Post Sale Musings

This past weekend was the October sale at The Mine, and the first weekend that featured an entire second floor of merchandise enabled by a radical expansion and change in ownership status. The second floor is a pretty amazing space–tall, tin-clad ceilings, windows, new carpet, a nice bathroom, street-level doors and, most importantly, space for larger pieces of furniture. The philosophy is that “smalls” are to be used sparingly, and “in context,” so I still have my space on the lower level for my kitchen things–but, I share a small, L-shaped area on the second floor with my friend Jack. It was a challenging puzzle, but we were able to fit in most everything we needed to, and it looked integrated and cohesive. I was happiest that the space could actually fit my metal wardrobe comfortably, and happier still that it sold! I’m getting a little discouraged about lack of sales for the checked pieces–maybe it’s time for another theme. I’ve been snagging the New York Times magazine on Sundays from YJ’s Snack Bar where I meet friends for breakfast, and it’s chock-full of wonderful inspiration. Unfortunately, I’m out of pieces to work on, so the hunt begins in earnest again tomorrow. I would love to find more metal pieces; we’ll see what the junking spirits bring.

It’s also time to focus my search for things that would make interesting Christmas gifts. A few years before I started junking as a business, I initiated a “green Christmas” at my house, which in essence meant nothing purchased for giving could be new. My daughters love it, and we continue the tradition for most things, although I have wrapped up new items if it’s important–like a GPS for my daughter who drives in Southern California. I love it because I find perfect gifts all year long since I’m going to so many more places and more often than before–the biggest challenge is actually saving things for Christmas since it’s so much fun seeing their reactions.

But, there’s always more junk!

(Just for the record, this little grouping was my Halloween tableau. And that’s a vintage carved cocoanut on the right, not a shrunken head. I’ve avoided buying dead things except for the occasional fur piece (don’t judge), even though I’ve seen many a taxidermic hunting trophy sell at different markets for a pretty penny.)

The Industrial Armoire

After several weeks and many interim projects, the metal wardrobe makes its grand entrance! The very first comment I got on this blog was from someone I don’t know who cautioned me not to lose the patina of this piece. I liken “patina” to “character” and I think I kept that intact. It’s definitely different from where it started. Something of this age can never be made “new” again, so the steel is not perfectly un-dented and will always have a few rust stains from poor storage. After I stripped off the deteriorating exterior paint, however, I knew I couldn’t cover it up entirely. The imperfections were lovely. The bottom of the wardrobe was pretty well rusted out and definitely needed a little more than paint removal. After priming with heavy rust primer, I painted it a mocha color to coordinate with the original handles which I wanted to keep. The oversized harlequin checks are a great scale for this and I love the red with the steel. I finished it all up with a couple of coats of lacquer to protect it from rust, and changed the cam locks since the original keys had been lost.

The repair work I had to do consisted primarily of the floor. I wanted to attach casters but with the rusted condition of the floor I knew I had to do something to reinforce it. The first step was filling in the few actual holes with Bondo. After sanding, I applied heavy rust primer inside and out to kill the rust and stop further damage. Then I cut 3/4″ plywood to fit and glued it down with liquid nails. I used heavy bolts to affix the casters rather than screws, for added security.

Love!

By the way, it will be for sale at Urban Mining October 8, 9 & 10. Or hopefully just October 8!