THE ROUGH ROOM

the ROUGH ROOM IS PACKED....WE HAVE BOUGHT LIKE CRAZY AND THE PRICES ARE PRETTY REASONABLE!!!! LOTS OF NICE STUFF IN THERE... just waiting for a new home....one dear customer calls it the orphan room.......chairs tables, desks, a couple big chicago cupboards, several nice buffets.... some more modern and cheap....the heywood wakefield set...lots more..

FINAL SHIPMENT OF GARDEN IRON...

MONDAY WE SHOULD BE GETTING OUR FINAL SHIPMENT OF GARDEN IRON....MORE TRELLISES, MORE URNS, LOTS OF FENCE, NEW HOOKS AND BRACKETS, SOME WELCOME PLANTERS AND THOSE BIG DRAGONFLYS ON STICKS... SOME BUTTERFLY BENCHES,,,,,

primitives and the guy parts...

lots HAS come in for the primITIVE part.... ....bowls, pumps, pullys, planes, roadsigns, shoelasts,,licence plates, and the steampunk shelf has some cool gauges, a few typewriters and some etc, IT IS REALLY PACKED....FUN SHELVES TOO AND A BIG PILE OF DUCK DECOYS...NOT THE REAL OLD ONES BUT NICE ..this is the fav for lots of guys...

key west room

WE HAVE BEEN filling up the KEY WEST ROOM WITH SOME SOME GREAT LAKE SIGNS.... for OUR LAKE MANITOU, RIGHT HERE IN ROCHESTER and also for LAKE MAXINKUCKEE in culver....we also have some culver and culver military post card images for sale... and lake manitou images too, some fun bar signs in there too, and frogs, and paradise signs, and fun beachy cabinets..

i really like this part....we did a bright blue cupboard for here today...

THE FUN PART...DESIGN

i love design...and rearranging the store and using big beautiful things ..... AND I LOVE seeing what other people do in their houses or their booths or their stores...

ONE OF THE MOST INSPIRATIONAL DESIGNERS i get to meet once in a while has put us on her blog......gina at peacock park.....see here and ENJOY!!! http://www.peacockparkdesign.blogspot.com/ .....ive seen her booth at chicago and its always fabulous..and go down DEEPER into her blog for lots of beautiful ideas......she likes our coolest stuff....but it has to be kind of crusty..especially big and crusty...

come to think of it....she helped us design our giant potting tables a few years ago..and whenever she comes i try and pick her brain for new ideas for the store......

WE GET OUR FRENCH GIRLS FROM HER company AND THE BIG CLOCK AND LOTS MORE.....
if you have a store you can see her at atlanta and chicago......too..
ENJOY

we are OPEN JULY 4......OPEN JULY 4......OPEN JULY 4....

TODAY WAS KIND OF NICE BUT WIERD..... one thing was i bought a big pile from the family of a person who i really liked who had died..... she and i always had some neat link and liked the same things... her stuff looks right at home here....and will go on to someone else now....but it was pretty sad.... usually i dont know the previous owner..

the other thing was a woman i only see about once a year.... .. shes been coming here for about 25 yrs....i had one of my collages on the floor, 2 black girls ,like paper dolls, and the words ...girls just want to have fun....she told her friend i probably made that...????? i just didnt understand what she picked up on...i used to make black rag dolls... i have no idea..........

ive gotten to meet a lot of wonderful people out here in the store...

MY JOB THIS WEEK.... this week im ordering lots of christmas...my job is to PICK OUT AND M AKE THE ORDERS FOR OUR CHRISTMAS STOCK AND ONLY BUY WHAT WILL SELL.........so i need to remember what sold last year, what were the duds, and what is left...and not waste any money on things that wont sell....we do this thru catalogs mainly....and boy can those photos lead me wrong... seems like everything this year is about being careful with money....and im trying to be ....but i need to spend a lot right now and on the right stuff....

fun at the store

a fellow junker..

jon and our carpenter...he makes the biggest archetectural things

ruth and lisa....

a friend with her new puppy

me and carol and timmy

a buddy loving the big pile of haviland

and the chuckler....with his dog clem...

we get the neatest people.... and lots seem to be fond of their dogs...

SHAMELESS CHUCKLING ...... this is a good old customer..above ..he was buying a pile of our price guides....and an unmarked cookie jar for 9$...he hadnt paid yet.....he called me over and showed me the cookie jar ,,,,then showed me in the mc coy book he was buying the same jar for 5o$ he was shamelessly chuckling....

