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Olde Good Things

Architectural and Altered Antiques

How to Reuse Antique Tin Ceiling Sheets

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Choose Your Finish

Wall applications have recently been the popular trend with such materials as antique tin, reclaimed wood, salvaged copper & custom wallpaper, with the most common uses being as an accent wall, kitchen backsplash, or around the base of a bar or island. In the design world, pressed metal ceiling tin is known for its texture and design.  If you add the quality of antique distressed paint to this already decorative medium, you’ll have an artist’s pallet. We have acquired a large quantity of antique fish tin throughout the years. You can purchase it by the square foot, with a 20 square foot minimum. You have your choice to have the tin just stripped then cleaned, cleaned & sealed, or cleaned, painted & sealed. View the finishes below, shown as a square foot piece.

Customer Showcase

In this designer showcase, we are showing you how renowned designer Erica Diskin from Assembly Design Studio used this medium as a tin wall application. The restaurant is Six String Grill & Stage located in Foxboro, MA, next to Gillette Stadium. As many of our readers are aware, it is sometimes difficult to envision a pile of rough scrap metal transformed into an actually useful and decorative element in their design project.  Some designers really do have a knack for making this transformation, and Erica is one of them.  Olde Good Things has been using antique ceiling tin for many years to make decorative wall panels and frames for mirrors.  Erica’s example is unusual in that she used recycled tin sheets put together to form a tin mural.  While taking a look at the photos, take note of the industrial flooring oak table tops. The reclaimed wood tops were custom-made in our table shop.

 

Purchasing Tips

  • You must know the exact square footage and the exact size of the wall, so we can determine how to cut it. Minimum of 20 square feet per order.
  • You must know what color if you choose to have it finished. Click Here for Color Chart
  • You must know if you want antique tin fish or replica fish tin. Keep in mind, the distressed areas are darker silver on the antique tin. The new replica tin is bright silver in the distressed area with a cleaner finish.
  • All orders will take 3-4 weeks to process. Plan accordingly.

Finding Your Style in a Wood Paneled Room

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When you think of a wood paneled room, you may think of an old study or library in an early to mid-1900s home. Some may think it’s a dated feature in older homes, but nothing could be further from the truth. The trickiest design element is creating eye-catching color balance, letting the walls, ceiling, floor, and furnishings work together. Think about how your favorite furnishings can pop. Everyone has a style of their own that they want their home to represent. We found examples of how four styles can be represented in a Wood Paneled Room.

Modern


Photo credit: Evan Joseph, Town & Country. Featured in Elizabeth Arden’s Former New York City Townhouse Is On the Market

Please look at how the wood paneling was painted a glossy gray paint paired with a sleek marble mantel. It creates an ultra-modern feel. The room balance was created using dark gray walls and ebony finished floors with a white ceiling and cream throw rug.

 

Minimalism


Photo credit: Evan Joseph, Town & Country. Featured in Elizabeth Arden’s Former New York City Townhouse Is On the Market

Minimalism represents living with very few items as possible. Decorating with just chairs, side tables, table lamps, and a throw rug gives that minimal feel. The room balance was created using dark chestnut carved panel walls and dark wood finished floors with a white ceiling, cream throw rug, and neutral gray furniture.

Traditional


Photo credit: PFD Design Group, The Spruce – 15 Elegant, Traditional Living Rooms

Traditional style rooms represent comfortable furniture, classic designs, and casual décor. The big huge windows create a bright airy atmosphere in such a neutral-colored room. The room balance is created with a white ceiling and light furnishings paired with the neutral rug and warm medium-toned wood paneling and flooring. Typically, in an antique paneled room, sconces were used as a source of lighting.

 

Eclectic

Photo Credit: Douglas Friedman, Harper’s Bazaar  – The Fashionable Life: A New York Fairy Tale

Eclectic is a mixture of textures, time periods, styles, trends, and colors. This room has a mix of modern sconces, a Victorian crystal chandelier, mid-century chairs, carved wooden paneled walls and mantel, and modern art. The room balance was created with a white ceiling, white rug, and bright metal furnishings paired with the dark medium tone paneled walls and floors.

 

In-Stock Wood Paneled Rooms

Here at Olde Good Things, we put our hearts into our salvage projects. We spend countless hours carefully removing one panel at a time, one bookcase at a time, from these special wood rooms. Now that you’ve seen above how you can decorate a wood paneled room in your style, it’s time to see what we have available in stock.

