A few weeks prior to Halloween, my husband (Josiah) and I by chance stopped at an estate sale while we were apartment hunting. It was the final day of the sale and as my fellow estate-sale enthusiasts know, that is the best day to find deals but the worst day to find truly wonderful items. The sale had a few interesting items left including some vintage cotton kid gloves, (that would never fit my E.T. fingers) a few articles of luggage, circa 1950's or 60's that I didn't feel I had the strength or enthusiasm to repair, and the chairs. We didn't have an apartment yet, we didn't know how much space we would be working with but we knew we had to have the chairs. 

(the chairs in our new apartment)

 The three cozy chairs, the men running the sale explained, were part of the show furniture when their parents bought the house in the 1960's and had remained there since. They also came with a marble topped coffee table, inscribed with the name of the studio that created the set. The men imagined it was Italian furniture. I am not sure, because I'm having a hard time researching the name that I can't read very well. 


(the base of the coffee table)

So we tentatively asked how much they wanted for them and were very pleasantly surprised at the price. We bought the chairs right then and came back later with a truck. 

I especially love the backs! Those fabric "dots" aren't superfluous either! They are actually a lovely design feature. They connect to the back cushions which would otherwise be loose. There are actually little holes drilled into the wood through which a slightly elastic string connects the two. 


(back)

The chairs are still in great shape too. They may get reupholstered eventually, as the padding on the arms are a little worn but overall, you can tell that they were very well cared for. 

(detail on the arm)

One of the initial things that drew us to these chairs was the detail on the arms. The flowers are made of plastic but look just like the flower details we found on a 1920's end table earlier this summer. The table was in desperate need of repair but we found it and fell instantly in love. Thank goodness I have such a handy husband!

The end table was found on the final day of an estate sale at a bed and breakfast that was closing. They had accumulated a wealth of objects over the years and rather than hiring a company to host the sale for them, the retirees had decided to let guests wander the building and pick up what they wanted.

If you've never been to an estate sale before, seek out one like this. Companies do research into products' worth and overprice everything. They have to make money themselves, which I don't blame them for, but I'd much rather pay ten dollars for a designer handbag at a self-run estate sale (even if I have to dig for it) than sixty at an estate sale where it's been laid out for me. We paid a mere four dollars for our little table, easily the best estate sale find we've ever had.

Anyway, the table was stained, there were nail polish marks on the top, and water damage to the beautiful feet. The copper claws were heavily tarnished.

(the top of the table, broken with pieces falling off
c. 2014, Josiah Eidmann)

(No love for the poor table!
c. 2014, Josiah Eidmann)

Josiah did a marvelous job fixing it up. I'm not very handy, but I'm told there was a lot of sanding involved, new veneer had to be ordered, and the copper soaked in lemon juice and laboriously scrubbed with a tooth brush. 

(c. 2014, Josiah Eidmann)
et voilĂ ! 

(The table in the old apartment during the move
c. 2014, Josiah Eidmann)

(notice the difference on the feet from the first photo!
c. 2014, Josiah Eidmann)

The feet are all shiny again and the water damage is gone. The table almost seems like it is "happy" again and we are so awfully fond of it. It's going to have a long life as the center of attention in our living room (not in the corner room in a b+b basement.)

(note the husband's thumb 
c. 2014, Josiah Eidmann)

Love,

I unintentionally took a blogging hiatus... I've been super busy lately fnishing up this beastly class in school. I could spend paragraphs complainging about it but I'll just say that I was very confused as to what was actually required and it took a lot of "trial and error" to figure it out. After the class ended, I had the pleasure of completing a Dr. Horrible Labcoat for my dear friend Steve-oh! (Pictures to come soon.) The costume had to be completed quickly though as we had our Halloween party (pictures of which also to come) approaching rapidly. Barely a week after the party we moved into a new apartment. So as you can see, I've been very busy!

Anyway, here are the photos that I promised of the dress. Please excuse the lighting, the photos were taken in the evening and the lighting was not super great.

Front: 


Back;


This week has involved a lot of unpacking but I managed to find time to "tidy up" a few of my old projects. This bodice top was from a dress that I didn't quite like how it turned out but I thought that with some revisions the top portion could kind of cute with some highwaisted shorts

Front:



Back:





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Alysa Eidmann. Powered by Blogger.

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