EXPERT ADVICE....ANOTHER CUSTOMER works in big time design....like for big spaces like hospitals etc....so i tried to pick her brain on what we could do better at the store ...layout wise.... she said we did well....i pressed her for more....and she said get a better location....lol..so impossible.... thats our weak point....we are out in the country in rural indiana.... with no driveby....

you never know what you will find at a yardsale....my dear young grandson went yardsaling with his dad , jon, saturday....and he knows i like bottle cap art and funny folk art....he saw some beer can people made with cans and bottle caps and bought them from a nice farm lady...,.,,then the little old lady said ...he does something...lift the can up.... a giant male thingy pops up.......poor jon!!!

SHE SAID THE RIGHT THING.....today a woman came in with a big beautiful dog...not on a leash.... i came up to her and said i cant have a big dog in here....she was unflappable...and said ive been here before and i love your furniture and i came to buy a whole lot of It.... and i cant leave the dog in the car because its too hot.... i totally, SHAMELESSLY , changed my rule....it worked out great....and im so glad she came....

BOUGHT TODAY

nice big rough shelves

more windows....with diamond shaped panes

ash trays with pink flowers

small rolltop, newer

oak mirror

nice gold mirror

little blue shutters

a fancy arrow for a weathervane....with red glass.

big white frenchy cupboard

yardsales and values

my favorite place to buy is at auction!!! see above...

jon is going to the yardsales again....he used to all the time before he got married...im so glad....and kind of sick at all the neat things we are probably missing....things selling for way less than i would gladly pay.....i would love to buy from some of the folks going to all the yardsales.......YARDSALERS....BRING ME YOUR PILES!!!!
.. i just dont get it.... jon bought a Victorian locket for 50 cents..at an estate yardsale....... if that lady had brought it here i would have paid about 20$....some people are still giving away their things.....and not really considering selling antiques to us....even tho we have been here for 30 yrs......
....and then lots of others really overestimate what they have.....and what they bring me is just unsaleable ....or things that would go cheap in box lots at auction........ its kind of weird....
its hard to explain whats worth money....but it usually isnt much from the 1940s or 50s....and thats a long time ago....
heres some of the ikky stuff you can get cheap or free many places...
. most anything electrical ... lamps and appliances, sewing machines, etc etc
clear glass, vases, plates, bowls,
milk glass
most figurines and doo dads
huge amounts of bricabrac made after after the depression era.....
almost anything saying hong kong, Taiwan or even made in japan
most partial dish sets
most silverware
most pretty plates
franklin mint, beanies, cabbagepatch, ball cards, avon bottles, jim beam, etc etc....all those things made to be collected...

in all of this there are lots of exceptions...of course!!!
thats where ebay comes in...its a wealth of numbers and values.....IF you research under completed auctions......thats the key...lots and lots stuff on ebay doesnt even get a bid....
if you search under completed auctions you will get a good general view....and its shockingly cheap on most things.... i could buy tons of average suff there if i had the time...

WE ARE BUYING AND GLAD TO SEE WHATEVER ANYONE HAS TO SELL.....
and really if its family things from before 1940 it would be bad for the owner to even sort it.... how could you know what to save?
....the best thing is to have a trusted buyer...or some good recommendations .and educate yourself as well as possible...but nobody knows everything....if you have to be positive you might as well just keep whatever it is..... we have bought and bought and every month there is something we mess up on...or learn.

..and , sadly, lots and lots of antique values have fallen in the last 10 yrs...like quilts and primitives especially ...

money is FUNNY IN ANTIQUES..... for sure....

like a buddy who sells to me sometimes....he bragged that he got this big majolica pitcher for 5$ at a yardsale.... then just minutes later, griped when i only offered him 150$ , because its worth 400....maybe....lol...i shamed him into taking my offer....

the white and frenchy

this is THE WHITE SECTION.....the white bedroom set is really nice ...it has cherubs on it....we priced it all separately..the bed is in the rough room......we really worked in here this week.... 2 pieces sold , both full of stuff..so it was a big mess....but we put more in and refluffed everything....i still have a huge frenchy screen and no where to put it...it has giant cherubs on it....and of course lots of french dancing girls in here....and mercury glass, and some church relics, and most of our white things...like milk glass, and white pottery....there is a gold section in here too.... its packed...

