Reclaimed Home Archives - Page 11 of 15

Front Porch/Back Porch Works in Progress

April 7, 2009 RH 4 Comments

While I was off gallivanting around the flea market on Sunday, the husband was hard at work on the front porch. The thing is a mess and needs some serious structural care. We took out work permits nearly two years ago when we started ripping it apart and they’ll be expiring this July.

What needs to be done, you ask? Um, well, I guess the whole thing is getting rebuilt. New foundation needs to be poured, the columns were collapsing due to foundation and wood rot, floor joists should be repaired and leveled and did I mention wood rot? New deck flooring. The staircase and bannister will be replaced, the shingles will be taken down and ballusters will be put in to open up the area. Then we’re going to screen off the area on the side so the pets can participate in the fun.

All this before we paint the exterior of the house by autumn. Think we’re delusional to expect it will get done this year? Yeah, you’re right. Who am I trying to kid?

What hubby did this weekend was more demolition and some temporary support of the roof so it doesn’t collapse. Our house looks lovely from the street right about now.

But our real handy work was on the back porch! See, I don’t trust the cats to stay outside on their own for too long without adult supervision. One of them eventually chews his way through the fence in system. Plus there’s the matter of all those birds, snakes and rodents I’ve had to save.

We’ll be ripping up the floor in the “cat den” and they’ll all need a place to stay for at least a week (or a year, considering how long it takes us to do things). The kitchen isn’t quite enough space, but it does lead out to the back porch. So we made a temporary safe haven for them while the work is being done.

The original idea was chicken wire. But then I came up with the lattice screen figuring it would be easier to install and look less prisonish. When we got to Home Depot and saw the plastic shit that we didn’t have to paint….well the rest is White Trash history!

Our lovely WT porch enclosure goes really well with our lifestyle, including the front porch, 3 cars in the driveway, dog poop in the yard and piles of broken furniture in the dilapidated garage. Yee-haw! Y’all come back now, y’hear?

New Blogging Toy: Flip Mino HD

April 3, 2009 RH

I know I promised I’d shoot some “Old NY Jews Down in Florida” footage with my latest gadget, the Flip Mino HD, but it all came out sucky. This is the best footage I got so far and that’s not saying much.My whole reason for “needing” the Flip is this blog. I’d really like to do some DIY videos if we ever start working on the houses again in this lifetime. The camera is pocket sized and easy to upload. Just “flip” the USB out and plug it into your laptop. The quality is fine for online presentation.

So what are my grievances? Well, I pretty much cover them in this video “review”. The lens isn’t wide enough! You really have to stand far back to take in the scene…or even just one person. Which brings me to the voice. You really have to be on top of someone to get clear sound. Such is the irony of the Flip.

I shouldn’t complain. Honestly, it’s a great camera for just over $200. I’m just used to professional still camera equipment where I can control everything and this is like the point and shoot of video cameras.

Take a vote. Will this become my new blogging tool or will it sit in my purse getting scratched up?

Make Me An Offer Vintage Sale!

March 30, 2009 RH 4 Comments

Sink vanity. Listed at $1200. I want it gone!

Out with the old, in with the new! It’s time to get ready for the Brooklyn Flea in Ft Greene. The outdoor market starts on April 18th. I do not, repeat, do not want to go out there with last year’s inventory. So, I’m having a virtual stoop sale. A “Make Me An Offer Sale”.

OMG, this is taking up half my storage space. It’s down to $195. What do you want to give me??

Check out the Reclaimed Home shop and pay no attention to the prices. I’m willing to come down big time on larger pieces especially, as they’re taking up the most space. The longer I’ve had it around, the less I’ll take.

You can also spend hours looking through old Flickr photos. Much of that has been sold, but I still have some pieces that were never uploaded to the store. So have fun with that!

Artwork and restored furniture is not as negotiable, but you can certainly try. I won’t be insulted by any offer. The worst that can happen is I’ll tell you to fek off.

You may even get local delivery out of me if you take lots of stuff or don’t bargain me down too much. We’ll see.

Please, get all light fixtures out of my face!

CT Green Scene

March 26, 2009 RH 2 Comments

Check out yesterday’s awesome post @ CT Green Scene. “Reduce Reuse Renovate” by Eileen Weber. Our Reclaimed story is about halfway through the article.

So Maybe I’m Taking Monday Off?

March 20, 2009 RH 5 Comments

Yeah, I don’t feel like pre writing a post for Monday. I’ll be down in Florida visiting the mother. Going down for my father’s unveiling even though it hasn’t been a full year and even though he’s in a wall 4 stories up. Don’t ask. Yes, I took a picture at the funeral. Right after my mother made a scene about not wanting to throw Israeli soil on the coffin because she’s American, not Israeli. Right after she made my husband find some Florida dirt and cousin Linda started gossiping about it.

