continental calliope

Farmhouse Dilemma

2010-01-09T20:54:00.000-08:00

Look at what Hubs discovered
at the flea market!

This fabulous antique full-size walnut foot-board,
has lost its headboard, also pieces of its trim & its finials.
But the carving, oh my,
the carving is in gorgeous condition
&
to-die-for!

So, here's our dilemma!

This is a project that will be for sale when it is finished.
What should we do with this beauty?
Should we make it into a bench or daybed?
A wall hanging, or use as a headboard?
Should this be painted?
Yes? Then what color?
Paint would really make the carving POP!
We aren't afraid to paint an antique,
but then, should we attempt to restore it instead?
Try to find molding to match or have it made?
All possibilities,
but before we make a decision
we are seeking the ideas, thoughts & suggestions
from YOU, the loyal readers of
Continental Calliope and Funky Junk Interiors.

We value your opinions.
So, please, tell us what you think.
Give us your two cents worth or even three!
We are totally open to all suggestions.
We will begin the make-over after hearing from all of you.
We'll be sure to post the big reveal, before it goes up for sale.

We have linked up this important decision to
SNS #12 @ Funky Junk Interiors
Ok, tell us what you think!
We're waiting.

Farmhouse Track-Lighting

2010-01-01T22:55:00.000-08:00

Hubs gave me a wonderful Christmas present this year.

His time, talents,
& some really cool junk we already had here on the property.

We had made a trip to the Bay area in November & cruised past a Pottery Barn store.
We were late for our BART train, & couldn't stop
but we did slow down & tried to suck all their window loveliness in, really fast.
Hubs said, "look at that ladder hanging there with the lanterns on it!"
My reply was "Oh-h-h, Merry Christmas to me"

We have been looking, dreaming of the perfect (for us)
chandelier, light fixture, for over our farmhouse dining table.
We both agreed that we loved the ladder idea.

When we got home that night Hubs made a trip to our barn
with its staggering, overwhelming stash of salvage.
We cannot pass up a cool piece of salvage,
WE. JUST. CAN"T.
Hubs came back from the barn
with his head full of ideas, a big grin & he started to sketch.
Before long, he had his ideas ready & he made a quick trip to Lowe's.
He had everything he needed except
some airline cable & electrical wire
.
While he wired, drilled and measured,
I applied a heavy coat of Libron Wax to the old ladder
The wax really popped the vintage patina and gave it a lovely glow.
A few hours later, I had THE BEST Christmas present ever!

Without further ado I give you what Hubs calls,
Farmhouse Track Lighting!

The ladder was a purchase from our favorite picker, Ken Reed, (our brother-in-law). He has a great eye & has found some of our favorite pieces of salvage.
The lanterns were an auction purchase
from McCoys Auction House in Sacramento.
We weren't sure sure where we would use these,
but we loved their chunky, large size
& the Craftsman style was a bonus.
They have resided in our barn for a couple of years,
waiting on Hubs inspiration.

I love my new track lighting a la Hubs style.
We are keeping the fresh greens through January,
then won't we have fun decorating the ladder with lots of other things
If you have any ideas, we'd love to have you comment!
~Thanks so much for visiting~

Now we are off to see all the amazing posts at the following parties.
Be sure & take a look-see too!
Saturday Nite Special @ Funky Junk Interiors
Transformation Thursday @ The Shabby Chic Cottage
Metamorphosis Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch
DIY Day @ A Soft Place to Land
Get your Craft On @ Today's Creative Blog
Toot Your Horn Tuesday @ A Silly Little Sparrow
Made it Monday @ The Persimmon Perch
Trash to Treasure Tuesday @ Reinvented
2nd Time Around Tuesday @ A Picture is Worth a 1000 Words
Before & After Party @ Thrifty Decor Chick

Farmhouse New Year

2009-12-25T16:49:00.000-08:00

This is our favorite piece of salvage and the inspiration for our blog name.

The history behind this sign is that
Hubs and I were at our favorite place to shop for Primitives,
Crawford's Antiques in Soquel, CA.

We each had gone different directions when we arrived at the store
& minutes later, I found him standing in front of this sign.
He looked up at me and said,
"doesn't this name sound just like our lives? "

With all of the happy activity here at our home
with DIL, grandkids, extended family, friends, dogs & cats,
we sometimes hum a famous circus song amid all the chaos!

Famous for its cheerful, upbeat, happy music at the circus,
a calliope is musical instrument fitted with steam whistles,
played from a keyboard.
This wonderful, old wood sign was taken off the side
of a rolling calliope circus wagon.

So, when Hubs realized this sign spoke to him
of our chaotic, happy lives, it just had to come home with us.

It hangs over the entrance to our family room
& reminds us of the wonderful, crazy life we have made.

~Happy New Year to ALL!~
May your New Year be blessed with Health & Happiness!
(and... lots of salvage, junk & creative ideas!)

Farmhouse Christmas

2009-12-12T13:07:00.000-08:00

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells,
Jingle all the way!
We have joined these parties!
Transformation Thursday @ The Shabby Chic Cottage
Trash to Treasure @ Reinvented
Thrifty Thursday @ Tales from Bloggeritaville
Show & Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home
Home for the Holidays @ Southern Hospitality
Christmas Trees Unite @ Funky Junk Interiors
Christmas Tour of Homes @ Nesting Place

We have decked the halls early enough this year
to truly have time to enjoy the beauty & peace of the season.
The shopping is almost complete, wrapping is well under way
and the first of two Christmas parties,
here at Calliope, is just two days away.
We are so glad you came by for a visit.
Come on in & take a look!

