Berlin Flea Market Find

I am constantly battling between wanting to add cute details to our home and wanting to edit and avoid clutter.  You probably know exactly what I mean.  My conscious, otherwise known as he  don’t-make-clutter cricket on my left shoulder, usually wins out.  I think he whispers, “Do your realllly need that, Katie?”

“No,” I answer, putting down the new treasure.  ”I don’t need it.”

But sometimes, every so often, I find something that I am absolutely drawn to.  The cricket starts chirping.  ”Ohh, Katie…”  And I just don’t know if I want to listen.  Like with this flea market find:

It’s made in Germany and has a little chip in the hand.  I paid 2.10 euro.  Then the dish proceeded to sit on the windowsill for three weeks.  That cricket on my shoulder had a hay day.  ”See, Katie,” it kept saying.  ”Now what are you going to do with that?”

I find that seeing an item every day and out of place helps me create good ideas for how I can use it.  Obviously, if no ideas come, it’s time to pass the item on.

It was a close call for this little guy… until I decided how I wanted to approach the next chapter of the No New Clothes Challenge at our house.  As you know, we’re not buying clothes.  We pretty much stopped in May.  A few pairs of handmade earrings seemed like just the ticket.  And as it turns out, this container is perfect.

I couldn’t be more pleased with my first flea market purchase.  Even managed to bargain in German for it with the help of a friend.

What’s something you recently purchased?  Do you ever ignore that “you don’t NEED this” bug?  I think it’s a balance between finding what you love and passing on what you don’t. Is this something you struggle with or think about?  And how do you decide?