. well, i like all the sections and especially the white one ...it is so fun....lots of extreme architecture and i try for a look like it came out of a castle...kind of a shabby one........thats the great thing about having a store...i can indulge in so many parts of the world of objects...and not have to totally commit to any like you have to do at home....i guess thats why so many of us are kind of eclectic..we dont like just one thing...at home i have a bit of oriental, from my parents...lots of great early indiana, and lots of english country and lots of early folkart.... my main collections are from 1850s to the 1880s... and hey ....it works for me...

NEW THIS WEEK......

van briggle girl,mc coy

little tables,

books..big pile of price guides...cheap!!!

needlework mottoes

black china cabinet,more buffets....

lots of christmas in the half price room...

big neat shutter shelves in the awning...old cement planters outside

old metal patio set..lake manitou signs....one 6 ft long...cool peace signs....some more window cupboards from the carpenters...2 small counters/islands.... from old parts...

also this week....I GOT A BIG PILE FOR THE YARDSALE..... COMING UP IN AUGUST ....

the ROUGH ROOM is pretty packed and lots of good pieces right now....just waiting for some tlc

AND JON GOT A BIG LOAD YESTERDAY WHICH I HAVENT SEEN YET...

AROUND THE STORE

the barbies find a home.

I KNEW I WAS IN LUCK WHEN I SAW HIS TATTOOS.......HE WAS COVERED WITH BARBIES...

he asked DH if we had any barbies........well yes we have a whole pile.... nice and old and about 100 pieces , still over at the house waiting and in limbo....too valuable to be out in the store , because of all the little parts....lots of great outfits...etc etc....all from the early years.......

IT WAS FUN..we went over to our house and I DRUG OUT THE WHOLE PILE and laid it on the kitchen table.... AND HE AND HIS BUDDY WERE THRILLED....REALLY LIKED THEM... KNEW WHAT PARTS WENT WITH WHAT OUTFITS ETC. ETC....i could tell they wanted them...

we got to the price , which was kind of a problem...i needed 500$ for it all and he only wanted to spend 250....and i definitely felt too ignorant to split it up myself or let him pick out his favorites....... so we did what i learned in reading Agatha Christie.:...a way to divide things that the archeologist's in Egypt used when they divided up the spoils with the local government ......he made 2 piles and i picked which one i wanted..... it was kind of neat....

the guys were from Chicago and scrapbooking their trip down into Indiana.... so i guess ill be in their scrapbook and they are in my blog....A GOOD TIME WAS HAD BY ALL...

to me it was was exciting and fun to meet this guy and his partner....... hes another passionate collector........and, even tho more decorated, hes a lot like others Ive known and enjoyed....... thinking here of my 80 yr old buddy who bought a 14 ft clock for several thousand $$$$ and had to lower his livingroom floor to accommodate it.... and a lot of other really serious collectors i know;..

around the web....junk style

http://www.artsyfartsyfinds.blogspot.com/ i didnt know southern ladies could say that....great pictures!!!
http://www.sassytrash.blogspot.com/ more great layouts...and stuff

http://www.redneckchic.blogspot.com/ always fun to read...
http://www.rhubarbreign.blogspot.com/ almost neighbors....i like hearing about her travels....and she has good links too...
http://www.junkinjane.blogspot.com/
great talk here.... http://www.junkrevolution.com/
tons of projects here http://www.robolady.blogspot.com/
its kind of endless....and so neat to see and explore....and she has ebooks

its all about the STUFF

we had lots to do up high today....hanging the chandeliers, and putting up the big stained glass pieces... the long one is beautiful but hard to see here...

we love locker baskets...new or old....these are nice and big.... and in different colors....

part of the country room

and our new clocks

more boxes waiting to be opened

the big truck

jon in the driveway selling a nice big buffet right off the truck.....
this was a neat one with fancy legs.. ....i think she is going to turn it into a vanity for a double vessel sink ....he got 2 other ones , now in the rough room......

our sign wall



some good old stuff...

WE GOT SO MUCH THIS WEEK....

IN NEW ..... locker baskets, wall clocks, bird clocks, fun signs, more glass ball stakes,lots of chandeliers, iron angels, wine racks, iron rabbits...the big key west parrot bar butler...hes big....new flowers and wreaths, and placemats...

IN OLD..... BIG BEAUTIFUL STAINED GLASS WINDOWS...ONe LONG ONE WITH BEVELS AND A BIG FLEUR DE LIS.... blue and white pitcher, molds, bristol glass, old windows, more buffets, shutters, nice spoon carved dresser, old doll house, nice big group of costume jewelry, lots of cheap and usable small furniture..yelloware pitcher and salt,

FROM THE CARPENTERS.... several big hall mirrors , rehabbed into hall seats.in black white and red......barnwood tables...cheap.... window cupboards, big big harvest table...with nice fat legs... peace signs, 2 small counter/islands....and some fun door thingys...

so it feels good around here, we are packed full....i got some of the christmas from last week into the half price room....