OUR TREE

I wanted to change up our tree this year, so when I saw a fun tree topper at Grandinroad I was excited to give it a try.
It had a crown of branches, berries & snowflakes.
I called to order it as soon as I saw it,
but was told it was already sold out! gr-r-r-r!
So we studied the picture and decided we would try to replicate it.
We used birch branches from our yard,
two packages of snowflakes from Michaels,
some crystal berry picks I have had for years
& some twig wreaths we had in our craft stash.

WE. LOVE. IT!

THE FAMILY ROOM

We all enjoy the family room.
It is so cozy with the fireplace & coffered ceiling.
We all enjoy the flat screen TV & we all play lots of Wii in this room too! The child's rocking chair was my sons, 33 years ago.
Wow, could it really be that long ago?

We live just 5 miles from Duarte nursery,
one of the world's largest grower of Poinsettias.
It is a breath-taking place to visit every Christmas season.
Their greenhouses seem to go on forever with spectacular colors & styles.
The plants add such a holiday cheer to our home and yard!

The piece we placed over the sofa
is a vintage piece of exterior dental molding from an old Victorian home. We think it has the perfect chipp-i-ness & lots of shabby appeal.

This room was part of the original farmhouse built in 1948.
We left the original hardwood floors & fireplace,
but the 8 foot ceiling felt way too low.
Hubs suggested we raise the ceiling and coffered the edges.
We painted it red and added the ceiling medallion over the chandelier.
I'm not sure the ceiling will stay red much longer,
but I do love it at Christmas time.

THE GREAT ROOM

Our 8 foot entry door opens directly into the Great Room.
The ceiling is vaulted to about 18 feet.
One of our favorite parts is the eyebrow window
we purchased at a salvage yard.
I love it when the moon is full & it shines through.
(we will post about all our salvaged windows after the new year)

Again, we decorated with one of our favorite pieces
of vintage architectural salvage!

The antique barometer and the vintage pine bench
are both treasured gifts from our Aunt Joane.
The print is a signed & numbered,
Al Rounds painting of the Lion House corner
in Salt Lake City, Utah.
My friend Rieta & I each purchased one
on a special girls-only trip years ago.
Her number is lower than mine, but she saw them first!

This antique cabinet was purchased at an annual antique fair
held in an elementary school play ground in Modesto, CA.
Several dealers had made offers
but we were the only ones willing to pay the $100 asking price.
It had been painted and someone had attempted to strip the paint.
We love the patina that the half paint, half wood, look gives it.

We love old windows...
this one we purchased from one of our favorite sellers on eBay. ShabbytownUSA.

Hubs & I are suckers for vintage red & white quilts!
The carolers sit next to our CD player.

The little tree is wrapped in burlap
& we borrowed the antique railroad lantern from Aunt Joane.
Love old suitcases & things made from twigs & sticks!

The star wreaths were purchased from Pottery Barn a few years ago.
The Santa ornament is a vintage reproduction we purchased
at one of our favorite stores, Wisteria in Soquel, CA.

Our Santa figure was purchased at the Country Folk Art Show
from one of the artisan's at Stone Soup Santa Co.
We love the individual detail of each Santa
& enjoy displaying ours each year.

The Reason for the Season.
We celebrate the birth of our Savior,
Jesus Christ.
We love our print of a painting by artist Greg Olsen.
We display it all year in our home
as a reminder of His Love & His sacrifice.
We love Him.

This buffet got a make-over
when we participated at a Procrastinators Party
being given at The Inspired Room.
Melissa has a great blog with loads of eye-candy & fabulous ideas.
We posted about the buffet here.
The antique French shutters were a birthday gift from Hubs.
We decorated this year with Hubs vintage 1950's Christmas village
complete with houses, trees, church
& skating pond with all of the cute lead figurines.
This was a gift from his 2nd Mom, Ruth Horn.
We cherish it!
Christmas pictures of our grandchildren hold center stage
watching over all the activities.

We are so glad you stopped by to see our Farmhouse Christmas!
We wish each of you & yours
Merry Christmas
and a
Healthy, Happy New Year!

P.S. While I have been writing this post,
Hubs has been busy finishing an early Christmas present for me.
It involves an old wood ladder, two vintage lanterns,
airline cable & electrical cord.
He was inspired by something he saw in a PotteryBarn catalog.
Be sure and check back next week.
IT IS AWESOME!!!

Farmhouse Christmas Wreath

2009-12-09T22:33:00.000-08:00

~Our Front Porch Country Christmas~

With our love for all things vintage, we designed our front door wreath around a pair of antique boot stretchers.
Attached to a fresh pine wreath from Costco, we embellished the metal boot forms with frayed burlap and matte satin ribbon.
Tassels are all the rage right now, so we decorated our boot stretchers with a tassel we fashioned from velvet & organza ribbons, burlap, crystal beading & strips of torn drop cloth.
We attached the tassel to a rusty bell & tied it to the wreath.
I get tickled every time I look at it!
Like whiskers on kittens, this has become one of our favorite things.

Merry Christmas from all of us at Continental Calliope!

We've decked the Halls & are anxious to share it all with you soon.

We are linking up with the following great blogs
Be sure & take a look at then all
you'll love them!

DIY Day @ A Soft Place to Land
Transformation Thursday @ The Shabby Chic Cottage
Met Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch
Thrifty Thursday @ Tales from Bloggeritaville
Show & Tell Wednesday @ Blue Cricket Design
Celebrate the Holidays @ It's So Very Cheri
Trash to Treasure Tuesday @ Reinvented
Get your Craft On @ Today's Creative Blog

farmhouse dream kitchen

2009-11-13T19:33:00.000-08:00

Updated Thursday 11/19/09
We are thrilled to have been featured as a favorite over at It's So Very Cheri
She is such a sweetheart!
Be sure to take a look at her delightful site.
Thanks Cheri!!