 

Ceiling Height Knotty Pine Library Room with Ladder

This knotty pine paneled library room was salvaged from one of New York City’s turn of the century townhouse estates. Click on the listing and see all the pieces included in this room. Picture adding antique sconces, antique paintings, many books, a bright solid colored rug, and a large executive desk.

View Listing

 

1940s Secret Wall to Wall Bookcase Library Room

Carefully extracted from a hidden library of an East Side Manhattan estate.  Click on the listing and see all the pieces included in this room. Picture adding brass sconces, a crystal chandelier, vintage globes and maps, many books, a bright oriental rug, and comfy leather furniture.

View Listing

 

Recessed Panel Dark Oak Paneled Room from Riverside Drive Estate

19th Century solid carved oak paneled room from Manhattan’s Riverside Drive. Click on the listing and see all the pieces included in this room. Picture adding crystal sconces, a petite crystal chandelier, a modern painting, antique lamps and a set of armchairs all positioned around the carved mantel.

View Listing

 

Tiger Oak Recessed Paneled Room

Tiger oak recessed paneled room with elaborately carved crown molding, arches, and columns. This is true 19th-century craftsmanship carefully extracted from one of the New York City estates of Huguette Clark. Click on the listing and see all the pieces included in this room.

View Listing

 

4 Foot Raised Panel American Chestnut or Oak Wainscot

Circa 1910 raised panel American chestnut or oak wainscot from an Upper East Side Manhattan church. Click on the listing and see all the pieces included in this room.

View Listing

 

Shop all the Paneled Rooms & Wainscoting available online

Hardware House Party: Late Victorian Hardware Sets for Your Home

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As a fashionable Victorian, one way to demonstrate your good taste and wealth was to decorate your doors with ornate, eye-catching hardware. Homeowners would purchase matching sets in elaborate styles from manufacturers like Adams & Westlake, Russell & Erwin, Corbin, or Sargent.  The sets would include dramatic entry knobs for the front door, matching smaller knobs for the interior first floor doors, and complementary backplates. (Second floor doors, less visible to visiting friends and neighbors, often featured simpler, less expensive knobs in white or black porcelain).

Whether you are restoring a Victorian house or just adding some antique flair to a modern home, you can recreate this coordinated look with our Olde Good Things hardware inventory. While some of our other antique doorknobs are only available in single or small quantities, we have extensive stock in these classic styles. Put an order in through our web store, or contact us for assistance assembling a house set.

Empire

This Corbin design series, dated ca. 1890, features the beloved Fanciful Beast surrounded by radiant swirls. Our Empire collection includes several knobs, backplates, and door sets.

Shop this style!

Ceylon

Corbin released this vernacular design series a few years later, ca. 1895 (and it was still included in their 1905 catalog). There are two different types of Ceylon knobs, both in wrought bronze – a three-fold design and an arched design, both asymmetrical. Our Ceylon inventory includes both knob designs as well as accompanying backplates and door sets.

Shop this style!

Roanoke

This is another vernacular series by Corbin, released in ca. 1895 (and also included in their 1905 catalog). Roanoke wrought bronze knobs feature a central dome framed by feather-like swirls, but the style is most recognizable in its dramatic, whirling backplates. Our Roanoke collection includes knobs, backplates, door sets, sash lifts, and pocket door plates.

Shop this style!

Columbian

Reading manufactured this Italian Renaissance-inspired series beginning in 1897. Two types of knobs are available: a horizontal design with a subtle appearance by a fox, and an eight-fold symmetric design with foliage. Our Columbian inventory includes knobs, backplates, and door sets.

Shop this style!

Americus

Also known as Eulalia, this Rococo style was produced by Reading beginning in 1898. These knobs have a central floral design and a textured surround. Our Americus collection includes knobs, backplates, door sets, and an ornate door pull.

Shop this style!

Columbus Ohio Country Living Show

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Please find us at the show, mention the blog and get 15% off. Rain or shine. Free admission for fathers on Father’s Day, June 17th.

When: Jun 15 – 17, 2018
Hours : 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Buy tickets – here
Where: Ohio Village, Columbus, OH (map)
First time Spring Country Living Show promoted by Stella Promotions held at the Ohio Village in Columbus, OH.  See us there at Booth No. W-36
View the Programs Schedule. Screen shot the map to your phone, click here.

