A new meaning for Christmas lights

Salvage shops are awesome. To date, I've only found one in Madison. Detroit (and the surrounding area), however, has a fair number. That could be because large chunks of the city are being gutted. The more sentimental part of me hopes it's because people there recognize the history salvaged items represent.

Either way, my voyage over Thanksgiving paid some serious dividends when my family and I went to visit a few.

The first was a place in Toledo. I have no idea what the name of the place was anymore but the name of their website is Cool Stuff is Cool Stuff and I'm inclined to agree with them. While they had some beautiful items, they've sadly gone the way of many salvage shops and were quite expensive.

I did find a heat register cover that I'm working on for the bathroom, but that was about it at that one.

On our way home, we decided to stop by another shop in Ypsilanti about a mile from my sister's house. I've had a really hard time finding hinges that match all of the others in the house. All but 5 doors have them - and the doors that don't currently have them aren't original doors.

I've also been looking for a light for the dining room pretty much perpetually since I bought Isthmus House. I've come close to buying a few and had pretty much resigned myself to the likelihood that I would have to go with a reproduction. The one that was hanging in the dining room when I bought the house wasn't a real option.

When we hit the front door of the store, they immediately said that they likely had a few of the hinges I was looking for and often got more in. I've been looking for these hinges for six months. They had the two I needed right in the store and, yesterday, they texted me to let me know they just got in plenty more and to ask how many more I needed.

I could hardly believe it.

All of that is great - see the aforementioned six month hinge search - but the best was what I found that I didn't really mean to. While one of the store employees was searching for those hinges (there are buckets of them), we took a look around.

Several items drew my attention and little bit of envy but there was one that I could actually afford and needed for our home: a new light.

 

Made by the Steuben Glass Works in 1905, it's not perfect but it looks, in the words of Nicole Curtis, "looks a lot better than I will in 100 years." With a molded, acid-cut milk glass shade and brass chain links, I think it's perfect for Isthmus House and will nicely tie the dining room together.

As my Christmas gift to myself this year, I can't wait for everyone to see it at my birthday/Christmas party on Saturday!