I first went to The Crooked Book about two weeks ago. I had heard that Boscombe/Pokesdown was the Vintage quater of Bournemouth so went there with my sister and a couple of her friends. Them not being as cool as me and not really into Vintagy stuff, I couldn't really explore properly (they stood outside the shop looking all moody and irritable that I was taking so long whilst my sister and I had a nosey). And I completely forgot to take pictures. So this time I took pictures to show you all how cool this place is.
I forgot to take a pic of the outside of the shop so here is a picture of me instead, enjoying myself muchly.
The outside of the shop/cafe, providing the weather is good, has vintage chairs and all sorts so it sort of advertises the delights within and also helps you spot it whilst you walk along the street. It is a short distance down the road from Boscombe's main high street, but totally worth the walk (even if in your heels).
As you walk in you are met by the wondrous sight of vintage furniture and all sorts of crockery and nick nacs. Oh there was also a sign on the door saying "Dogs Welcome" which makes me very happy and a poster saying "Knit and Natter on a Tuesday" which tickled me and I may nick that saying (I am meeting up with some friends to knit and have a gossip so will now adopt this saying ;-)).
When I grow up, and have my own house, I will furnish it with items from this shop! I particularly like the 1940's Oak Cabinet in the first picture, the pink sofa in the above second photo and both Kitchen cabinets in the below photo (one in the background you can just see and tall skinny one on the right hand side)
What struck me is how good the prices are in this shop. For example the two seater pink sofa was £95 and the large Kitchen Dresser was £140 I think or thereabouts. If this shop/cafe was in London you could add a 1 in front of the £95 at least for the sofa and the Kitchen Dresser I hate to think how much it would be. There were also lots of 1930's/1940's style mirrors from as little as £12 so if you have a root around you can get some bargains!!
I particularly liked this mock croc 1950's redy brown handbag. A snip at £18. But alas I was in sensible mode (and my mother was with me so I felt compelled not to spend any money) so I didn't buy it, something I may regret later!
Down the back of the shop, past the cafe, is the book shop part of the establishment. Don't you just love the piano!! I would also buy this for my house should I ever own one. (Yes I can play it, basics, not just for it to look pretty in my house!). This is a dream for any book lovers, they have books both old and new on pretty much anything. My Mum even found a couple of old Patchwork Quilting books which made her day! The book part doesn't really interest me, and there were some very serious arty book worm types in the cafe which adds to the atmosphere (if not a little intimidating for a book novice like me). I image the arty types from The Arts Institute at Bournemouth frequent this place, which I incidentally attended when I did my Art Foundation year. I really wish this place had existed back then as I would have been a regular!
All in all I had a fabulous afternoon there with a nice cup of tea and a bowl of homemade Chickpea and Lemon Soup with a crusty roll. I just sat there and looked around as there was so much cool stuff to take in. Now I just need a house so I can buy all the cool stuff and stare at them some more.
The day wasn't entirely a frivolous one spend perusing vintage assortments, I did make a trip to pick up a photo shoot prop I bought on Ebay.
I have been looking for a little Boudoir Chair/Slipper Chair/Tub Chair for a while on Ebay, and when I saw this one it was like fate. It was the right price and in the right place for collection, the very same town my sister lives in only a few roads away! So this will be used in an upcoming photo shoot that I have planned. The lady who sold it to me was very excited that it was going to be used for something exciting like a photo shoot and said her daughters had been practising posing on it a la Banbury Cross, after viewing my website :-). Even better this will fit nicely in a corner of my bedroom after I have used it in a photo shoot ;-).
Lastly, in other Betty Blue's news, I made a trip to my factory last week to get the ball rolling for production of the (Bestseller!) Nell Robe Black version. Here is a sneaky peek of the sample.
The Nell Robe in Red sold out very quickly in size Small and I have very limited stock in Medium and Large. So if you don't want to miss out on the black version, click here to preorder!!!
Lots of Love
Betty xxx
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