The deadline to join Bust Magazine’s Spring Fling Craftacular is April 11th. The May 17th event will take place from 12pm-7pm at The Warsaw in Williamsburg. $250 for a vendor’s table. Sign up here.
My Dentist and Tuesday Linkorama
I’m going to the dentist today. Why is this an all day affair? Because I never gave up my childhood dentist in Brooklyn. I travel an hour plus on the train from Beacon, then make my way over to Midwood from Grand Central. Doctors and dentists terrify me so it’s all worth it! Hey, if you need a good dentist….Michael Beck on Ocean Avenue. Yes, that’s him in the photo. He’s a good sport.
Anyway, that’s my excuse for a Linkorama.
Lost NYC Images from the 20’s: City Room
Bed Stuy Meadow Project: Bed Stuy Blog
Best Floor Cleaner Ever: Eco Etsy
Dream Green on Natural Bedding: Super Eco
Tools and Widgets: Make
Bed Stuy Reno Progress
It’s been slow going on our Bed Stuy living room. Hubby has been repointing bricks and adding new joists for an eternity now. He’s supposed to be working on it about three nights per week after work, but I call him about 7pm and he’s always just leaving work, so not much is really getting done.
There have been some baby steps made since I last posted about it before the New Year. Most of the pointing is done and he’s got some new joists in. There’s still plenty of work to do around the windows. All of the wood was pretty rotted from past water damage. Once he s-l-o-w-l-y finishes this and gets it closed in, we’ll have the floor guy replace the tongue and groove and finish the floor. Everything else is a piece of cake. Really, just painting from there.
I headed over to Eddie’s on Saturday to look for front doors to our apartment. The previous owner had exterior French doors which we covered with plastic bags since tenants moved in 3 years ago. It matches our window curtains. We’ll use those glass doors in the hallway to let some light in, but we prefer privacy when sitting around the living room in our jammies. When we have a living room, that is.
The double mahogany doors cost $100 including the original hardware. It looks like I’ll only need to strip one coat of paint and I don’t even think it’s primed. Might be just shellac. The doors will sit in the hallway for another 3 months at least, but it made me feel like I accomplished something by getting them.
Hey, we’re on a roll, huh? Is there anyone who works slower than us??
Tag Sale: Take II
The estate sale down in Westchester last weekend was such a huge success that we decided to do our own in Beacon. This one will consist of antiques and vintage items leftover from other sales, stuff from Mario’s clean outs and pieces I want to move along so I can make room for new merchandise. My spring line, if you will. We’re also taking on some consignments from local dealers. There’s a garage full of cheap, cheap goodies, plus an apartment full of reasonably priced better stuff.
I just started photographing some of the merch and uploaded to Flickr. I’ll have more photos up by next week.
This sale coincides with Beacon’s Second Saturday. Come for the day, stop by us, go to DIA, go gallery hopping at night! I’ll get the list of openings up here soon too. How does that sound?
WHEN: Saturday, March 14
TIME: 8:30am-4:30pm
WHERE: 69 Verplanck Avenue, Beacon, NY
Helloooo Fussball!!!!!!!!
Death of a Fellow Blogger
I just found out some sad, shocking news on Facebook, of all places. Fellow Brooklyn blogger Bob Guskind of Gowanus Lounge died yesterday. I had the pleasure of meeting him only once (maybe twice) but checked in on his blog regularily. Please check out some tributes and past video footage.
Brooklyn Blogfest from Brian Lehrer live on Vimeo.
Flatbush Gardener has a full list of links.
Cave Home in Danger of Foreclosure
I’ve always wanted to live in a cave! Even more so than in a trailer. The Sleeper family are in danger of losing their Missouri cave dwelling because they took a 5 year adjustable mortgage, which is due this year. The bank won’t let them refinance and so their story goes just like every other foreclosure in the country.
Anyway, they put the 17000 square foot house on Ebay with a starting bid of $300k. What they’re really looking for is an investor who will let them stay there. They’ve had so many hits and inquiries already that it caused their Caveland website to temporarily go kaput.
If the cave was located in a nice neighborhood in Brooklyn, I’d totally beg, borrow and steal to get my hands on it. But alas, it’s in Festus, Missouri.
