Making New Friends

I have never loved antique shopping.  I mean I hold a deep appreciation for the craftsmanship and quality of things made before the digital era.  But I’ve never had a project were incorporating an older style was necessary or beneficial. However, I do love a challenge that pushes me outside my skill set and comfort zone. Forcing me to learn and try something new.      

    I spent the first month of owning the house planning and thinking and creating ideas and making a plan of attack.  Figuring out how to organize all my ideas and keep straight all the history and information I kept collecting.  I learned the hard way, while building my house and working on other projects, that people can’t read my mind and I’m not the most highly skilled at clearly communicating my desired outcome on projects. So this time I think I may have lots of pictures and just grunt and point. 

    As the vision began to materialize in my head I realized the need to search for elements from the past to incorporate into the design.  Mostly first I needed the things that would be influence  plumbing rough ins.  To ensure rough ins were measured correctly and layouts and measurements actually would work the way I saw it in may head. 

    During my first week of facebook and online searching I was ecstatic to meet three local people who collect antiques or shop estate sales or refinished distressed pieces.  Of course they all knew exactly which house I was working on and more than excited to hear about the project.  

    I even seemed to have become instant beasties with a local store owner of The Yellow Heart https://www.facebook.com/theyellowheartllc/ We just hit it off. Maybe it was the excitement of finding someone we could spit ideas and pictures with constantly and never get tired of it. It’s only been a few weeks since I met her but we’ve exchanged more text with pictures and ideas to rival some of my life long friends.

I also met a gentleman who lives around the corner from me who refinish old furniture and other unique items that have been a victim of time.

One of my many ideas is to incorporate a late 1800s wood stove in the house similar to what may have originally been there.  As I was loading up the item I purchased from him after chatting for a bit about my project. He pointed to a large item under a tarp.  The curiosity was too strong I asked if I could peek. 

Oh My Goodness!! What this will look like when is cleaned up!!!

ohhhh my poor brain is reeling with ideas..

I still don’t know exactly how I will do the stove in this house. It feels like one of the biggest decisions beyond the bathrooms. Think about it. Throughout human history; family, friends, daily discussions or major celebrations and announcement so often revolve around the kitchen. Cooking the next meal or preparing a holiday feast together has the potential to create memories and connections that last beyond the meal, place, and time.