Hunting for Treasure - Salvage Yards Can Mean Treasure and Trash

Salvage Yards Can Net One of a Kind Treasures

In Downtown Los Angeles there are a few salvage yards to poke through in search of hidden treasure.  When I pulled up outside this place, I was glad I had my husband along instead of my business partner.  While no harm came to us, and we picked up a few interesting items, it was a good reminder to be aware and travel cautiously into unknown territory.

The main lot for this salvage yard is across the street.  I picked up an old paned window with milky glass that now hangs in my guest bathroom and some old and rusty ceiling tin that my husband made into shelves and I sold.  See the tin on the top and that's a bed frame rail on the bottom.  The headboards are below

Shelves made of bed rails and ceiling tin

Silver Fox Architectural Salvage is my favorite salvage store in Los Angeles.  The owners have a clear vision for what is valuable and beautiful.  Seth takes reclaimed lumber, metal, whatever and creates lighting fixtures, tables, kitchen carts and more.  Selina has creative skills too which are evident in the way the store is set up.  Yelpers really like them too.  http://www.yelp.com/biz/silver-fox-architectural-salvage-los-angeles-2

Check out this cart that Seth made.  I wish I had a place in my house for it.

I bought some huge doors at Silver Fox that came from an old church in upstate New York.  I framed the opening between my dining room and living room in the shape of the doors and will eventually get them hung on hardware like sliding barn doors.  This is the project that started out with two affordable doors and then cost a fortune to have the room framed.  When I get the project finished, I'll share the pictures, but until then I just appreciate the beauty of the doors as they lean against the wall.

8 1/2' reclaimed church doors for my dining room

Lots of windows and doors at Silver Fox Architectural Salvage in Los Angeles

I found these flags for my sister's nautical themed baby's room

I look everywhere for interesting pieces.  I picked up some antique bed frames at an auction and used them for all sorts of projects.  Here is the headboard.

 

I had the mirror cut and installed at Van Nuys Glass and Mirror in Pacoima.  They did an awesome job.  I think it would be perfect in an entry way or a good sized guest bathroom.  It is a one of a kind piece that gets people talking.

I have a second one that is painted and glazed.

I would like to get these sold and moved out so I have room for more projects.  If you live in Southern California and need something special for your home, send me an email at pearlscottage@sbcglobal.net.  I'm asking $399 for the wood finished mirror and $499 for the painted and glazed one.

Kitchen Renovation In Marble, Wood and Metal

My Completed Kitchen Renovation

When both my double oven and cook top stopped working I was forced to renovate my kitchen.  My house was 13 years old and parts of my kitchen still looked good, like the Corian counter top.  Other parts however weren't worth keeping, like the cheap cupboards.  So without the ability to cook and cabinets that the builder should have put in the garage not the kitchen, I jumped into a renovation. Actually I tiptoed in.  There were so many decisions and I wanted to be happy with the kitchen I created.  First, I had to have a vision of what the completed space would look like and then I created and executed the plan.

My greatest tool was Houzz.  By looking at professionally designed kitchens I was able to determine what I liked and how it could be incorporated in the design.   The grout color, hardware, windows, cabinet height, toe kicks, counter width for the peninsula, counter edges, and more and more details were confirmed after looking at Houzz pictures.

My husband, Rich, acted as the general contractor to the wonderful subcontractors who worked on the project. The kitchen turned out beautiful thanks to the talent of the cabinet installers, marble fabricator, tile and grout installer, electrician, drywaller, and paint consultant.

The design began with two slabs of marble that we picked out at Stoneville in Van Nuys.

 After that we picked cabinets that we could afford.  I knew that I wanted them painted a warm white with an old house feel so I removed the existing transom and ran the cabinets up to the ceiling with a tall crown.

A Viking range was on my wish list, but since I was replacing a double oven and a cook top, the new design required moving electrical and gas lines.  Another change was raising the counter in one area and adding a peninsula for three bar stools. That meant losing the kitchen table and using the dining room which was underutilized.

With the counter higher, the windows needed to be higher as well.  One of my favorite features is the marble window sills.

With all the details worked out and the supplies ordered and delivered, the job went smoothly.  A few ski weekends for Rich may have slowed the timeline, but he deserved a break now and then.

The kitchen has an organic feel given the natural materials that make up the space.  Marble, wood and metal materials are used along with natural fiber rugs.

The single bowl fire clay farmhouse sink is practical and easy to use.  It was a great choice.

I selected a combination of pulls and knobs.  The flat front drawers needed a weighty pull so I selected cup pulls.

My advice to anyone taking on a kitchen renovation is to work out the plan and all the details before you start buying, have the project materials ordered and delivered before the job starts, and hire quality craftsmen.

Now I have my dream kitchen.