As you all know, I have built Life’s Patina around vintage goods. Pieces that have been discarded by someone else. Pieces whose beauty might be hidden by years of dust, dirt, mars on their surface, faded wood, and other such signs of these objects having been on this earth many more years than I have been. That is what I love about them. Many of the signs of wear and tear that they might display symbolize the love that had been shown to them prior to their discarding. They have a feel that comes along with them. Can’t you envision this piece in the grand old hall that it might have been installed in or behind the back of a well visited bar, whose patrons might have checked their appearance in its reflective surface? In fact, when recently passing by this mirror in the aisle of an old dairy barn, my husband exclaimed, “Wow, this is so cool! Couldn’t you see this in a speakeasy!”  Since neither one of us have ever been in a speakeasy, we could only imagine but I replied, “Yes! Lets get it!” It has seen better days but with a little TLC, this piece will see its glory days again.

This gorgeous, huge cupboard elicited a similar response of excitement when I saw it, “That is gorgeous!” Yes, its original pale blue paint is chipping, but that’s part of its appeal. When building new or renovating a room it’s pieces like this, when added to the design that inject character and conversation.  Sometimes it only takes one older piece in a room to root the whole feel of what you want the room to convey.

How about these marble sink tops? One came with a white porcelain sink, the other with a cast iron sink. We’re working on integrating these into the bedrooms of the upcoming Life’s Patina Mercantile & Cafe in Historic Yellow Springs. All of the pieces that I am posting about are either going to be available at our upcoming Spring Barn Sale or at our coming soon Mercantile & Cafe in Historic Yellow Springs Village. We’re working diligently to open it in the coming months!

 It is still the thrill of the hunt that ignites my passion for what I do. Finding these pieces with an idea in my mind of how they will be shown in the barn propels me forward to keep searching for these beauties. There is something so fulfilling when one of you walks into the barn and shares in the love of what we have found and brought back from our picking trips.

There is a lot of energy and an incredible amount of effort devoted to searching for these unique pieces that we bring back to the barn and in an upcoming blog post I will share my favorite haunts for vintage shopping that you just might want to visit if this is something that runs in your blood as well. Until then, here’s a sneak peek of some of our favorite finds from our most recent picking trips over the past few months…

Everything you see here will be available for sale at either our Spring Barn Sale this April 14th – 18th, 21st, & 23rd – 25th -or- integrated into the design and furnishing of our coming soon Life’s Patina Mercantile & Cafe in Historic Yellow Springs Village.

The punching bag will not be available… it is for stress relief!  Hee! Hee! 

Keep in mind that all of the photos that you have seen have not been put into place and some of them have not had the TLC done on them before they are implanted into a vignette in the barn. All of the pieces that we find are tended with some cleaning, refinishing, painting, sanding etc to bring them to you in a finished state. Some we keep “au natural” for you to do with as you wish but all are configured into a “room” setup so that you might be able to envision them in your own home.

Let’s not forget the “smalls” as we call them for they are the embellishments that add to the appeal of these vignettes and set ups. They too are carefully cleaned, sorted, priced and put into play in the room scapes in the barn .

So how do we get from this mass of “stuff” to the well curated artfully displayed scenes that you see when you walk into the barn? That is material for another post and some video content that we will be filming over the course of the next few months. We get so many questions as to “How all of this is is done” that we want to start revealing some of our secrets! If you all could let us know what you want to know more about as well… we would love that! Just leave a comment on this post and we will see if we can share the information on what you so desire.

 

We would love for you to come and visit during our Spring Barn Sale which of course will celebrate this new season! All of our barn sales are seasonally inspired so you will see signs of this beautifully emerging season of hope all throughout the barn. Our two story bank barn and outdoor courtyard will be full of new home décor accents, vintage finds, restored furniture pieces, unique gifts for the Spring season, and architectural salvage for you to explore.

To ensure the health and safety of our customers this season, we are requiring that all guests RSVP to our Spring Barn Sale in advance using our online booking system. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER AND SIGN UP!

Tickets are free for April 16th – 18th, 21st, & 23rd – 25th but registration is required in advance. No walk-ins will be accepted. This helps us to not only make sure you have a comfortable shopping experience but also ensures we’re able to keep everyone safely distanced inside our barn. We are limiting our guest count for each shopping session so it’s important that you adhere to the time slot for which you registered. Email us at JulieNiness@lifespatina.com if you have any questions.

XOXO,

Meg