I was just looking back on some old Flickr photos of my Bed Stuy renovation and realized that I never blogged about my fabulous parlor floor hallway. (Nor various other little projects)
That’s the before shot you see above. The previous owners “renovated” the house. Oh please, don’t get me started. Everything in the hallway was painted a glossy shit brown…the bannister, the newel post, the doors and the molding.
We took the double doors down and stripped and repaired them. They were in pretty bad shape and needed some fill in material. The back door with that badly home made transom was switched out for an antique door that actually fit into the frame.
Ah, but my pride and joy is that newel post! The one that was there when we bought the house consisted of four pieces of plywood boxed together with a Home Depot doodad on top. We found a gorgeous salvaged newel post that would have been original to a brownstone of this era and replaced it with that. The post was stripped and stained to match everything else.
The Victorian light fixture and ornate radiator were also salvaged finds.
This stuff doesn’t really take much design skill. It’s kind of just like putting back what was taken out.
What’s creepier (to this Jew) than a dead Jesus on a cross? That dead deer next to him is giving him some competition. Starting bid on this larger than life guy is $180k or you can buy it now for $1.3 mil. Read the description. That is priceless.
Whose kitchen is big enough for this? Not mine. But it sure is cool (no pun intended). Located somewhere in Pennsylvania.
Ok, so this gargoyle is $3125 and you’ll have to schlep it back from Chicago. That doesn’t make it any less awesome. Standing at 55″ high and born in the early 20th century, it’s the real deal.
Remember the clown-water-balloon game at Coney Island? Well, this clown head is from that game.
All photos are linked to the items so you can buy them for me.
My Blue Sofa is a new online marketplace for anything home related. In fact, it’s so new that it’s still in beta.
The website is easy to work with and pleasing to the eye. Images spring up along with the categorized listings. It’s more like shopping with Etsy than Craigslist. You can even pay via PayPal and get info on the seller if they supply it. So really, it’s not like Craigs at all. I should stop with the comparisons now.
These are a few of the listings I spotted.
Theodore Alexander desk. $2000
Early 1900′s Farm Table. $275
Oh, look at that! How did those chairs get in there? Yeah, they’re mine. They never really matched my Eastlake dining room table, so I’d like to get rid of them. 1800′s from Britain. I’m asking $600 for the set of 6 but will take best offer. Come on Monty, let’s make a deal!
Top photo is a fully restored Empire Duncan sofa for $3500.
Ah, the end of the outdoor flea season is upon us. This Saturday will be the last outdoor flea in Ft. Greene. Starting the weekend after Thanksgiving, the Brooklyn Flea continues through the winter at 1 Hanson on Saturdays and Sundays. And don’t forget the Gifted market!
Me? I’m still trying to get rid of the larger pieces I brought back from the Beacon house. Oh, how I do miss the large space.
I’m just kind of putting together some pieces, but not painting/finishing them as I don’t have time and it’s hard to get the price for the work involved these days. I’ll have suggested prices on the furniture, but it’s “make me an offer day”!
The desk above is an old tool box sitting on top of porch balusters. We bought a bunch of salvaged balusters when we were redoing our porch, but decided to keep the original shingle design. I’m thinking $90 OBO.
Hey, whaddayaknow? More balusters! This antique sled makes a fab bench or low table. $85 OBO. Keep an eye out for baluster candlesticks and baluster frames this holiday season.
Other leftover stuff I need to purge:
This sweet mid century repainted coffee table has been sitting in the attic for a year. $75 marked down from $90 or best offer.
Ooh, I forgot I had one of these school chairs left. They were selling for $55 last year. Um…$40?
I have 3 matching marble/cherub tables I got from my cousin. I don’t have room for all 3. This side table…$95. Ask about the other side table or fabulous 8 cherub coffee table if interested. All Italian marble, circa 1950′s/60′s.
I’m on the fence about selling these two gals. They looked great in my Beacon house and they seem a little out of place in the Bed Stuy home, but I still love them. I’d part with them for about $150 apiece, but maybe not much less.
Come visit the flea! I’m usually on the Clermont fence.
Awesome news for County of Kings thrift junkies! Film Biz Recycling is moving to Gowanus! If you want to hit the Long Island City space one last time, they are having a name-your-price clearance sale starting today until the end of the month.
Grand opening at 540 President Street will be on or around December 1st.
If you’ve never been, the massive shop is chock full of used TV and movie props. Everything from vintage dish sets to clean linens to artwork. It. is. awesome. And it will be ours! F.U. Queens where I was never able to find parking.
Also! The new space will stock building materials and paints. So again, Brooklynites won’t have to schlep to Build it Green in Queens for these items.