Not Your Momma’s Trailer!
We’re in a terrible recession. What if you lost your home or apartment and had to live in a trailer park? Could you? Would you? I’m kind of fascinated by trailer parks. I have to stare when we pass them on the road. I think I’ve been to one once in my life. Perhaps I lived in one in a past life. That’s why there are 3 cars in my driveway and a bunch of broken furniture. Since the history of the mobile home only dates back to the 50’s and I was born in the 60’s, I probably never did live in a trailer. Unless I died at a very young age.
Ok, now that I’m finished rambling on about that, let’s have a look at some aesthetically pleasing mobile homes. Really!
Vintage Vacations designs, restores and renovates trailers built from the 30’s-70’s. Not all of the links on their site work, but some of the trailers I did see made me want to give up my real house and hit the open road.
This Ol Trailer is restoring a 1945 Stewart Coach. Check out the YouTube video.
Web Urbanist posted a modern mobile home that stands up to just about any contemporary prefab design.
Toronto’s Mini Home Parks is the go to fabricator for green contemporary trailers with pizazz.
But if you’re like me and you daydream about the trailer park’s redneck lifestyle, be sure to check out Vat 19’s Definitive Primer on Trailer Park Decor.
Finally, Jolene, the Trailer Park Queen has everything you’ve ever wanted to know about trailer life and more.
Vote for Green Design!
EcoSystems created Design Green Now. I received the following email from the Brooklyn based company. Come on, help out a local, will ya?
“Design Green Now is in a hot sprint to win a $10,000 grant. We have one week to get the most possible votes.
It will only take one minute of your time (it took me 37 seconds). You will have to register, and then cast your vote now for us on Idea Blob while there is still time… and polar bears.”
And once you vote, be sure to check out the DGN website. Lots of great info.
Last Call: Creative Reuse Ideas
1000 Ideas for Creative Reuse, an upcoming book by Garth Johnson is still accepting submissions for publication through Friday, March 13th. They’re especially looking for images in the paper, interiors/environments and mancraft/geekcraft categories.
You may submit as many photos as you’d like. Image size should be at least 1450×1700 pixels. Make sure you upload (or fax) a signed Grant of Rights form and upload an image list with the title and materials of each piece.
Good luck!
Traditional Building Show
Head’s up! The Traditional Building Show is taking place March 12th-14th in Boston. There will be restoration lectures and conferences as well as exhibitors. The event is open to trades people and old home enthusiasts. This year’s theme is “Smart Solutions for a Challenging Market”.
Estate Sale: Hits and Misses
Not our sign. Didn’t have time to photograph sale.
Well, we couldn’t have asked for a better turnout for the estate sale! It was a huge success, especially as it was our first one. When we got there at 6:30am Saturday morning, one guy was waiting. About 15 minutes later, the place was swarming. So much for the “No early birds” note in the flyer.
By day two, most of the great stuff was gone, but people came back for the last minute bargains. We also found a bunch of hidden furniture in the garage attic, so we had more to sell.
I think a big reason there was such a large turnout was because this is off season for garage sales. One woman said she’s been waiting all winter for them to start up and she was just itching to get out and shop. But we also have to pat ourselves on the back for a marketing job well done. Every decent item was photographed and put on Flickr. I wrote about it here ad nauseum. Twittered. Facebooked. Craigslist every day 2 weeks prior in both NYC and Hudson Valley. Local newspaper. Various other garage sale sites. E-Mailings. Street signs. And finally, word of mouth.
What could we have done better? I’d have liked to hire someone to help. We earned good money from this, but it doesn’t justify the amount of work involved. I’d rather have had a couple of hundred less and not worked so hard. I mean, I had to get honest looking customers to keep an eye out while I ran to the friggin bathroom!
Then there were small things. We should’ve put up more directional signs and brought bags. We probably should’ve dug a little deeper in the house. People were coming to me with some really cool items I had never seen that I wouldn’t have let walk for so cheap if I wasn’t rushed to price. Like the street signs I let go for $5 when I easily get $35 for them at the flea. I know, I know….”It’s a tag sale.” “Don’t get attached.” Oh! The worst one was when Mario sold a bunch of vintage film equipment for $10 when I know one of those items was worth over $200. Let it go, Phyllis. Just let it go.
