This armoire was custom-made by my cabinet man from a wood called Pecky Cypress. The goal was to create a new piece that looked 100 years old. The interior of the armoire has new smooth maple wood lining it to protect the clothing stored inside. The side units have a stained glass inserts based on an old time window pane.

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Vintage mirror

I use vintage looks whenever they suit a project. This master bathroom photo is of a newly remodeled home where we added a entire second story, utilizing 2,000 square feet of wasted attic space. This home sits on an 80-acre ranch south of Dallas where old west vintage décor fit the setting. In order to make the best use of the space dictated by the existing roof lines, we nestled this vanity under the sloped ceilings, giving the room character. To maximize the look, I wanted an old hinged three-piece dressing table mirror for this spot, that I would not be able to find new. But, whatever I used needed to blend with the two new matching mirrors that we were putting over the his and hers sink areas. I found this great old mirror buried at the back of an antique store in McKinney. It was a bright, shiny, and gold, but I loved the lines, the bevel, and the size, which was perfect for the space. My refinisher was able to make it match the new mirrors, and the client was thrilled with the results of mixing old with new. Read more!

Go Left At The Ugly Green Sofa

I found this antique art deco bar at a place in Kansas City called Cheap Antiques about 20 years ago. They had an unusual way of selling their furniture. Every Friday before their weekend sale, they would hold a furniture preview. You could walk in, see what you wanted and make notes for the next day. I wasn’t able to go to the preview, so a friend drew me a map of the art deco bar (go straight until the huge armoire, take a right at the butter churn…).

On the day of the sale, people lined up for hours before the store opened. While we waited, the sales people handed out several cards to each person. As soon as the doors opened, everyone made a mad dash to place a card on the furniture they wanted, and I raced in. Following the crazy directions, I found this perfect art deco bar.

Twenty years later I built an English Tudor home, but this beautiful bar is a timeless piece and blended with my décor perfectly. I added a few accessories, an interesting piece of art above it and now that bar is the focal point of the room.

So the next time grandma wants to pawn off one of her antiques, take it! It sure beats having to scramble around a store trying to claim a piece of furniture. Read more!

Furniture With A Past

The drawers in this furniture piece are gorgeous, quarter-sawn oak, and they started out in an old, turn-of-the-century drugstore in Tulia, Texas where they held pharmacy supplies. The drugstore was owned by my husband’s grandmother. When she later retired and sold the store she passed the drawers on to my husband’s mother who had this new base cabinet built to house the drawers, preserving the legacy of the business her mother had built. She kept it in her home for the next forty years, even leaving what remained of the labels for the pharmaceutical products on the original drawer hardware. Eventually, my husband inherited this piece, and I had to find a place for it to work in our home, that was already a co-mingling of his, mine, and theirs. It was big and heavy and not necessarily a style that fit with the rest of the house, but it held deep sentimental value for my husband, so I had to make it work.

I realized these drawers were the perfect size for CD and DVD storage, and that we had the base for a great entertainment center to hold our new flat screen TV. I drew up a design for a hutch unit that could rest on top to house the TV, my skilled cabinet man built it exactly to the specifications to line up with the base, and my furniture refinisher matched the old finish perfectly. We’ve end up with an entertainment center with modern functionality and antique aesthetic that preserves a piece of my husband’s history. He didn’t want to remove the old pharmacy labels, but the one that read “Feminine Products” disappeared mysteriously during the redesign process.

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