Stone Walkway Leading To Guest Cottage & Lighting Bling

 

This post comes after hosting our first two groups of AirBNB guests.  The hosting went fairly well -- other than a leaky shower and neighbors shooting fireworks at 3 am.  Both items now under control.  We have guests booked for all the other November weekends, so we are off to a good start.

Obviously the walkway was completed before then. But my husband did such a great job with it, I needed to take pics of it.  And then we added solar lights along the walkway... icing on the cake.

Can't Stop Antiquing

 

Officially my antiquing business is closed.  Maybe I should call it a soft closure?  Because after 30 years of junking, it is hard to quit cold turkey.

I saw these hanging victorian chandeliers on an on-line auction.  So I made some low-ball bids and managed to get three of them.  Then what?  Too fragile and large to ship on ebay safely.

So I put them on facebook marketplace and sold all three the day after I listed them.  Cha-ching.  But I really AM trying to stop buying for resale.  

Update On Stonecrest Cottage Guest House

 We are making some progress with the guest cottage -- slowly.

The two large lights in the main room (kitchen / living area)

got hung, and I am in love with them.

The shiplap is up and painted in the main room.

I didn't take pics, but I painted the master bedroom (light gray)

and the bathroom (icy teal.)

 And the vinyl plank flooring is down in the main room.

They said it went down harder than any other plank flooring

that they had done. Hopefully the rest of the cottage will have

flooring before the end of the day.

And here is a sneak peek of the next step.

I am so excited.

Lighting is my favorite.

Hunting & Gathering For The Guest Cottage

 I have not been very good about posting my finds for the guest cottage.

I got two of these lanterns for the exterior of the cabin,

they were on clearance at Lowe's.  I think I paid about $30 each.

These are actually chicken coop warmer lights,

they will be the lights over the kitchen counter area.

$120 at an antique store.

A good reminder that you should always shop at home first.

My husband scrounged around and find two barn doors in

our own shop.  This one will be the queen size bed headboard.

The other will be a rolling door for the bunk room.

I don't recall what we paid for them, not much because

I bought them for resale.

 After frantically looking for the perfect old front door,

he found one buried in our shop.  I will add a bit of

pizzazz to it, and it will be great.  This was here

when we moved in -- FREE!

 Love seat from thrift store -- $100.

UPDATE: this loveseat was too big.  We ended up ordering a new one from Overstock.com.

Left is sink for bathroom $30 from Facebook Marketplace.

This will be above the porch roof to let more light into

the kitchen / living area.  $200 from an antique store.

Rusty Turquoise Porch Light

Putting this light in Stonecrest Cottage cleaning closet.

Thrift For The Guest Cottage

 It is tough to get a good deal on facebook marketplace.

They get snapped up so fast.

I messaged about this light fixture 6 minutes after it was listed.

It came with 4 Edison bulbs, so $30 was a steal.

It may get a silver makeover.

 My favorite thrift store has 50% off the first Saturday of the month.

So I went to see what I could find:

-- several sheets (twin and queen) ($1 each)

-- blender ($2)

-- oval full length mirror ($10) I will be painting the wood white

Ended up not using the mirror in the guest cottage.

 White plates -- $1.50 for the stack.

Pendant Lamp -- $3.00.

I will spraypaint the brass silver.

Ended up using in the bunk room with a galvanized shade.

OOAK Chandelier

 We were fortunate to have some great weather last weekend

(and have paid for it since -- look at the snow outside!)

There were a few garage sales -- 

and one advertised old doors, old lighting, grates,

baseboards, etc. 

 Some stuff was a little pricey but this little

chandy was only $5.  Why?  It didn't have any crystals.

 It had the holes, but not one original crystal was left.

Now, I knew I had some crystals in my stash --

but would it be enough?

Well, yeah.

It would be enough if I didn't worry about it 

being all matchy, matchy.

 

So this sweet little chandelier is a one of a kind.

Put together with every shape of crystal you can imagine.

It will eventually grace the master bedroom of the guest cottage that we are going to build.