And to answer a few questions for people at this weekend’s sale or future ones:
No, Mario and I are NOT married. And when he says we are partners, he means “business partners”. I’ll have to fill him in on the 2009 meaning of the word “partner”. No, he’s not my Reclaimed Home partner. This business is my baby. He’s my estate sale partner. He’s got his own business going and I’ve got mine.
No, Reclaimed Home is not in the foreclosure business. I reclaim and salvage old homes and building materials. I don’t take homes away from desperate people. Bad judgment on my part to name my business “Reclaimed Home” when I knew there was a housing bubble. Oh well. You live. You learn.
Don’t Forget the Estate Sale!
We’ve been working like dawgs putting this sale together! We’ve been going down to Westchester every other day to price and display. Still pulling things out of closets and from boxes in the garage. These people were Pack! Rats!
Here’s some last minute finds that I didn’t get to photograph….
The couch above? Yards and yards of spare fabric. Is that called a bolt? I don’t even know. Anyway, I’m pricing it at about $60. Not a tag sale bargain, but definitely good for that Schumacher fabric. Between you and I, I don’t really want it to sell because I’d rather use it myself. There’s also some spare wallpaper and other fabric from around the house.
I found all of these old movie cameras in some closet upstairs. They’re probably 1940’s. There’s even shot film and 35mm family slides as well. Also a 1950’s compact chrome tripod and a subminiature camera. Very f**in cool!
This woman had an obsession with ducks. Or maybe it was her husband, but I doubt it. There’s gotta be like 50 duck related tschotskes. I’m going to have duck nighmares. Aflac!
There’s a bunch of newer stuff as well, which I always tend to overlook. Toys, small kitchen appliances, Ball jars, a tractor (anyone need a tractor?), Christmas junk, cooking crap, glassware…..
A couple of very cool vintage dresses, shoes and belts. There’s also some never worn crocheted skirt sets.
Many of the smalls are $1-5 and some of it wasn’t even worth a dollar, so I’m hoping people fill boxes so I don’t have to start counting quarters. Furniture that needs work starts at $5 for chairs and small tables. Some of the better pieces, like small china cabinets, are priced at $120-$180. The two couches are $75 apiece. The most expensive piece of furniture is $500 for the rounded oak china cabinet. Most expensive item in sale is the $700 cash register which may be more of an auction item, but we’ll try!
So much stuff. Hope you can make it. I’ll be the one pulling my hair out by the front door.
That’s 28 Jennifer Lane in Hartsdale, NY. This Saturday and Sunday, Feb 28th & March 1st. 8:30am-4pm
Only cash will be accepted for this one. Here’s a list of local ATM’s, so no excuses!
Vote for Spruce Up Finalists
Back in October I posted a contest held by the Paint Quality Institute. Of course my lazy ass didn’t get around to writing an essay to enter. Now I’m glad I didn’t. Looking over the top 20 finalists made me feel very fortunate about my life. There are some real sad stories out there!
The institute is asking people to vote on the finalists. The house in the above photo had me immediately. But in the end I had to cast my vote for the pet rescuers. They have all these pets, then the husband was deployed to Iraq and suffered injuries….Oy!
Then there’s the one with the trailer and the fire and the brain surgeries.
So yeah, my own house is looking rather haunted these days and who knows when I’ll get to paint it? But you know what? These people need it a hell of a lot more than I do! Cast your vote!
DIY: Making New Look Old Again
Author: Emilia
I have been working on doing some distressed wall techniques these last few days. It’s pretty easy and fun, mostly because you can’t go wrong when making something look damaged and aged. The process consists of joint compound, paint and weathered crackle.
Step 1: Trowel joint compound on wall in sort of a textured manner. Whatever texture you would like it to be. Let it dry.
Step 2: Paint your colors on the dry joint compound. You can use several colors applied to different areas or just one, depending on your taste. Let it Dry
Step 3: Brush on Weather Crackle (I use McCloskey Weathered Crackle Glaze)
Let it dry.
