Kitchen Junk

America's triumphant Queen of Junk homes in on where the heart dwells--in the kitchen--with vintage treasures that add spice to life and cost next to nothing

In the effervescent yet practical style of her American Junk and Garden Junk, Mary Randolph Carter tracks down and rescues kitchen gems everywhere from thrift shops to tag sales to country auctions. Kitchens are often the source of our earliest memories--eating oatmeal before school, lingering over a cup of hot chocolate. If the kitchen is old, with appliances that challenge decorative instincts, or characterless and crying out for touches of nostalgia (old Tupperware is more and more in demand), the answers lie in Kitchen Junk.

From the era of "good housekeeping" come bib aprons and blue feather dusters, wooden ironing boards and handcrafted scrub brushes. Dinette sets, gingham notepads and oilcloth picked up coast to coast for $2 to 10 cents...vintage cookbooks and old milk bottles...a porcelain-enamel table top and sentimental kitchen samplers...midcentury calico roosters and white granite-ware pitchers a hundred years old but timeless...the stoves, toasters, and clocks of yesteryearall contribute to the author's signature arrangements and inspire readers to create their own. Before and after photographs, prices, and hints on junk hunting and haggling mingle with tips on cleaning old linens, avoiding rust on baking pans, and much more. With an extensive Junk Guide that lists flea markets and other "junking sites" countrywide, Kitchen Junk is the reference for thrifty, evocative, eclectic furnishing of the hub of the house.