...4H........we have had several kids in lately looking for things for their recycled projects..... one looked so fun and different.......a paned window on top of a chicken crate with porchpost legs.....for a coffee table....seems like a great way to enter the wonderful world of rehabbing and creating with the used and the antique....i always give them http://www.robojunker.com/ for all kinds of recycled ideas...

i love this place ,,one day i get to hear reports about the rich and famous or the big time decorators and how they are shopping, from my dealer customers who do the big shows and the next day i hear about a creative little kid looking for a 4h project...or a country mom needing the right thing for her porch... ...funny thing is, all might be looking at and buying from us the same kind of thing....

like the mop bucket jon got......it was left for the trash pick up after an auction....we got it....it was what they call a Cadillac, it has the wringer on it and wheels..... that day it was a total reject with no value.... jon kept it for awhile and finally brought it out...we put a price on it and it sold to a big house on an expensive lake and now it has a new life ....to keep the beer cold on the deck... maybe it will be in a magazine someday if that house gets featured....

we will be a mess today...with a big load of boxes to deal with....but it should all be out and priced by the weekend.....we are dealing with 4 pallets of new stuff in 2 days, FROM 2 PLACES...that doesnt usually happen..we got half of it done yesterday.....i am always amazed to see a big 53ft truck maneuver into our dock...its as long as our parkinglot.....

a bad road trip....

this was a while back, in the spring.......but i just got the pictures..... something in the steering broke....and we had to be carried home.... we were 14 ft in the air..see jon, hes 6 ft 2..and had to go under a viaduct...luckily we broke down in a parking lot...i guess it could have been pretty bad...one wheel went one way and the other another....

BOUGHT TODAY....A BIG TRUCK LOAD OF NEW CHRISTMAS....lots and lots....

about 20 big boxes of it will be in the yardsale in august...garland, ornaments, figures, lots of gold and silver...italian dolls,.. one of our suppliers bought out a store and we got it all....some willl be out in the yard in the cheap rows at the yardsale and the nicest will be in the half price area at the yardsale...i might put a little in the half price room this week.....

A NICE BIG LOAD ..

JUST IN.....A NICE BIG LOAD...
old christmas balls,
old bottles ,
oak dressers
chairs
some french provincial lamps , figural
fancy white bedroom set , shabby and chippy with cherubs
big pile of kitchen primitives , nice old ones.
casket shrouds , i thought they were gypsy scarves
stack bookcase, not oak , so really reasonable

rag rugs, nice big

cute old trunk

store dummies...

lots of pictures and frames... ladies, mostly
neat seated halltree out of old door ...big and nice.
a small black counter/island , with tin door...
several buffets , painted and not

a batch of nice paned windows
wades peace signs

AND LOTS MORE..........

we got a whole box truck full of great antique misc last week.... plus a refill on our garland plus some large barn stars...plus some great things from the carpenters...
and the rough room is filling back up...

and also we saved back A NICE BIG PILE , like christmas and newer misc, FOR THE YARDSALE IN AUGUST...

.THIS IS AN OLD PICTURE OF JON... but it kind of says it all....my load was almost this big...

.and!!! i think i have a yard saler who will be bringing us more good stuff...

THE NICE THING ABOUT OUR CUSTOMERS.... today the shop was a wreck...besides the huge amount coming in, we sold a 9 ft long cabinet that was totally full of primitives late yesterday....so all that was trashing the prim room, ..and everything moved around to get the big cabinet out...plus the main hallway totally full of the incoming load.. ...it was kind of chaos.... we kind of apologized to the folks coming thru and almost all said thats ok....we like it like this......

plus.....i got some nice little treasures for altered artists and the steampunk fans that i will be putting on my etsy site http://www.gypsymarket.etsy.com/

we get the neatest people thru our store....today it was an old customer we havent see n for a long time............... i missed him but he left a card with his his blog and i sure enjoyed his site.....and the video at the bottom of the site..... talk about making lemonade out of lemons.....!!! enjoy

http://alcoholicoutsiderartist.blogspot.com/. very cute obama pictures and some really scary stuff as well...and hopeful.... ...

i think this one above was called rehabb


and this onE ...OUR PRESIDENT

if you go to his site there are wonderful links into the outsider art world.....