the one that got away

i bet if you're a tag sale or antique shopper, you have in your memory an item you saw, maybe floundered on, and ultimately didn't buy but wish you had. it's a unique kind of reverse buyer's remorse, because unlike shopping normal retail, you most often can not go back and get it. you either take it or you don't, and live with the consequences.

i have found myself thinking, perhaps too much, about a two-tiered wooden stepladder i saw at a tag sale a few weekends ago for $5. and silly me, i was on the phone, distracted... i definitely noticed it, but ended up walking away, unsure of what i'd do with it at the moment, even though i knew long-term, i'd want it at bedside in a guest room just like martha has it here.

i think i felt sheepish coming home with yet another piece of furniture (mitchell just loves this habit of mine)...i had already arrived home with a pedestal table and a mid-century side table, all in one afternoon. and that was only a few weeks after the midcentury chairs. (all of these finds i will share with you this week).

i suppose i might find a tiered stepladder again one day...hopefully i'll have the good sense to take that one, or live to regret it.

what is your "one that got away?" tell me...ease my pain.

photo from martha stewart