This is my dream kitchen... unfit and fabulous! This style is called "unfit" because the room is put together with lots of different parts with nothing manufactured or matching. In this case it is all vintage, salvage and found pieces. There is a mix of materials, wood, stone, stainless steel, copper & iron. (See here for another kitchen post.)
In designing our kitchen, we wanted to create a warm space that was a tribute to our love for all things vintage.
We started by finding the two base cabinets at Water Street Antiques in Jackson, CA. They are European raw pine and we knew they would anchor this wall perfectly.

The Thermador 6-burner commercial-style range we purchased on eBay. It was the previous years model from a show room in New Jersey. Even with shipping we really scored a great deal.

The upper cabinets, Hubs constructed in one day on the back of his pick-up truck. ( the workshop had not been set us then). The heavy crown molding he used was salvaged from a furniture shop. We wanted open shelving to display our collection of vintage pottery pitchers and bowls.

The hood & mantle over the range is in my opinion one of Hubs sweetest transformations. The mantle was found at an antique store in Modesto, CA called Lulubelles. It was on markdown and I just fell in love with the patina. I knew Hubs could do something great. The corbels are from TJ Maxx, we found them on sale & thought they had possibilities. The copper hood was the very best find. We went to a barn sale out in the country & found lots of goodies. As we were leaving Hubs happened to see a piece of copper sticking up out of some weeds. It was an old copper hood. When Hubs asked if it was for sale, they said it was, for $5.!!!! So within a matter of about 2 months, shopping and gathering from lots of different places, we had found enough inspiration pieces for Hubs to create this fabulous hood & mantle.
The black iron stove back-splash is actually an old vintage stove back from a wood-burning stove. We found it at the Turlock Flea Market. Actually we found two of them, the 2nd is still waiting in the barn for the right inspiration. We really love the iron rope edge detail & the corner acanthus leaves.

Hubs is currently working on the most fabulous island, It will have a bowling alley floors will be the butcher block top and he is using old wainscoting for the sides & back. In Moss Landing, CA we found an old bin cabinet with 12 drawers that will anchor the island. In the meantime we are using a cool old sorting table from a cannery as our island. It has worked well but the new island will be spectacular!

The wall between the great room & kitchen has a wonderful vintage beam, hand hewn, from Pennsylvania that we found at Crawford's Antiques in Soquel CA. Hubs built it in so that it looks like it is structurally supporting the wall. The corbels on the sides are another Turlock Flea Market find. They are very old and full of patina!

Even our lighting in the kitchen is vintage. We found this fixture at a friends barn sale.
I am such a lucky lady to have a husband with such talent and vision!
Our kitchen was a real labor of love & I enjoy it each and every day!

We are linking this post with the following super-fun parties.
We hope that you will take a few minutes to enjoy all of their great links
Saturday Nite Special @ Funky Junk Interiors
Thrifty Thursday @ Tales from Bloggeritaville
Transformation Thursday @ The Shabby Chic Cottage
Show & Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home
Metamorphosis Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch
DIY Day @ A Soft Place to Land
Toot your Horn Tuesday @ A Silly Little Sparrow
Its So Very Creative @ It's So Very Cheri

a headboard drop cloth slipcover

2009-11-13T17:20:00.001-08:00

DIL is re-doing several rooms in her apartment here at the calliope. Her bedroom is the first to get some changes. She found a beautifully upholstered headboard, that fit perfectly, but the fabric was intended for a little girls room.
So we bought another drop cloth from Home Depot. (click here for our post on the dining room chair slipcovers we did from drop cloths also) We washed it, used lots of Downey fabric softener in the rinse and dried it in a hot dryer to shrink it. Then we measured, pinned and sewed the cutest dang slipcover for it!
Her room is still in transition, so in the meantime this waits at our house for the big reveal with all the goodies in the room. Soon, we hope.
The dog in the picture is Piglet, their Boston Terrier. She seems to be asking "where's the rest of the bed? I'm ready to jump up for a snooze!"

BEFORE

AFTER

Cost to make... $13.00 and 2 hours of our time!!!

We are linking this post with the following super-fun parties.
We hope that you will take a few minutes to enjoy all of their great links
Saturday Nite Special @ Funky Junk Interiors
Thrifty Thursday @ Tales from Bloggeritaville
Transformation Thursday @ The Shabby Chic Cottage
Show & Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home
Metamorphosis Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch
DIY Day @ A Soft Place to Land
Toot your Horn Tuesday @ A Silly Little Sparrow
Its So Very Creative @ It's So Very Cheri

Farmhouse Master Bath

2009-11-03T08:37:00.000-08:00

Strolling for bargains one morning at the Turlock Flea Market, I spied a dining room table still loaded on a sellers truck. I absolutely loved the lines of the legs on this table, so we negotiated a $60 price. Later that morning Hubs found a wonderful vintage door that someone had cut in half lengthwise. He knew he could do something with the two pieces so he bought them both for $30. Little did we know but we had just purchased the beginnings of our new master bath.
A few months later, while designing our bath, we saw this picture in a magazine of two sinks, divided by tall cabinets with a lovely full length mirror in-between. We both really liked the design & Hubs immediately knew what he would do to re-create it for us.
So here's what he did...

The table was cut in half, each side providing the base for the sinks & showing off the fabulous legs.
Hubs then purchased two melamine bookcases at Lowe's as the starting point of the custom bookcases. He beefed up the bookcase with MDF & then trimmed the fronts with the old door & added molding to match. These were then painted out to match the bathroom trim.
He made sure that the alcove between the bookcases was a perfect fit for an antique armoire door with beveled glass mirror we had found at a consignment store on the 1/2 price day for $62.50.
We bought really nice Kohler sinks to drop into the table tops, found mirrors marked down at TJMaxx & light fixtures at OSH.

