MADE MY DAY!

Had an AWESOME time with my friend Karen Richey in Salt Lake City on Thursday.  We went to Euro Treasures (see photos below which were taken 2 years ago) and spent about 2 hours just picking through the 80,000 sf of European Antique furniture! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are literally hundreds of rows of furniture and shelves packed with my kind of treasures!

 

 

Though we did not see the Rhino and lion this time we did speak with the owner (I guess he was the owner) Scott, and he told us he still has the Rhino.  But unfortunately he can not sell it to anyone that may live outside of the state of Utah because it is illegal for it to cross state lines.  

According to the website  www.eurotreasuresantiques.com there are over 3,500 wooden dining chairs there alone!  Check out their photos...neat stuff:)

I had some nice conversations about Architectural salvage etc. with Scott, and was able to make a few purchases this time. 

I told him I like to take broken down pieces that no one wants and turn them into something new and fun, so he directed me to the area that had the broken down misfits and a few caught my eye.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 He was really nice and even threw in a couple of freebies!  That's always a good thing:) 

I came home and went right to work, at least on the pieces I intend to keep! 

 

 Next we went to George’s Salvage so I could buy some 100 year old door and window trim to use on bookcases.  It was pretty packed last time we went, but you could walk in and around a lot of the junk.   This time there was merely a walking path through each building and in the yard.    HOWEVER I loved it.  We spent an hour or so there digging around and visiting with George and some other customers.  George dug around and found me about 12 pieces of trim in 3 different styles, some from a local mansion that he had salvaged. 

So finally I paid and was headed out the door.  As I stepped back to let a new customer in I saw he was holding a piece of trim that looked just like some that I had just bought!  We got talking and he was just finishing up his 9 YEAR restoration of a 100 year old brick house, just down the road, and needed 18 feet of trim for this very LAST doorway he was working on.  He had looked everywhere and gone to carpenters who told him they could make a knife to cut the profile and make it for him but it would be $400 just to make the knife, and come to over $600 to do the job!!  

I went ahead and gave back the trim I just bought because I know how hard it is to find matching historic house parts after going through our restoration process.  George dug around and found me 2 pieces to replace the ones the man needed, and he even found a couple more so he could complete his job.  It absolutely made my day to be able to help someone complete the process of restoring a lovely old home!

 

In the end, I came home with what I went for...

 

But it makes me hesitant to use the trim on projects when I know someone may need it to restore their home back to its fabulous original state.

 Stay tuned to see how I transform all this lovely pieces!  The following photos are examples of how I use the trim...

 

 Keep Pickin'

Kelly

 

Medieval Headboard

I found these fantastic sconces on eBay and decided it was time to make another headboard! 

 

I loved the knight in armor on them and I figured I could make a rustic looking, weathered headboard from some old doors.  I had two 3 panel doors that were matching, and the top panel was just the right size for the sconces! The doors were bright white with turquoise under the white.  I went ahead and sanded the doors a bit, revealing some of the turquoise here and there, then I rubbed them down with dark stain.

 

 

 

I actually flipped the doors upside down so that the doorknob back plates would be visible above any future pillows that may be stacked against the headboard. Originally I had intended on using 3 doors, and even had started painting the bigger, middle door a turquoise color when it occurred to me that I had a wooden gate!  SCORE!!   

 

Just the right thing to give the feel of a castle!  

 

Next I took 2 antique corbels and a weathered piece of lumber and made a shelf.  The whole headboard comes apart in sections.  The shelf pops off the top, as does each corbel, then the pins from the hinges pop out so each section can be moved individually.  Thank you to my husband Wayne for doing the electrical work, and making the hinges fit just right:)

 

(This is staged in the store where there isn't room for a mattress, and there aren't any medieval pillows, but I think you get the idea!)

 

MY NEW FAVORITE PROJECT:) 

Keep pickin'

Kelly