Restore|House

The 2nd auction on Saturday

After the auction in Ithaca didn't seem to have what we wanted, we drove up to Lyons...to attend our "Plan B."

This is the sight that greeted us.
An absolutely gorgeous, sprawling Victorian on a huge lot with it's contents on it lawn.

Some people brought their own lawn chairs...and drove their trucks up to start loading up the stuff they won.

I love the little porch upstairs...must be off a bedroom or something...

Four car garage with all sorts of furniture and stuff to bid on.

This purple living room set was on the front lawn, and people were testing it out while watching the bidding.

I thought these 3 were very sweet.

This lady was perfectly framed by the upright dresser behind her for awhile..but when I went to capture it, she moved :)

We were allowed inside to view the organ, the grand piano and the bedroom set. I fell in love with this built in hutch in the dining room...

The back side had a pass-thru door from the kitchen.

but when I saw the bedroom set, I literally gasped. I have never, ever seen anything so grand, TALL and so perfect before.

I don't know if you can grasp from this photo how TALL the bed is..I have never seen anything like it.

And the fretwork on the doorway into that bedroom! And the light fixture!

And the matching dresser...which is higher than the trim on the doors...for scale.

Look at the trim around the doors! Those corner blocks!

The bed and dresser went as a set, and ended up going for...$3100, if I remember correctly.

The numerous pieces of purple living room chairs/couches all went together for $800. There was an awesome old floor lamp with chunks of pink and purple lucite/plastic marble stuff that I loved, but it went for 200. So,after burning gas and attending 2 auctions in one day, we came home empty handed :\ But I got to see some awesome houses.

farm sale in ithaca, ne

Saturday morning I went to an auction/farm sale in Ithaca with my parents. It was incredible to be driving in the middle of fields, and to suddenly come across a mass of cars parked along the dirt road in front of this incredible house. Most of the houses we had passed along the way were Four-squares, so this one seemed even more special. The entire contents of the house were on tables in the front yard, and the furniture was lined up in rows in the back. There was so much stuff! We decided not to stay long, because there was another sale up in Lyons.

I liked these unusual little round metal buildings in back. I referred to them as metal yurts.

They had 2 rings going - 1 for household, and another down by the barn with all the tools. Back in the milking section of the barn was this awesome old corner cupboard. It was lovely, but I have no place for it :(

What's in your Cupboards?

I'm starting to come to terms with the fact that I may have a hoarding problem when it comes to certain things. I prefer to call it collecting.

The one item I seem to have a real issue problem interest in since moving here is dishes. You can go to farm sales out here and get whole sets of dishes for a price that is kinda sad, in a way.

The first kind of dishes that I collect is Fiestaware. I originally wanted Lilac, but they quit making it and it's really expensive if you can find it. Then I liked  Plum and  received 5 place settings as gifts. Over the years, when it goes on sale, I pick up different random colors.

I have 12 place settings of Franciscan Desert Rose. This pattern has been around so long, my great grandmother had it. Mine is all the new stuff though. I  have a bunch of accent pieces too - mugs, lasagna dishes, serving platters, cookie jars, etc.

I just love it.

I also collect aluminum drink sets. I have pitchers, glasses, children's cups, and ice cream dishes made of brightly colored metal.

I got this whole set of Homer Laughlin Eggshell Nautilus at auction up north of here for $5. For the whole set. Not per piece. All of it. I don't even think I could buy that much plastic picnicware for that price.

At that same auction, I got these old green glass dishes that came out of a ice cream parlor that closed decades ago.

I got an entire set of Meito hand painted china last fall for $20.
It is so beautiful. Not that I needed any more dishes....but at that price, why not?

My mother's tea set from when she was a child.

Random vases. Not that I'll ever have enough flowers to fill them all :)

$1 Duncan Phyfe Regency Style Sofa

Two weekends ago, at an auction here in town,  this sofa caught my eye. I thought for sure it would go for a lot, but towards the end of the sale, most of the people had thinned out, and I ended up with this couch for $1.

[ignore trim in progress in the background...]

After doing some research online, I believe it's a Duncan Phyfe...because it has the same upholstery and brass feet as this one. I haven't been able to locate a tag or anything yet.

I have towels under the brass feet in these pics because I haven't picked up any  floor protectors yet.

Bella and Lily seem to enjoy it immensely.

Brass ornate feet.

I have no idea on the age of this thing....

Bella looks like she was meant to lounge on this thing :)

The upholstery needs a little cleaning...but otherwise it's in great shape.

the most beautiful entry set. ever.

