How to clean chrome? A product to repair chipped porcelain? How to clean hard water stains in my sink? These are the questions that rain down on every new/old homeowner pretty much 10 minutes after the closing papers are signed. Today, I have a page full of resources that mayhold a key to getting your porcelain, chrome, marble and fiberglass gleaming again. Heck yeah there is more →
Shopping at an estate sale – my tips
Posted by: • March 27, 2010
An estate sale. There is nothing quite so exhilarating and well, mortifying, at the same time. Exhilarating because: It’s a whole house chockablock for the pickin’. A time capsule maybe even. Mortifying because: It’s someone else’s lifetime of treasures. So I always try to temper my excitement by (1) saying a little prayer of gratitude to the homeowners who made this all possible by taking care of the stuff for sale all these years, and (2) remembering that someday soon enough, a new generation of eager shoppers will be thrashing through my stuff, too, so I’d better approach the whole shopping experience with that karma in mind. With those reality-checks in place, here is my personal method for working an estate sale: Heck yeah there is more →
Where to get your vintage appliances fixed?
Posted by: • January 2, 2010
Lots of readers are struggling to find cost-effective ways to get their vintage appliances — stoves, fridges, stovetops, dishwashers — repaired safely and cost-effectively. Atomicbowler-dave recently provided this advice, which is in synch, I think, with successes other readers have had:
Where to turn to get your vintage appliances repaired? Dave suggests: Heck yeah there is more →
Where to find decorative shelf edging and shelf paper
Posted by: • November 17, 2009
Carrie writes:
Pam,I was wondering if you have ever done any research on Shelf Edging and if so where could I get some. I don’t think that I ever mentioned that the previous owner had placed shelf edging in the linen closet and also in certain cabinets in the kitchen. Since I have lived in my house for almost a year now the shelf edging is starting to tear and I would like to have some more on hand when I am ready to put more up. Heck yeah there is more →
How to care for your metal kitchen cabinets – circa 1960 instructions
Posted by: • November 12, 2009
Reader Erika Rae found these instructions about how to clean St. Charles steel kitchen cabinets, enameled right inside of one of her cabinet doors. I presume these instructions still hold. Errr, umm, does anyone know where to get St. Charles Cleaner & Polish? Heck yeah there is more →
Where to buy chrome soap dishes, crystal and plastic lucite trays
Posted by: • October 28, 2009
Bob wrote yesterday to ask for a “No. 622 Soap Holder with Crystal Tray…Over the years the Crystal Tray got broken and the plating in the soap dish is pitted and in bad shape….” This question comes up a lot. Here are some ideas. Heck yeah there is more →
How to make sure your ebay item gets shipped properly
Posted by: • October 17, 2009
I purchased this vintage wallpaper earlier this year off ebay - in my view, it was not packed well and arrived broken up like this. The seller was very accommodating, apologized and gave me a refund immediately. Even so, it was sad because I liked the paper, and the price.
A reader recently reported that a lovely glass item bought off of ebay arrived broken. This situation has happened also to me, at least twice, in the past year. A gorgeous — and in some respects *priceless* find — was packaged with inadequate cushioning. And of course it breaks. Heck yeah there is more →
Where to find vintage bathroom sinks, tubs and toilets
Posted by: • September 25, 2009
If you are looking for mid-century bathroom fixtures — tubs, toilets, sinks, shower doors — the most likely places you are going to find them are on (1) your local craigslist or (2) your local Re-Store / Habitat for Humanity or other local salvage shop. The easiest and cheapest route is going to be to BUY LOCAL. You can see the stuff first-hand, so you know what you are getting, and you won’t pay shipping — you will haul your treasure away in your own car. Be sure to practice smart safety habits when buying from craigslist — see their recommendations.
One other idea that readers have been successful with: Ask the neighbors. Their houses originally had the same fixtures as yours, and they may have old ones in their basements, from previous remodels — or they may be about to remodel. Also: Watch the curb! Yes! We have had examples of readers deciding they needed, say, an old pink toilet — and a few days later they spotted on out on a neighbor’s curb waiting for the garbage truck. SERIOUSLY!
Tip: Another important reason to buy local is that you can be sure the color you are getting matches. There were many manufacturers back in the day — and their colors were all slightly different. If you buy locally, you can check the colors in person.
If you can’t find what you are looking for locally, there are other options as well. Retro Renovation’s Steel Kitchen Cabinet Forum also has a spot for “Other Stuff” including “Bathroom Stuff.“ And, intrepid reader Scathing Jane posts there almost every single day.
Jane looks at Craigslist listings from all over the country and loads up some of the best. Case in point: Look at the vintage American Standard bathroom suite, above, with its swoonable sweet Cinderella tub. And the tile to the left – there’s 38 s.f. of it, posted by Jane last night. Hint: It’s easy to see what’s new on the Forum every day. Subscribe via RSS (read the instructions.) Thank you, Jane, and others of you who post often to help out other readers.
The farther you get from home (craigslist, Re-Stores, or other local salvage places), the more expensive finding vintage bathroom fixtures is going to get. And that’s before you even have to think about shipping and crating. That’s because specialty places are likely to pick up only the best-of-the-best, and to do that, they also have overhead to cover. If you are on a serious search, though, you might also consider this list of potential sources. Two salvage places with online stock include:
- deabath.com
- historichouseparts.com
There are surely other salvage places that will deal with you online, but these are the two that I am most familiar with. Note: We have not heard positive things about reglazing — it just doesn’t hold up to water, and that’s what bathrooms are all about.
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