Shout Out to Lou's Antiques - Danville, VA

My husband and I traveled to Wintergreen, VA, to join my brother and his family for the July 4th holiday last week. We traveled in our new Honda Odyssey to do some "shopping" to and from the destination in central Virginia. I am ALWAYS on the look-out for refurbish-able good quality upholstered furniture and thought this trip would allow me to expand my geographic boundaries.

On the way up to VA from the Atlanta area, I had researched some craigslist ads and made appointments in Charlotte and High Point, NC, to see and possibly buy some furniture. At the latter home, we bought two French style chairs which I have already started refurbishing.

On the way back to Atlanta on Monday, we stopped at various antique and consignment shops along the highway and picked up brochures identifying other likely shopping opportunities. This brought us to Lou's Antique Mall in Danville, VA. link to information including location.

Lou's Antique Mall is located in downtown Danville - an old city center that the city residents are clearly trying to keep lively and productive. The Mall itself is large (30,000 square feet) on three floors. I found a lot to look at and the prices were often in the "negotiable range" - a range that I define as what I am willing to pay for a piece and spent money on to sell. If I do not believe I can make any money, I do not waste time on even the loveliest choices. I ended up buying three French style chairs (made in Italy) - well constructed and just waiting for my special treatment.

I was able to negotiate a price I was willing to pay and will definitely be stopping again if I am in this area of the country!

In Honor of Earth Day - Waste Not/Want Not

In honor of earth day, I'd like to demonstrate (again) the magical transformation of old, dated, sometimes "ready for the dumpster" upholstered furniture into beautiful better-than-new pieces for any style of home. Outdated furniture contributes significantly to the massive amount of landfill requirements in this country alone.

Between 1960 and 2008 the population of the United States has grown 69%. The number of households has increased 94% in the same time due to each household being statistically smaller. The amount of upholstered furniture we are throwing away into landfills has increased six times from the 1960 figures to those of 2008. Though the numbers have increased each decade the real jump occurred in the 1980’s and has climbed since then. link to article

Not only does the refurbishing and continued use of furniture make environmental sense, it also ensures that you get a much better product than those readily available today.

Here, through photos, are some examples from my current inventory! Enjoy!

I purchased this set of chairs at an estate sale in Buckhead (Atlanta). One of the legs had been repaired and, therefore, I decided to go with full-lenght skirts. 

This was one of three Goodwill Industries chairs I bought that day.

This settee also came from Goodwill Industries - it has GREAT bones!

This wonderful gilded chair was purchased at Scott's Antique Markets in March. It came from an estate and the original gilding was in great condition - needing only buffing and polishing (and a very slight brass finish rub-on). 

I bought this great styled (70's) chair during a recent trip to New Orleans. The woodwork was refinished with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Old Ochre and the piece upholstered in cream linen with brown linen accents and back.

This chair was purchased through a Craigslist ad in the area. It has great lines and bones and the fabric just enhances it so well!

This great set was purchased through a Craigslist ad from a young couple who had been given the chair and ottoman for their first apartment. The finish is Annie Sloan Chalk Paint (Old White - distressed) and the fabric is a wonderful linen-blend toile that I've used before. 

Another Goodwill Industries purchase - this one has down composition and great lines! 

This wonderful set had been upholstered in leather and is very solidly made. I refinished the woodwork in Annie Sloan Chalk Paint (Cream) and selected a chocolate brown linen fabric. 

This chair is a Goodwill Industries purchase. It has wonderful lines and great turned legs. The fabric is a heavy pale mint matelasse.

This great set was purchased through a Craigslist ad from a young couple near mid-town Atlanta. It is manufactured by Charles Stewart - a very high-end North Carolina manufacturer and exceptionally well made.

This chair was purchased an estate sale in my general neighborhood. It was custom made and now has a new chalk paint finish and blue and white cotton ticking fabric.

Beautiful Friday for Sales

Since my husband retired at the end of last year, he often becomes my companion for "estate sale shopping", particularly on Fridays. I am increasingly finding that most good sales start either Thursday or Friday and not too often on Saturday. Thus, Friday has become my primary day to buy refurnish-able upholstered furniture. He describes his role as "carry and haul assistant" - which I will not dispute!

