what I'm doing today...

First order of business...Midwest girls - can you BELIEVE this weather??

A-MA-ZING!!!

I feel like I am living in the South! Shorts and flip-flops in October?? I love it!

I am doing yard work, painting trim, getting my flower beds in order for winter...so being a procrastinator hasn't proven to be a bad this this year after all!

Anyway. just thought I would check in and give you a tiny peek at what I am going to work on when I have some spare time this week...I know she is not much to look at now, but she has such potential! I have always been a sucker for cabinets with lots of little drawers.

16 drawers of loveliness...

{sigh...} I think I am in love.

old, chippy gray paint that needs a little 'sprucing up'...

not a full paint job, because I love the character of this one...but a fresh look is in order for this old girl

{removing old stickers...a dry brushing of a fresh gray paint...and old maps to line each drawer}

she served an old printing company in my city for over a 100 years, then was discarded and headed for the landfill. I rescued her and can't wait to give her a new home in my office!

Back to work for me, girls! The huge tree in my front yard decided to drop every single leaf it had overnight.

Anyone want to help me rake?? 

minnesota roadtrip finds...

Whew! What a weekend it was!

I had 2 whirlwind days of driving...junking...singing...and I loved every single minute of it!

To me, there is something soothing to the soul to get in the car and take a roadtrip. I stopped off in some great little towns to see what goodies I could find for Etsy...and of course found a few things for me, too.

From my last post, we all know by now the highlight of my trip was getting to spend the evening with Mr. Kenny Chesney...he rocked our socks off! It was some serious fun, and I can't wait to see him again in May! I was hoping to meet up with Jill at the concert, but my running late because of traffic combined with Kenny deciding to play an hour and a half longer than planned...well...it just didn't work out. That made me sad, because too soon she will be off to Portland.

*sigh*...there is just never enough time...

I had some great finds this weekend. I will be loading the Etsy store throughout the week, but I wanted to show you some "big" things that caught my fancy, too! I used my old point-and-shoot camera this weekend, so my apologies for my pics not being the best. But still, there was some gorgeous eye candy along the road and I just had to show you!


First up, an antique European armoire that I fell in *LOVE* with. The price was unbelievable! I am seriously thinking about going back up and buying this old girl for my dining room.

I have always had a love for old, raw pine wood. It reminds me of driftwood.

This is another piece that made me freak out a little...look at all those drawers!! It was a seed cabinet back in the day. I saw one recently at an antique mall for $3500. This beauty was just $400...kicking myself already for not buying it for my studio space.

 * sigh *

I am seriously considering this old factory table for my kitchen island. I am crazy about the galvanized legs..and the top is solid wood butcher block. I am not sure if old wood is a good choice for a kitchen top. I am going to do a little research and see if I can clean and seal it somehow, yet retain the natural look.

I just thought this chandi was so cute! I would lose the shades, but I love the simplicity and the touch of aqua.

I went to a architectural salvage store and as ususal got lost in the "door room" for quite a while. I have a thing for old doors...and this one caught my eye. Wouldn't it be fabulous on a barn door track??

No words needed here...all those baskets will speak for me.

And lastly...another cabinet just calling my name.

I came home and the first thing I told me husband was...

"We are moving. I need a bigger house."



And in a style all his own, my big, strapping hunk of husband simply said...

"Ok."

Love that man.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

I am off to work on my guest room a little today. It has been a long time coming, but I hope to be able to share some exciting news on what has been going on with the Urban Plains Project! I am about to bust with excitement!

Happy Monday!

Oh pottery barn, how you inspire me...

It was a long day today...it was soooo cold and cloudy and we were in the-middle-of-nowhere Iowa working on the "barn project" again today. And the wind?? What the heck, I felt like I was an extra in the movie Twister!! Just so you know, it is VERY hard to handle 16 foot long, solid oak boards in 30 mile and hour wind. Ugh. But so worth it, because that wood is going to make some gorgeous furniture!

