Big Changes, Big Losses, still a Bigger Future

Been awhile and may be awhile longer or if ever I decide to post new finds in the future, so much of what I have collected and shared here and much more that I haven't shared because of time constraints is now gone on the garbage pile, much like the five year relationship with the love of my life it all appears to have run it's course and come to an end. I could not take all the furniture I had collected and refinished or planned to refinish and furnish our house with and I could not afford to put all into storage, a very few pieces and not even the best I have kept to furnish a meagre apartment but with a day to load all into a large moving van and only six hours to do something with it I could find no takers not even the few second hand shops that I approached had the space available to take it so off to the local landfill and onto the pile it went, broke my heart and brought me to tears to see these things go but it really wasn't about the furniture it was the failed relationship that inspired my collection that hurt the most.........Stuff! it's only stuff. How much do we really need and how arrogant we are to surround ourselves with so much stuff. I had little before this relationship and I can do with little again, this may be the push I need to follow other interests, I have enjoyed three week road trips camping my way across Canada for years, it may be time to hit the road and explore new and renewed interests.....I may be back, I may not, only time will tell and only time can heal a broken heart......

Raymond Loewy - Google Doodle Nov 5 2013

I'm really liking the designs this gentleman came up with especially what he did for Studebaker the locomotive industry and the boat motor Coca Cola soda fountains. I can't say much more other than check the link or surf the web for info and images of his designs. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_Loewy

Long Time Coming - I'm back, for now.

When I started this blog I was pumped (excited) like so many others and thought I would bust onto the scene with new and unusual items to re-purpose, refinish and sell. I have since gained a grip on reality and have realized there are a lot more people with the same ambitions and dreams that I have of making it big and probably have more time on there hands than myself who has a 9-5 (more like 6am-6:30pm) and in the process I have backed off for now and just been buying for myself. The following are some items I wish I had taken some before pics of instead of just after pics after I've refinished, regardless I love them all and am keeping for now at least.....While I am still hitting the thrift stores, scrap yards, etc I am only picking items that others are passing up due to either the labor involved in refinishing the items or they lack the vision to see the end product..........The coffee table is a full "2x"17x"48 hemlock barn board (sanded & finished) the legs are 1880 - 1930 cast iron school desk legs that have been stripped and cleared with satin finish.........the Motel chairs and kitchen stool are circa 1950's that had multiple layers of paint, plaster and other goop spilled on them that I stripped and repainted and love to death....I love all pieces and am keeping for now, there are a few other items I've picked up that I may post in the future. Enjoy the pics

                                       

The Bell Furniture Company-Oak T-Back Chairs

layer 1

layer 2

layer 3

layer 4 dry but all there leather pad

butchered leather, last chair

new fabric pattern or get new leather estimate

The Bell Furniture Company, Southampton, ON, Canada 1907-1937, Oak T-Back Chairs. I'm sure most of you have experienced how one project inevitably leads to another, well this is one of those times. I've got the antique dining table (see previous post) looking presentable with a nice finish on the top and gave the bottom a good once over cleaning of years of grime and dust but then the chairs were bothering me, what to do what to do. Repad and recover, I have fabric I like that I picked out for another project but didn't think there would be enough for that and at the same time I prayed there was leather underneath and low and behold after three layers of fabric and a whole lot of staples and gimp tacks there it was 80? year old drier than a popcorn fart leather, AWESOME! No cracks no splits just dry, I can save these. All for nought, during one of the many re-coverings someone butchered the leather on one seat pad, BALLS!!!!! I like the green patterned fabric I have but like black leather more on these chairs so I may get an estimate to have them covered. So much dust came out of the pads it got on the camera lens making the pics spotty....But wait as I look at the pics I'm seeing the wood baseboard and door trim thinking there's the next project, PAINT. UGH!! it never ends when your border line obsessive or just really bored.

Antique Oak Dining Table

 This is my girlfriends solid oak antique dining table before and after pics, to say it's seen better days is an understatement. The wood is dry, the finish is toast and it has seen way to many hot or damp bowls, dishes and mugs that destroyed what little finish was left. It shows its age and we decided we didn't want to take all of that away so the surface still has small dents and impressions left on it. I sanded the top, gave a light coat of Jacobean stain then an even lighter coat of Ebony stain then a couple coats of Minwax satin Wipe On Poly with light rub down with extra fine steel wool between coats and voila. I'm happy with the end product so far. The skirt, legs and end panels are carved and aren't in bad shape, a little stain on a rag to blend any knicks and scratches should take care of that and the chairs will get a good wash down and new seat pads (leather??) or we may sell the chairs and replace with something new.

Junk Heaven - Mr Used, Hamilton, Ontario

 I've lived in Hamilton, Ontario all my life and have always stood up for the city as others referred to it negatively and called it “the armpit of Ontario”, sure if your passing by on the Highway going from Niagara to Toronto all you see and smell is the by-product of steel manufacturing but that is a small inconvenience that isn’t noticed in most of the city. Hamilton is a city that was built on steel production and industry and that is totally reflected in the homes and buildings of the blue collar and the hierarchy who built this city, as you travel around the different neighbourhoods it is also reflected in its “JUNK”. I’ve known about a particular junk yard since they opened their doors many years ago but I’ve never ventured in until recently. WOW!! JUNK HEAVEN! I think I just had a small mental breakdown as I tried to take in the immensity and diversity this place has to offer, from Lion and Baboon taxidermy to salvaged restaurant equipment to plumbing fixtures to antiquated cast iron machinery and house hold items this place has it all and the kitchen sink. There are no price tags on anything simply because there is just so much stuff piled on top of other stuff but just ask and someone will get a price for you, some items are a little overpriced but for the most part they are right on the money. Here are a few pics that don’t even begin to break the surface of what this place has to offer.

