“LL” purchased a British telephone wall mounted faucet from us months ago and she was kind enough to send an update on the entire bathroom renovation. Love it when readers/customers send in their renovation photos! It means less writing for me.

Everything except for the tile and towel racks was previously owned. The floor is polished concrete. Just goes to show you that a clean, modern look can still be achieved using second hand materials. Although some of these fixtures are antique, they look spectacular.

Thanks, LL! And mazeltov on your new bathroom!

We don’t usually think about where our beloved merchandise is going, nor do we often care when we’re out to make a buck. The pair of cherub sconces were exceptional because they were originally purchased for private use. We are delighted to report that the update from our happy customer shows that they went to a good home. Couldn’t have been a better match!

We love it when people send photos of our items in their new environment. Oh, that’s right. They usually don’t. That’s a hint.

Attention y’all! We went on a shopping trip yesterday and ending up doing a clean out. Now instead of having great new stuff to sell in the shop, we have an overabundance of inexpensive finds. Plus, we’re adding to that our own basement mess, so there’s a plenty of items for cheeeeep.

Let’s do this! Last minute sale!!! It’s all at the shop. We‘ll set up an area separate from our regular merchandise, which may or may not be slightly negotiable too, if the mood strikes.

945-947 Carroll Street

Friday 9am-5pm
Saturday 10am-6pm

Please follow OUR directions and NOT your GPS!!

Flickr set. We didn’t photograph everything.

*UPDATE: That cool office chair sold.

Antique tools. 3-10 bucks apiece.

Polaroid. Typewriter. Make offers. 

 Tschotskes, artwork, smalls starting at $2.

Heavy duty office chair in need of some TLC. $45

Metal folding chair. $ 25Antique chairs in need of re-caning. $35

The store will be open 9am-1pm On Friday, July 4th.  Weekend hours as usual.

In the UK and Ireland, yard sales are not the way people sell things.  Instead, they have car boot sales, a flea market where people pull up in their cars and pretty much sell from their trunks….er, boots.

The vendors pay anywhere from 10 to 30 euro to park and sell. The drawback is that they have to schlep the stuff but then they do get to benefit from the organizer’s marketing efforts and having a venue where shoppers can buy in one place.

We hit a few car boot sales in Dublin over the weekend.  The ones we got to weren’t all that impressive as they were more second hand clothing and tschotskes and less vintage and antiques.  The prices were so-so.  Supposedly it’s better in the countryside.

Anyway, that’s my Monday post while I’m waiting for my flight to board, which it is just now…so I’m cutting this short.

See you soon!

-Phyllis

It’s pitiful for us that the best architectural salvage classified site comes out of Britain.  Perhaps it’s because their housing stock is a bit more historic than our own.  In any case, the good news is that there is a U.S. version of Salvo Web.  We’ve recently added some listings and they are encouraging dealers in the states to do the same.

The website is user friendly, with various categories that make it a whole lot easier than trying to navigate eBay or Craigslist looking for a pair of doors. There are sales and wanted sections, an upcycled section and even theft alerts.

We want to see Salvo Web succeed on this side of the pond.  You know why?  Because once a year (not this year though), they have a huge Salvage Fair in England and we think it would be effin awesome if they did one here!

In preparation for Crafts in Chelsea tomorrow, Emilia has been hard at work creating smalls like a little Italian elf.  Here are some one of kind functional art pieces she’s made. Click on each image for more info.

My favorite tray is above because I’m digging the blue circles. The tray or table “thing” is an old door panel with paint and resin, framed in polyurethaned plaster lath with antique drawer pulls for carrying.  No, it’s not dishwasher safe.  You can use it, but we suggest that you use it gently as you can’t really soak the lath part in water. The resin will take anything but extreme heat.

Here’s another door tray. This one is great because the original chippy paint remains as part of the design.

Same idea with this wall hook.  This was made from a thicker part of the door.  The trays are lighter panels.

You can’t see the numbers on these antique nails in this image, but the nails are marked with “31” and “29”.  Apparently they were used for telephone poles or something like that back in the day. Again, this piece was made from door and lath.  There was stenciling and plastering to create the raised design.

You won’t see these pieces at the shop this weekend.  Gotta come to Chelsea to check them out!

Brimfield.  It’s the antique show to end all antique shows here on the east coast. THE market for dealers and shoppers alike. Five days and about twenty fields.  And yet, I had never been.  Until yesterday.

Instead of braving the trip on my own, I gladly accepted an invitation for a bus ride with the Manhattan Women’s Club. This spared me dealing with the logistics, the 3+ hour drive each way plus the daunting job of navigating parking.

So, was it a success?  Well, I didn’t come home with a monumental haul, but yes, it was a great success!  I connected with at least four vendors who I plan on visiting regularly for their stockpiles. Folks from Albany to Pennsylvania who I never would have heard of if not for this show.  Of course with only a few hours to explore, I didn’t get to cover even a quarter of Brimfield, but my take on the show as a whole was that it was a bit pricey.  Some of the vendors were asking a good deal of money for items I can find locally for less than half the price. But hey, if people are buying it, who am I to say anything?  Plus, there were some really great pieces.

If you’re looking to restore an entire home, there is architectural salvage.  Looking to furnish?  No problemo. Art?  Check. Wondering how you’ll find those vendors carrying what you need?  Yup, there’s an app for that.

The bus trip was an easy introduction and a perfect experience for those who might get overwhelmed by things like this.  If you’re looking to do a massive amount of shopping, renting a U-Haul and a hotel room and spending a few days in Brimfield would be the way to go.  There were a few things I saw that I knew I couldn’t schlep on that bus.

My friend Judy came along and the only thing she bought was a $ 5.00 tin, but the day was just so darned pleasant that she didn’t mind.  What could be better?  A bus full of fabulous women.  A day in the country. While shopping.  For antiques.

Did I mention they had wine of the bus?