The chandelier was a $25 yard sale find that Hubs re-wired. The glass block over the alcove were found at salvage for $5 each.

The only things we did not like were the white melamine shelves & the white PVC pipe that showed under the sink.

We found a wall paper we liked on eBay & this weekend we covered the white shelves. Then a can of bronze spray paint changed the white PVC.
NOW, we really love it!

I think he really nailed all of the details! I could not be more thrilled!

We are linking to the following great parties...be sure & give them all a look-see!
DIY Day @ A Soft Place to Land
Junkin' Monday @ Cottage Charm and Family Inspiration
Metamorphosis Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch
Trash to Treasure @ Reinvented
Knock off @ It's so very Cheri
Transformation Thursday @ The Shabby Chic Cottage
Show & Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home
Creative Cats Friday @ Poppies at Play
Beautiful Life Friday @ The Inspired Room

We just finished a drop cloth slipcover for DIL's headboard in her bedroom make-over... see it here!

transforming our vintage pantry shelves

2009-10-29T19:49:00.000-07:00

On a girls-only trip with my friend Ruth, we stopped at Baja Ranch, a quaint antique store in Clements, CA. After looking & enjoying the eye-candy inside,I asked the owner if he just happened to have any old shelving? I said I wanted something that looked like it was from an old mercantile store. He told me there was some really rough old hardware store cabinets outside under a tarp, would I like to see them? Would I?! Heck yeah!
Under a tarp soaked with dirt & rainwater were two really filthy, grimy, old shelves. But they had potential, I just knew it! So, I bought 'em for a song, loaded them in the truck & called Hubs on the way home. I told him, I had either had just bought the beginnings of our new walk-in pantry OR or some funky old shelves to add to his garage... his decision.
Arriving home, Hubs unloaded the two units & walked around them with a big smile on his face. Yep, I had scored! They would be pantry shelves.
We scrubbed the shelves many times with orange oil soap & under all that grime were very wonderful old wood shelves with great patina. Hubs built the tall open shelves to fit on top of each unit then he painted them with Ralph Lauren's, Tent Green paint, a spot-on match to the original old paint finish. We painted, shabbied and then oiled them.
We built a butlers pantry off our kitchen just to fit them...we just love them!

We are linking with Transformation Thursday @ The Shabby Chic Cottage.
Be sure & stop by to see all the other transformations!

Feed Sack Pillow

2009-10-27T21:51:00.000-07:00

The last time we were lucky enough to go to the Rose Bowl Flea Market, we picked up a vintage European feed sack with great nubby texture & a wonderful double red stripe. The perfect item to re-purpose, re-use & re-cycle!
We have two leather chairs in our great room that are so comfy, but we always wanted to add a small lumber pillow to each.
Tonight we did!

We are kinking up with the following great parties!
Trash to Treasure @ Reinvented
Get your Craft on @ Today's Creative Blog
Second time Around @ A Picture is Worth a 1000Words
The Knock Off Knock Out @ Its So Very Sheri
Be sure and check them all out!!!

Vignettes

2009-10-24T16:26:00.000-07:00

Funky Junk Interiors is having a a "Saturday nite special" featuring... vignettes!
We love funky & we love junk, so our vignettes will fit right into this par-tay!

We would love to show you three of our current favorites.
This first vignette is on top of an old machinist cabinet that is just shabby perfection to us.
We stacked some antique wood boxes, Hubs collects, an old surveyors transom (click HERE to see what we did with the legs to this transom). The birdhouse was someones trash, I rescued & our favorite duck decoy that Hubs has had for over 25 years.
The best part of this fall vignette is the picture of our grand kids in their bumblebee costumes! They were so little then & just TOO sweet!

Our buffet has 100 year old French shutters as the backdrop, a vintage silver tray & our favorite Thanksgiving covered dish from our dear friend Betty! Buffet lamps flank our Fall wreath, some bits of bling & our Big letter "B" finish this area off.

Our last vignette is on top of our hutch. I found the hat boxes at TJ Maxx for a buck. The chippy, old red basket was a flea market FIND! We filled it with fall foliage and twig pumpkins. The tall apothecary jar contains shiny fall garland I found at a tag sale.Thanks so much for stopping by!
Be sure and visit Funky Junk Interiors to see a lot of fun vignettes!

A little black bench

2009-10-23T22:43:00.000-07:00

We had this Heywood Wakefield bench in our barn for over 5 years. I loved the style, but the maple finish...not.so.much!
A wall in our great room was really needing a nice place to rest. A place to display our favorite antique quilt, a gift from our favorite Aunt Joane.
We decided to paint the bench, GASP! Yep we painted a Heywood Wakefield bench! We did not change anything structurally, just the finish. So, if down the line someone LOVES a maple finish, it can be restored.

In the meantime, we LOVE the black bench!
What's your opinion?
We'd really like for you to see our drop cloth dining room chair covers,
here, our other Heywood Wakefield make-over, here. or our very cool tripod lamp retro-fit, here.
We are participating in Creative Cats Friday, @ poppies at play
Be sure and visit this site to see other creative cats!
Thanks so much for visiting!

Surveyors Transom retro-fit

2009-10-22T18:07:00.000-07:00

Monday 10/26/09 update
I am so very proud of my Hubs vision and talents, please allow me to brag a bit more!
This post was originally shared last week on Transformation Thursday @ The Shabby Chic Cottage, but I decided to link this fabulous make-over out in the blog world a little further.
I am linking this post with, Between Naps on the Porch @ Metamorphosis Monday
AND
with Kimba @ A Saft Place to Land, DIY Day.
Both of them are favorites of mine,lots of eye-candy & great ideas, but I was always lurking, never linking.
Well... today I link!
ENJOY!