 (If you are just tuning in, the meat-and-potatoes of the story is that my hubs and I are taking down a 100-year old barn to salvage the wood and galvanized roofing for some new additions to our inventory for our little furniture biz.)

So anyway, where was I??

 Oh yes, long day...cold...windy...blah...blah. I jumped under my down comforter the minute I got home because I was frozen to the bone. I was toasty & warm, reading the Pottery Barn catalog that came in the mail today when I a mini-freakout when I turned to page 95.

I instantly fell in LOVE with the vintage-inspired wood lockers that were staring back at me.

So, since I am a resourceful girl...I swipe their ideas take inspiration from their gorgeous full-color glossy catalog, draw up some plans, buy some wood and get to work building my own!  In all honesty, I saw something similar to these on a blog last year, and have been wanting to build a set ever since! Seeing these just gave me the boost I needed to get to work!

Soon, my husband will be off of work for 3 weeks!!

I could not be happier...because look what he is going to be building...

I am trying to get everything photographed for my upcoming Etsy shop...but I have to take a little time out so we can build and finish a few of these vintage-inspired wood lockers!

I am in LOVE with them!

I don't have anywhere to use them in my home at the moment...so we are building them just for the fun of it. Just because we love building and creating and painting furniture...so crazy, right?? We really need a hobby that isn't like work...but we love it so much, we just don't want to do anything else!

Hmmm...maybe I should offer a pair in my Etsy shop, just for fun??

Goodnight, my friends...I'm off to curl up again under my cozy down comforter to see what other things Pottery Barn is going to make me dream about tonight!

Oh, and my hubs just yelled to me from the other room...plans and a shopping checklist are already drawn up for the lockers!

I love that man.

trash talkin'

This is such a strange statement...

 my city has the best trash.

(I can't believe I just said that.)

On a weekly basis I find the most beautiful things...ornate furniture, chandeliers, cool old metal boxes and trays, gorgeous old doors with chippy paint...it is simply amazing to me what people will throw away! Like anything, some weeks picking are better than others...and I know just what area of town I like to visit to find the era of stuff I am looking for, what night their trash goes out, etc. Now that I am putting this is writing, I sound like a total freak stalking people's trash...but I am ok with that. There is a science to this trash-picking stuff, you know!

I am just so swoony over my finds from Sunday night...so I had to show you.


My favorite find of the week...an old wood medical cabinet.

She's got chippy gray paint, lots of drawers on the front and the sides, too...

And her solid oak top is perfectly weathered and worn...

~ sigh ~

Isn't she pretty??

Ok, maybe all of you won't think so...but I do!

It was love at first sight. The kind of love that made me nearly have a heart attack when I realized it was so heavy there was no way I could load it in my truck by myself! The 6 minute car ride from the curb where I found it back to my house to grab my big strong husband nearly felt like an eternity!! I was convinced it would be snapped up while I was gone.

But she was still there...waiting for me...

While I am talkin' trash, I may as well show you some of my other finds.... 

A gorgeous vintage chandi with all the crystals...(they were nice enough to put them in a ziploc before throwing them away. I felt like I needed to leave them a little thank you note!)

Here is a tip from me to you on how to find these...I frequent the section of town with the gorgeous turn of the century homes...you know the kind...they were practically mansions in their day but now have pretty much turned into slums. It makes me sad to drive through that part of town, but since I can't save a whole neighborhood, I may as well save pieces of it, right??

Well, I have learned that if you can find out which houses are being renovated or torn down...you just have to pop yourself into the jobsite one morning with a big box of Krispy Kremes and a smile...then the guys just might leave you the chandeliers sitting by the dumpster rather than throwing them in.

~ smile ~

Krispy Kreme really brings out the love, doesn't it?

This little beauty is going to have a new home in my bathroom.

And I have no idea what I am going to do with the wood pullys I found...but I have always been crazy about industrial pieces so they will find a place somewhere. They were in pile of trash from a garage that was cleaned out.