Yesterday we got up super early and trekked out to rural Nebraska for a farm sale. It was  the collection of a lady named Bert who had collected things for over 60 years.It was absolutely amazing. Not only did all her stuff fill an entire warehouse type building, but up the street in the farmer's supply building, they had put all of the woodwork/furniture she had gathered over the years. Rough cabinets, chairs, railings, church pews, altar railings, stained glass windows, old screendoors covered with gingerbread, grain scales, old pole lamps, table upon table covered with ornate legs she had salvaged off old furniture - you name it.
In the main building, they had her beautiful mohair living room set, an Eastlake settee, hats, dolls, vases, chalkware, linens, paintings, it was endless.

Since the auctioneers were running two lines [one in each building], it was hard to figure out where to be, and when. I started off in the main building, but ran up to the warehouse several times. I think the first thing I bid on and won for the day was my biggest bargain.

I had been eyeing this box that was on top of a rough table. At first they auctioned choice out of the box, and a man pulled an old chandelier out of it. Then they auctioned the whole box, and I got the remaining contents. Inside were these 2 beautiful entry sets, a wall sconce, and some random cabinet knobs. I couldn't believe no one else was bidding against me, and that it went for so cheap.

Afterwards, I walking away from the group and sat down on a church pew to look over everything inside. Then the oddest thing happened.

This old man who looked like Vincent Price came up to me, and asked me if I would sell anything out of the box to him. I said I didn't think so. He then said he was "in the business of these things" and asked me if I wanted to make a little money. He then offered me $0.50 LESS than what I paid for it. How is that ME making money? He said he had wanted to bid on the box and was distracted and not paying attention when they finally got to it.

He was being kinda persistent, and honestly, there were tons of other things in that building I wanted, but wasn't going to bid on [BIG pieces of furniture...and we had driven up there in mom's car...didn't really know how to bring anything home if I bid on it...so I was sticking to smaller pieces.]  He was being kinda creepy, so finally, we just walked away to go put the stuff in the car so he wouldn't see it later and be reminded to bug me.

Oh well. I am really happy with my box of stuff, and think that at least if a dealer really wanted the stuff in it, it has to be worth something.

I also got a ton of old hats.

And some woven bedspreads that I'm now using as slipcovers.

in the parlor.

And a half yard [3/4 yard?] print of the Class of 1925 at Augsburg Seminary, to go with my other old photos. It just needs a new piece of glass.

A frou-frou 1950s prom dress.

Other things going on in the house lately....

trying new vignette/grouping type stuff with old prints I've been picking up at farm sales. [I tend to like leaning pictures against stuff....as opposed to hanging them on my plaster walls...]

the front entry is ALMOST done. SO close.

Just a few more little paint touches, and I will be SO Happy :)

What type of paint does everyone use on their trim? I recently read somewhere that you should use oil. My kitchen was originally done in enamel paint...and I recently had to touch stuff up...and OMG, is that stuff HORRIBLE to try to remove from your skin/paintbrush. Maybe my paint is super old...but it was a nightmare.

ring my bell.....and movers and shakers

Last weekend my brother took a break from working on his house to help me install the mechanical doorbell I bought online earlier this summer from Van Dyke's.

Here's how it looks from the outside.

And here's how it looks on the inside.

It took about 5 minutes to install, and sounds like an old bicycle bell :)

I also went to a farm sale up in West Point a few weeks back and only bid on 2 things..both of which I ended up with.

The first was this awesome old wall phone I got for $4.

And the second was a box of salt and pepper shakers.  There were SO many at this sale..just auctioning the shakers lasted well over an hour. I ate a hot dog and got bored, so I decided to just bid on a box...to pass time. I was happy with what I ended up with.

I don't collect these or anything...but I think they're fun. Who knows where they'll end up in the house...maybe a shelf in the guest bath?

I got about 16 sets in the box for $3.

Boot shakers from Mullen, Nebraska. Do you know where that is? Me neither.

Alligators from Florida. And tomato people in back. And swans. And chickens made of walnut shells, and jugs with picasso painted on them. And blueware snails.

Crawling baby onion people?

Finches. And wood burning stoves, and pickles, and octopus, and dolphins and some boring traditional shakers :)

And some windmill shakers from Brainerd, Minnesota.

If anyone is interested, I think I read there's another sale coming up...with 900 sets on the salebill :) I had no idea collecting these was such a big hobby out here.

farm sale loot and weird plants

The past couple of weekends I have loaded up on some great stuff for the house, via farm sales/auctions. Just thought I'd share what's goin' on around the house...

Yesterday Mom and I went to an auction in Council Bluffs, IA. The sale bill just said it was a former Bed and Breakfast with some stained glass lamps, some sewing machines, and some electronics. We thought, oh, it will be a quick sale, and we can do a ton of other stuff afterward.

