Roadside Rescues: A Tea Kettle, Fridge, and Lamp

Happy Superbowl Weekend, friends! Here's what I've picked up by the side of the road recently. This teakettle was covered in baked-on grease when I found it shivering in the cold. After using some Easy Off Oven Cleaner and a little elbow grease, it looks great:

I boiled water in it so when I give it to Goodwill, it will be clean inside and out. It even has a nice whistle when it hits the boiling point. A whistling tea kettle is one of my favorite sounds, since it means hot coffee or tea is a-comin'.

Next, I circled around the block to get a closer look at this little thing, which looked vaguely familiar:

It's a play refrigerator, made by Pottery Barn Kids (a label on the back confirmed it). It has a chrome handle and shuts with a satisfying "click."

Some little girl (I assume it was a girl, but who knows) personalized it with stickers and a magnet:

And a sweet bit of hand-drawn art:

I think I'll clean it up and give it to a young mother who just had her first girl. It'll be a while before her daughter will be playing Chef, but in the meantime, mom can use it as a small armoire to store baby things.

And last, I circled around the block to make sure I got this beauty:

Pao agrees with me: This thing is straight out of the '70s! It has a crazy base, ornately wrought with gold-painted shells and flowers:

 

And an impressive harvest-gold crushed-velvet lampshade:

It's huge! I'm thinking of offering it to a young, 20-something friend who wants to feather her nest with some vintage finds. If she's really bold, she may like it just the way it is.

I can also see it done more subtly, with a pewter or gray-painted base, and a drum shade in pale gray linen, or maybe flour sackcloth.

Found anything good in your neighborhood lately?