I’m going to bring my Flip video with me. I bought the new toy months ago and never used it. Some family members might have conniptions if I start taping the unveiling, but I’ll try to get some good footage of the crazy Florida Jews somehow. I’ve gotta start using that camera.

Anyway, Happy Monday. I’ll be schvitzing down south with my goyishe mensche and my meshugine mispokhe.

* Yiddish

This Saturday, Beacon, Tag Sale. Failte!

March 11, 2009 RH 4 Comments

Here we go again! So, now that we pretty much have all of our tag sale inventory in place, I can tell you what we’ve got.

Garage full of inexpensive furniture and smalls. Let’s put it this way….I buy from Mario (guy whose garage it is) to sell at The Brooklyn Flea. I consider my flea prices to be pretty fair and I still have quite the mark up. So, here you are cutting out the middle gal (Hey wait, that’s me!) and getting it directly from “the guy”. The garage is 2 floors packed with stuff.

Inside the house are the finer quality items, if you will. Some incredibly cool things:

* Antique marble bust with stand

* Naked guy mannequin complete with exposed penis (see photo above)

* Chock full o’ light fixtures and lamps

* Cool iron gate or partition

* Real adult furniture in good condition (Wow!), like sideboards, dressers, a desk, bookcase, primitive dry sink and china cabinet.

All of the items in the house are priced about half of what they would be in an antique shop.

FLICKR, FLICKR, FLICKR!

Sale is this Saturday, March 14th at 69 Verplanck Avenue in Beacon, NY. 8:30am-4:30pm

CASH ONLY! There are ATMs on Main Street only a couple of blocks away. Metro North goes to Beacon and if you spend a friggin fortune, you might be able to talk us into delivery.

Here’s a rundown of what’s happening in Beacon for Second Saturday.

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Intro to Antiques

March 11, 2009 RH 2 Comments

I was e-chatting with Kristi of Here Be Old Things over the weekend and she sent me a link to her Mother’s Day post on how became interested in antiques.

It made me think about my own history with old junk.

My parents always liked modern design. Well, can you call it design if it’s just contemporary crap? Fuzzy couches and mirrored mantels? It looked like I was growing up in a pimp’s crib! Anyway, my mother hates antiques. No use for them. She did, however, work as a bookkeeper for an antiques dealer. A dealer who happened to be her best friend also. I spent more time over at her antique filled home next door than in my own. That was probably the start of it.

During my teens and early twenties in the 80’s I was the Vintage Clothing Queen (Ok, I still am). If I wasn’t shopping at Reminiscence, Canal Jeans, Zoot or Unique, I’d be scavenging stoop sales and flea markets. Now a favorite pastime.

Our first home project wasn’t a proper restoration. The house was 1905, but all of the detail was long gone, so it was just a new renovation. The second home wasn’t old at all. It wasn’t until our third and fourth homes that we started looking into salvage and period furnishings. We’ve been going a little overboard keeping it real. More work, but more fun and less money….as long as we DIY.

And that, my friends, is how I really got involved with all of this old crap. I can’t believe how much we used to spend on antiques before researching this properly. Hello, $3500 dining room table? $2000 armoire? I swear I can find these things for less than $500 now, easy!

So that’s my story. What’s yours?

Estate Sale: Hits and Misses

March 2, 2009 RH 9 Comments

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.

Kickin It Old School.Dublin Style

February 24, 2009 RH 2 Comments

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.

Next Week: Blog Carnival & Vacay

February 13, 2009 RH 1 Comment

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It’s been a year in the making, but Reclaimed Home’s number is finally up to host Treehugger’s Carnival of the Green next week. What does this mean? Monday will be an orgy of green links. I’m hoping there’s enough material to last the entire week because…..

I’m off to Dublin on Wednesday. Won’t be back until the 24th. Yeah, I know that I can post until Wednesday and even write posts to upload whilst I’m away. But do I want to? No. The gal deserves a little break.

And speaking of breaks, the Dublin trip is really no vacation. The mother in law fell and broke her leg. We’ll be visiting her at the rehab center and preparing the house for her return…which means putting a bathroom on the first floor or figuring out how to get a lift put in.

Don’t get me started with the Irish. Why can’t they plan ahead? I’ve been telling my husband for years that his 80something year old mother cannot live forever alone in that 2 story home with bedroom and bathroom ONLY on the second floor. Sure, it would be nice if she lived to see a healthy, vibrant 120 and then just dropped dead one day, but people deteriorate as they age.

As I hear it, there’s no Florida in Ireland. Retirement communities and assisted living aren’t all that common. Maybe this was ok when people had Suleman sized families and they all sat around on the dole scratching their arses and getting piss drunk. Sure, they had time to take care of the elders. But it’s a different country now. Birth control. Jobs. Welcome to the 21st Century. You have options now. Use them.

