Sometimes its a little scary to leave RenMan to his own auction devices.  But this past Saturday I took the girls around to some local mini fleas while he went down to a three ringed circus.  (Not kidding, there were actually three auction rings going on at the same time.)  The girls and I found a few treasures here and there.  Then we came home to this.

Yes, that is eight boxes of mason jars.

Quick story...

"The earliest glass jars were called wax sealers, because they used sealing wax, which was poured into a channel around the lip that held on a tin lid. This process was complicated and error-prone, but was largely the only one available for a long time, and widely used even into the early 1900s.

By far, though, the most popular form of seal was the screw-on zinc cap, the precursor to today's screw-on lids. The earliest successful application of this was discovered by Mason and patented on November 30, 1858, a date embossed on thousands of jars. Jars with "Patent Nov 30th 1858" were made in many shapes, sizes and colors well into the 1900s. Since they were made in such quantity and used for such long periods, many of them have survived to the present day."

We can attest to that.  I am on day three of washing jars.  Some more vintage than others.  And I have exactly ONE of the famous "Mason" jar as described above.  The majority of our stock is Ball or Atlas and range from small "jelly" jars (make awesome juice glasses) to half gallon jars still sporting their zinc lids. 

While one can never have too many jars, even if you aren't into canning, we are excited to have the chance to upcycle some of these into pendant and sconce lighting fixtures.  Let us know if you would like us to create something for you!  And don't forget to tell your friends about us.

A while back our oldest daughter asked if she could have her own room and could that room have a loft bed.  This spurred all kinds of ideas to turn the shared playroom into a bedroom.

The ideas were a mix of what she loves (oceans, beluga whales, and bright colors) with what we love (vintage, rehab, and uniqueness).  Throw in the fact that we live in a century home with limited storage space and that’s what we had to work with.

It all started with the fact that I wanted to paint her room blue and have large white beluga whale silhouettes painted on the walls to make her feel like she was in the ocean. 

When our daughter said “loft” she was thinking more about having a desk under her bed, but when we started envisioning how we would raise the platform, I immediately thought of a berth on a boat and that is what the focal point of the room became.

It started with finding the perfect dressers that could serve as the bed base.  One we had found at a yard sale the previous summer for $20.  The other we saw at an estate sale and thought it matched up pretty well size-wise.  Paid $15.  After a small amount of leveling (cutting down the legs ever so slightly on the green one), we fit the puzzle pieces together.

Next we built the platform to hold the mattress and anchor everything to the corner of the room. We purchased new, but you save money and resources by scrounging wood at garage and estate sales.  You could also go to shops that specialize in reclaimed wood.  It would definitely be green, but won’t save you much money.

Trimming out the “berth” included bead board, cornices and moldings.  Also purchased new.

To fill in the remaining base of the bed that is not supported by the dressers, we built two rectangular bins.  Since the dressers were on legs and we had a pile of spindles we got at an auction for a couple of bucks, we cut those down and lifted the bins off the floor.  One bin will serve as a laundry hamper holder.  The other will just be a book shelf and a place she can have and alarm clock and set her glasses after she climbs in. Includes bead board and trim scraps from what we had already purchased. 

The boat ladder was an auction throw-in with some lot we won.  We cut off the length we didn’t need from the bottom.

Once everything was in place, we caulked seams and filled holes before painting everything white.  Several times. Boat cleats  from a discount marine store online were added as the drawer pulls.  

And voila! The bedding is new PBTeen bedding that was purchased off eBay for about a 40% discount.

So here is the rest of the room…keeping in mind that it still needs some additional touches like throw rugs, curtains, and a desk chair.  On top of the fact that we have not moved ALL her stuffed animals into here and she basically owns an entire zoo.  And lastly, I had some mermaids printed on fabric to use on either pillows or just to frame.  Not too sure about how I will use them yet.  

Craftsman/Art Deco desk previously blogged about.  Containers all from Pat Catans.  Whale bookends from Urban Outfitters because I could not resist.

Leaning shelves have up to this point been in our living room, but we needed to move them to make room for something else and thought it would be the perfect match. Glass containers with her sea glass and "fossil" collections from Pat Catans (I thought the fishbowl ones were a good fit with the ship theme). Oars were $5 a piece at auction.  I painted them myself to match her bedding, but still look a little distressed.

