My husband’s high school, Brooklyn Tech, had a banquet last weekend that we attended. We decided to take advantage of the long Veteran’s Day weekend and travel to the New York metro area right after work on Thursday which meant we had all day Friday and Saturday to play! We could have gone to see a play or visited a museum, but we decided to go to Architectual Salvage places instead. My husband and I love to visit these “shops” and have done so in many places, but never in the New York City area. We were curious to see what we would find and if there were any bargains to be had.
We visited a few places but were blown away by two in particular, Amighini Architectural in Jersey City, NJ and the other one was Old Iron in Brooklyn, NY. Both were amazing in their own right, but the juxtaposition between the two was amazing.
Let me show you what I mean!
Our hotel was in New Jersey, so we started here.
It took us a while to find it, but the minute we drove up I knew it was going to be special.
This beautiful wrought iron fence is what greets you when you arrive.
When you come around the corner it is set up like a courtyard. There are two gorgeous urns on elegant pedestals with stunning tile leading to an amazing door! I don’t think there are enough adjectives to describe how beautiful it was, and we weren’t even inside yet!
This is on the left when you walk in. Look at that detail.
This door is bigger than the front of my house and would never work in a million years, but one can dream!
The fireplace is made of stone with hand carved features. It seemed almost sinful to have brooms and such leaning on it.
Again, would not work in my house but WOW! Where art thou Juliet?
The sun came out right as this came into my sightline and took my breath away. But then I looked up!
Up above me in the rafters were these huge stained-glass domes. Just like the window light was filtering in and words cannot even describe the beauty of it. I imagine these must have been in churches, old theatres, cathedrals etc. I am just glad someone saved them.
They also had an office area with decorative items set up in vignettes.
I stepped over to look at this marble table and saw another table that made my heart stop.
On the table were dozens of architectural wooden trim pieces. I immediately thought of the door I am transforming to look like a French Antique mirror. Having these detailed pieces would take it to the next level.
We looked around for someone to help us and were pointed to a gentleman who was very sweet but spoke very little English. We managed to convey our message that we were looking for pricing on the trim pieces. He explained that the pieces are normally used for refurbishing their pieces and he did not have pricing. He had to call someone else, and she spoke only Italian. She then had to check with someone else and get back to us. She finally got back with a price of over two thousand dollars. We told them that this was out of our price range. The gentleman who was helping us was trying to get a better price for us which he did, one thousand two hundred dollars. At this point we did not want to offend anyone and simply said we appreciated the work they are doing and the time they gave us but would not be able to purchase the items. They were very gracious and appreciative of our words.
I can sincerely say that I was not disappointed. The beauty and grandeur of the place is something we will never forget.
Salvaging part two: Siegel style
The second place we visited was the total opposite of the first. Here we would have to dig for our finds there were no vignettes anywhere to be found. But that was okay because we like to dig!
My rules of salvaging: take your time, lift and sift through everything, go through more than once, and think outside the box.
Also be realistic about how much work you are willing to put in. A perfect example are these iron newel posts. Refinishing them would take a lot of work. But if you can commit, the end result would be amazing!
When I first looked in this area, I saw old sinks but look past the sinks against the wall.
Look at this gate! There was no way of getting it home or anywhere to put it at my house, but like the other place, a girl can dream!
When we come back, I would really like to get a wrought iron gate for my garden. There were a lot of smaller ones to choose from.
This looks like trash but there is some good stuff in here. Next to the dresser is a table, on the small rectangular table is a small trunk for storage and in the back is wood and hopefully some decorative trim pieces.
I found this antique bed behind some other items. I loved it and purchased it for our guestroom.
I found this wrought iron full bed on Etsy for $895 dollars. I paid $100 for mine. I would say that is a good deal!
Here is another diamond in the rough. The table has beautiful details it just needs a glass top and the bottom repaired.
My next purchase: I have been looking for a plant stand for our patio. I love the shape and the rust.
I found this one on Etsy for $169 plus shipping. I paid $40 and like mine much better.
I am happy to report that we were able to find architectural trim pieces for the door I am transforming into an antique French mirror. It will take some work to clean up but it all cost $40 instead of $1, 200.
It was such a fun trip. I hope we get to do it again soon!