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Posts Tagged ‘Hudson’

What Is This Thing?

Posted in Uncategorized on April 17th, 2013 by Stephanie – 1 Comment

It is a factory glove, fingerless and meant to hold hot steel.

A rare form, it looks more like art than a work-a-day

item. I have 2 of them in the Hudson Supermarket.

A Room For A Reindeer

Posted in Uncategorized on April 16th, 2013 by Stephanie – 2 Comments

It’s been a long time since I have written a blog. And it shows! The following

is full of big, fat spaces that I never intended and can’t get rid of. They require

one to scroll, scroll, scroll…so, my most humble apologies for the imperfection!

It is no surprise that I am crazy about German grain sacks. And even though

I no longer import them in the huge quantities of a few years ago, I sometimes

can’t resist making a purchase. The hand-drawn reindeer on the grain sack

(below) is a recent acquisition that is so special that I have named a room after

him! Alfred’s Room.

He belonged to, and was named by, my dear friend, Karin, a German antique

dealer who lives in France and writes the most charming blog, found here:

lapouyette-unddiedingedeslebens.blogspot.com

I have this little room in the old 1790s part of my house that never quite got to

be anything but a dumping ground for all the things that had nowhere else

to go. When Karin agreed to sell me Alfred, this treasured sack from her

homeland, I knew that it required a place worthy of such kindness and I got

busy making a room ready for his arrival.

I brought in other reindeer.

Including a favorite painting by my great friend, Jennifer Lanne

(jenniferlanne.com)

Made some grain sack curtains, all sporting reindeer, natch!

I looked out the window one snowy day and realized that the lovely bare winter

branches looked like antlers! Even nature was cooperating in creating a warm

welcome for Alfred.

For now Alfred is draped over my little fireside bench.

The bench is upholstered with a Swedish drop cloth from the

1800s and is full of the most beautiful old hand-worked repairs.

My coffee table is a Swedish sailor’s trunk. It is wood, covered

in grey canvas. There is a wonderful brass label on the top…

But, best of all, is the hand-written inventory label on the inside. While I have been

assured that Swedish is easy to learn, I am content, for now, to just imagine what

this pretty thing says.

Whenever I am doing a new room, I run around the house gathering

favorite things. This Victorian pillow is perfect for a reindeer’s room.

This one had to come, too.

A southwestern corner shelf, Vischy baskets, more animals and,

of course, books.

Who’s to say why some things please us so? Colors, shapes, words or maybe just

some long-forgotten memories trigger our senses.

The group below includes a tole box (on the left) that my mother painted

back in the 1970s. During that same period of time, my parents gave me the

oval lunch box on the top of the pile of document boxes. It was my first piece

in old paint and I still love it…and old paint, as much as I did then.

My oldest grain sack. Sigh.

I have had this chair for a million years. It is surprisingly comfortable

and, along with my bench, allows me to entertain a friend in my

new room. I hope someday that friend will be Karin!

There are all kinds of things I could do with my new reindeer

grain sack. A jacket, a bed cover, anything would be fun.

But for now, I am happy, whiling away some time in Alfred’s

room, looking at his funny little face, thinking of Germany and

wondering what treasures Karin is out there finding right now!

What’s New In The Hudson Supermarket?

Posted in Uncategorized on February 25th, 2012 by Stephanie – 1 Comment

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MORE SPACE = MORE FUN.

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That’s what I keep telling myself as I gobble up more and more space in the world’s

most super market, the Hudson Supermarket.

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I love it here. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

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And even though I have just added on again, I still look past my now-very-long run

of booths and see how much more stuff I could put in here if I only had just another

30 or 100 feet.

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I could have more factory cart furniture. I’ve been making upholstered seating from

carts for more than 10 years and I never get tired of them. I don’t have one myself

because I have to replace these faster than I can have the upholstery completed. But,

someday….

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I could have more chickens!

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And, more of the world’s largest flags.

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More French chaises. This one is upholstered in a vintage heavy linen, embroidered

French sheet, natch.

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There would be room for more deconstructed American chaises. This one

started out as a fainting couch…covered in that fancy-schmancy shiny stuff,

stuffed with uncomfortable horsehair. It had one of those upholstered curved

things (to keep fair maidens from toppling as they fainted dead away, I

suppose) along what is now just an open side. The thick, hand woven linen

and piles of down invite cat naps and other activities that don’t necessarily

require passing out.

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And, another few Frenchy day dream daybeds.

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I designed the pair of fireside benches (the frames are built from the ground

up) and had them upholstered in the most beautiful ca 1900 Swedish drop

cloth material, complete with all the markings and fantastic hand worked

repairs and patches.

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They’ve already been copied by a well-known retailer. Whom I shall not

name.

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Their mass-produced fabric is unusual and really wonderful.

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But not as nice as mine!

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The 1930s steamer chair is upholstered in the last of the drop cloth material.

The grommets, old rope and other parts of the drop cloths are left intact and

look incredible….so there, big international retailer!

