The Story Behind Our Kitchen Hutch

Photography, Ali Williamson

After sharing the plans for our kitchen renovation along with all of the current pics, a few questions about the tall cabinet on the back wall rolled in and I realized I'd never shared the story behind this piece here on the blog.

Sending Out an SOS: Hunting Dog Garden Statues

Image credit

Today's post is a bit of a call for assistance — in the form of, "we've looked everywhere and can't seem to uncover where a pair of these hunting dog statues can be found." Alas, in our fruitless hunt we're putting out a collective call (in our best Police voices) for your knowledge on all things dog statue related...

Start Planning Your Trip: CJS Sales' Liquidation Sale

Right around 3 years ago Tim and I stumbled across what we can only describe as a hidden gem in the world of creatives and treasure hunters alike — CJS Sales, a warehouse of vintage jewelry supplies (and well-kept secret among designers) in the middle of Manhattan. While they have an online presence, you can only purchase onsite in wholesale formats — so it's quickly become one of our favorite regular destinations to stop in on when in the city.

‪The Thrill of The Hunt: #‎FindTheGirlsOnTheNegatives

Image via Meagan Abell, lookslikefilm.com

We wanted to pop in today to share an interesting photography story that's unfolding here in Richmond. Perhaps you've already heard about the film transparencies that Meagan Abell, local Richmond photographer, uncovered at a nearby Antique Mall? If not, you're in for an intriguing mystery we've been having fun following along with...

Weekend Basics

Hello to you this rainy Tuesday! We're checking in off of a long weekend filled with activity and have been looking forward to sharing a few of the highlights here on the blog.

Weekend Basics

Somebody's got a serious case of the Mondays today...

Weekend Basics

Brrrrrr! It's been a cold couple of weeks and weekend here in Richmond. While we mostly just wanted to hunker down under blankets in front of the fire, we did get a chance to get out and about. This guy on the other hand, is just plain over the cold weather.

Weekend Basics: Tim's Birthday Edition

Tim's birthday was yesterday and we were also lucky enough to have Brandon staying with us before he headed back up for the start of Spring semester classes at JMU, so we found ourselves celebrating all weekend long, which is not a bad thing, right?

Saturday was a pretty dreary day, so we hit the road for a little trip out to the country for some antiquing and BBQ. There is an antique mall in Gordonsville we like stopping in just to look around.

Our Fish's Tale: The One That Did Not Get Away

Back in September, we made a brief mention of the cased taxidermy fish we brought home from a local auction.

Weekend Basics

It's starting to feel like the holidays around here! Both Stephanie and Brandon have the week off from college and we hit the road to pick them up early in the weekend. We left a little early so we could stop in on one of our favorite Antique spots along the way...

Our New-To-Us Dining Room Rug

The last time we checked in on the dining room, we'd just updated the space with a sideboard but were still on the hunt for a rug to make the space feel a little more tied together. Well, that day has finally come!

Our Old Friend, The Beechwood Sideboard

We've been working slowly but surely to complete the different rooms in our house. We're not in a huge rush since we're planning to be here for the long haul, and want to take our time. That being said, it's nice each time we find or make a piece of furniture that helps complete a room or fill up what's been feeling like an empty space (like our tree stump side table or locker console). Today we're talking about the new-to-us sideboard we recently added in our dining room...

Weekend Basics

The weekend got an an early start for Tim — last Friday he spent some time back at Lockhart Family Farm learning more about bees and different practices around beekeeping. We'd first visited the farm for a community dinner back in August and after keeping in touch about the right timing to learn more about the bees, Tim was excited to go back:

Yes ladies, this man belongs to me. He'll be excited to share more from the farm visit soon.

How To: Polish Silver in a Baking Soda & Salt Bath

A couple weeks ago when we shared the story behind creating a full set of mismatched silverplate flatware, we got the following question from one of our commenters:

"For polishing the silver, are you familiar with the trick of soaking the silver in a basin or pan with a piece of aluminum foil, some baking soda, and salt? Works like a charm!"

Neither of us had heard of this silver polishing tip before, but we're always up for trying a new home remedy, especially if it saves us time — so we pulled out the supplies and gave it a go after reading into a few more sources online.

Estate Finds: Our 8 Gallon Blue Crown Stoneware Crock

What a crock this estate sale was! I say that lovingly as we walked through the backyard of the home having the sale this past Sunday and saw this 8 gallon blue crown stoneware crock in all of it's glory. We fell in love when we set eyes on it. It was really dirty and had some pretty severe paint stains all over the side of it, but we could see past the dirt into the full potential...

Digging Around: Our Set of Antique Mixed Silverplate Flatware

We are the proud new owners of a complete set of mismatched silverplate flatware — and all we had to do was a little digging.

Fork Bracelets: The Story Behind a Custom Order

Examples of bracelets I've made from antique forks

A couple weeks ago I received one of the more interesting jewelry inquiries I've gotten over the years and couldn't wait to share more of the full story with you all now that everything's come full circle. After seeing the bracelets I make from antique forks, a woman got in touch with me to see if I could custom make one from a fork she already had on hand.

From Old Army Locker To Kitchen Console Bar!

As many of you know, we've been working hard to give new life to this old army locker and today we're excited to share the final pics of it in its new kitchen console form!

Ladder Blanket Storage

We've got a ladder in our living room and it's holding our extra blankets! Today we're sharing the background behind this little update.

Weekend Basics

We started out the weekend with a little trip up 95 to see Sheryl Crow play in Fredericksburg. Mary's been a long time fan and we both had a lot of fun, realizing it's been one of the first bigger outings we've had in a long time.