Ok. End rant here.

Ghost in the Table?

February 3, 2009 RH 4 Comments

Humor me here. So, the other day I was photographing a house full o’ goodies for my first estate sale (more on that later). Everything was going swimmingly until I got to this table near a window in the basement. I kept getting glare on the top, so I had someone hold a sheet over the window. As you can see, he didn’t do a very good job. Anyway, check out the series of photos. First of all, they are the only shots of the day that are out of focus. The camera was on a tripod. But what really puzzles me is that “thing” that appeared in every shot, even when I changed the position of the table. If nobody can tell me what is is, I’m going with my original theory that it’s a ghost.

The baby pram was in the same room and I thought it could have been that crown reflecting the light. I moved the pram and the mysterious orb was still there. Then I thought it could be my camera or lens. The pram shot was taken immediately after the table shots and it’s perfect.

Scrambling for Dumbo

January 9, 2009 RH 2 Comments

So there I was slacking off at the beginning of the week when I get an email from Eric “Flea” Demby filling me in on a cancellation at the Dumbo market. I wasn’t booked to participate until the 24th/25th so I wasn’t too bothered by my lack of focus. But I figured it would be a good idea to be there since I was one of three featured in the Daily News article.

And so, after hours and hours of work yesterday, I’m still not finished with everything. But here’s where I’m at…

The God-forsaken chair is finally done. I bought this last winter and schlepped it from Beacon to Brooklyn to Beacon to Brooklyn and back to Beacon and never got the chance to work on it. I never want to move it or look at it again. It better sell. I haven’t figured out a price yet but $175 has a nice ring to it.

Here’s the before picture. Snow on the ground was from last winter.

I’ve discovered that people like bright, shiny objects. Well, you can’t get much brighter than this fluorescent orange side table. Lucky for me, someone had already primed it by the time I found it. Sweet. Hope they did a good job. I’m going to add some gold details, but the paint was still wet when I shot this.

I am F*in loving this piece! I had this roll of vintage vinyl wallpaper that I couldn’t sell. I don’t know why….I think it’s really cool! Anyway, I had matching paint in the house. What could be easier? Perhaps if I coated it with poly instead of resin, that would’ve been easier. I have to figure out a way to leave the cat hair out next time. No way this will be ready for tomorrow. The resin is still sticky and as you can see, I haven’t even finished painting yet. It’s just a test to get an idea of what it will look like. The entire bottom bit will be green. I wish I had remembered to take a before shot, but it was all poop brown.

I sold a bed with the same color scheme over the summer. I call it my “cartoon line”. Not really, but the bright colors do look cartoonish to me.

Dumbo Pop Up Market launches tomorrow and runs for 12 weekends throughout the winter. 76 Front Street.

L@@k Ma, I’m Famous!

January 7, 2009 RH 4 Comments

The NY Daily News did an article yesterday on Brooklyn Flea’s Winter Pop Up Dumbo market. The online post gave mention to a few vendors, but ’twas the Brooklyn section of the print edition that had the photos I’ll be sending off to Mom.

The Dumbo market will be less flea/more vintage shop. In other words, we won’t be showing as much “junk”.

I’m pretty happy about the free publicity, but I’m still trying to figure out if I’m going senile or if the reporter made a mistake. It states that I’ve been renovating my Bed Stuy brownstone since 2002. Come on, now…. We’re not THAT pathetic! We bought the place at the end of 2005. We’ve been living in construction zones since 1994, but it wasn’t all one house.

Anyway, cool article.

The market begins this weekend and will go until the end of March. As it stands now, Reclaimed Home will be participating on January 24/25 and a few weekends after that. Check out the Flea Blog for more info on all vendors.

Happy Holidays from Reclaimed Home!

December 24, 2008 RH 2 Comments

Have a good weekend. See ya Monday!

More Salvage Magic

December 19, 2008 RH

The disease has spread to the hallway.

Once again, I’ve spent my week finding salvaged pieces around the house looking to make something useful out of them. This coming Sunday is my last market of the season (Gifted) and then my life and this blog goes back on track for a few weeks until I show up at the Dumbo market.

Here’s what I came up with this week.

Some guy from Manhattan Fruitier came up to me at the flea market and gave me this box. I painted it and put some felt on the inside bottom and now it’s a golden beauty.

Yeah, been there, done that. I’m getting bored with these door knob hooks already, but buyers aren’t and I’m a ho for the dollar. I got my hands on some nice glass knobs and detailed back plates, so I’m groovin’ to these. How do you like my molding on top? No miter. Just by eye. It sucks, I know.

I experimented with some 6×6 parquet tile flooring. I love the way these frames look, but I need to figure out what to do with the back because the mesh alone is not strong enough. Ideas? The images below are parquet flooring also.

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