Should I Fix or Refinish an Old Piece or Antique?

I was recently at a community garage sale and was peppered with questions about some "old" pieces. I put old into quotations because many times people think Grandma's old rocker or trinkets are antiques or collectibles. Most items you come across are mass produced and not worth much. Also the collecting market has declined from 15-20 years ago because thirty somethings and younger have little interest. We are living in a throw away, dollar store society. I grew up with the notion of buy the best and buy it once. Things have changed a lot. 

One of the items I was asked to look at was a basic dark wooden rocker with upholstered seat from around 1920-1940. This guy thought it was a gold mine cause it belonged to his Grandmother. Twenty years ago he may have gotten $100 because the market was hot on wood furniture.
Dealers would clean up the wood and reupholster the seat or tac it back up. Housewives wanted wood furniture, boxes, tools and more for country decor. Country and later called Prim decor was hot for about 10-15 years.
This chair had no carving, paint details, ball feet, scrolling or sharp mission style. The upholstery was not the original and the original tacs were long gone. It was just a mass produced chair for regular folk. With the market down and upholstery work expensive, he would be lucky to get $25. A person who does this work themselves could wax it up, fix the seat and be lucky to get $75-$100. I actually just spoke to a dealer today who quit fixing furniture. He said he is not getting his time and money back. 
Now you noticed I said regular folk. Folkarts still carry value. Folk art refers to utilitarian items. Generally these items were handmade out of necessity and used by middle and lower class citizens in the early 1900's or before. I have seen farm implements and wooden household items likely from around the 50's still have value because of their worn nature and beauty. Hand embroidery work telling a family history still holds value for prim and textile collectors too. Folkarts should not be "cleaned up." You are literally cleaning away history. Make thoughtful decisions. Should you just dust it with a rag? Should you use a mild soap and lightly clean? If things start to get sticky then you are in trouble because that sticky is the finish coming off! There is no turning back on that one. Replacing pieces is tricky too. I have a slaw board someone thought they restored. They ruined it. They took the original screws out and cleaned it so good it shows no wear. Now it is just another decor piece. If the piece is important to you or you want to resell then do research. Maybe even get a professional to work on it. Make sure they understand your goals and they understand furniture history. This is an old article but, still has great information. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/tips/woodfinish.html
Folkart is about American history for collectors. It's someones hands who toiled away with a masher, broom, rake, wooden box, mallet, hog scraper, shoe box, tools and more. It is about Americans taking scrap wood or scrap from the foundry and making it into useful items. It was people able to take something from nothing and making it work. Really, isn't that the American dream?

Mother Nature is so Beautiful

In the middle of the night our apple tree creaked and groaned and with a thunderous crack it finally split in half. We heard the noise and wondered what could it be?
I opened the back door in the morning to let the pups out and looked out into the yard. I thought something does not seem right back there and then I realized, tree down! Now someone, and I am thinking my husband's Aunt Eve was watching over us from above. Because my husband loves to water ski and it is his relaxation time. Well, the tree literally came down between the boat and truck. It did not touch either one!
We got to enjoy that gnarly apple tree for 10 years. It fed the deer and in the beginning made some apple pies. It was here when we bought the house but, it made it's finale in the most glorious and perfect way. It bowed out before we had to cut it's rotting trunk down.
In one final gesture she has given us firewood, loose apple's for the deer and a beautiful picture of her woody inside. If I can salvage some of this piece, it might be varnished

for a piece of furniture or a wall hanging.

A Girl and her Dog from Pennsylvania

Meet the King of the house and my sweet boy, Larkin. He is a beautiful Sheltie born on Valentine's Day. I know of all days! He loves to swim in the pool and paws the side if you go in without him. He has quite the personality. He is compulsive so don't interrupt his routine!
If I give him too many kisses on his nose he growls at me while wagging his tail. If I sssh him it makes him growl harder as he hates to be ssshed. Although at this point it seems more like a game. You will surely hear more about Larkin in the future.

Everyday American Lass Meets You!

Hello.

I chose everyday because I wanted to incorporate happenings along my curvy path called life and not just all about my hobbies and products I sell at my Etsy store. That could be pretty boring.
I live in a medium size town in PA. Pittsburgher's drive out my way and further to get away from the city. I grew up learning the hustle of the antique business. There were of course other things but, the talent of learning to sell and go for the clincher has always stuck with me. The many interesting people I met at antique shows as a kid really taught me a lot about people and reading people's body language. The study of it was fascinating and proved productive later in life in sales. My now deceased,  beloved Grandfather taught me the old school way of caring for antiques and telling their story to people.
The stories  I could tell about twisty sales and old timers may prove a good throw back tale for some of you. Some of the characters like Bob in his cuffed jeans, black jack boots, slicked pompadour hair and tan hardened face remind me of the people Richard Pryor so eloquently described and acted out.
How did my Grandfather, Dick Casteel go from being a barber to a successful, top Chevy car salesman and antique dealer? Well a friend got him off the corner hanging with friends to barber school. Prior to that he dabbled in another friends funeral business but, proved not to fit his personality. However I was told in the sixties kids were coming back from war and things were radically changing from the close cut and coiffed styles like Bob. Kids were letting their hair down and barber's were loosing business fast. So my Grandfather started his new journey from there. And that makes me think of the very big, red leather barber chair that set in the corner of the game room for years. One of the many things that created a menagerie I was freely allowed to wander around and touch.