Yesterday was a beautiful day in the Atlanta area with clear blue skies and temperatures into the low and mid 60's. We, like much of the country, have had a very rough winter and this was a nice change.

We traveled to a number of locations to check out the listed sales.

This was our first sale - handled by Ann & Dell, a selling team that has been doing this for years and years. The prices were pretty good and I bought the chair for $50. It does need everything and I was able to talk them down from $75.

I left three bids at this sale and have not yet heard if I got any of them. The first chair was actually pretty well priced at $250 - if is a beauty. I, however, am such a cheapskate that I just couldn't do it. I bid $160 which is very high for me.

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This was the first of two "Vicki" sales - one of my favorites although this particular sale did not have much to offer. The Victorian love seat was tempting but had pieces of wood missing.

This was the other Vicki sale - lots of upholstered furniture although most of it was oversized and not me. The prices were very high and Vicki told me that the sellers wouldn't entertain low-ball bids so I passed. 

Best sale of the day also handled by a known estate sale organization. I was able to negotiate a very nice price for two Ralph Laurent (YES) love seats - all down, a rose-ted slim wingback which I hope to sell as is, and a set of square ottomans. Not too bad!  I even was able to get a dress, silk blouse and cashmere sweater thrown in - what a deal!

SO, this was a great day and now I need to find enough fabric to cover the two love seats - about 30 yards will be required which is far more than I usually am able to buy at one time.

First Scott's Antique Markets Visit in 2014

This is Scott's Antique Markets weekend in Atlanta link to website and my usual market companion, Bette, and I visited the markets (south building - our favorite) on Friday. As I always do, I developed a plan for focusing and photographing in advance of the trip and decided to concentrate on the use of blues in decorating. Various decorating gurus are predicting that the color blue - particularly cobalt blue - will be a major trend for 2014. Since I LOVE blue in decorating and use it extensively myself, this choice was a natural for me.

I did start out looking for and photographing blues but very quickly got distracted by the various furniture offerings at the sale - including some that were within my admittedly cheapskate price range.

Of these pieces photographed, only the chaise was a true draw based on a reasonable ($125) price point. I loved the chunky wooden legs and overall shape. My hesitation was the back which looked like it needed a cushion to balance the rest of the piece and to make it comfortable. 

This vendor, near the front of the building near the concessions, always has interesting pieces for sale. I have bought from him in the past - usually when he gets a little more desperate to sell than he was today. 

These were some of the pieces that tempted me. The chairs on top left (had more for sale) were interesting and reasonable. The chairs on the top-right are done by a talented lady we've seen before and also quite reasonable. The great chair on bottom has a Century frame and nicely done upholstery. All tempting! 

Well at least I could get my purchases into my Highlander and not be forced to return with the bigger minivan. I look forward to using the great fabric on a set of wing back chairs and perhaps a settee - there is enough for at least this much upholstery work. 

It was a great day to be at the sale and much busier than our last visit in December. Several vendors told us they do not appear in December - evidently it is not a great month for sales. However, it is hard for us to stay away!

Loving Annie Sloan Chalk Paint's Emperor Silk!

Red on this camper is ASCP Emperor's Silk (five colors used altogether) - link to image and source

Having recently returned from China (see my "postcards from China series - here is one - link to posting), I must still be under that country's magical influence. I purchased Annie Sloan Chalk Paint (ASCP) (link to website) most "Chinese" color - Emperor's Silk. It is a rich red and a joy to work with - I have almost completed four projects and am looking around for more!

