Favorite Store in the News!

I speak often about my favorite store for great estate finds in my area.  I was so pleased to see an article in out local paper about the store. Not only is this store an excellent Sunday afternoon browse, but the people behind it are some of the nicest people you will ever find in this type of business.

When my husband and I bought our new (to us) Victorian home, we were faced with a few problems in furnishing it.  First, it is much larger than our previous home, and second, we wanted to restore it to some of its previous Victorian era glory.  We turned to Chris at Tops.

This chair was found in the basement of the store!

These lovely and comfortable chairs had just come into the store the day before we made one of our nearly weekly visits!

My husband fell in love with the Victorian era armoire and the heavy four poster bed.

We found this Victorian birdcage soon after buying the house, as well as the side-by-side secretary below.

 Almost every stick of furniture in the house was obtained from Chris, all at fair and reasonable prices.  Had we gone to snootier antiques dealers, we would not have been able to afford all of the wonderful furniture we now enjoy (not to mention my two wonderful vintage Singer sewing machines!!!), not to mention the many other non-furniture decor items we purchased there.

Please visit Chris at Tops! See the link to the article for store location and hours.  What's your favorite source for new old stuff?

Making Over Victoria: Dining

When I began blogging again earlier this year I mentioned the new home my husband and I had purchased, and I showed you a little bit of our laundry room makeover.  Now, I'd like to show you the changes we made to our dining room.  Here is a picture of the dining room as we saw it when touring the house.

It was bright and airy, with a clean, modern aesthetic, but we didn't think it was entirely in keeping with the Victorian era.  The house was built in 1884, so one of our goals with the house was to go back in time to restore the house to more of a Victorian look and feel.  So here's what we did instead.

The color scheme is much different with the red walls instead of the yellow.  The drapes are yellow with coordinating roses, with lace panels in the windows for privacy.  Note that we replaced the chandelier with a new but more vintage looking dim-able fixture. Though I did not capture a picture of it, it is surrounded on the ceiling with a medallion reminiscent of the plaster work of the time.  Here are a few of the details.

"Gone with the Wind" oil lamp.

Wall sconces holding candles on either side of the mirror over the buffet.

Lace tablecloth and bowl of flowers.

Floral art in a Victorian style frame with convex glass.

Tea set by the window.

And I love this last find, an antique garden stool.

We've entertained in this room a couple of times, and it's a very cozy, comfortable and warm setting for friends and fun.  Hope you like it!

The New Old Machines

So, it’s been a very long while since I blogged.  I really have missed it, and my plan is to begin again this year.  So much has happened since I was last here.  I think I let life overwhelm me a little.  I pretty much stopped sewing last year for a while because my husband and I bought a new home.  I’ve been spending tons of time on decorating our 140 year old Victorian.  We live in an older section of our little city, and Victorians abound.

We've been doing a lot of work on the house, and I'll post a few of our makeovers and DIYs.

But before I get to that, I wanted to tell you about my very special Yule gifts!  I got, not one, but two wonderful antique singer sewing machines.  These machines are in terrific condition and date from the very early 1900s.  Both are housed in Cabinet Table No. 6,  though they have their differences, which I will elaborate on.  The first is in a lovely oak cabinet.  In researching the serial number, it was manufactured in Elizabeth, NJ in 1910. 

And of course the drawers were not empty!

The second machine dates to August of 1915.  It, too is a model 66 machine, but it is electric - a Singer motor was added later.  Both machines sport the "Red Eye" decal set very popular at that time. What really makes this machine special is that the cabinet is pristine birdseye maple!

 

 This one came with some swag as well, including the original manuals!

I hope you all had wonderful holiday seasons, no matter what you celebrate!  I hope it was merry and bright!