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I really like small stuff, but only if it is old and different from the run of the

mill things that are everywhere. These jars, new-old stock with wonderful

labels, are sure to be reproduced and will show up in a retail store near you

very soon!

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These fabric sample books, ranging from 1887 to 1912, are loaded with

pieces of wool and the most wonderful old hand-written notations and

labels. They are real treasures and are hard for me, a lover of textiles, to

let go. The wavy pages of the book in the middle of the table is like art to

me and, thus, even though it is the newest, is my favorite.

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Other textiles, samples of linen and cotton duck.

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And an old artist’s apron.

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Piles and piles of old bags…

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of all different kinds.

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I have dozens of old Swiss Army bread bags, perfect for slinging

over a shoulder. The leather loops were meant to hang on the handles

of a bicycle.

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Canvas of all kinds gives me a thrill! The thermos cover is full of buckles

and ties and do-dads, including the owner’s initials.

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In a departure from my mostly masculine look, I couldn’t resist a load of pretty

1920s-40s lingerie and jewelry bags from a stone house in Vermont.

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Old advertising, there’s nothing like it anymore. Here, a heavy paper

electric light! I wonder if anyone really believed that the Easy Washer

and the Easy Ironer were easy?

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A 1950s paint bucket! I love the embossed numbers and the

happy housewife.

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Even old oil cans looked better back then.

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The window at my post office is nowhere near as good looking as this one

with its gilded lettering, patterned glass and lack of junk mail.

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I have a hundred cultivator parts that make perfect little shelves now that

their farmer has gone modern. The 1937 orange paper “license plates” in

the chrome holders are fillers, merely meant to show how they would look

on a brand new Chevy.

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A see-saw turned bench. Something fun for a front porch.

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A pair of 1800s iron rabbits.

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And a mid century papier mache panda. Animals. Still the loves of my life.

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But, best of all, paintings by my friend and the greatest living artist,

Jennifer Lanne (JenniferLanne.com). This 6 foot x 6 foot depiction

of country life is the way we would all like it to be. As much as I would

like to keep it for myself, I have it on 1st Dibs for all the world to see.

(1stdibs.com > click “Hudson” in the “Cities” column on the right >

type “Stephanie Lloyd” in “keyword search” on left.

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I think this one is my favorite with its farm animals, barn, baskets and view.

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But what about this one? The color! The sheep! Is that a Swedish drop cloth

I see on the chair? Picking a favorite is hard for all of us. We really just want

it all. In the end, I guess it comes down to space. We always need just that

extra 30 or 100 extra feet.

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All photos and written materials are the legal property of Stephanie Lloyd

and Stephanie Lloyd At The Hudson Supermarket. Please do not copy,

reproduce or in any way use without express written permission.

‘Cause Doesn’t Everybody Need A Price Tag Room?

Posted in Uncategorized on February 20th, 2012 by Stephanie – 1 Comment

I think that deep down, no matter how lackadaisical we might be, we all

really crave organization. It just feels better when everything is in its place,

when the scissors are in the drawer where we need them, when the car keys

are there when we’re ready to roll.

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Even more, many of us want special places for doing the things that give us

pleasure: a place to wrap presents or to paint. And, in truth, we are so

affected by our surroundings, that we experience a better time in spaces that look

nice than we do in chaos. Who wants to do laundry squeezed into the corner of a

damp basement when an attractive, sunny place would be so much more appealing?

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Trends come and go but the most interesting and, to me, astounding one a few

years ago was the advent of Costco Rooms. These large, expensive additions were

purely for stockpiling purchases made at the discount store, Costco. I still find it hard

to believe that the savings gained by the bulk purchase of discounted paper towels

would ever off set the price of the room itself.

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However, my own recent brainstorm for using a small barely-seen room in

my house has made me see that maybe I was too quick to scoff at the Costco Room.

For I am now the happy owner of a Price Tag Room…..

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Tucked in a cranny, under beams in the 1790 part of our farmhouse, the space has

been an unused bedroom, an unused sitting room and an unused writing room in our

time. One day while I was dragging my price tag bag around the house, trying to

decide where I should set myself up, I got the idea that this nice little room was the

perfect place to be. All I had to do was find a perfect table in the barn and I’d be ready

to go. Everything else was already there: an old wicker waste basket, decorated with

papier mache swags and fruit, paintings and other decor that I love.

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Store display cow heads, organ pipes with the most amazing patina. Beams!

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A commodious and oh-so-comfortable English wing chair…

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The walls were painted a few years ago to look like a forest by my friend, artist Jennifer

Lanne. They are covered wall-to-wall with my favorite paintings of farm animals…

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Below, a study from Sweden…

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And this sweet-looking trio…

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But, what is going on here? Where are these barnyard friends going by the light of the

moon? Are they off to a seaside vacation? A night on the town? They say every picture

tells a story but this one, delightfully, leaves me with many questions left unanswered.

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Below, a farm wife in a blue apron pours fresh cool water for her pretty girls. I

place myself in her wooden shoes and feel the joy of her spectacular surroundings.