For those keeping track, I have now been using ASCP for two years - mostly on my refurbished upholstered furniture sold through eBay and Etsy (my website, unfortunately, needs to be "killed"since I can no longer update it and it is woe-fully out-of-date). I am probably close to a hundred projects and have used the following colors:

Old White (I'm on my third can)

Old Ochre (second can)

Graphite (third can)

Duck Egg Blue (my favorite until now)

Paris Grey (least favorite)

Chateau Grey (like a grey-green)

Cream

CoCo

Emperor's Silk (new favorite)

The paint does go on very smoothly and I continue to fine-tune lessons learned including:

• Start with a good cleaning of the wood to eliminate dust and oils (I used Goof-Off - link to website - it's heavy-duty and you do need heavy gloves but it works.
• If there are gaps or gouges in the wood, fill them before painting - the paint will not hide them and will actually highlight them.
• Do your first coat starting with the piece upside down - I am always amazed at how much I miss if I don't do this. 
• Dilute the paint with a small amount of water if it gets too heavy or doesn't glide easily over the surface.
• Use a toothbrush or other stiff applicator when applying wax into crevices - I am told the ASCP brushes work well for this but haven't made that purchase and do like the ability to just throw away these old toothbrushes when done - clean-up of wax is much tougher than clean-up of paint  which is easily done by rinsing under water.

Here are some photos from my ASCP pinterest board to further inspire - I love them - see sources and original postings by linking to source above.

Nice combo of paint and wood-tone treatments. 

This is demonstration using dark wax directly over the paint instead of intermediate clear wax - much darker look. 

Chest using both clear and dark wax. 

Very ambitious! 

This piece was first done with graphite (grey-black) and a second coat of Emperor's Silk added.

Here are my projects!

After "finishing" this set of benches, I did end up taking a very small brush to better hit the crevices/details on the legs - these were hard to penetrate. 

Loved how the horse turned out - will be using as part of my holiday decorations - probably with some bears on its back!

A Week of Buying Adventures!

This has been a busy week of buying "refurbish-able" upholstered furniture. We are getting close to a two-week vacation out of the country, so I am feeling particularly compelled to get out there and check out as many bargains as I can. Sales have also been robust (for my world), so there is even some money and, more importantly, room for more pieces.

The week started with a phone call from one of my favorite vendors, Vicki, who had a nice sale over the last weekend. I had found a set of great Kindel (perfect condition) dining/accent chairs that were priced pretty high. I had left a bid for 1/3rd the price thinking that was the end of it so was surprised to get a call from Vicki saying that the bid was accepted. I picked up the chairs on Monday afternoon and listed them "as is" on eBay. They are currently under bid with lots of viewers. So, it looks like this was a good investment.

I had been corresponding with a couple living on Lake Lanier (North Georgia) in a city called Flowery Branch. They live on a houseboat and were selling a set of Norwalk accent chairs. I liked the look and have had good luck with Norwalk which is a good to very good brand. The styling is generally very good. So, I drove out there on Tuesday to look at (and buy) the chairs which I plan to reupholster in a great Robert Allen "Beacon Hill" velvet on linen fabric to coordinate with the black woodwork,

The trip was not that long and the visit to the marina where the couple is living was charming - photo of chair below.  I did actually go to Marietta the same afternoon to see (and not buy) a set of club chairs and ottoman - the quality was just not good enough.

The "weekend" estate sales often start as early as Thursday, and I checked out sales Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

This was a nice sale and well orchestrated - something that I have learned to appreciate over the years. This is a neighborhood about six miles from my home.

There were definitely interesting things for sale but the prices were a little high. I left two bids - one on the French style chair and another on the set of club chairs (Drexel Heritage) with ottoman. I haven't heard back so think I didn't get either one. 

This was one of Vicki's sales - it was being held in the garage and lower level of this fabulous house. i did pick up the Southwood Martha Washington chairs (plan to redo in a wonderful green and cream zebra stripe). I also left a bid for two wingback chairs and an ottoman and think I didn't get those.

Line of people waiting to get into Dan Carithers home for the estate (moving sale).

On Saturday, we (now traveling with my faithful companion, Ouida), we really struck out - not much to see and most of the sales were Friday/Saturday meaning that all the good stuff was long gone. We did attend an estate sale at the home of nationally-renowned Atlanta-based interior designer Dan Carithers Link to article bout Dan. I attended his design shop closing about two years ago and bought some wonderful fabrics at great prices. His home was actually somewhat modest but very interesting - although everything was pretty pricey. I was told that he is in poor health and was moving.