Reclaimed Tin Ceiling Panel as Art

I'm definitely not as gung ho for Mid Century as most of the blogs I follow I mean I dig it but I find lots of eras and design styles interesting. Furnishing your home in Mid Century fashion is a hot trend right now and I'm not bashing it but the money people are asking or willing to pay for certain items is crazy, for example every week I go to the same second hand shop that has a closed "treasure trove" area where for a two dollar fee you can silent bid on items in this treasure trove room. There are a pair of really nice rope chairs likely Yugoslavian as they have no branding anywhere, they are the same as others I've seen on line any how this particular pair is up to $550 so far, in my opinion that's $200 to much.

My particular tastes are a little more eclectic and definitely lower budget for example the reclaimed tin ceiling panels as art shown here and the 50’s floor lamp I bought for $7(needed lots of work). The tin as rusted and old as it is still has a modern feel to it partly because of the repeating pattern and the floor lamp is just friggin cool (shown in an earlier post) I couldn't bring myself to sell it. I left the tin out in the rain for a week then pressure washed it clean then hung on the wall.

Please don't bash my style choices to much as there not all mine. I'm still trying to convince my gf to let me replace her sofa, end tables and matching pattern table lamp with something not soooo PUFFY and cloud like and soooo 80’s/90’s.

Eames: The Architect & The Painter(documentary)

Eames: The Architect & The Painter open the link close the additional popup windows after beginning or be annoyed by background adverts.

Antique Cast Iron Hay Trolleys

So I bid and bought two cast iron hay trolleys, now to turn them in something better. Check out "Restoration Hardware" online they have an awesome catalogue and go to ceiling lighting then scroll down and see the awesome light they have made of a similar trolley that would be great over a kitchen island/pool table/coffee shop checkout.

HAY TROLLEY

Lot # 186

HAY TROLLEY

Sold for: $45.00

HAY TROLLEY

Lot # 187

HAY TROLLEY

            

Sold for: $45.00 

Thanksgiving Antique hunting at Southworks Outlet & Antiques

The end tables were the focus here till my GF spotted the Green and Yellow Formica table with Dutch Girl. $85 for the Formica was decent we may go back another day and have another look (my GF is dutch btw). Ooh and there is a gold match to my chrome trio lamp.

another great piece

$595 with painted plywood for a lid and no guts on the inside (a little steep even for Coke)

I have this lamp in orange sans the shade, $75 for this one I think I paid $5 for mine in a salvage yard.

I think this was an original and not a new copy, I flipped it over and basically took it apart. All tags were missing but the material looked like it had age to it

Looks like Pyrex but had no label or stamp, I liked the drizzled glaze look.

May have to sell some blood one day to finally get a brass blade in really good condition

this has a great mid century look to it 

Spent Thanksgiving north of the border in one of my favourite antique malls "Southworks Outlet & Antiques" mall. The building(s) the Southworks occupies used to be a foundry in the mid 1800s where engines were built (steam I presume). You can read on the history by clicking the Southworks link in my Sites Of Interest list. I love this place but find the pricing to be a little high which is likely due to the high rate charged for space rental even though it's in Cambridge which is about an hour from Toronto and about 30-45 mins from Hamilton it still receives a lot of traffic coming from both those areas to pay the higher prices so I guess it all evens out. For myself it's mostly a fact finding mission and a means of inspiration for when I start feeling a little creative or am looking to see what's catching peoples attention. I'm not one for writing about each individual piece and it's history, I think those of you who know what your looking at can come up with your own conclusion.

Local Burger Shop (some vintage)

This is a local Burger Shop (Chuck's Burger Bar) in Hamilton Ontario, not only are the burgers great but the décor in this small space is very interesting. The ceiling is covered in reclaimed pressed tin panels there are Milk bottles from local dairies used as light housings but it's the very thick live edge wood tables, crumbling plaster/brick wall and mismatched hardwood flooring that grabbed my attention the first time I walked in the door. If your ever in Hamilton check them out on Locke St as well as some of the antique/collectible and other trendy shops within walking distance.

UPDATE: If Only I Had More Storage Space AAAARGH!!

Take a look at the awesome china cabinet in my previous post......Awesome! I know. I have been in turmoil for two days over this thing, buy it, don't buy it, where could I store it temporarily if I got it...Either no one else saw the potential in this or they thought it would be to cumbersome or maybe it's just crap and I'm crazy...The online auction just closed and this sold, it was a real battle between two bidders. After three bids it sold for T-W-E-N-T-Y FREAKIN DOLLARS yes you read right $20.00..Can you believe that? You should have seen the crap that sold for hundreds and this had 3 fargin bids in $5 dollar increments. WHAT THE "F"! Someone made off like a thief here and it wasn't me. Makes me want to puke.

If Only I Had More Storage Space AAAARGH!!

If only I had the space to store this beauty I'd bid on it!!! It's currently available at an online auction that closes in 5 days..AAAARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lane End Tables & unknown Walnut Dresser

I seem to be accumulating Lane end tables, there were the two in my very first blog that I have kept for myself for now and then I found one Perception end table and now these two. I only pick it up because 1. it's solid wood and 2. it's tough as hell, these two tables need minor TLC. The dresser I'm keeping for myself and tossing the less stylish hand-me-down that my girlfriend has. Paid a grand total of $43 dollars for the dresser(value village) and end tables(estate sale)