Bulletin boards were Santa presents because he knew she was getting her own room.  You know...four months later.

The beluga whales are decals made by a local print shop called Speedpro Imaging here in Westlake, OH.  These people are AWESOME to work with.  They have helped us on some other upcycle projects and have great customer service and quick turn around.

The hope chest has been in my family since the 1940's.  It was one of RenMan's first restoration projects back when our oldest daughter was born.  The Poohs come with the kid.  Obsessed much?

And here is that other oar. In very poor lighting.

Not sure if we'll be tackling another project like this anytime soon, but we did finish in the nick of time for a certain someone's 9 year old slumber party.

Yeah.  We've got a lot going on.

One.  We actually finished something for our own house.  Please disregard the hideous color on the walls of our bathroom.  It's been on our "to do" list for about seven years.  But somehow things like "find an old medical office scale, repaint it, and shine it up" always move above painting walls.

Two.  A few bike projects?  RenMan finished both children's bikes and the Elgin.  Just the Schwinn Typhoon and the Peugot racer to go.

Three.  As for our tag line "Reclaim.  Rehab.  Repurpose." The re-purposing is a little more my area than RenMan, as in many instances he feels it too closely resembles "crafting."  And I guess in this case that is true.  Now that the kids are going back to school, I have tasked myself with a few projects, mostly in the sewing arena. 

I am stalking Goodwill and Salvation Army for vintage sheets.  I just need to figure out how to set up the sewing machine in the living room so I can watch the VMAs while creating a masterpiece.

And ever since I found a tackle box that has become marker storage for our daughters, I've been on the lookout for more.  This is an old toolbox we got at auction last month.  I just used a wire brush and then steel wool to clean it up.  I probably could have sanded it.  Maybe next time.

Prepared it by spray painting all surfaces in "pewter".  Applied some decals.

Finished it off with RenMan's signature color (the website, not the actual man) and pulled off the decals.  Ready to go.  When I did a Pinterest search for toolboxes, it appears that everyone is using these as planters.  But you could always go crazy and store tools in it.

That's where I will leave it for the weekly wrap up.  Wondering if I will miss writing this blog once we get our own reality TV show.  Maybe they will let me write the script.

Yeah, there is still a LOT to do before Sunday.  I think every time I cross something off the list, something new gets added.  Today, during my lunch break, I prepared another couple dozen tags.

Yesterday, my Home Depot and JoAnn stops were excruciatingly painful from a customer service perspective, turning my 1 1/2 hour errands into 3.  It was hot.  Traffic was horrible.  I seriously hit every red light known to man.

But we ARE getting a ton done.  It has been a largely positive week.  And RM is just happy to be working on a bike project that does not involve stripping.  (Of the paint thinning variety.)

Did we mention RM loves bikes? Partially, it is an appreciation from a functional point of view.  RM is a triathlete and he takes his cycles very seriously. (So seriously, that there are two bikes that have made their home in our bedroom for the last couple of years. Yes, they are still there.)

But the other part is that, from an aesthetic point of view, he just likes to look at them.  Particularly, "classic" bikes from the 1920's - 1950's.  And in one of the first estate sales he visited this year, he was able to pick up a kid's red Maverick.

Our real problem is that this little venture we have started on, exposes us to a lot of opportunities to purchase bikes.  And RM's track record for hoarding complicates things.  We currently have six "vintage" bikes in our garage (actually seven if you count my bike from high school that I still ride, which the kids call "Murray" because that is the name printed on it, as in, "are you going to take Murray out for a ride?").

The second two came from an auction we went to last month.  One is a French racing bike.  And the other is allegedly a German bike made by HWH (Heidemann-Works[Hanover]).  It is located somewhere under all the rust.  What we do know is that it is rare, since we can't seem to find single documentary proof of one anywhere on the internet.

Then, despite a full garage and, at that point, an unfinished bar, RM pulled his cocky butt into an estate sale last week, just in time to get his hands on an old Schwinn Typhoon and an even rarer Elgin that was in great condition. Insert appropriate nods of appreciation if you know what an Elgin is.  Hint: It's the blue one.  Both bikes even still had their front badges, which are important to collectors.  (The other bike is a banana seat throwback kids bike with no redeeming qualities other than only costing $5.)

