Today we are discussing two very important things – 1. I am a hoarder of vintage stuff, and I don’t have as much shame about it as I probably should, and 2. We have produced some new YouTube videos in the vintage carriage house that you simply must watch (it’s my favorite video we’ve ever produced – linked HERE and embedded below). But it’s been a lot of moving parts… we’ve been working hard behind the scenes to finish fixing up our garages so that we can move all my goods (and bads) into them, and therefore start the restoration of the 1850s original carriage house on the property. What you see above is the neat, organized version of the prop house, but in the video, you’ll really see what it looked like on most days (terrifying, embarrassing, full of vintage stuff, and sure, with a big side of shame).
Please, I Prefer The Word “Collector”
Let’s rebrand this a bit – I’ve been vintage shopping my whole life (starting with thrift stores in the 80s in Coos Bay, Oregon). Sure, my budget has grown and my tastes have been honed, but the desire for one-of-a-kind old things with character remains strong. These days, I like mixing vintage with new (to avoid it looking like an actual thrift store), but for most of my life/career, vintage was what I could afford and what I had.
Vintage shopping in LA was fantastic – the sheer number of people who lived there during the mid-century and postmodern eras created an abundance of dope stuff from those times. So ever since I had my TV show, I’ve had a storage unit or at least a prop garage to house my hoarding. And hoard I did.
My First Prop Studio
Years ago, when we moved into our first studio (2014, I believe), it looked like this all styled out (I still have so many of those things!). Some of them I felt very attached to (see? hoarder), but for the most part, I would pull from the shelves for every project to ensure that it looked unique and like “me”. Vintage is clutch to making a room look unique and full of personality (especially on a budget).
My collection of gold shoes (right) was epic (and so odd!), and if you look closely, you can see my collection of doll house fly swatters and mouse traps that I framed (left). Oh dear…and oh yes!!
Things I still pick up are vintage fabrics and art, but if I’m being honest, I still buy anything that is a fantastic deal and pulls at my gut (but I now don’t let myself buy things that I have an abundance of, like wooden sculptures and footed vessels). Real self-control, I know. I also try not to let myself go shopping unless I have a project to shop for (or else I can get super sidetracked and buy too many random things that get stored for years.. Although now that I’m saying that, sometimes those things become THE PIECES that make that future project perfect.
Wait, So Where Was Your Prop House And What Is This “Carriage House”?
When we bought the property, there were two houses on it – one that we renovated and now live in, and one that we barely touched, except for painting this room to turn it into the prop house. It doesn’t have electricity, and it’s cold and wet in the winter (not the best art storing conditions).
But I still felt lucky to have it. It was super hard to keep organized in the winter months (cold, wet, gross, full of spiders and other critters), but again, grateful that I could keep my house more organized during all the shoots inside. It’s been a real Godsend having it (while it certainly enables the hoarding).
When it’s stacked all nice like that, it looks good! But most of the time, it was such a mess.
What It Typically Looks Like…
This isn’t even as bad as it can get, I promise. She ain’t pretty. But stop staring at these photos and judging me, and get to watching the YouTube that we made! Gretchen and Marlee were so encouraging about doing this series – I was nervous we wouldn’t have the bandwidth or that I wouldn’t be entertaining enough to make it watchable. But y’all, I personally think it turned out so fun. It was shot super organically, and they pulled out the clips that they thought you would all want to see the most. Give it a watch (and please, please, please like it and subscribe – it’s the only way the algorithm helps show it to other people!). Can’t wait to show you more:)
Opening Image Credits: Photo by Kaitlin Green | From: My New Prop Room At The Farm And Why I Hold On To So Many Beautiful Things