My Hubs is the BEST!!
I mentioned to him this morning that I really wanted something new and fun to share on Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Chic Cottage. We recently returned to blogging and have participated in a couple of fun parties at, The Inspired Room & Flea Market Style. (see our posts here & here) We have had such a good time working on our projects plus we found we work better with a deadline! (duh)
We had church responsibilities that took up most of the day, but on our way back from Fresno, Hubs pulled into Lowes & bought a $10 lamp kit.A few years ago, Hubs Father-in-law, gifted him with an awesome vintage surveyors transom. We used the patina filled wood case & the actual transom in a vignette on top of our armoire in the great room. So, that left the warm-wood tripod legs available for this project.
When we got home, Hubs spent 10 minutes putting the lamp kit together and then 20 minutes in our barn searching through our salvage and flea market finds for the perfect lamp shade.
He scored when he found a 1950's Haeger pottery lamp with the perfect shade!
Have you seen how much these lamps cost at Pottery Barn or Restoration Hardware?
We now have a fabulous lamp for a $10 lamp kit, a shade off of a $15 estate sale lamp & the memory of a thoughtful gift from a lovely man!
We love it!
What do you think?

Flea Market Kitchen

2009-10-21T12:14:00.000-07:00

We saw a show & tell party on the blog, Flea Market Style, & decided to join in! Flea Market & salvage is our style of choice!
Every room of our re-modeled farmhouse has been built, retrofitted or embellished with flea market & salvage finds. No room more than our "unfit" kitchen. We had no desire or budget for custom cabinets, so Hubs built my fabulous kitchen with a mix of "finds". He scoured, flea markets, tag sales, salvage yards & even traded with friends who had found fabulous stuff.
The "unfit" kitchen-look, isn't for everyone, but it suits us to "T" & I. LOVE. IT!

The cabinets are all flea market finds. Some we painted, others we waxed or shabbied.
The butcher-block counter-tops are old bowling alley floors a friend found at the Alameda Antique Faire & she bought all they had. She ended up with more than she needed, so we traded her for the rest. We still have enough for a gigantic island Hubs is building and still had leftovers to sell to another friend for her kitchen island! It is a find that keeps on giving!
The copper farm sink was an eBay find and the legs were from the Turlock, Ca. Tuesday flea market. I loved them, so Hubs built them into a cabinet to hold our sink.
Even our windows, were bought from Urban Ore Salvage in Berkeley, Ca. They are Marvin Master Casement dual-paned windows, pulled out of an upper end home in the Napa Valley after 8 months of use, when they discovered the builder had used the incorrect stucco molding when installing them. The insurance company donated them to Urban Ore, and we were the lucky people to be there the day they came in! SCORE! We bought enough to use in our whole house re-model.
The shabby blue-grey tool caddy was a find at a local sale. I love its patina & use it all over the house for different seasons.
The floors are 100 year old Douglas Fir beams, that have been re-milled into tongue & groove flooring. We purchased them from Marc at Crossroads Lumber, in North Fork, Ca. The eye-candy up there is phenomenal, for those who love old wood!
Thanks to Flea Market Style and their fabulous Blog, for letting us join in on their party!
Be sure to check the link to see other flea marketeers!

ho-hum no longer!

2009-10-20T21:10:00.000-07:00

We have had this Heywood-Wakefield buffet in our great room for a couple of years. It is beautifully constructed and we like the style, just NOT the maple finish.
We really love primitive painted furniture, so we knew we wanted to paint this. But, not having a vision for the rest of the corner, we procrastinated painting the buffet.
Then last year for my birthday, the Hubs gave me a pair of antique French shutters, (to read the shutter story, go here) and our vision came together. Still we procrastinated.
Then we read that Melissa at The Inspired Room was having a procrastinators party. It's a challenge for all procrastinators to pick a project, commit to finishing it and then posting the results on a procrastinators party she is having on her Blog.
We are thrilled that we decided to join in!
BEFORE...

AFTER...
We removed all the hardware and gave the buffet a really good sanding, then cleaned all surfaces with a tack cloth.
We painted on a good coat of Valspars (Lowes) Relaxed Navy, in interior satin, let the paint dry and then sanded with a sanding block.
We really like the primitive, well worn look, so we did a lot of sanding.
After, we re-cleaned with a tack cloth & then applied a great paste wax product with fine-grit steel wool, buffing the wax in a circular motion.
After the wax dried, we buffed the surface with a clean dry cloth.
We changed the lamp shades from red to black, added some favorite fall items and a wreath. Then.we.were.happy!

Melissa, thanks so much for the challenge and the party to show off our results!
Be sure and check out all the other procrastinators who have linked up on Melissa's blog. They are awesome!

Ah-h-h Fall!

2009-10-19T20:01:00.000-07:00

I do love the colder weather, the crisp morning air as I deliver the Grandchildren to school each morning. They love to see their breath in the air! I refuse to believe that the temperatures will be warming up this weekend because... we were ready to start a little fall decorating in the house!

painter drop cloths = dining chair slipcovers

2009-10-19T12:35:00.000-07:00

We took...
1-Home Depot large drop cloth @19.95,
5-spools of upholstery thread @1.94 ea.,
1-old sheet for the pattern, free,
6-down pillow inserts for seats @ 5.99 ea.,
brown grosgrain ribbon for ties @4.40,
& with lots of measuring & sewing, together we created new slipcovers for our dining room chairs.
Considering that neither of us had ever tried something like this before, we are thrilled with our results!