Adding Tin To Your Holiday List

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At Olde Good Things, we strive to preserve pieces of architectural history as a whole or use those pieces to create something one of a kind and handmade in our Scranton, Pennsylvania shop. Some of our more unique products are our tin ceiling panels and mirrors.

antique-tin-holiday-sale

What makes these tin mirrors and panels so unique is that they are made from 100-year-old tin ceilings that we have salvaged from historic buildings across the United States. Tin ceiling was a result of American ingenuity and innovation in the mid-1800’s, as well as a direct response to decorative plaster ceilings that were in style in wealthier European homes. Tin ceilings were a better design choice than a plaster ceiling, as it retained the beautiful architectural design of a plaster ceiling while being much easier to install. In the late 1800’s, the production of tin ceiling peaked as Americans sought out beautiful interior design ideas, with roughly 45 companies in the US producing tin ceiling pieces.

To salvage these architectural artifacts, Olde Good Things purchases the tin ceilings while they are still in their original old buildings. We then reclaim these pieces ourselves by prying out the nails that hold the tin to the wood strips on the ceiling. The next stop is our Scranton workshop where the pieces are cut to size, attached to a wood frame, finished with a pop of color and sealant, and finally a piece of mirror is installed to complete the process.

We give these mirrors and panels new life, helping to preserve their history while creating a functional and unique antique furnishing for your home. Our reclaimed tin ceiling panels and mirrors make great gifts for those loved ones on your holiday shopping list. As a special for the holiday season, we’re offering three different promotions for our tin mirrors and panels.

Holiday Tin Coupons

 

tin-panel-sale

Antique Tin Panels spend $100 or more get Free Shipping – use code TINSHIP expires: 12/22/17

 

hand-painted-panel

Hand Painted Antique Tin Panels now Free Shipping – use code FREEPAINT expires: 12/22/17

 

mirror-sale

Antique Tin Mirrors saves 20% off – use code MIRRORS20 expires: 12/22/17

 

Be sure to order soon so you can get them for the holidays. We’re sure they’ll make an exceptional addition to any home.

For more information or to see our wide variety of reclaimed architectural antiques, visit our webstore at ogtstore.com.

 

Texas Showcase at the a’Bouzy Restaurant

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When restaurateur Shawn Virene proposed his first solo endeavor, a’Bouzy, he had a very particular vision in mind; a culinary haven where fine wines and great food have an equal place at the table.

a’Bouzy, named after the French village Bouzy located in the heart of the Champagne region, features an effervescent and coastal Mediterranean ambience echoing the namesake’s region throughout with an open layout, exposed brick and reclaimed wood.

Olde Good Things had the pleasure of working with Shawn and his team during the design process, in the hopes of bringing a mix of both modern and antique touches to round out his ideas for the space.

To help maximize seating capacity without sacrificing space, Olde Good Things recommended our custom-built industrial wood top swing seats in the bar and in the outdoor seating areas. These seats provide a classic industrial look with modern accents. As a counter to this modern seating solution, we suggested a set of 3 antique blown glass lattice pendant lights to help anchor the space. Throughout the dining room, Shawn and his team chose to use our Altered Antiques industrial wood flooring topped tables paired with Brooklyn cast iron legs to add a worn-in vintage feel.

At Olde Good Things, we enjoy working with restaurateurs and designers to help bring their ideas to life. We offer a wide variety of both custom-built and salvaged antique products to suit any need as well as providing special pricing for the restaurant industry. So, whether you’re looking to add elements of industrial, rustic, modern, or vintage, Olde Good Things has something for every design aesthetic.

Farmhouse Style Dining Room Tables

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Farmhouse style rustic is one of the most popular design trends sweeping the globe. Not only is the use of wood and metal an edgy look, it can provide the ideal balance between modern and cozy in the chemistry of your home.

Designing your kitchen with Farmhouse design elements is easy, and it will give the room a unique balance between cutting edge and traditional. Distressed finishes highlight this look; sleek distressed wall wood skins and timeless distressed furniture complement each other. Pair with vintage white subway tile and antique tin mirrors, wood and metal baskets, and chicken wire glass on the cabinet doors for a finished and perfected rustic kitchen and dining room. Other design elements to consider are iron hooks on planks to hang utensils, coats, or even antique light fixtures. Farmhouse style dining tables, in particular, are one way to bring this contemporary vibe into your space while inventing a traditional place to create years of memories.

