Wondering what the status is of the brick and mortar shop? Well, it’s getting there. We took partitions down, cleaned it up a bit with white paint, and the floors now have two coats of gray paint (not in photo).

Today we are working on putting a design on the floor so we can polyurethane it and get some merchandise in there. We won’t be ready to open our doors to the public at that time as we’ll still need to get our work space ready, but we’ll probably start doing business by appointment only.

Some plumbing issues have been addressed. Wow, that was nuts. The toilet was connected to the sink and the faucet in one bathroom made a flood in the second bathroom when turned on. One toilet was not in use at all because it wasn’t hooked up to a water source. One sink was hanging off the wall. The place was a tattoo parlor previously, but it’s scary how unhygienic it was.

The front of the building will need some sprucing up but it’s just too damn cold to go out there to even look at it.

If all goes smoothly, it’s possible we can have a soft opening in mid March. No promises though.

Now that the chaotic estate sale is behind us, it’s time to concentrate on opening that darn store. Yes, we are still dealing with trying to get Con Ed to turn the meter on. They won’t accept our commercial application without the IRS confirmation of tax ID and IRS won’t fax it unless we are sitting in front of a fax machine at the time. Who has a fax these days?? After holding on the phone twice for an hour at a time, we learned that IRS does not consider Efax a reliable outlet. Kinkos or Staples are fine. Doesn’t make sense, but ok. Well, that’s top of the to-do list.

Tomorrow is a trip up to Beacon, NY to check out the inventory of an antique shop that went out of business. The former owner, who has impeccable taste for a straight guy, just wants all of it out of his way. If we acquire the whole lot, we may just run it as one big sale or auction out of the shop instead of adding as inventory that will sit there for months. The reason being, it would be 100% antiques and we wouldn’t have room for salvage or repurposed goodies. Variety is the spice of life.

So, that’s where we’re at this week. We now resume our regular scheduled blogcast.

It’s here. The gig we’ve been working on for weeks. Snow days, personal emergencies and frozen pipes at my Rockaway house yesterday leave us completely unprepared for this estate sale. Yet, doors will be open by 9am and this thing will run through Sunday. Come on down!

319 73rd Street between 4th and 5th Avenues in Bay Ridge

R train to 77th

Friday, Saturday and Sunday 9am-4pm

We’ll have the coffee on if Family Member remembers to bring it. If not, we’ll be grouchy.

PS: Apologies in advance for the chaos.

More info

Many of you have already met Emilia through her DIY articles here or even back in the day when we did the Brooklyn Flea together. Well, now she’s officially part of the (2 person) Reclaimed Home team. As in, she gave notice at her current job and is on the payroll here. That means we better get down to business ASAP!

Here’s Emilia’s bio that’s going over on the “About” page….

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Emilia DeVitis arrived in NYC in 1968 with her family from Abruzzo, Italy and grew up in Astoria, Queens. She received her BFA from The School of Visual Arts and has been active in the arts field for over 25 years.

Over the course of these years, Emilia has taught painting, both privately and at after school programs, sold work at galleries, art fairs, retail shops and in front of The Metropolitan Museum of Art where she and Phyllis met as employees some 28 years ago. She has been commissioned for murals, faux and decorative techniques and original paintings for various restaurants, bars and private clientele.

Emilia has worked for the past 10 years as an Art Director/Studio Manager for an art production studio in NYC where she managed the staff and the production of paintings, sculptures, murals and installations for hotels and corporate environments nationwide. This position has expanded her knowledge of art techniques and the use of many different mediums.

Now she is joining forces with her longtime friend Phyllis at the new Reclaimed Home shop in Brooklyn.