Oooh...and I am crazy about those metal bins!! I love the holes, because I find all things polka dotted, white and metal to be dreamy. The fact that they are all 3 is amazing!

Oh, and CDs fir perfetly inside! (You will see one poping up in an office reno coming up very soon!)

But here are the two pieces I love probably as much as the cabinet in the first photo.

I have no idea what they are. Old chairs maybe that have the backs cut off? I see marks where it looks like something was attached at one time.

They are large, so if they were chairs they were b-i-g.

I LOVE the metal...zinc maybe?? Zinc-looking anyway. They are going to be awesome in the wooded part of my backyard with cascading container plants on top of them next year.

So there you have it.

I am a  girl that loves to pick through people's garbage.

Ok, I don't really pick through it. I just look for a pile that may have potential, get out of my car and look to see what is on top. Most nights I can come home with 5 or 6 things and have a whole bunch of laughs with my sister while we are doing it.

Keeping beautiful things out of a landfill...just another way I am helping save the world.

I just have to know...am I the only one that does this sort of thing?? Please tell me there are some fellow trash-pickers out there in blogland!

I'll pop on that...

Ok, so if you watch American Pickers...I KNOW you have heard Mike say that about a billion times.

Does it bug you as much as it does me?? He really needs to find a new phrase. It is like nails on a chalkboard to me now.

Ugh. I can't belive I found it coming out of my mouth earlier this week.

Here is a little background that leads up to the story I am about to tell.

I have so many facets to my crazy life. Some day soon...when my shows are over for the summer and I actually have more than 10 minutes to compose a blog post one measly time a week, you will see I am a girl of constant contradictions. I love to get my hands dirty, but I get a mani-pedi every other Wednesday. I am happy digging around in a barn of old junk...but I may have designer jeans on when I am doing it. You will find I have a serious case of wanderlust and actually spend oodles of time cruising backroads looking at cool old farmhouses and barns. I love them. They remind me of home.

Once in a while....I fancy myself to be a "picker"...but I didn't know that was even a term until I saw the show. You know the show on the History Channel...with these two guys...

Anyway, I am quite at home in the 'small farm scenario' so I rather like stopping when I see someone outside. More times than not, they are more than happy to let you poke around their outbuildings and I love...I mean TOTALLY LOVE when a cute old farmer shakes his head at me when I ask to buy a crusty old table I found buried under stacks of old feed sacks in his barn. The head shake is usually followed by a "Sweetie you can just have it...if a cute young thing like you is willing to crawl around in the dirt the way you do, you deserve to have it".

Well, that is when I know that poor man has spent waaay too many years working in the hot sun, because I am neither cute or young. So I have no choice to force cash on him, because the guilt would kill me slowly if I just took things I knew to be treasures.

During these little adventures, I climb over 100 year old machinery...through tiny spots to get into a hayloft that hasn't seen footprints in 50 years...I have even met an angry mama racoon or two that set up camp a little too close to crates of gorgeous vintage milk bottles I just had to have!

Very rarely do I come across a barn that is set up as nicely as I found this one. Primed and ready for the pickin'! The dirty part was already done. But it was no nearly as fun, I have to admit.

I have met some of the sweetest people on the Earth during my adventures. Truly good people. The salt of the Earth, as they say. There is nothing I love more than a farmer that has worked his life with his hands so we can have food on our table and his wife that daily wears an apron faded from 40 years of baking bread and making meals. I take away good memories of each and every one of them.

But the other day...one of those farmers from rural Iowa called my bluff.

I had already "picked" their barn, you see. I found doors with old pink peely paint...two gorgeous old farm tables...a green glass bottle pile that made my head spin...you get it. Good stuff.

But today...he didn't want me to pick the barn.

Nope.

He wanted me to take the WHOLE barn.
 (ok, actually it is a corn crib, but for this post I am going to call it a barn.)

Whaaaaat?????

