touch to your holiday decor.


16.10.09

Decorating for Halloween - It's definitely fall!


Halloween decorations are everywhere! I held off until yesterday to decorate. The store is now officially, however subtly, Halloween'd. No spider webs, no crows, just simply a few big pumpkins, jack-o-lanterns,, gourds, Indian corn, and fall leaves that my husband Bob, with permission, gathered from a neighbor's lawn.

The fall leaves add the perfect touch to our displays.

Debbi worked her magic once again and mixed the pumpkins and gourds with white ironstone, a c1880s marble top parlor table, a chippy painted stool and starfish, pumpkins and twigs. We mixed in Victorian fine silver and voila! . . . it all works.

     
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Corn candy in this Hall Jewel Tea bowl - picture perfect!.


    Our custom burlap fit the bill for the final touch to our
    Halloween display.

Call the store or email if there's anything you might be interested in.
619-222-1967


18.9.09

Cottage Antiques on A-List for Top Antique Stores in San Diego County


For the third year in a row, our store was voted on the A List by KGTV Channel 10's City Voters.


Thank you city voters! We're honored.




Posted by: Linda C., 9/3/2009
Cottage Antiques is one of my Tweeters. They always offer the most wonderful things, AND, they also are most friendly...and that's the best kind of antique dealer there is

Posted by: Kathy T., 9/3/2009
High-end but warm and comfortable at the same time with wonderful variety and a great selection. It has a friendly, welcoming atmosphere

Posted by: Sunny S., 9/3/2009
It's a beautiful store!

Posted by: Susan G., 8/13/2009
Whenever we have company, we take a tour of Cottage Antiques. I like the idea of supporting the smaller companies. The inventory is always changing and you're sure to strike up a great conversation with the employees. They are friendly and sincere.


Posted by: georgiankitten, 9/14/2008
great place to browse and buy something special

Posted by: Ellen in Pt. Loma, 12/4/2008
It is always a pleasure to shop at Cottage Antiques. They're constantly redecorating and displaying and I like to run in and see what new pieces have arrived. I never know what treasure I'll find..

Posted by: Susan, 12/4/2008
Cottage Antiques is comfortable, and everybody's so friendly. Where many antique stores are dusty, this one has the scent of old-fashioned soaps and rose petals. It's a wonderful step back in time, if only just to brouse!

Posted by: christina ennis, 10/14/2008
Supporting my local people.

5.9.09

Always changing it up . . .

Once again, we're changing the store around. This past Thursday it was so fun, even though it was an especially hot day, it was fun. Debbi worked her magic, as usual. We were running around pulling things in for the displays. I couldn't resist photographing this cupboard with all the white ironstone china, shells, antique photographs that we intermixed along with Victorian silver pieces. It all works!


We stuffed this late 1800s country cupboard with the white ironstone.

28.8.09

Soapstone Countertops - Ageless, Green & Sustainable


A few years ago, Bob and I remodeled our kitchen. Since we have an older home, built in 1935, we wanted the kitchen to be updated, but it was important to us that it complement and respect the history of our home. We wanted the kitchen to look like it belonged. Soapstone has a reputation for being traditional but is ageless with its rustic, charming and natural look. It has been used for centuries for urns, cups, ovens, fireplaces. It was, and still is, common in homes particularly in New England and has been used in kitchens for over two centuries. There are homes where the 100+ year old soapstone is still standing. 

There really is nothing quite like soapstone. It's extraordinarily beautiful and possesses remarkable stability, feels soft, to the touch. Because of its density (it is nonporous), it makes it a desirable choice in kitchens and bathrooms for sinks and countertops. It's impenetrable, which means it won't stain. That's why you see it in biology and chemistry labs; it's inert. Its longevity to long term, high traffic use has been given the test of time - it's amazing! Alkalis and acids won't affect it as they will granite, marble, limestone or slate. It is the most practical of stone countertops. Soapstone is quarried like granite or marble. It is a steatite stone and its primary components are magnesite, dolomite, chlorite, and talc. It ranges in age from 300 to 400 million years old depending on where on the planet it came from. It is smooth to the touch like a piece of dry soap. Thus the name "soap" stone. 

As an important bonus, soapstone is the most environmentally friendly countertop available, from taking it out of the quarry to preparing it for the consumer, there is near zero impact on our planet. Another big environmental benefit is its high resistance to bacteria. No harsh chemicals or cleaners is necessary to clean the countertops. 

Soapstone develops its own personality over time. So, after doing much research and many nay sayer's comments, we had soapstone installed. I love everything about it and we are happy we made the choice to select natural soapstone for our countertops. Soapstone is o aesthetically pleasing!

Click on these websites for information on purchasing soapstone:

Soapstone International

Soapstones.com




4.8.09

White English Ironstone - what a collection!

We just acquired a huge collection of white ironstone from Staffordshire, England. I was doing some research on some of the pieces and came across an article I wanted to share with you. I found it on Martha Stewart's site. White ironstone has long been an American favorite. Although massive quantities of the handsome, functional, undecorated and inexpensive Staffordshire were imported to America in the late 1800s, Martha Stewart revived its popularity in the 1990s. It is no longer inexpensive.Ironstone dates to the early 1800s; the name and its formula, containing the mineral feldspar, were patented in 1813 by Charles Mason of Staffordshire, England. Ironstone decorated with colorful patterns was an immediate success in England, but the white-glazed variety has little official history there because virtually all of it was made for export to Europe, Australia, and the United States. It is a staple, like the little black dress of the antiques world, can't go wrong with it.

By the 1830s, enterprising British potters recognized a potential market among rural American families buying china for the first time. They put together services of snowy-white ironstone, predicting that its simplicity and affordability would appeal to the no-frills aesthetic associated with American country life. These pieces, given names such as graniteware, stoneware, pearl china, or feldspar china, are now all categorized as ironstone.

White ironstone patterns fall into distinct periods. The earliest, called gothic or primary, date from the 1830s to 1840s and comprise paneled hexagonal or octagonal shapes. More rounded forms emerged in the 1860s, including harvest patterns decorated with relief-molded berries or sheaves of wheat. After 1860, bulbous, highly ornamental designs combined ribs with leaves and flowers, and from 1880 on, ironstone reverted to plainer forms, often unadorned except for the handles or finials.The once ubiquitous and affordable ironstone is now highly coveted by collectors and therefore expensive. A teapot might sell for $350 and a soap dish for $200. Its quality is based on the evenness of the color and the crispness of the relief work. All edges, finials, and handles should be chip-free and unrepaired. The cost of a piece depends on its maker, pattern, condition, and rarity, as well as where it is being sold.




I never tire of seeing White Ironstone in displays or changing it around. it is so cherished by collectors. It can be used with any combination of color or texture.