No. It was NOT a tiny sale. The lady had been obsessed with QVC...there were boxes as far as you could see of anything you can imagine, still in it's shipping boxes, never opened. The property had a yurt on it, and all day all they did was sell QVC jewelry in it. And they were running 2 other rings, full time. It was chaos. The house was a beautiful old Victorian with one of the most amazing paint jobs on it, highlighting the gingerbread [which gave me good ideas for our house.]

I actually bought very little there. I bought this fabulous retro Christmas tablecloth, with 20 matching linen napkins, in its original Brandeis Box [Brandeis was an old department store chain out here...my Mom bought her wedding dress at the Brandeis in downtown Omaha, whose building is currently being refurbished into condos.]

Included with the tablecloth was a wonderful old Signature Quilt.

I love signature quilts. I like researching the names on them and trying to  figure out the time era/location/history of the quilt.

I'm also going to have a project with this one, if I plan on finishing it up....as it appears some blocks are missing around the edges. I have a huge stash of vintage feed sacks, which are what the prints in this quilt appear to be, so I will be able to come up with something that looks appropriate.

I got the tablecloth, napkins, and quilt top, in a box for $15.

Last weekend I went to a sale in North Bend, NE [Marg Helgenberger, of CSI, grew up there] I bought a TON of chenille bedspreads for $11 [total]. One of them is covered with cowboy images - ranch brands, a saddle, spurs. I looked on eBay and found the exact same bedspread, going for over $100. I might be listing mine soon, as I don't really have any cowboy themed bedrooms in the house, currently. :) The solid color chenille spreads have become informal slipcovers in the house...I don't really want to cut them up to make them fitted slipcovers, because what if I want to use them on a bed someday?!

The house in North Bend was auctioned off, also. People said it was the oldest house in town, and had recently been in some newspaper articles. It was brick, and kinda resembled a Four Square, with gorgeous brick arches above each window. It had 4 bedrooms upstairs with these fascinating old painted oilcloths nailed in the center of each bedroom floor. It was on a double lot and had TONS of little out buildings. They had added central Air and a new furnace 4 years ago, and it went for $20k.

Two weeks ago I went to an auction in Madison, NE, and got this "primitive" old top of a Hoosier/kitchen cabinet, for $1.

My mother had on e just like this when I was growing up, that had been my grandmother's. Hers needed a piece of glass replaced, and she could never find it, so she ended up selling it to an antique dealer.

I am determined to find a replacement piece of glass for mine! And mine it also missing the "garage" door on the bottom [the hardware is still intact.] I thinking about using this either in my office to keep books/supplies in, or putting in my "unfitted" kitchen someday. Either way, the green paint is NOT staying, as it's not original. [I have no idea if it was natural, originally, or light green...which is what the back is]

So if anyone has any resources for the frosted glass, or a cabinet garage door kit, I'm all ears!

Also, for any one who is a garden guru...what is this plant?!?!

I have no idea what it is. But there are 4 planted in a row in front of the house, so they cannot be weeds. Last summer, we couldn't figure out what they were, either...so we let them grow. They end up being taller than me [over five and half feet!] with a thick red stalk that kinda resembled rhubarb. And it was these weird little dangly white flowers that looked like a cross between Lily of the Valley and wisteria, but didn't have any scent.

There's another one in the back yard.

It grew so tall last year, and looked so weird, we finally got sick of looking at it and chopped it down...but the base was SO thick! And these plants grow so quickly!

[disclaimer: Rob and I grew up in Colorado. We have never had a garden. We don't know our plants from weeds...so if this is a super invasive weed, please don't think we're complete idiots :) We're just clueless.]

Lily got a new collar last week. Gone is her angst filled  look...[she outgrew her black spiked collar] Lily has totally transformed herself with a new faux crocodile collar with sparkly rhinestone encrusted dog bones embedded in it.
Is she taking a cue a la Kelly Osbourne?
*sigh* My Lily is growing up on me...

presents for the house?

Today was the last of my finals. I will be heading back to Nebraska soon. That means work will be back in FULL swing ;) (Don't worry Rob....You'll still have time to play with Lily)

The first thing planned for when I get back is Christmas decorating. Rob has been saving that for us to do together. I've been looking at all the other houseblogs and getting ideas. We didn't do much with the house last Christmas...mainly we just set up a tree. I have company coming over on Wedsnesday next week, so I was thinking some garland might cover up some problems ;)

Rob has been installing DSL and phone lines into the back bedroom so I can use it as a studio/office in the future. I will be so happy when I can get my desk and computer out of the boudoir...

While I've been out here, I have been scouring the 'net, looking longingly at the salebills of all the auctions I've been missing back home. I will be back in full swing soon. I need to start collecting different pieces for our kitchen project. We're kinda going for an unfitted kitchen look [I know...everyone says that will hurt the resale value of the house, but we don't plan on selling....EVER] [knock on wood]

This cabinet will be at a sale next month. I think it might look nice in our kitchen...or even the dining room. I'll let you know if I end up with it.