Ummm...yeah..That is exactly what I was thinking when he asked me.

But, before I knew it...the words just flew out of my mouth.

"I'll pop on that!"

Again...Whaaaaat did I just say?

What the heck am I going to do with a barn?

Well, take it apart piece by piece, apparently. You see, it is coming down...either in flames...or by my hands.

 It kills me to see a barn come down. They seem to be dropping like flies. Replaced by the new metal versions that I know are so much more functional and efficent, but I just don't love them like I do an old wood one. It won't have the smells...or the creaking floors...or the rafters you can see bits of sunlight peeking through. So, I guess it is up to me to let this barn live on...even if it is piece by piece.

So, this girl is going to have to get an extra manicure...because I have a feeling my french tips are going to be chipped. I have rounded up friends and family, bought enough hammers and pry-bars to go around and we are going to grill out, make some margaritas and have a barn-tearing-down party!

So here is the question I have for all of you.

What in the world am I going to do with old barn wood that has white paint on it...gates...barn doors...everything in the photos is soon going to be owned by me.

And I have no idea what I am going to do with it.

Do I build furniture?

Make signs?

Use the doors and gates around my house?

Sell it?

I am here to pick your brain.

And I hope to grow one of my own...because this idea was just plain crazy! 

chandelier heaven...

Yesterday the hubs and I took a little "field trip". He needed a break from building and repairing furniture...and I needed a break from painting it. So...we headed over to see my favorite "chandelier guys". They are two men that clean and restore vintage chandeliers and sell them to women like us that just can't get enough of them!

I was lucky enough to make it into the treasured storage space for all their chadis. I swear as I made it to the bottom step and into their basement angels started to sing...well, not really, but they may as well have!

I was in h.e.a.v.e.n.

Now, be warned. These photos are not pretty, but the chandis were. Taking photos in a basement just does not do these beauties justice, and I couldn't bear to ask 2 men in their late 70s if we could haul each one upstairs so I could get better pics outside. So, they are what they are...but I wanted you to see what they had.

This was just one corner...the chandis went all down one side of their basement. There must have been 75 of them too choose from...and their prices were very, very good.

All I heard from my husband behind me was "Oh, boy. Here we go."

There were chandis that were all glass and crystal...I always love those the most.

Some heavy on the crystals...some a little more simple.

There were some reeeeallly cute petite chandis, too. I would LOVE a little one like this is my bathroom...or above my kitchen sink as a pendant. I am going to have to remember this one since I will be starting a kitchen reno in a few months.

This one would be great in a foyer...it does hang straight, but the crystals are so heavy it won't be straight until it is up on the ceiling.

This is the one I bought for my office. I think it am going to paint it gray and distress it. My office is all white, so I think that will be perfect!

And these two were my FAVS! Seriously, I stared at them for so long, my husband finally just said, "so why don't you buy them so you can stare at them at home". I love that man. He is just the best!

But, I have a house with ceilings too low to handle these, and I am still sad about it this morning. I asked my hubs if we could move just so I could have a place for it. He agreed.

Isn't she a beauty???

The metal that holds the crystals is my favorite part. All made by hand. This chandi is stamped with the manufacturer name and the year it was made on the inside. I believe it was 1927.

This style is called a 'wedding cake chandelier'...love that. Can you imaging the house this came from? It bet it was stunning!

This little mini one matched it. I love the bits of old paint on the ceiling cap.


I really, really, really wanted this one for my foyer...be he didn't want to separate the pair.

I love days like this when I can escape the paint fumes and sawdust and go look at beautiful things.

A wonderful friend I have made here in blogland reminded me the other day just how lucky I am to be able to what I do for my job. I am so glad she did...because it is so true! I would be so unhappy working behind a desk all day. This is what feeds my soul. Searching through old barns, finding those out of the way junk shops, meeting people unexpectedly that sell great things out of their basement...it is so much fun!