It’s a win/win for everyone. (Except Queens)
The Stormville Airport Antique Show and Flea Market in Dutchess County takes place on holiday weekends during the warmer months. Since next Monday is Columbus Day, the fair is on this Saturday and Sunday, October 9th and 10th.
There are usually a couple of hundred antiques vendors (that’s a guess) and an area set up near the entrance for new stuff. Admission and parking are free. Vendor’s prices are pretty fair. The only thing I would suggest is getting there way early (like 6:30am) as there is only one road leading to the show and it gets backed up.
It took us moving out of the area to participate, but Reclaimed Home has a booth this weekend. Look for us in site #10, driveway 3. We’ll be emptying out our Beacon house and trying to cram everything into our Brooklyn home of half the size. Much of the furniture for sale is from our own private “estate” (I’m gonna add an LOL here just so you know that’s tongue in cheek).
The flea market inventory we’re bringing is stuff we never want to see again, so prices will be good, especially by the end of the second day. In fact, if you’re a vendor or just some hoarder who wants a bunch of crap, come see us on Sunday afternoon and we’ll make a deal for everything that’s left over.
Here’s what we have…(Bear with me. The only images I have of our personal items are real estate shots.)
That red couch is probably 1920′s/30′s. We bought it in Brooklyn reupholstered. After moving it to Kingston then Beacon and living with it for 6 plus years, the fabric isn’t brand new anymore. Good but not excellent condition. $300
Bought this Eastlake rocker at a shop in Beacon. Paid $350 and would like to get as close as possible. It is comfy!
See that bed? That was our guest room bed. We no longer need it since we don’t have a guest room. Deco. Decent condition. Full. If you’re not paranoid about bed bugs (there aren’t any) we can throw in the mattress and box spring. $110. We also have some twin frames and a Mid Century Queen headboard.
We’re asking $150 for the enamel table. See those chairs in the picture? We have 6 of them. They were our dining room chairs that we bought at Stormville when we first moved into the Beacon house. They never really matched our dining room table (which we’re keeping). Anyhoo, we paid $750 for the set of 6 and will take best offer. They’re English, 1800′s. Disclosure: Our dog chewed a corner of one of them.
Speaking of chairs, we have 4 painted brown ones that would match the table if repainted white. We’ll sell them with table for $200, entire set if ya want.
Antique wood burning stove from Beacon farm house. Needs a good sandblasting or wire brushing and some spray paint. $250
Mid Century reproduction lamps. A guy. A gal. And a whole lotta kitsch. This was actually from my cousin’s house and I have to do right by them. $175 for the pair.
So, you should come to the show. But if there’s anything you’re interested in, let us know and we won’t schlep it to Stormville for nothing.
See, this is why I shouldn’t leave the house. I go out looking for some restoration materials and I come back with a light fixture that I don’t need.
Roy Vaccaro has lots of iron work and other goodies at his outdoor spot near Gowanus Lowe’s. I went looking for some marble for my window sills (Eddie Hibbert, if you’re reading this, you never called me back!) and ended up falling in love.
Check out that baby below! It’s big and heavy and has griffins and lions. How could I not buy it? The husband says it may be too heavy for our ceiling and I said “You make it work.” Cue whip sound.
Roy had many cute lights, but I had to close my eyes and keep moving.
So, what do you think I paid for it? Huh? Huh? It’s about 2 feet tall and is missing one dangly piece. Of course it needs rewiring.
Over the weekend I started pulling furniture out of my garage to get ready for the yard sale. I set up a little makeshift outdoor “studio” to shoot the merch.
It’s kind of cool how the chairs almost seem lifelike as they sit waiting for some tlc. All of them are old and raggedy and have seen better days. The chippy paint and cracks are like human wrinkles that tell the story of life’s experiences.
Yeah, I know it’s a load of crap. I’m just too tired to write anything else.
So….The Beacon 2 BK Moving Sale is this Saturday, April 10th. 10-5pm. Sure, come early, but that means we’re putting you to work hauling things. Don’t think you’re gonna come early to shop, bee-atches!
Address: 1189 North Avenue. That’s Rt. 9-D, south side. Park around the corner as there is no street parking and this is a driveway sale. The house is walking distance from Metro North and we may just be open to delivery.
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I’m going to need some kind of warning before I click on your site. These clown things are seriously creeping me out.
Comment by psl — January 13, 2011 @ 11:11 am
That Coney Island clown? Oh, he’s cute! The clowns in yesterday’s post are pretty creepy!
Comment by RH — January 14, 2011 @ 7:48 am