The artisans at Olde Good Things have perfected the art of the farmhouse dining table. Like our other crafted items, the dining room tables are made from reclaimed materials, often from buildings over a century old that would otherwise end up clogging up the landfill. Custom salvaged wood from classic buildings is actually of a far better quality than the pressed fabricated wood used in new furniture. When choosing pieces of reclaimed wood from historic brownstones and famous buildings, our architecturologists select only the best reclaimed wood from the beams and joists. Then we send the specially selected wood to our warehouse in Scranton, where our craftsmen begin to sculpt and shape the  dining room tables. You can learn more about our custom process here.

If you have decided to go with this stunning look, measure your space and record the dimensions. Then contact us at Olde Good Things so we can help you decide on the right design style, color, finish, and size for your custom reclaimed wood dining table. All of our dining room tables are made to custom length, width, and height. Our beautiful wood choices include pine, oak, maple, and walnut. The finish for your dining room table top can be smooth, semi-rustic, or rustic with a stain to suit your color palette.

Featured Farmhouse Style Dining Room Tables

We also offer traditional benches as an addition to each custom dining table.

Despite its age, the wood used retains its quality and longevity, and will look and feel better than anything on the market. If you are ready to begin designing your custom reclaimed wood dining table, please contact us today.

Decorating in Style with Vintage Mosaic & Subway Tiles

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When most people think of tiles, they conjure up images of those horrendously tacky squares of cheap porcelain that crowd the floor of many older homes. Fortunately, when we talk about tiles we are talking about the classic, beautifully made, and carefully salvaged vintage and antique tile that we’ve had the privilege of adding to our growing inventory.

Vintage Off White Subway Tile – Photo Credit: Bloglovin’

With so many exquisite pieces entering our showroom we are eager to share with our customers a few creative decorating ideas that incorporate vintage and antique tiles.

Decorating your living room

Decorating with tile requires that you have either a friend in construction or a skill at creative repurposing. If you want to make a show stopping conversation piece, why not take on old coffee table and decorate the top of the table by making a mosaic of broken salvaged tiles. All you need is sandpaper, tiling cement, your choice of color or plain grout, and a selection of hand-picked vintage tile from Olde Good Things. If you don’t have an old coffee table, consider using a side table, or repurposing an old trunk. Get creative and enjoy the process.

If you’d rather leave your furniture as is, why not reface your old fireplace? Using vintage or antique tiles to add color or drama to your fireplace is a great way to make something old sooty into something “olde good”.

 

Wining & dining on vintage tiles

The sheer number of remodeling shows on TV can be staggering, but many of them provide our customers with great repurposing ideas. If you’re planning to remodel your kitchen and you want to add flair that cannot be bought at Home Depot you should piece together a backsplash made entirely of salvaged vintage tiles.

Check out this photo of a backsplash that literally catches the eye and makes the heart smile! Bright, colorful, and fun!

 

Why reusing vintage tiles is “green”

If you’re looking for something that will stand the test of time and make you feel great about your materials choices, you have to call Lowes, cancel that order for bathroom tiles, and tile your bathroom using salvaged subway tiles. When you reuse old tiles you are adding an “eco-friendly” stamp to your project which can actually increase the value of your property.

Here is a selection of tile that would be perfect for a bathroom remodel.

Olde Good Things is doing its part to make the world a beautiful place, one tile at a time. It’s up to you to check out what we have in stock and let your imagination run wild.

Do you have any creative ideas for reusing vintage and antique tile? Let us know and feel free to share your photos on our Facebook page.

A Reclaimed Mantel From the Plaza Hotel Brings Inspiration to a Manhattan Loft

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The world-famous Plaza Hotel in Manhattan overlooking Central Park is an undisputed architectural beauty. Olde Good Things discovered plenty of architectural wonders inside, as well, when the new owners held a tag sale prior to renovations in 2005. Our scavenging produced, among other things, around 300 reclaimed historic mantels for us to add to our collection.

Even more exciting are what our wonderful clients are able to do with our architectural salvage pieces.

Some of our clients were able to make drastic changes to the atmosphere of their Manhattan loft with the simple addition of a Plaza Hotel mantel. The clients felt that the wood-burning fireplace in their stunning loft was far from living up to its true potential.

Salvaged Plaza Hotel Marble Mantel </p><p><a href="https://ogtstore.com/antique-mantels-fireplaces/plaza-hotel-marble-mantel/" target="_blank">View Online</a>

Just look at how this stunning mantelpiece highlights a classic interior!

