This has been a banner season for suitcases. I find them everywhere. Even when I raise my standards and lower my price ceiling another notch, I find them. Every time I say no more, I find one like this: practically perfect, houndstooth, huge and cheap. It would have been wrong to leave it behind. I always give suitcases a sniff test before I lug them home, and so when I checked the interior of this one, I noticed a pile of paper inside, but I didn't give it much thought.
It wasn't until I got home and opened up the suitcase to clean out the junk that I found a few rolls of wallpaper underneath it all. Not big rolls, but pretty prints, which were all the better because they were a surprise. And sweet as these are, they are no match for the one you're about to see, which requires a cuteness overload warning:
Peter Rabbit wallpaper.
I've wallpapered a lot of rooms, and there's always a moment when you're finally done, and you get all of the sloppy scraps and water and equipment cleaned up, and you get to admire your work. And I just can't begin to imagine how wonderful the little nursery with this wallpaper would have looked when it was freshly papered.
It's probably just as well there isn't a lot of it, or I'd be in the unlikely position of trying to talk my husband into a Peter Rabbit themed bedroom.
I'm using the suitcase to hold some other treasures I found. I'll show you Monday.
I love Peter Rabbit! So cute and what fun to find it in your suitcase! I love surprises!
Posted by: Lavender Dreams | August 15, 2009 at 05:34 PM
Gasp...speechless...
(a minute of silence)
I am so relieved that you recovered from that post yard sale trauma!
Posted by: LiLi M. | August 15, 2009 at 05:55 PM
How sweet is that paper....so cute.
I am all over that suitcase, tho...I love em, don't have room for them. I bought some, but they aren't square, therefore, harder to display.
Awesome finds, and don't you love the surprises.
glenda
Posted by: glenda | August 15, 2009 at 05:57 PM
That is too precious! They just don't make wallpaper the way they used to. :)
Posted by: Rebecca | August 15, 2009 at 06:30 PM
Oh that blue one and the birdcage ones are so pretty!
Posted by: Wendy | August 15, 2009 at 06:56 PM
Congratulations on some great finds. Obviously, this was just the thing to bring you out of your yard sale funk....and it was free....and amazingly cute....and a surprise! Should be enough to keep you going for quite a while -- it's the lure of the hunt, after all.
Posted by: Martha | August 15, 2009 at 07:16 PM
Maybe you can talk your husband into having another baby so you can use that bunny wallpaper...heeheehee! I love that birdcage wallpaper the most. I can picture it on the back of a bookcase, behind the books. Are you keeping or selling?
Posted by: Carol | August 15, 2009 at 07:26 PM
What a fun surprise. I just bought a vintage suitcase today too - mine is a bit smaller in size and thought it a good deal (altho it was EMPTY!). I can get my husband to do alot with my decorating - like a pink bedroom - but I know he would draw the line at Peter Rabbit.
Posted by: laurie - magpie ethel | August 15, 2009 at 08:17 PM
OH you are a lucky girl! I miss mine and cannot get close to the prices I paid 5 years ago. In fact they are all $50 and up here. I didn't pay that for my trunk!!!
Hugs, Lisa
Posted by: Lisa | August 15, 2009 at 08:49 PM
Very nice score!
My husband would probably let me do a Peter Rabbit room, we all loved him so much. I don't think he'd be willing to sleep there though.
Posted by: Tina in Duluth | August 15, 2009 at 08:54 PM
Oh! Barb how wonderful! I can't believe you found a suitcase with something (desirable) still inside. That is almost unheard of today. Good for You! Just a quick note to let you know that I have moved my blog to http://lilaclanevintage.blogspot.com/ Hope to see you soon.
Posted by: Lilac Lane Vintage | August 15, 2009 at 09:00 PM
Isn't it astounding when you find something EVEN BETTER inside something you got for dirt cheap? That happened to me once; I bought a hatbox, and when I got home, inside I found 6 MINK hatpins! I still have a few...
Posted by: Sue | August 15, 2009 at 10:31 PM
That is SO CUTE! But I love the houndstooth on the suitcase even more.
Posted by: Janelle | August 16, 2009 at 01:12 AM
What a treasure, all of it! xo, suzy
Posted by: georgiapeachez | August 16, 2009 at 06:07 AM
SWEEEEEEET! If they are smaller pieces would like great in an altered book. Love it all! Jewels
Posted by: Julie | August 16, 2009 at 09:47 AM
that is too funny. i had a case in my hand yesterday and said what do i need this for? one filled with old wallpaper would be a total score for me! if you decide to sell any of the papers let me know!
Posted by: susan | August 16, 2009 at 11:34 AM
Cuteness overload is putting it lightly! I am not usually a wallpaper person - but that - that is simply divine!
Thank you for your "Top Ten Reasons" Comment - I loved it!
Posted by: Shara | August 16, 2009 at 11:54 AM
The Peter Rabbit motifs would be fabulous in vintage frames. You are one lucky bunny!
Posted by: Mary Ellen | August 17, 2009 at 09:27 AM
Peter Rabbit wallpaper?? That may be worth having another baby, just so you can decorate a nursery! Wonderful finds...I would have grabbed the same stuff!
xo
Pam
Posted by: one gal's trash | August 18, 2009 at 12:09 PM
Well, once again you've found some truly wonderful things. I love all the wallpaper, but you're right about that Peter Rabbit paper being special. I've seen it a couple of times before, but not in these colors. It's charming!
Posted by: Lena | August 19, 2009 at 02:42 AM