digging into the past

when you are out digging around in old things ...sometimes you can just feel the kids or people who loved the stuff so long ago...... i like that feeling....and a total thrill to me is to see a spot that is kind of like they left it.... i have been in places like that on house calls sometimes., rooms untouched for years ..an old toolshed just like the guy left it...... and even at auction when you see all an individuals things, you get a pretty interesting view into a different time and what they were like and what they liked....

kind of like
this neat image from http://www.coffeyhousecollection.blogspot.com/

i dont know how she does it!!! but so nice..

wanna see some neat pictures?...by linda koch.....altered visions.
http://alteredvisions.typepad.com/photos/atcs/index.html

i love this little girl she made...i think she grew up to be an adventurous outside the box designer of her enviornment.....

around the store

lots of new and old in this week....

victorian parts

birds

old tools

crocks

black bookcases

birdhouses

harvest tables

oak dresser

giant potting bench

flying pigs

cubbyholes

orphan ideas

i have so much work to do...and some thngs i really want to get done i cant.

new signs for the front of the store....actually we are 29 yrs old and dont have a sign ...so dumb!!!

...find a painter to make life size mermaids

..take computer lessons, its so hard and boring for me....but i want more pictures to choose from and i cant figure out how to get them on...

put more trash to treasure directions

on the website

find someone to make window collages, i have the stuff and the ideas...but im too messy and busy to do it...

make a new verse folder....we have been passing the same one out for too many years...

make the lake manitou book with our vintage pictures

well thats part of my list.... it kind of helps to write it down...

hog heaven

so much has come in these past 2 weeks.....we are totally full.....

lots of cupboards and cabinets
huge amount of garden iron
lots of flowers
nice small birds
new signs and sticheries
more harvest tables
big fancy fountains
lots of good old parts and pieces
some nice old wicker
more chairs
stained glass windows
spoon collection..

and lots more

julie...

my daughter is a partner in this wonderful store in carmel indiana..... http://www.bellachicinteriors.com/

this morning she was on tv...its part way down on her first page....

...she worked here a long time and we miss her a lot..but im so happy about her new life in indy....her thing is salvaging old furniture in a wonderful modern way.....what i call luxe trash to treasure!!!

. its in downtown carmel, in the art district.... thats her on the left...

explore....

i love this site....you can get lost in there..the images are just wonderful...i like her fairytale things.....and so much else.... http://www.ullam.typepad.com/
her archives are packed full.... lots of beautiful things...and amazing artists in the castle parts.....and she visits stores and events all over the world....tons of pictures....

new favorites

this is one of our new favorites....
.we call them greenhouse showcases...
.thinking they would be great for stores and for collections at home too...they are made to sit on
a counter or table.... there is a door opening up the back....they are pretty big...from 3 ft to 5 ft..
.running from 180 to 300$
they are really hard to make...
.but cheap if you could do it....
2 paned windows cut in half make the sides....
and another nice window for the front..
..and a plain window for the back...

.. the roof on this one has cedar shingles.....
we put pegs in the inside to hold heavy glass shelves.....
they are big and heavy.....
cost for 4 windows , under 25$ here..
..shingles were leftovers,
that pretty piece in the gable was from an old bed....

fun customers lately....

last week i realized a customer was showing another customer around the store and trying to help her find the right things for her new tv to sit on...??? im sure they didnt know each other....

and yesterday we closed , locked up and a car pulled up....and the women got out ..i said we are closed...and she said its ok...we come here all the time we just want to walk around and look at your garden stuff.......as you know if you come here, we have tons of merchandise outside...she was so sweet and sure it was ok .i just left and told her not to steal anything!!! ....

another one we all got a laugh with, came in with her husbands exwifes discount card for our feb sale..it came to her address......and used the card with glee..... but did ask that we start using her name now....and take the ex wifes off the list....
what i really love are the naughty magnets.....lots of customers get a laugh there..seems like a lot are married to the same kind of guys!!!

now buying

here are some things i would like to buy...
archetectural pieces
fancy oak furniture
pottery
fiesta
old patio furniture
old barn relics, wood benches,boxes,shelves...
windows
doors
big wierd things..
garden cement... staffordshire dogs
big accumulations from before the 1940s.... jewelry,pictures, little accessories...
i dont buy by mail but if you are around rochester, please keep me in mind...come talk to me or call...