We were so exited that we are slip-covering
two club chairs in our bedroom.
One is finished, the other is on the cutting table.
Results soon!

and in this corner... primitive French shutters

2009-10-18T20:33:00.000-07:00

We are trying really hard to make our Tuesday 10/20 deadline! We signed up for the procrastinators party at The Inspired Room. We agreed to complete a project we had been procrastinating. We have a ho-hum corner with a buffet we just knew we could make into something special. So, we have been busy.
Now to anchor our newly updated corner, we are starting with a pair of French shutters that the Hubs bought for my birthday last year. We found them at our favorite architectural salvage place, Ohmega Salvage, in Berkeley, Ca. I spied them in one of their outdoor storage containers & rushed to find Hubs. We both love primitives, so we agreed, they. were. fabulous. They were more money than we normally pay for salvaged items, but felt better when they said that they were 100+ years old and really did come from France.
They will be the anchor to a fun new corner in our great room.

Please come back for a visit!
We will be posting the whole make-over on Tuesday!

ho-hum needs a make-over!

2009-10-08T20:21:00.000-07:00

I have been the all-time great procrastinator with all things bloggy. So it is only right that I come back to the blog-o-sphere by participating in a Procrastinator's Party.
The Inspired Room has the best party going! It's to give a little shove to all of us out there with unfinished projects, to procrastinate no more!
So, I am back and we are going to make-over a Heywood Wakefield buffet in our great room that is just plain ho-hum. By October 20th I hope this little corner really sings! Stay tuned!

Be sure and check out the other procrastinators at, The Inspired Room.

Busy Elves

2008-12-10T21:45:00.001-08:00

We Elves, here at Calliope have been very, very busy, cleaning & decorating for the holiday!
We did take a quick break from all of our Elf duties to relax a little... Take a look at our video!

Layers of Love...

2008-11-29T14:50:00.000-08:00

There were only 6 of us for dinner this Thanksgiving, but our table settings were a reminder of all the dear family and friends who graced our lives & have made such an impact on us!
We layered the table with gifts of love & friendship!
We started by creating these cute card-stock turkeys.
Our thanks to Martha Stewart for the idea.
Each person spent a few minutes writing the things they are thankful for on the feathers, & their name on the turkey and we had a place card.

The first layer was our Hotel Silverware, a collection Bryce bought me several years ago. I love how each piece is a different pattern. They were from Horshow & Co.
The rattan placemats were a gift last Christmas, from our dear friend, Johnny Martinez. We love using them in the summer on our patio, but they were also perfect to start our place settings for this Thanksgiving table.

Our chargers are a vintage find that Bryce brought home about 3 years ago. They are Homer Laughlin, Lyrica pattern and I love the soft ivory color and the simple pattern. We are on the hunt for 5 more of these beauties, to make 12 in our collection.

Our plates this year are a TJMAXX find! They are a soft grey-brown, transferware pattern, and the dog in them really tugged at my heart. Could not beat the price, so they came home with me.

Our beautiful goblets are a legacy from our friend Debbie who passed away in 1998. I think they were a wedding gift to her. I just love Debbie and am thrilled to have these goblets!
The creamer, we put our gravy in, is a gift from our Aunt Joane. It is from Nicholas Mosse in the Landscape Farmhouse pattern. This piece has ALL my favorite colors in it!
Aunt Joane is the genie of gift giving, her gifts are always unique and so thoughtful!
Our serving bowl with the beautiful lid with acorns was a gift from our dearest friend Betty West, in Ohio. We miss having her live close. She is an elegant, thoughtful friend.

Our rusty oak leaf & acorn centerpiece was another gift of love from Bryce.
I found this at our most favorite shop in the entire world,
Wisteria/Aptos Gardens, 5870 Soquel Drive,Soquel, California (more about this wonderful place in a later post!)
It was a tad more than we wanted to spend, but Bryce insisted it come home with us. It has so much patina!

So this is how we layered the love on our Thanksgiving table.
Filled with memories of those we love & cherish.
We hope your Thanksgiving was filled with the same!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T15:46:00.000-08:00

From our table to yours...

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
TO OUR FAMILY IN SO. CALIFORNIA
In the Desert...Jan, Joey, Dex, Debbie (can't wait to meet you!) Angie, Matt, Kyle, Crystal, Zack
& Matt and Joe's Family!
In San Dimas... Aunt Joane, Bob, Yolanda, Joe, Nancy & all the cousins!
In Northern California
In Galt... Uncle Ten, Aunt Annette, Dan, Michelle, Elias, Gideon, Justis, Mike, Michelle, Ben, Sam, Jake, Lisa, Josh, Shelby and Rose!
Miss you all and wish we could be there with all of you! click on pictures to enlarge
We Love you so much!

We.Are.Thankful!

2008-11-26T11:54:00.000-08:00

I love to read a fabulous "little-bit-o-everything" blog by Tanya. She has recipes to-die-for, cute ideas, thoughts to ponder & all with fabulous photos! I popped in the other day to copy a recipe for Pistachio Cherry bread (yum!) & found she was offering a chance at a free, yes, people, you heard me right, free tote giveaway! So, we had to answer this question in her comments, "If you win this tote set, will you keep it for yourself, or give it as a gift? If so, who?" Here's my comment...

deborah said...
As much as I heart this bag, my daughter-in-love would love it more. She hasn't met a tote that she doesn't love! The colors are also just perfect for her. She is as sweet & cute as the bag itself.Thanks for your fabulous blog and sharing all of your talents!

I woke this AM and found that I had won, er, make that Danielle won! We. Are.Thankful!

Thanks ever so much to Tanya & to Sherry at Simply Notes & Totes, the talented artist who makes these bags!