I can't see mylself doing anything else. My little biz is celebrating its 10 year anniversary April 1st...here's hoping for another successful 10! Because I will take wearing my favorite dirty boots over heels any day!

easily distracted...

Yesterday I set out with intentions of finding a dresser for a client.

I swear.

In my mind I kept telling myself "you are not shopping for yourself. Don't look for anything other than the dresser."

The word "focus" was repeated in my head over and over.

But it didn't work.

Nope.

Never does.

The bling always catches my eye. I can spot a chandelier from 40 yards.

And in one store today...I saw four of them! They looked so sad hanging there waiting to be taken home. The shop owner all but begged me to buy one.

I could feel my mind start to wander. Within 30 seconds I had plans in my head. Which room, what color walls...the whole 9 yards, as they say. Why, oh why do these shop owners play with my mind this way??

This one was my favorite...but it needs a few modifications...I would remove the hurricanes and shine her up a bit...but she is oh-so-pretty in person! And she is an 8-arm chandi, too! Those are a tough find!

This little beauty was petite and had cute little details...see the little flower crystals towards the top? Super sweet for a little girls room. 

Some were a little heavy on the "ornateness" for a simple girl like me...

And my husband said this one reminded him of Vegas. He has a pretty good eye after tagging along with me all these years. I guess he has a point. It was about 3 1/2 feet tall and had tiers of crystals...pretty...just not "us".

At this point, my neck had been cranked "up" for so long staring at what was hanging off the ceiling, I completly forgot about looking for my client's dresser. I needed to put these dang chandis out of my mind and get down to business.

But then it happened.

I locked eyes with the most amazing piece of furniture. Time stood still for a moment, and all I heard my husband mutter under his breath was "Oh man, I know that look." He knows just to stay out of my way and back the truck up to the door, because something is about to come home with us.

Brace yourself...this is the worlds ugliest photo. It was taken in a junk shop, lets remember girls.

It is a H-U-G-E vintage apothacary cabinet from an old store! You have no idea how much I love this thing.

Seriously l.o.v.e.

As in "if I could marry it - I would" kind of love.

A majestic beauty...8 feet wide x 8 feet tall.

But the price is killing me. $850. Yikes.

I am the queen of the antique furniture deal. I don't think a single piece in my whole house cost over $100.

I know that is a crazy good deal for what it is...but ouch!

It needs a little "Mary Makeover"...and no one pass out when I say this...if I buy it - it will be painted white. I couldn't have it any other way. I am going to dream about this cabinet tonight. I just know it. In my mind it is already full of all my white ironstone and old metal pieces.  

Oh, and I never gave a second thought to the dresser I was looking for.

What do you think?? Should I do it?

true love...circa 1945

Last month, I did a post about 92 WWII love letters I bought at a farm auction. I have been beyond thrilled to read through the words of Irwin & Helen...I read each letter he wrote her, then her response...it is like being in their converstation.

I love how he starts this letter...

Just like everyone before and after it...

"Dearest darling Helen"

and then he calls her his "little ray of sunshine"...isn't that just the cutest thing ever??

This letter goes on to talk about his daily life while he is away. What he does for his job on the ship, what the other guys are doing. He is careful to not reveal too much, the sensors would never send it on to her if he did. Can you imagine? Every single personal word your husband wrote you while you were apart being read by someone else? Yikes.

Parts of the letters have me laughing outloud. Apparently she is a not-so-great cook, and he made a comment about not being ready for home cooked food any time soon. Umm....Hello, Irwin - I wish I would have been there to help you out. Someone needed to imform you that women are not amused by jokes like that. Needless to say, Helen did not find it to be funny at all, and he apologized for about 13 letters afterwards.

And I have discovered Irwin has a little naughty side to him, too! He throws in a comment or two that I am sure they would not appreciate me reading. I guess years away on a ship will do that to a guy...wink...wink.

