Category Archives: Florida

Roached-out Silver Still Holds Its Appeal

Posted in Antiques, Coral Gables, Estate Sales, Florida, Garage Sales, Thrifting, Uncategorized by

I started with one. One that my belonged to my great-grandmother. Then I saw one at a yard sale for next-to-nothing. Then some time went by and I saw another one, all seemingly cheaper than the last.

And so it began. I didn’t set out to collect old silverplated pitchers, but I do. Some are art deco, some are frilly and some are so old, they don’t even shine anymore. Hahaha!

When I was in Miami, I saw these OFTEN. The things people sold down there always killed me. Folks in Southern Florida have little appreciation for everyday antiques, so I was in heaven. But I digress.

I snatch these up anytime they’re marked at my magic number or less. Today I actually paid a little more for one, but I don’t usually go above that “number”. So that brings my number to nine silver pitchers. I met up with some old-timer antiques dealers a couple of weeks ago and wasn’t all that surprised to see that they had a collection of them too. They were asking more than three times my magic number, so I know I’m on to something good here.

My favorite use for them is as a vase. They kind of elevate the presentation of the flowers in a charming way.

Silverplated pitcher with roses

Antique silverplated pitcher as vase.

I decided not long ago to start using some of these things in my everyday life. So I use one of my small silver trays for a catch-all on top of my dryer. It holds things like buttons and change and lots of lint I’m sure. I don’t know, it still makes doing laundry seem more… civilized.

image

Pretty, Pretty Princess Cabinet Started As Anything But

Posted in Coral Gables, flea markets, Florida, Garage Sales, Liberty, Missouri, Thrifting, Travel, Treasures, Uncategorized by

I snatched this little beauty up in a rural flea market on the drive from Mulberry, Florida to Miami. I loved the legs and thought it surely had more to offer than roached out wood and dust. It had a beautiful shape and the original glass and door pulls, so I knew I could do something with it.

At the time, we were living in a hotel a stone’s throw from Coral Gables. With space at a premium, I cleaned it up and used it immediately. Once we were settled in our Coral Gables apartment, I got to work on it, thanks to a mis-tinted can of paint from Home Depot ($5, thank-you-very-much).

I couldn’t have been more pleased with how it turned out. The color was close enough to Tiffany Blue that it really elevated it. I gave it a little class by painting the window jams white. Painting the inside white was a no-brainer, because it served to lighten up the entire piece, making it look clean, intentional, stylish.

I hated to see it go at one of our garage sales once we moved to Missouri, but it just didn’t fit with our current decor. So when someone expressed interest in it, I waved a long good-bye to this pretty little thing and carried on.

Flea Market Flip 01

Small cabinet found in rural Florida shows true beauty

*Note: When I took the after picture, I noticed some areas that needed touch-ups. Those areas were fixed. 🙂

1960’s Bahamas Map/Ad Still Works

Grand Bahama Island Site of the New World Riviera, one of the fastest growing RESPRT/RESIDENTIAL/INDUSTRIAL areas in the World. LUCAYA/FREEPORT Depicted areas of interest: Mangrove Cay, Water Cay, Cormorant Point, Grand Bahama Hotel, Oceanus Inn, Bahama Cement, West End, JackJars, Airport, Holmes Rock, Seagrape, Set and Be Damned, Eight Mile rock, Harbour, Imperial Bahama Floating Hotel, King's Inn, Oil Buckering, Pub on the Mall, Holiday Inn, Lucayan Beach Hotel Casino, Freeport, Lower Conch, Green Cove, Gold Rock, Bell Channel, Riding Point, Halls Point, Cormorant Point, Riding Point, Pelican Point, Carrion Crow, Deepwater Cay, Sweetings Cay, bird Cay, Burrow Cay, Cross Cays, Orphans Cay, Abaco, Great Sale Cay, Smithspoint

While living in Miami, I went to my fair share of estate sales. It was my attending sales so much that led me to work for the region’s best estate sale company. At one of those sales, in one of the not-nicest homes in the area, I ran across this poster in the bottom of a closet. It was such a sad, rolled-up crusty thing that when I took it to the door to have a price assigned to it, I was waved away. “Ehhh, keep it, honey,” the woman running the sale said.

I’ve admired it for over two years. I kept good care of it because despite the holes and rough edges, I knew that I could work with this piece. It was just a matter of finding the right frame/decor/room/space opportunity. The map pointed out lots of destinations or points of interest, and whoever owned the poster also added their own notes. It’s so cute and retro. The little fish images, all of the boats, the famous JackTar Club, which opened in 1960. (Reference here and here.)

Grand Bahama Island Poster

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This fabulous black frame came in to my life in Indiana roughly a year later. I couldn’t have paid more than $5 for it; it’s pretty rough.

Grand Bahama Island Poster

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grand Bahama Island Map Fish cropped

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cut to today, when I decided I wanted to talk about the Bahama poster. I needed something to set over it so it wouldn’t roll up and the old, crusty black frame with the knot that comes out was right there.

I’ll be getting this to the framer next week. Be prepared for updates.