This fretwork will be there also. I've always been fascinated with fretwork...but the price always scares me. I was looking at some Victorian design books today where people kinda replicated this look with rope...in a macrame fashion. If I don't get this piece, perhaps Mom can pass her macrame knowledge on to me. Maybe I could just go to some yard sales and get some macrame owls and hot glue them together and nail them to my archways.

just seeing if you're still paying attention ;)

I can never pass up old light fixtures. I bet Rob wishes I would. (He still hasn't finished re-wiring the other ones I've bought)

This is not the right period for my house, but it's really pretty.

It's so much easier to shop for the house than for people. Maybe that's because the house isn't picky? ;)

I'll post pics of our house, when we get done making it up for the holidays.....and when I'm back home!

How to lose a garage space in 7 days

Well, the answer send your wife to a farm sale with her dad and his truck.
Jenne recently posted that she bought a couch and some chairs at a sale last weekend when she was out for thanksgiving, so I thought I would post a few pics of what she bought. Side note I am still working on the house, finishing up the ceiling on the main floor, but this not worth posting pics of because it really doesn't look like I have done anything because of the type of work. Sorry.
Back to the stuff Jenne got
This is the couch back. The couch is ca. 1920s mohair. At the farm sale there was this couch, and then a WHOLE parlor set from the same time period...but I didn't like the lines of the pieces in the set...so I just got this one. It was $1...so I'm not worried about it making us broke.

As you can see the fabric design is elaborate yet subtle and kinda cool looking.

[Rob...I think the design is subtle because it's so darn filthy! ;) But it is very pretty.]

I put a red arrow on places where there is carved wood on the couch, I guess it will go good with the carved wood in the house.
And lily, where did you get that big mow hawk? it goes well with your spiked collar and bad attitude towards the couch.(She was sniffing and growling at it.)

[good. maybe when I finish re-upholstering it, she will never jump on it....like she does with all my other furniture ;)]

In this pic you can see the carved wood better.

Here are the chairs Jenne bought That one day will be refinished

[ you cannot see it, but the white one also has a really pretty pressed back design. I got both of these chairs for $3. They just need some glue, and they'll be really sturdy again. I don't know if I'm going to refinish them, or leave them in "as found" condition.]

So we finished a window, but I ran out of denatured alcohol, so it still has paint flakes, the door in the Dinning room is the same way. Jenne mentioned this in an earlier post so I am now just getting around to get the pics off my camera .

2 farm sales in 1 day

Yesterday was probably one of the best days in my farm sale life....Okay, *maybe* not as good as that day I went to that sale in Stanton, but pretty close.
My parents picked me up around 9.45 and we made our way to David City. There was an auction there that I really wanted to check out because it had furniture, Fiestaware and such. We got there, and there was a LOT of stuff. My dad settled into the bleachers and started buying stuff. My mother and I took his truck and drove to Seward, as there was ANOTHER sale there that looked good - as its sales bill mentioned quilts, and an old tin bath tub.
The sale in Seward was different. It was in a big auditorium. The items were carefully laid out; only 2 or 3 things per table. Nothing was going for under $20. And the tin bath tub...um..what can I say? The oak trim around the top was really weathered and splintering and cracked, and as I sat and looked at it, I didn't really think it was "right" for our house. Maybe an earlier house.
So we bought a roast beef sandwich from the kitchen and headed back to David City.
While we were gone, Dad had gone crazy. He bought a bunch of glass washboards, rope (?  doesn't he have enough rope?! :)  ) and a Dazey butter churn. Mom got an old wooden crate that says "Ideal Laundry". And they got egg crates, and an egg washer. This sale had a TON of string dispensers...that looked like people's faces. They were made of chalkware and they looked creepy to me.
Anyways, I did end up buying much. I got 2 old pressed back chairs for $3. AND...I got an absolutely gorgeous 1920s Mohair sofa with beautiful carved woodwork on the arms and legs..........for $1.
I also got a huge bolt of cream colored velvet [to recover the couch someday...as it has wear) for $1.

Pictures of the stuff I bought to follow soon. I left my user-friendly camera in Colorado....and all I have here is Rob's crazy photojournalist SLR type camera that normally I'm not allowed to touch because it is his most prized possession.
Also, while I was out farmsaling late into the night, Rob finished stripping an entire window in the front parlor! This window has been half stripped for over a year! [It takes us awhile, because we're down to only 1 heat gun...and if one of us is using it, we usually get distracted and wander off to see what the other is working on.]
And I stripped one of the side doors the other night. We're just working through the week!
If only my history papers I'm supposed to be writing seemed as rewarding...:)