But most of all, he begs to hear about the mundane, day-to-day things she is doing. He wants to hear details. What she did...who she saw...what they talked about. I admit, at first I thought Irwin may be just a little controlling.....but then he says why. When he lays down in his bunk at night, he falls asleep imagining he is there. Remembering what life was like before he was...somewhere in the South Pacific...all those miles away from her.

He talks about how much he is missing the little things. Going bowling, mowing the lawn, fixing their car, even painting the house. The simple things in life really are the most important, aren't they?

I love how he signed this letter...

"sending all of my love and kisses now and forever, your loving, loyal but ever so lonely husband Irwin"

I have been trying to figure out what to get my husband for Valentine's Day. Cologne? Dinner and a movie? A new watch? But really, when it comes down to it...we like the every day things in life just like Irwin. I think I will just cook him his favorite dinner...and he can build a fire. We will pop open a bottle of cheap champagne, drink it out of the wrong kind of glass and enjoy a night in.

Happy Valentine's Day, my friends.

Wishing you a Helen & Irwin kind of day...enjoy the simple things in life.

i heart salvage yards...

I have to admit something to all of you.

I am not a girly-girl.

Maybe I am...I don't know. But yesterday, I was not.

I was climing through piles of old junk...getting dirty and loving every minute of it.

It was one of the most fabulous, fun days I have had in a long time! I am happy down to my toes today...and it is all thanks to a whole lotta JUNK and a drafty old 6-story warehouse!

I love how the men in the place are in awe of a girl that loves junk. A girl with french-tip nails, and a super-cute bag on her shoulder, that is. At first they always think I am going to require their "help"...I just thank them and continue on with my digging.

As most of us do, I have an adgenda every day of my life. A long list of "to-dos". I work too much...usually 6-7 days a week...sometimes 8 depending on how many orders I have go get done that week. Did I ever tell you I have my own little business painting furniture?...I really need to do a post about it sometime. Oh, and we build furniture, too. Out of salvaged materials...and I love, love, love it! I don't sell those pieces at my shows...usually I sell those to stores...but this year I think I may bring some and see how it goes.

Yesterday, I needed a break from my paintbrush. We were just spending too much time together lately. So I headed out for a little inspiration at my favorite architectural salvage warehouse.

Did you know you can find beauties like this at a salvage yard??

I was climing over piles of old ceiling tin, tripping on old door trim and making my way through 100s of old chippy doors trying to find the ones that needed a new home. It was heaven to a girl like me. But cold as a meat locker...that part was not fun after a couple hours. But you should see the doors I came home with! Worth every minute and every frozen toe! I snagged chippy painted doors in pale blue, cream, white, pink, pale yellow...and think there is an old aqua or two in the mix.

 The building iteself was incredible. It is a beautiful old thing from the 1800s. Exposed brick walls...old creaky wood floors...floor to ceiling windows. In its prime it was a factory for millwork. They had photos on the walls. Some of the most incredible fireplace mantles, doors and mouldings came out of that place. As I looked around at all the reclaimed goods I couldn't help but wonder if some had found their way "home" again. 

*sigh*

 I saw chippy, layered paint...thick beveled glass...and some of the most stunning doorknobs I have ever laid eyes on! As I am typing this...I can't help but wonder if I am the only person that has ever used 'stunning' and 'doorknobs' in the same sentence.

There were old wavy-glass windows as far as the eye could see. And old ornate ceiling tin...it was everywhere! Stacks and stacks of it! There was one room dedicated to sinks, toilets and bathtubs. Seriously, even the toilets and sinks were beautiful back in the day!

If you have a place like this in your area YOU MUST VISIT!

You never know what you might find! I brought home old keys, antique hardware for my furniture, a fabulous mirror. a couple chandeliers and loads of doors and windows! Oh, and 2 English Ironstone pitchers now have a permenant home in my kitchen, too! When the weather gets a bit warmer I am going to build a few armoires with those old doors, so I will be sure to keep you posted!

I'm off for another day with the paintbrush...

Happy Friday!