“Grand Bahama Island

Site of the New World Riviera, one of the fastest growing RESPRT/RESIDENTIAL/INDUSTRIAL areas in the World.
LUCAYA/FREEPORT”
Depicted areas of interest: Mangrove Cay, Water Cay, Cormorant Point, Grand Bahama Hotel, Oceanus Inn, Bahama Cement, West End, JackJars, Airport, Holmes Rock, Seagrape, Set and Be Damned, Eight Mile rock, Harbour, Imperial Bahama Floating Hotel, King’s Inn, Oil Buckering, Pub on the Mall, Holiday Inn, Lucayan Beach Hotel Casino, Freeport, Lower Conch, Green Cove, Gold Rock, Bell Channel, Riding Point, Halls Point, Cormorant Point, Riding Point, Pelican Point, Carrion Crow, Deepwater Cay, Sweetings Cay, bird Cay, Burrow Cay, Cross Cays, Orphans Cay, Abaco, Great Sale Cay, Smithspoint

 

 

Biltmore Table Always Makes The Move

Posted in Antiques, Consulting, Estate Sales, Florida, Garage Sales, Travel, Treasures, Uncategorized by

Biltmore (Miami) Biltex tile shot

Biltmore (Miami) Biltex label

Biltmore (Miami) Biltex leg bottom

Biltmore (Miami) Biltex leg screw

Biltmore (Miami) Biltex tile side shot

Biltmore (Miami) Biltex tableThis little beauty found me at an estate sale in suburban St. Louis fifteen years ago. I can’t remember if I paid $1.00 or $3.00 for it, but it doesn’t really matter as it’s worth so much more than either price.
My husband is a consultant, which means that we travel a lot. We’ve lived in a dozen different residences during our almost-9-year marriage, so we’ve almost perfected the “light move”. One requirement, we’ve found, is furniture and comfort items that don’t take up much space. This little table fits the bill, largely because the legs unscrew, making it take up no room at all. So we always have space for it, even if we’re only packing the 4Runner for a three-month assignment. It has not only survived those moves across the country, but it looks just as fabulous as the day I bought it. It has served as a nightstand, an end table, a printer stand, and myriad other uses.
It measures 15″ squared on the top and is 17″ tall. It boasts Biltex vinyl on the top, which really, really looks like tile. The label on the bottom identifies it as being made by the Biltmore Manufacturing Company in Miami, Florida. I can’t find much info on that company (something I should have looked into when we lived there for 18 months), but can say that the table is mid-century modern, making its origins date to 1940 to 1960. I’d guess it was made closer to 1960.
I see other Biltmore Biltex tables at flea markets and antique shops from time to time. Usually they are two or three nesting tables whose tops are designed with gold flecks and butterflies. They are usually somewhat triangular. I’ve never seen another like mine.
Don’t pass these babies by if you come across them. They’re not all that treasured now but I would guess that they’ll hold their value if cared for properly. And let’s not forget how fabulous and easy to travel with they are.

Trawling for Treasures in Coral Gables

Posted in Antiques, Coral Gables, Estate Sales, Florida, Garage Sales, Heirlooms, Treasures by

One recent Saturday in Coral Gables found me at a garage sale close to the University of Miami campus. The sale was being run by two sisters in their 80s, and one of their daughters. The women were Southern and had all of the charm you would expect. From what I gathered, their husbands had passed, as they were selling men’s clothes along with their colorful clothing, various furniture and other fabulous items. I bought a few things and returned the next day to check it out again. On the second day, I grabbed up some fabulous designer clothes (one of the sisters was quite the entertainer in her day) and various items. As I was leaving, one of the sisters directed me to a couple of wood balusters. “My husband and I bought these over 50 years ago when they were tearing down an old mansion in Charlotte,” she explained. “We planned to make them into lamps and he even sanded them down to get them ready…” she trailed off.
The home she was talking about was the Edward Dilworth Latta mansion which was demolished in 1965. These heart pine balusters are bulky, heavy and pretty fabulous in their simplicity. She was worried that no one would take them and strongly suggested I fulfill their plan to make them into lamps. I couldn’t guarantee I would, naturally, but I’m a sucker for provenance and after agreeing on a price I brought them home. I reached out to an architectural salvage company in Charlotte later that week but they were not interested. So the question becomes, “What do I do with them now?”

Edward Dilworth Latta Mansion Balusters

Edward Dilworth Latta Mansion Balusters

Edward Dilworth Latta Mansion

Edward Dilworth Latta Mansion

Goldberg Surfside Estate Art

Posted in Antiques, Estate Sales, Florida, Garage Sales, Heirlooms, Treasures by

In March, I went to an estate sale in Surfside, where I bought a (baby) painting and two (dog) charcoals signed by Goldberg. I think the artist was a family member. The estate was left to charity, so there was no family to collect these works. Along with the pieces, I also got a family photo album that gave them at least a little provenance (one or more articles in the album mentioned the Goldberg name).
I think they’re cute and figure they must have been important to someone to have been kept for so long. One of these days I’ll figure out where to display them.

Poor baby

Poor baby

Puppies 01

Puppies 01

Puppies 02

Puppies 02

A Day in the Coral Gables Life

Posted in Coral Gables, Florida, Travel by

Thanks to a gentleman at the laundromat this morning, I was able to communicate laundering instructions (2 dry cleaned, 2 wash and fold) to the Spanish-only speaking clerk behind the counter.
I queued up a song up on YouTube after returning home and the sponsoring commercial was for Head & Shoulders in Spanish.
I REALLY, REALLY need to spend more time learning the language, because my three years in high school and two years in college were not enough. This is NOT like Kansas. And it’s so awesome.

Coral Gables Flora

Coral Gables Flora