 

“It should have been the focal point of our living room, but instead it just looked like a dark hole in the wall,” said Han Willem Kotterman, the loft’s owner.

The clients began an unfruitful search for a mantelpiece that would change the look and feel of the fireplace and the living area in general. The space demanded a piece with edgy, classic lines that was not subject to ornamentation overkill.

With a one-week deadline to find the perfect piece AND install it, the clients were close to giving up. Most items were either not what they wanted or would take too long to arrive. This is when they “stumbled upon” Olde Good Things and an antique marble mantlepiece recovered from the Plaza.

Salvaged Plaza Hotel Marble Mantel<p><a target="_blank" href="https://ogtstore.com/antique-mantels-fireplaces/plaza-hotel-marble-mantel/">View Online</a>

Just look at how this stunning mantelpiece highlights a classic interior!

Although the mantel was exactly what the clients were looking for, Kotterman was skeptical that the impossible deadline would be met. The mantel was dismantled and delivered within 24 hours with the help of Joe at OGT. The marble slab need some slight repair, which was done within three days, and the mantel was professionally installed within five. The clients were very pleased with the look of this piece, along with its historical feel.

Salvaged Plaza Hotel Marble Mantel<p><a target="_blank" href="https://ogtstore.com/antique-mantels-fireplaces/plaza-hotel-marble-mantel/">View Online</a>

The fireplace is truly comment-worthy, and has a great story behind it. The Plaza, after all.

To see what other architectural wonders we have in stock, call Olde Good Things at 1-888-233-9678 or visit one of our locations. We are happy to feature your project in our Customer Showcase.

Below view the original salvaged pictures of where this mantel once stood in the extraordinary Plaza Hotel. There are several mantels still left in this particular style. View all the Plaza mantels still in stock.

 

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Legendary Plaza Hotel Reclaimed
View all the Plaza inventory online now

To see what other architectural wonders we have in stock, call Olde Good Things at 1-888-233-9678 or visit one of our locations. We are happy to feature your project in our Customer Showcase.

Customer Showcase: Reclaimed Glass Doors

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Though its manufacture has slowed in the United Sates, glass embedded with chicken wire has long been regarded, particularly in the world of industry, for its endurance and practicality. Its strength made it an ideal safeguard. It became a staple in factories, where its sturdy, shatter-proof quality kept workers inside safe and insulated from outdoor conditions.

The strength of the material also bestows it another prized characteristic: versatility. The sheer variety of texture with which it can be imbued lends itself to a gradient of design function and aesthetic. This texturing creates the effect of a mosaic: a stained glass window refracting pattern rather than color.

OGT has been salvaging this glass for years and in particular acquired a lot of the pebbled chicken wire glass, recently incorporated into a furniture design project, from a large factory in central Pennsylvania. In its time it was used as a skylight for the industrial powerhouse. It filtered in natural sunlight from a height of eighty feet above the factory floor. Its opacity brings to mind both the billowing haze characteristic of the industrial area, and the subtle beauty of a soft sunbeam.

Turn the clock nearly a century forward, and that same pebbled, chicken-wired glass is salvaged, restored, and put to use in a contemporary New York City loft.

Enter Union Studio, a small business based in Berkley, California, whose specialty lies in interior design and furniture craftsmanship. Each furniture piece, designed by company founder Matthew Bear, is custom built and crafted with utmost quality in mind.

For a company with such a claim to the aesthetic of the handmade, there is much thought, naturally, that goes into the material choice of each piece. And this is where the multi-purpose nature of the factory-recovered glass comes into play.

The panels were first put to use for the sliding doors of this shower. Here, the opacity of the pebbled texture offers the necessary privacy, and the embedded wiring provides the perfect design compliment to the metallic framing and shower handles.

Vintage glass paneling between these door frames bridges one room to the next. The translucency of glass gives the loft a cohesive sense of space. Meanwhile, the texture simulates a patterned fog just thick enough to isolate each room from the other.

The metallic plating of the glass gives even this cabinet an industrial embellishment that is right at home in with the rest of this kitchen area.

It’s remarkable to think that one piece of glass could branch out in so diverse a manner from its original purpose. What started out as distant skylight now becomes three distinct statement pieces that add cohesion and unification to the space through their shared material.

 

View more types of glass available.

View more customer showcases.

 

Olde Good Things