But even RM accepts that having too many bikes at one time is just tempting his addiction, so he furiously began working on the presentation of the kid's Maverick.  He won't actually be restoring it completely.  Just removing some rust and grime and making sure the tires hold air.  As of last night, he was almost there.  It's like a brand new bike!

Well, not sure I'll have very much time to post again before the show.  Maybe some before and after shots of a couple other projects that we desperately hope to have finished by 7 AM Sunday morning.  

Finally we are going to show you the fruits of a Renaissance Man "restoration" project.  The reason why I use quotes is that this first piece has not been restored to authenticity nor has it been re-purposed for something new.  It was a dry bar cabinet.  It is still a dry bar cabinet. But we have taken artistic license.  

Rest assured if we come across an authentic William and Mary highboy we would not take such liberties.  But we figured something that is most likely mid-century can be slightly altered.  

This is what it looked like when we got it.  And boy did we think it was hideous.  But there was something about it that captured RM's attention.  Probably it's relationship to alcohol.

The first step in the process was stripping off layers of oil-based paint.  Not a pleasant process that basically turned the paint to goo and made it stick to everything.  

Next was sanding....and more sanding...and more sanding...proceeding through the following levels of sandpaper grit: 80,100, 150, 220, 300, and finally 600.  And of course the detail of the doors and trim had to be done by hand.  It basically amounted to about 15 hours of sanding but it was finally prepped (even though this picture only shows it partially prepped).

The one thing we knew we weren't going to change was the black vinyl bar top that is visible when the cabinet is opened completely, so we had to choose a finish that complimented that. We chose a Minwax New Color stain in Classic Gray and applied three coats to get an almost painted look but still allow the grain to show through.  

The exterior has four to five coats of Minwax Lacquer to seal it and give it that shine.  

The interior was painted with three coats of Valspar Pure White and second-hand glass knobs from Restoration Hardware were used for the pulls.

The result is part French Provincial (per RM) and part Art Deco (per Wife), but completely awesome if we do say so ourselves. Makes this woman want to pour herself a martini.  And all I did was carry it down and up the steps. Which is actually quite a lot, in my opinion. 

The bar (and many vintage liquor bottles - but none actually containing liquor) will be at the show this Sunday!

With the workshop completed, it's time to get this venture off the ground, which starts with this coming Sunday's antique show.  What does this mean?  It means a LOT of reading and Google searching.

We think it's really important to know the background on most of the pieces we are putting up for sale. It's only fair to our customers (please let there be customers) in order for them to see the same value that we do.  It may be difficult to know the personal history of a particular item, but we have tried to at least research any maker marks on our finds or just get an overall feel for time period.

Obviously, some information is easier to find than others.  For instance, there is all sorts of information on lanterns, especially if the maker is clear.  We were able to pretty closely date our Dietz Little Wizard lanterns using the FAQ on this site.  

However, the desk that we found within the rubble of our first auction win has been impossible to figure out.  I've looked through every furniture book I could get my hands on from the library and burnt out the search engine on my laptop.  I haven't found anything that comes close.  So short of paying for an appraisal that is currently not in the budget, the best I can guess is that it is craftsman/mission.  But one thing I know for sure is that I love it and will hate to see it go.  I do hope that someone at the antique show can satisfy my curiosity around it, though.

Ren Man spent approximately 48 hours researching a WWII Ike military jacket in order to figure out what each patch on it meant, but now he knows where to go and he may even remember some of what he read when he sees another similar jacket somewhere else.  As another example, the typewriter featured on this site was purchased at an auction for around $25.  This felt like a steal and its something I have been wanting as a decorator piece.  But after a five minute search on the make and model, it's actually not that rare (though still a pretty good price).  So before we going buying anymore typewriters at auction, we'll probably pull out our trusty smartphones.

Personally, I'm a sucker for American History (just don't quiz me on dates or names of all the Presidents).  Finding a footlocker that came from a Depression era work camp started by FDR...that's pretty cool.  But then again, I also become giddy over lead-paint-peeling windows torn out of century homes.

I'm hoping that tomorrow or Wednesday I can feature the dry bar cabinet that Ren Man has been working on.  There are just a couple touch ups left and it is ready.  And don't forget to check out the gallery page on this site.  I've loaded more pictures.  Most likely, if it says FOR SALE it will be at the show.  But we will also have things that are not pictured.  Yet.