New Lighting In The Shop!

 I took possession of the "garage" even before we moved in.

Mine, mine, mine.

But it needed a little TLC.

Out with the mud daubers....

In with four huge fluorescent lights,

a chandelier,

and three industrial lights over the workbench area.

Happy Birthday to me.

Antique English Elkington Silverplate Table Lamp

Back to yesterday's flea market finds...

Do you see the lamp in the back of the van?

My husband found it, so I am giving him credit.

Even when I looked at it I was a little unsure.

The seller wanted $25 for it (and I am SO cheap).

But the hallmark stamps sucked me in.

It took me a couple of hours on the net to find

out that it was made by a silverplate company in England

named Elkington.  Probably late 1800s.  

(The "C" tells the exact date, but honestly I was too tired by then to research further.)

I also loved the scrolly initials on the three sides

of the base.  Can't you just imagine someone in 1885

ordering this as a fancy wedding gift for someone in "the states"?

 It has three gorgeous griffons on the base.

I am not going to polish it

(because I am not  the polishing type)

but I know it would look great all shined up.

It has a secret.

Of course it didn't start out as a table lamp

(no electricity then.)

It started life as big 20+ inches

"centerpiece" that held a big fancy bowl on the top.

What a gorge wedding gift that would have been.

Going on ebay.

Bought for $25, sold for $78.

Chandelier For New Antiques Booth

I was surprised when I won this chandelier at my last local

on-line auction for cheap $20.

I knew it would look great in my future antiques booth,

with a little tweaking.

I removed all of the crystals, and hand washed each one.

Spray painted the brass chandelier a flat white

and reattached each pesky crystal.

My husband added a plug-in wire with an on/off switch.

And now it hangs in a place of honor in my new antique booth
at Camp Flea in Ozark, MO.
UPDATE:  I sold it for $50 at my antiques liquidation sale.

Tour Of The Tiny Kitchen

 I had a fairly small working kitchen in the last house,

but this is tiny.  We opted not to have an island so that it

wouldn't be so tight.  Very limited storage and counter space.

In  a couple of years I am thinking of a rehaul, but

for now I have pared down "stuff" to what I really need.

This is facing west.  The countertops are local limestone,

which I really like.

You may remember that my husband took out the dishwasher, 

and made some storage for me in August.

 An electrician came last week and installed this light over the sink...

 and this triple light in the middle of the kitchen.

Our ceilings are not very high,

so the lights can't hang down very far.

(I purchased this sign in June.)

 This is the north side of the kitchen.

Whenever we redo the kitchen that "pass through"

will be walled over and open shelving put up.

 This is the south side.

We decided that for the two of us we wanted to squeeze in seating,

I don't want to haul every meal to the big dining room.

My husband made the table.

As you can see, the chair needs to be moved if I'm baking.

And this is the sweet reason that we have made the move,

what a cutie!

New Interior Work At The Ozark House

 While I have been babysitting our northern house

my husband has been hard at work on the Ozark House.

Among other things he got the vintage light fixture hung in the dining room.

Not easy, because I wanted the opening relocated.

 And he took out an old dishwasher....

built shelves in it...

and added matching cabinet doors to give me more

much-needed cabinet space.

Working On The Little House In The Ozarks Day 26

 So I am back working on the Ozark house for awhile.

My husband was here this weekend, and got the vintage ceiling

light hung in the living room. I bought it for around $25 at an antique store,

and spraypainted it the color I wanted. It looks awesome.

(He wasn't smiling quite so brightly while installing it.)

 This is the mud room.

We are going to love it,

but for now it has ISSUES.

A big one is a huge limestone bar in the middle of it.

 I would like to thank our neighbor and his son

for removing the humongous piece of limestone

from the top today.

 Being well trained men,

they said they would wait until the woman of the house

told them what she wanted done with it.

We will still need to remove the stone base.

I love all of the fossils embedded in stones used in our house,

and lying around our house.

This is part of the remaining stone base.