The Living Room Consignment Gallery & Tea is on the map!

Teamap, that is. Check out our teamap.com listing!

To celebrate, we are beginning Thursday Tea Specials! Every Thursday, we offer free samples of our featured tea, available at 10% off all day.

Will it be the dark and mysterious Pu'Er?
Or maybe Davidson's sweet, floral Childen's Tea?
Or perhaps Keemun, Assam Golden Tips, White Peony, Rose Congou, mint, or herbal lemon?


Our featured tea each Thursday will be chosen from our delightful array of black, green, red, white, and herbal teas. Most are organic and fair trade teas provided by Davidson's, Barnes & Watson, Mountain Rose Herbs, and Market Spice.

Of course, tea and tea accessories make great gifts.

Can't make it on Thursdays? Visit us on teamap and grab our teamap coupon to use on any tea or tea accessory, any day.



Come for tea and enjoy browsing our eclectic inventory of consigned antiques, secondhand furnishings, collectibles, aromatherapy, and local artworks.


Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!
Merry Christmas!

Pure Soap Flakes

Searching out pure and natural ingredients for our aromatherapy products, I've found something a little different from our expected inventory. (For a shop that carries antique and secondhand furniture, tea, art, bath salts, books, scented candles, china, fireplace tools, a vintage coffee grinder, and pickles, let's see what "something a little different" can possibly mean.)



Soap flakes imported from England! I guess there's not enough demand currently for pure, unscented, unadulterated soap flakes to be made in the USA, but thankfully, they can be had. This soap is made from coconut oil and Malaysian palm oil, and that's it.

If your skin is bothered by detergents or chemical additives, or if you just want to recapture the fond memories of sweet-smelling soap-laundered clothes, give these soap flakes a try.

A one pound bag can be expected to wash 64-72 loads in an HE front-loader, so it's economical. For top loaders, a pound is expected to do 9 or 10 loads.

Using soap flakes in laundry requires one extra step: dissolve the flakes in very hot water first, then pour in with the clothes...not in the detergent dispenser.

Soap flakes are useful for all types of washing jobs: laundry, pets, floors, cars.... Users with allergies and asthma have reported good results from soap flakes. If you've tried them, please add your comment below.
Next time you come to The Living Room for tea, or to shop for an antique walnut dining table, buy a bag of pure soap flakes and let me know what you think!

Visit our new online store

When we're snowed in, I feel as if the rest of the world has stopped, too, for a nice time-out. Fantasy, I know, but I do hope the current, inconvenient weather in Seattle gives you an excuse to enjoy a lazy day at home.

While you are home, check out our new "SHOP The Living Room ONLINE" tab above. Let me know what you think of our little online store. The teddy bears, shown above, are featured, along with a couple other items. I'll add more as I'm able. For us, it's a beta version, sort of like the rest of life.

I know online shopping is not the same as coming down to Kenmore, browsing the treasures, and enjoying a hot cup of tea. But it will have to do until the roads are safe to drive.

Stay safe, don't worry, and be thankful :^)

Saturday, November 20: Christmas Craft Bazaar at Cedar Park Northshore!

The Living Room plans to be part of the fun at Cedar Park Northshore's annual Christmas Craft Bazaar this Saturday, November 20, 2010, in Kenmore, so look for our booth. We'll be there 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.! (Our store will also be open, 10-6, if you are up to double-dipping.)

Click this link to map the church address:
Cedar Park Northshore
18737 68th Ave NE
Kenmore, WA 98028

Jenni, of Hidden Treasures fame, has put together a great variety of crafters, artists, and vendors so you can do your Christmas shopping in one fun place. She's thought of everything: "The youth are serving lunch from 11am to 1:30pm and this will consist of bar-b-q pulled pork sandwiches, chips and cookie for $4.00 and homemade, extremely delicious to die for chili with all the trimmings (tortilla chips, cheddar cheese, and sour cream) for $3.00 a bowl."

Sounds like the place to be this Saturday, no matter what weather you have to slog through to get there!

It is fireplace weather. We have the accessories you need: fireplace screen, fireplace tools, and chocolate

With this folding, brass shell fan fireplace screen and the sturdy Coleman fireplace tool set, all you'll need is a good cup of hot chocolate. You can get all this at The Living Room this week :^)

Brass shell folding fan firescreen




Too ornate for your tastes? Here's one with cleaner lines:
Tri-fold, beveled glass fireplace screen, 25" front + 13" sides, 30" tall




Iron fireplace tools by Coleman, $35 for the set:




Here's that promised hot chocolate, with a couple of shortbread cookies on the side. We make our hot cocoa a little extra dark, and pass the cinnamon:

(Sorry, no whipped cream! Since we are not a restaurant, we can sell hot drinks, but nothing that needs refrigeration.)

To recreate the scene at home with your own mug (purchased from The Living Room?), shop our display of packaged Davidson's "Ultimate Organic Cocoa", spiced for the Christmas holidays.

Tea, treats, and chocolate are back!

Looking for a peaceful spot to enjoy a cup of tea with a little shortbread or biscotti? Or needing to restock your own supply of high quality, organic, fair trade, loose leaf or bagged tea?

Come to The Living Room! We've been having fun opening new shipments of delightfully fragrant packages of tea from Davidson's, from Barnes & Watsons, and from Mountain Rose Herbs. Many new varieties of black, green, white, red, and herbal to choose from.



You may be aware of Sambucol, a flu-fighting medicine made from elderberries. Did you know dried elderberries are a great addition to a cup of tea? When we brew a cup of tea for you at The Living Room, you may wish to have us add a spoonful of elderberries for their delightful, complex aroma and flavor, as well as their possible immune boost. Dried ginger root and rose petals are among the other fun additions you might like to try.

Looking for gift ideas? Mix and match your own tea samplers from dozens of varieties of Davidson's tea bags:


You can choose from many packaged loose leaf teas, and shop for tea accessories at The Living Room, as well:


Don't forget the treats:
~ Traditional and creatively flavored gourmet shortbreads and biscotti from Outrageous Offerings, delicious chutney-like blends from Plum Crazy, and a limited supply of Grandma Ethel's (stunningly flavorful) Sweet & Sour Dills:


~ Theo Chocolate, fair trade, organic, healthy, and delicious, from Theo's Seattle factory:



As always, our friendly, local consignors bring a steady stream of interesting secondhand, and local artists bring their new wares, too. So the scenery while you sip is usually different than the last time you were in.

We look forward to your visit soon!

Much to be thankful for

~ Looking at the early dusk of a misty evening, thankful for lights and warmth.
~ Listening to recorded music and bird song, thankful for beautiful sounds.
~ Visiting with clients and customers, thankful for relationships.
~ Consigning, pricing, rearranging, selling ... rearranging some more, thankful for the strength that God gives us to do the work set before us and enjoy it.

You know we have tables and chairs and hutches for your dining room (as seen in our flickr gallery). So here are some fun, smaller items to brighten your Thanksgiving table:

Turkey platters:


Looking alike sets of silver-and-white dinner china: Mikasa "Marlboro", Bristol "Nobility", and Gold China:


Canonsburg gilded dinner set for 12:


"Isabella" stoneware dishes from JC Penney:


Noritake Crest assortment:


Sears 20-piece set of "Blueberry" dinnerware:


6 Dudson Duraline soup plates: each one holds 3 cups of steaming hot soup!


A variety of serving dishes:



And that "must have" for every buffet table, silverware caddies! :^)


Hoping to see you soon in The Living Room!