A DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH

    After acquiring all the light fixtures for the house this past year, we brought them to Hawthorne Ave. last week to be installed.  The electrician noticed that the 2 fixtures sold to me as exterior lights are actually labeled inside the fixture "not for outside use".  Putting the fixtures back in their boxes to be returned, we went in search of replacements....fast.  Paul's Place to the rescue.  Anne at Paul's Place pulled out numerous fixtures, most in need of some work.  The one I decided to fall for needs perhaps the most work.  It figures!

A little scrubbing with fine steel wool revealed some brass detailing.

BEFORE

AFTER

This one will hang above the door on the 2nd floor deck out back.  I've decided to clean it up and clear coat the fixture instead of paint it again.  I like how, with this treatment, this beauty's age shows.  

Stay tuned for the completely cleaned, re-wired , and refinished light fixture!  It should be sometime this week.

THE CABINETS ARE COMING! THE CABINETS ARE COMING!

Watch, my readers, and you shall see

The beautiful cabinets that are coming to me,

On the fourth of June, in 2012:

Arriving at Hawthorne both drawers and shelves

Cabinets galore for my family.

Ok, admittedly it's a weak attempt at linking to a Longfellow poem.   I am simply excited about my new kitchen cabinets.

Roy arrives with the new cabinets

The antique cabinet salvaged from an old home on Three Chopt Rd. also arrives

This is the man who will transform my kitchen (how about his Celtic logo...I like it)

The plans were drawn up by Leon Reynolds of Reynolds Architectural Woodwork

DUMPSTER DIVING

    As I sit here this afternoon typing this blog update, my dear husband is dumpster diving on my behalf.  Now that is love!

A little history...
    The house next door, which has been vacant for so very long, finally sold last month.  The new owner is "flipping" the house and lots of treasures are being discarded. 

The house next door

    When I went by my Hawthorne house this morning to drop off some tools, I noticed that original windows with old glass and large louvered shutters were being thrown in the dumpster.  Seeing the shutters in the dumpster pained me... thinking that the contractor was destroying the character of the old home next door.  At the same time, to see the shutters in the dumpster gave me a bit of a thrill.  You see, I have been admiring the original shutters and hardware on the neighboring house and have been looking for 2 shutters to grace the front of my own house.   Had I not been on my way to work in high heels and all white I would have made the climb to save the coveted treasure.  Instead, knowing that my husband was going to be working this afternoon at Hawthorne, I called him to ask if he would take the plunge.

Wallace took a dive a month ago to rescue some original trim 

     Plunge he did!

I just got a phonecall from Wallace saying he rescued the shutters AND 5 of the old windows!  

"Do you want more?" he inquired.  Surely he knew the answer would be "Yes, please!"

Windows with old glass and amazing brass hardware

So readers, time to weigh in with an opinion... 

Choice A : the shutter on the left (a paneled shutter) 

or

Choise B:  the shutter on the right (louvered shutter rescued from the dumpster)

Whatcha think?

(Click on the comments button below or email me to make your opinion known.)

A BENCH IN PROGRESS

The framing for the bench seat covering the duct work in my studio

Seat as seen from the doorway

The front of the bench has 3 compartments for storage

Essential tools

A crude jig to create uniform lengths of bead board

Each board  is cut into 17 1/4 inch lengths  to face the bench

Painted bead board, salvaged from the side porch ceiling

Leveling the first board 

Two wires come out the front for electrical sockets

I'm lovin' the look of the authentically aged boards

FROM MACHINE SHOP TO DINING ROOM

 
     I just adore talented and creative people.  I've encountered a share of such people since embarking on this renovation project.  One of these persons is James.  We stumbled upon James Schmidt's work while searching online for antique farm tables.  Instead of dealing in antique furniture, James works with reclaimed antique wood and creates one-of-a-kind heirlooms.

    Let me take you back to our trip to Chicago, via a variety of salvage spots.  One of the treasures with which we returned was vintage machine shop table legs we discovered in Indiana.

Over 100 pounds of green painted iron used in a factory in the early 1900's.

We thought a wooden table top on this base might make for a unique piece. This is where James comes in.

    As it turns out, JDS Antique Wood is no more than 12 miles down the road from our current home on Warren Road.  We must have past it dozens of times and, though intrigued by the sign, I never had cause or took time to stop.  We arrived at his workshop with an idea, and James turned early 1900 floor joists reclaimed from a former home on route 301, ironically only 2 miles from Hawthorne Avenue, into a wonderful bread board end table top.  

 

We just love it!  Thanks James!

Please take a peak at what James can do.

ONE MAN'S JUNK

I have long believed that one man's junk is another man's (or this woman's) treasure.   My house and my studio here on Warren Road are a testament to that idea.

                                          

Those who know me or have had to live with me can surely vouch that this is true.  Broken furniture, oddball keys, discarded toys, rusty tools and trinkets somehow find their way into my world.

 Just as I had resigned myself to living with my family and my stash of "treasures" in this charming blue house for always, along came a pretty Saturday, a cheerful car ride, and one man's junk!

 .