the office

this is my office at home...i usually dont go for victorian but this big dresser i just couldnt resist...it came from a bishop somewhere.... i collect a lot of different things...and like to have them all out.... currier and ives showing girls with pets, staffordshire dogs, needlework, doll quilts, about anything made by little girls..sewer tile art,tramp art,victorian paper, those ledgers with watermark covers, old photos, most of my collections are from 1850 to 1880....

i love the quote ...minimalists dont have much to say...!!!

pillows

here are some beautiful trash to treasure pillow projects ....
http://www.cestchouettehome.com/
sometimes we have the beautiful old needlepoint covers from old chairseats...and other wonderful needlework from the old days....

tin tin tin

we have new and old tin.
...the new is nice and clean and easy to use and uniform...we have a big stock in .......

the old comes mainly from our chicago connection....its a bit heavier, lots roughter, more variety...and probably a bit harder to use..usually lots of rust and some holes and ragged edges.... ....
..we have quite a bit of old right now...on the back porch and in the rough room....and maybe some outside under the snow....

we have framed up some big 7 ft tall pieces...they are so good for the modern tall tall walls....
i hear new uses from our customers every week....this week it was making a whole wall out of them!!!
but usually its more about behind the stove, or to fill in cabinet doors....etc
we use tin for birdhouse roofs, backgrounds on cupboards, doors, big beds with porchpost for the posts and wall pieces....

do your own thing

thats a 60s idea....and the core of a lot of the fun adventurous customers who come see us...they have their own ideas and i try to just have a lot for them to pick from....a lot of props for their lifestyle you might say...

if that full size purdue mailbox works in their plan im happy....and i would love to see their plan....

jon brought home 4 or 5 victorian caskets once... they were awful to see for some and the buyers felt lucky to find them....2 went to a halloween fanatic and the others to a mortician with a love for antiques....

collectors are so interesting...if a guy spends 20 yrs studying a field now he has some deep info!!!. and its funny how the button collectors cant see the beauty of manly tools and the tool guys might think majolica looked like made in japan junk........ my antique education has come from listening to the real hands on collectors..

the person who taught me a lot about quilts remembers back when she bought great ones from furniture guys using them for packing blankets....

one old guy, a favorite dealer/ friend , dealt in early handmade furniture and accessories... ,he drew the line at 1850....to him everything after that was junk...he couldnt imagine why i was out there buying oak.....

..

my own thing is so important to me and no one else, but i dont care.......but i couldnt possibly stand the wrong piece .... putting a made in japan figurine next to my staffordshire would make me gag.... a fake currier and ives on my wall would not happen.....i like what i like...... i couldnt deal with ikea furniture or particle board or 50s furniture, not even in my messy garage... ...i want real furniture with some age and built out of real wood...

and i have a dear sister who couldnt care less..she has a nice house and could buy about anything ..... .. her own thing is something else entirely....luckily i dont have many customers like her.... my customers mainly are like me...they like stuff!!!! arranging it, changing it, adding to it ,, working on it, getting better stuff ...etc etc...its a big fun part of life...

support your local store

this has been a hard winter...our store had to replace 2 furnaces and got a huge gas bill...plus the weather has been horrible and money is tight...
not whining here, but stores are hurting too....

so if you have a store you like and you want them to be around try and go buy something from them...the sad fact you can see ..... independant stores are closing all around ...

we could end up in a world with just walmart, big malls and giant big box stores and everything made in china........and we wouldnt want that!!!.....

first off, i'd be out of a job........ a big corporation wouldnt hire me in the first place...they would hate my dress code, they would laugh at most of my inventory ideas..old,neat, outside the box!!.....it would be all made in china,,, crazy ideas and product experiments would have to go thru layers of management first... it would be sooooooo boring.....

i love the independant stores i go to..i love seeing what they come up with.......and i have many many cyber friends with brick and mortar stores who are out there hoping for enough business to keep them viable.......

green oak is fine...so far...if they dont close our highway!! ..our customers have been great...
we have been thru really bad economic times before.....and hope we can get thru this one too..thats our plan!!! .....our local economy is so hurting tho....most of the factories have closed.... the job situation here is not good....

ask lana

if you have any questions about the country room ask lana...she is back there fluffing it up most afternoons and every other sunday afternoon....

.we are trying to stock it with lots of goodies....

lots coming in...sticheries, more plates, lots more lights and bulbs, neat farm signs, and more placemats and runners....we have garland and berry rings ordered too and more signs.....also some big cabinets in barn red and our mixed up blacks and several long buffets from the carpenters with beadboard doors or windows from 150$ to 250$.... and several harvest tables...from 300 $ to 450$

its really full..