They are delightfully talented Gals. Take a moment to swing by & see them both.

You'll be so glad you did!

the last roses

2008-11-25T20:11:00.000-08:00

While Mackenzie and I went to get a haircut, Sean & Bah played soccer in the yard. (Danielle and friend were at the theater seeing, Twilight!)
When we got home, there was a surprise in the kitchen...actually 2 surprises.

Bryce had picked the last of the roses from our courtyard & had arranged them in an old stoneware creamer.
Another small bouquet in an old milk bottle.
What a lovely surprise this late in the year from my 2 most favorite guys!

A Transom and Funky Floors

2008-11-24T21:09:00.000-08:00

The framers had just completed framing our house in town and the sheet-rock installers were coming the next week.
BUT...
We had stopped at a consignment store on our way home from work that weekend & found three vintage leaded-glass windows. Long and narrow.
It took Bryce about an hour to figure out, that one of them would be perfect as a transom over the entry to the new dining room.
We went over first thing Saturday morning to tear out the solid wall framing above the doorway and to re-frame the area for the new, (old) fabulous window. We were just about finished when we heard a man's voice saying," who is tearing up my framework?!"
It was our contractor and we had been caught making unauthorized changes to the house. LUCKILY, the contractor was our father-in-law!
He wasn't pleased , but after inspecting the work he agreed that Bryce had done a great job & that structurally it was sound.
He didn't understand the old vintage window transom idea, but he was used to what he called our "hair-brained" ideas.

The old window was a great addition to the dining room entry and we were never sorry that we had "snuck" it in.

We still have 2 of the original 3 windows that we bought and every once in a while we look at them to see if another idea POPS for them.
Not yet, but some day soon.

We wanted hardwood floors for a good portion of the house. But we also wanted them to look 100 years old.
One day while driving around looking at other peoples homes, (yes, we are look-i-loos) we saw a new home that had timber-frame construction. We were drooling over the beautiful old beams when the contractor drove up. (yes, contractors always seem to catch us). We told him how much we loved the old wood and asked where it was from. He was nice enough to refer us to his framers & after a call to them we were referred to their source,
Marc at Crossroads Lumber.
One call to Marc and we knew we had hit the mother-lode of vintage lumber. Marc told us about all of their products, especially their re-milled 100 year old Douglas Fir floors. They were tongue and groove and came in 10 to 12 inch widths. PERFECT!
We chose cabin grade that had lots of knot holes and nail markings for that old distressed look and decided we would lay them in our entry, dining room, kitchen, pantry, mudroom, laundry room and pool bath. Early one Saturday morning we drove the 2 hours to Northfork, Ca. in a borrowed pick-up truck. We met Marc, (who is unbelievably nice) & took a tour of his grounds. The lumber was gorgeous and he told us lots of stories about where it had been & what it had been in its previous life. A lot of the wood was pre-sold and he told us about the various projects. We were so delighted that some of it was going with us. We proceeded to load our truck to the gills with our wonderful old wood floors & drove home, very slowly and carefully.
We installed it straight over concrete floors with construction-grade glue, sanded and re-sanded it, then stained it with Watco Danish Oil Finish in medium walnut.

There is a great bakery in our town, Olde Tyme Pastries, that has stained concrete floors. We wanted to replicate them in our great room. We found several contractors locally who were doing them but they were way out of our budget. I made a lot of phone calls and finally found Sunrise Rock and Gravel company nearby that carried the acid stain. We read up on the how-to's and determined that this was something we could do ourselves.

Armed with garden sprayers, we sprayed the bare concrete floors (after allowing them to cure for 30 days from the date of pour) with concrete chemical stain by Brickform
We mainly used the caramel color but also over-sprayed some areas with Mahogany. It gave a wonderful mottled look to the color. After it dried we swept it with baking soda and then washed it all clean.

The floors turned out just as we had hoped. We sealed them with a semi-gloss finish and then buffed them with our
SECRET WEAPON!

Sorry this picture is so grainy, when I took it I never thought I would be blogging it!
This picture is of our great room in the foreground with stained concrete floors and the step up is to our entry with the 100 year old hardwood floors.
We were thrilled with the results!

This is our SECRET WEAPON!
Brywax is the magical elixer of all things wood and as it turns out, concrete. After staining our wood floors we rented an industrial buffer from
Modesto Janitorial Supply. We applied Brywax to the floors with a soft cloth and let it sit until it was dry. Then we buffed the floors to a silky finish with the industrial buffer. After finishing the wood floors, we wondered out loud what the excess Brywax on the buffing pad would do to our stained concrete floors. The sealer had given it a nice sheen, but we wanted a little more depth to the finish So, we started in an area that our sofa would cover, in case we hated it. Far from hating it, we loved the luster that the little bit of Brywax had given to our concrete floors as well.

We had so many compliments and we loved to tell the sagas of our vintage window transom and how we found and accomplished our funky floors.

personal touches...

2008-11-18T19:35:00.000-08:00

We had worked real hard putting personal touches on our little Cape Cod.

Bryce & I put each & every cedar shingle on the exterior of our new home.
The shingles came in large bundles of different widths. We used a 5 inch reveal, which means we left 5 inches of the the shingle exposed when putting each row on. The trick was to stagger the sizes and the seams, making sure they did not line up.
The hardest part was when we were on a gable end & had to cut the shingles to match the pitch of the roof or wall we were installing them on. Dad Horn came to our rescue, showing us how to calculate the pitch.
Bryce bought his first nail gun and it was a kick to watch how fast they went up.

