At least once a day we are asked the question, "Where do you get all of your antiques?" It came to mind when I got back from a call that I did on Wednesday. I thought it would be fun to share my experience of that day with you along with some photos of the things I found. Mike and I have done many house calls over the years.
In the "old days", before digital cameras and email, we would venture out to all of them never knowing what we would encounter. (I'll save those stories for another day). You may be wondering what is a house call. We are often invited to someone's home to look at the things they have for sale. Often someone is
moving, settling an estate or just downsizing. The call this week was a bit of a mystery as to what I would find. It was an estate call. What drew me to the call was knowing this person lived in this home until her 90's and her parents lived there before this plus I was told she never threw anything away.
Arriving at the Early Victorian home I noticed that the exterior of the home had retained all of its original decorative elements incuding windows, doors, corbals and gingerbread. Then as I walked into the inside I took note of all of the original light fixtures, painted shades, beautiful staircase, doors and trimwork as well as the original stove and builtins in the kitchen. It was as if time stopped in the later 1800's. These
are some of my favorite calls to do. I love the early architectural details. Often the homes we visit have been restored. This home had all the elements at hand that it started with. Once I took my rose colored glasses off I had to look at the challenge at hand. All of the rooms were filled with stuff from top to bottom. I really didn't see anything for our shop at first glance. The homeowner's Niece, who had invited me, had worked many hours
to empty and sort the entire home into boxes plus had tossed out a lot too. Overwhelmed at first I always take a deep breath. Where to start? One room at a time. Along with the homeowner's Niece I sorted through tons of boxes from room to room always finishing one room at a time. Much of what was there was not for us. Not knowing Antiques made it difficult for her to sort. I was able to help her seperate Antique items plus items that went together like an Edison Player whose horn and cylinders were seperated from it. Plus I advised her to stop trashing things. On further inspection of each room I did find a few things. I found some little bottles throughout the house that
make a nice grouping. We opened a closet to find a beautiful top hat and straw hat in the boxes. A bedroom revealed some old children's blocks and early ice skates. In the attic I uncovered a few firkins, neat early hangers and some early advertising crates. Packed in a box in another bedroom were 5 early oil lamp holders.
In the kitchen I found a small cutting board and a neat fold up egg carrier. The best part of my time there was hearing all of the family stories that
went with each room or item I was looking at. These items were all part
of the history of this particular family.
After about 3 hours we had gone through about 10 rooms plus the basement and attic. I had shocked myself and my host with how quickly we had gone through the home. Thanks to her organization it was quick. If the home was left in the condition she found it I would have been there a few days. So, when you see all of the items I list in the albums each month and you wonder where we got them, in this case, this is where we found this grouping. These are treasures used by a family over time. Enjoy! Suzanne
We often get interesting work benches in varying styles and sizes. I enjoy using them for display in the shop. Customers are always asking me what someone would do with a workbench in their home. In many cases customers use them as a center island in the kitchen or for their intended purpose as a work bench. Others like Lydia & John chose to use it as a side board or side table to display photos and collections. You can see the photo of the workbench in the shop. 
Lydia & John shared an after photo of the work bench decorated in their home. I like the combinations of the collectibles and photos as well as the things placed underneath. (I see a few things from our shop too!) The artwork above it finishes off the setup. The piece fits perfectly on the wall with the windows on each side. Nice job. Thanks for the photo!