On Saturday afternoon, I got a phone call from an estate sale I had attended on Thursday and left some bids). I ended up getting three pieces (two of which are photographed below) for 75% off of the price they had been asking. Not a bad deal!

The chair in the middle is one of two that I got in Flowery Branch - see houseboat sale above.

So, pretty good for the week. I even stopped by a local thrift shop that is run by volunteers and benefits pet shelters and pet placement. I have never bought here but I do check and it is a good cause. I bought two 1950-60's era "junior barrister" chairs that have split leather and solid woodwork - I plan to redo both the wood and the fabric but haven't decided what to use yet.

I got tired just writing this posting!

You Don't Have to Spend a Fortune - Starting Out!

Loveseat listed on Craigslist - Furniture by Owner Section - I plan to follow up on this one!

It is a rainy day (and week) here in the Atlanta area, and I thought I would troll the local craigslist - furniture by owner - listings to address an issue that has been the source of discussions with a good friend. The issue is creating great decor with high-quality furnishings at super low prices.

I have had this discussion several times. My friends children are just starting out with homes and have limited resources to splurge on furnishings. The inclination for many young people is to buy "cheap" which I define as buying the big, pivotal furniture pieces at places lkea and Rooms to Go and Costco. All can have some good deals on well made pieces but I haven't seen many and certainly not at great prices. The other inclination is not to think much about the furnishings and live in a less than "nice" and comfortable space.

My multiple years of shopping at garage sales, estate sales, craigslist sellers, consignment sales and all other venues where high quality pieces are sold at deep discounts have convinced me that there is a better way. Not everyone has the time or energy to pursue all possible venues but even a regular viewer of craigslist, particularly in larger metropolitan areas, can easily furnish most of their home with great pieces at great prices.

To illustrate, I spent a little time today reviewing ads for several living/family room settings using the craigslist listings for Atlanta. My criteria was as follows:

• Search for evidence of good quality. That can be description, name brand, original cost data and overall styling. 
• Search for evidence of reasonable discount. Some sellers think their items are worth WAY more than they are selling through this venue. One seller is trying to get $1600 for a pair of nice enough Henredon chairs that she paid $2200 for - it will not happen.
• Search for evidence that suggests they can be used as is - described as in very good to excellent condition.

Since this was just a mental exercise and not a buying spree, I didn't follow up with any of the items shown to ask additional questions; discuss possible discounts/flexibility in price; and, ask for more detailed photos.

Here are a few examples of what I found.

I think all these pieces could be bought for 15-20% off of the asking prices but a price-tag of about $1500 for all is not bad.

The board above provides for a nice, somewhat traditional living room with some eclectic touches. Here are the items:

• Loveseat - identified as "bench-made" and originally $2000 plus each for $950 for the pair.
• Rug - 8X10 wool - described as 6 months old and originally $1200 for $225.
• Table - iron and glass - described as vintage for $80.
• End table Drexel Heritage for $60.
• Unusual chairs (pair) - cushion can easily be recovered to better match other pieces - $250.

This grouping is organized around the somewhat pricey French sofa - I believe it could be put together with bargaining for about $2000.

The board above is an interesting look with continental flair. Here are the items:

• French carved wood frame with linen fabric - indicated they paid $2500 for $1300.
• French Industrial Table made with reclaimed wood - indicated they paid $1200 for  $399.
• Bombay bow-fronted chest - indicated they paid $1100 for $550.
• Chairs (pair) and Table - distressed and reupholstered for $285.

This was my challenge to do most of the room's pieces for less than $1000 - here it is!

This low cost option board includes quite a few pieces of furniture.  Here are the items.

• Hickory Hill (nice USA brand) sofa and loveseat - described as very clean for $350.
• Iron and glass coffee table for $70 (coordinating end table also available for $60).
• Beverly Hall Chair and Ottoman (high-end seller in the area) for $295.

Obviously, there is quite a bit more work involved than just sitting in front of the computer in order to check out these items, actually purchase and haul them home. Some, of course, won't be available by the time you respond to ad - others will not be what you want once you actually see them. But, this exercise does demonstrate the possibilities - what do you think?