We love primitives and old vintage wood.
Just after our wedding, we found a funky shop in Clements, Ca., called Baja Ranch (it has since gone out of business, huge sigh!)
The shop was filled with all kinds of primitive fabulousness! We purchased 2 old newel posts, with no idea what we would use them for, but with the knowledge they would one day be some thing great!
Later while planning the new house, I mentioned that I wanted a mantel made from a vintage piece of wood, mounted on the stone facade.
Bryce walked straight to the garage with his tape measure and came back with a big silly grin.
The largest newel post would be perfect! He knew that he could refinish it and bring out the rich old patina hiding beneath the surface.

I had no idea how right his words would be!

Just look at this gorgeous piece of wonderfulness!!

The fireplace wall turned out better than either of us ever imagined. It was one of the highlights of our great room. We had spent such lovely evenings in this room.
The color on the walls is Fig Cookie by Kelly Moore Paints. LOVE IT!

See those gorgeous caramel colored floors? Those are stained concrete that we did ourselves. In our next post we will tell all about them & the antique leaded window we installed as a transom over the dining room entry, when our contractor wasn't looking!

Oh...and we'll show you our secret weapon!

What were we thinking?!

2008-11-17T16:12:00.000-08:00

We had been married 2-1/2 years and had built our dream house in town. The pool was in and the landscaping was finished. We were settled, we thought! Then we saw an acre in the country with an old farmhouse and a milkbarn. Would we really sell the dream house in town? Stay tuned!

We Won!

2008-11-17T12:59:00.000-08:00

We follow the NieNie and CJane blogs. When NieNie & Hubby were severely injured in a airplane accident this summer, we wanted to help, so we bid on several auctions of bloggers generously donating their proceeds to help NieNie's family. We won our blog banner design, from the very talented, very patient, very wonderful, Chris Jenkins. We are delighted to have her design represent us as a family. Thank you Chris!!! You can read about her family and her photography here. When you visit, be sure & leave a comment. She is a hard-workin' sweetheart!

the cast of characters

2008-11-14T16:12:00.000-08:00

Please let us introduce ourselves here at the calliope...

Bryce is our fearless leader, a fabulous husband and my best friend.
How blessed I was the day I met him in 1999!
Our grandchildren call him Bah.
By trade, he's an x-ray technologist at our local hospital, but his heart has always been working with his hands. He loves a project!
Since our marriage in 2000, we have built a custom home in town & then re-modeled and renovated our current home in the country.
He single-handedly built our "unfit" kitchen from salvaged pieces & barn sales. Our bathroom cabinets were built from a flea market dining table I just had to have because of its fabulous legs. Our walk-in pantry cabinets are old hardware store shelving he retro-fitted & added hutch-tops.
Our whole country home is a tribute to his keen sense of style and his eye for design & function.
This blog will be our story of how we built & re-modeled with salvage, tag sales bargains and flea market finds while living the good family life in the country.

Danielle is our daughter-in-love.
She is the mother of our adorable grandchildren. They live here on the property in their own apartment.
She is in school at the local Junior College studying all things medical and early childhood education.
She is also part-time "girl friday" for an older couple, who love her dearly.
She is our family errand runner and she tries hard to keep us all organized.
She is sweet and tender by nature and smart as a whip.
We tell people, she is the daughter we never had together or that we just "had" her late in life.
She is newly single, so we tell her that any serious suitor must understand we are a package deal.
We love her!

Sean Russell, our grandson is 6 years old and all boy!
He is currently very into "Ben Ten Alien Force and Transformers", can't wait to catch or hit any ball he sees & especially loves family trips to the beach in Carmel.
Sean is in the 1st grade & has discovered the world of reading. He is reading several grade levels above and is very into all the Treehouse Series.
He recently heard me ask Danielle to set the table with the china and he said, "that's a country where the Great Wall is!" It was a great opportunity to explain the difference in the meanings and to see his mind work!
Sean has never met a stranger, he truly enjoys people. At Disneyland this summer he wore a Pluto hat. Every time he saw another child looking at him he would lean down close, take his hat off & say,"I'm not really a dog, I'm just a boy."
He warms our hearts and gladdens our days!

Mackenzie Taylor is 5 and the cutest granddaughter ever!
She loves her big brother and wants to do everything he does.
She plays ball, throws rocks & plays just as hard as he does, only she usually does it with a purse over her arm, a bracelet on her wrist & a bow in her hair!
Her dark tousled curls & deep hazel eyes melt our hearts many times daily.
She answers to Sissy, Kenzie, Pumpkin & Gorgeous.
Mackenzie is in Kindergarten & loves adding & subtracting numbers. She has recently started reading and loves to spell. She and Sean like playing "spelling bee".
Sissy's cat, "Belle" had 5 kittens this summer and she is the sweetest caretaker. We can't imagine our world without her!

I am Deborah & our grandchildren call me YaYa.
I am a bookkeeper & very fortunate to have wonderful clients. They are a pleasure to work for.
I am living a "charmed" life, my fondest dreams; life in the country with a loving husband, family close by & we are helping to raise our grandchildren.
Our lives revolve around our family, church & home.
Bryce & I are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, (Mormons) & we are blessed to teach the Sunbeam class in church on Sunday. These are the 3 & 4 year-olds & we currently have 12 in our class! We love each of them & learn from them each week!
Bryce and I share a love of antiques, especially country primitives. We love to re-purpose, reuse & refine fun old pieces for use in and around our house & garden. Renovating and building our country house with ingenuity & lots of salvage has been a labor of love.
Our dream date is when we spend time together at flea markets & salvage yards.

Our current home has been so fun to remodel & renovate & we have so many other projects just waiting for us!
We are delighted to have this blog to share family tales and the "how-to's of home renovation, then and now.
So glad you stopped by, please check back often. Our next post, What were we thinking?!