Step 4: Now brush on another color on just some areas and let the crackling begin. You can go wild on this or you can go simple. Let it Dry.
Step 5: Now you can apply now some more weathered crackle. Let it dry.
Step 6: Trowel joint compound in sections of about a square foot. Let it set up so it’s not completely dry yet, but workable. You can tint the joint compound with your top color or you can let it stay the color of the compound which when dry has a cement look.
Step 7: Get some brown craft paper and apply it the square foot of joint compound at a time. Pat down lightly and the peel off. The compound lifts off to reveal the paint underneath. You can put more pressure on the paper or less depending how much of a peel paint effect you want.
Keep repeating step 7 until your wall is complete.
So there you go…hope you can have a chance to try this sometime. Please feel free to ask me any questions or have me do this or another faux paint technique for you. Enjoy!
Kickin It Old School.Dublin Style
We’re ba-aack! We had a fun filled few days in Dublin caring for Mum in Law at home after she was kicked out of the hospital and not sent to rehab. Apparently, the Irish recession has had an effect on the health care system. Many Americans, myself included, are envious of the socialized medical benefits other countries receive. Michael Moore’s Sicko made it very clear where our system fails. It’s true! Our system sucks. But it’s not all rainbows and unicorns in Ireland either.
After waiting around the first day for the social worker and/or physical therapist who never showed, we rented a wheelchair out of pocket for the week. It got her out of the house, but if she ever wants to walk properly again, she needs the therapy, no? The appointment was a cable company kind of thing (“We’ll show up on Friday”) They didn’t pick up the phone either.
Luckily, Brother in Law Peter (rear) is a hard ass London lawyer, so he can work his magic. I’m sure many elders say “Oh now, I don’t want to make a fuss…” so they won’t know how to deal with someone who does talk back. The photo was taken on the grounds of the Newbridge House (I think) in Donabate where Brother in Law John lives. He lives in Donabate, not in the Newbridge House. Just wanted to make that clear.
But on to Mum in Law’s house. The armoire above was in Brother in Law John’s room when he was growing up. Ok, The Human League and Nick Cave were easy to figure out, but who is that in the middle? I just got it now as I was writing this, not because I recognized him, but because I know he’s from one of John’s favorite bands.
I love the Aga! She doesn’t really use it to cook much anymore, but it does heat the kitchen. Mum in Law does not own a proper toaster so the Aga is one way of making toast. See contraption below.
The other way of making toast is on that grill thing above the stove.
The house doesn’t have central heating. When I first started visiting over 20 years ago, there wasn’t a plug in heater in every room. I’m not sure, but these may have been purchased to appease the finicky American daughter in law. Originally, I was told to put on another sweater and bring a hot water bottle to bed. Most Dublin homes have converted to central heat now.
The water heater is located in a closet on the second floor. You can get two, maybe three showers and then you have to wait for it to refill. It also serves as a towel warmer.
Clean coal technology? For the fire place.
Peat or turf briquettes. I have no clue how environmentally clean these are, but Ireland has a distinct smell when people use these during the winter. It’s a good smell. Like rugged earth.
This is the dishwasher. Many people soap up the dishes and dry them without rinsing. I need to rinse!! But when I get lazy, I sometimes do it the way everyone else does and rinse just my own as I need them.
Elaborate shower system. When I first started visiting, this wasn’t in place. It was bath or bust. I’m 4’11” and I have to bend my knees to fit under this.
Ah, yes, my sanctuary! There’s one bathroom upstairs in the house. I won’t go into my privacy issues, but let’s just say I use the outhouse a fair bit when I need to do my thing.
The Home Depot of Ireland. We hit it one day when we were looking for safety bars and such.
Found the safety bars. Gee, can you tell he knows his photo is being taken?
If one doesn’t want to overwork their water heater or if they don’t have one, this is the type of shower they can get. Those dials control the temperature as well as the water flow.
Skinny house in Blackrock.
The Blackrock Market has been a favorite of mine for years! There are stalls of antiques and vintage goodies at reasonable prices. I was a little disappointed this time to see more new dealers. Many were selling handmade items, but I still prefer the old finds.