I know it is work! But just look at the expression on her face! She is providing something

nice for those who provide for her. While wearing cool clothing! All that beauty just

has to make her day brighter.

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Below, all is primitive and perfect, from the ladder leaning on a thatched roof to the

chickens enjoying breakfast in the sun. Someday, when I become a painter, I want

to be just like this artist who (imagining two suns or just not planning ahead), cast

shadows from the trees and from the ladder from two different angles.

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Cows in art are always wandering down country lanes.

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Wandering down lanes. Drinking cool water. Eating fresh green grass.

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In beautiful places.

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Places we would like to be ourselves.

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It all seems so wholesome, so simple, so easy.

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So peaceful.

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Is it any wonder that century after century artists want to paint these scenes and

we want to own them? They make us feel so good.

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What else makes me feel good? Sitting at my desk, looking at this fabulous

6 foot x 6 foot painting (below), another by Jennifer Lanne. I asked her to paint me

something with a bookcase and a chair. She knows me well so there’s no need

to say more. There are two paintings within this painting: one of sheep

on the middle shelf on the left side of the bookcase and the other a painted

pillow on the chair (the pillow’s scene is hard to see in this photo).

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And, of course, the reason for the room: the price tags!

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I guess it begs the question, why a Price Tag Room?

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It all goes back to the price tags themselves. I have been in the antiques business

for many years and have always wanted my tags to be as unusual and interesting

as the pieces they represent.

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Just like the desire to have my surroundings be appealing, I want the work

I do to please me, to please my eye, to be fun for me and, hopefully, be fun

for the customers in the Hudson Supermarket where I have my public show

room. Writing price tags isn’t a chore for me. It is part of what makes me love

what I do. Having a perfect place to do this enhances the experience in ways I

didn’t expect when I decided to give myself this room.

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In the early years, I made price tags from photos and other printed paper

of heavy stock. There were old tattered hand-made linen maps, restaurant

receipts and anything else that caught my eye.

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When I started selling industrial furnishings, some of the private pickers with whom I had

developed relationships had items, such as the metal machine labels (pictured above),

which I couldn’t resist. I asked for more and now have such a huge collection that, even

if I never purchased another tag, I would be set for life! While a Sharpie does work on the

metal tags, a paper sticker on the back side does an even better job and looks nicer.

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The one above is my all-time favorite. I use it for pricing my most favorite pieces. It has

everything going for it… Money! Trouble! An old car! I just know the waving driver of

this 1940s dream car is having fun, maybe even looking for trouble. The speed lines

behind the car seem to prove me right. I don’t mind at all that I have to reinforce the

string hole. And speaking of string…

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The string is important, too! I use everything from heavy electrical wire to fat cotton fishing

line. The brown waxed twine is from France, the brown with pink at the bottom of the photo

has copper wire inside its cloth webbing. I match the string to the mood of the piece of furniture

and the tag. This is all very time consuming but so much more satisfying, for me, than

writing on the same old, same old, same old little white Office Max tag with its wimpy white

string.

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Storage is a key component of my happy life! Interesting containers make all the difference.

Which brings me right back to that Costco Room which, suddenly, doesn’t seem so weird,

after all!

What’s In Hudson?

Posted in Uncategorized on July 16th, 2011 by Stephanie – 2 Comments

About a third of our smaller Brimfield purchases have absorbed into our space

at the Hudson Supermarket. The big stuff, the counters, cupboards, workbenches

are all in the rough and all require cleaning, repairing, re-purposing or something.

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It is nice to wind down from our days at Brimfield by moving furniture around

and making things look fresh.

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I am crazy about the door and the industrial scale, both from Brimfield.

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Sadly, the counter with the fab back splash didn’t work in my bathroom.

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I love this counter with its many layers of robin’s egg over red over mustard.

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When I admired my friend’s tea chest, she said “don’t you think it’s a side table?”

Lucky me to have friends with the good sense to know a side table when they see

one.

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This 3′ trough (I have a pair) is my most favorite small purchase from Brimfield.

I guess it is something to do with chickens? If anyone finds more, I will buy them!

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More things from Brimfield: an unusual tin and enamel pitcher and a moonshine

jug.

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I love tiny stove doors, especially if they have great decoration. This one is

just 6″ and is my first with a crown. Next to it (not shown) is one with a

mermaid.

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Below, another Brim favorite. The skulls might be a warning: Hands Off!

Keep Out! Or just a trendy statement. Either way, I couldn’t keep my hands

off of this funky box.

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There’s a whole lot of stuff I couldn’t keep my hands off of at Brimfield.

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And in the coming weeks, it will all make its way to Hudson.

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The Great Wall of Hudson

Posted in Uncategorized on June 26th, 2011 by Stephanie – 2 Comments

I wanted a new wall in my space in the Hudson Supermarket.

It was easy as…

ONE

TWO

THREE

What won’t be so easy is if a customer wants a cubby from the very center of

the wall….

Strong Bodies

Posted in Uncategorized on June 14th, 2011 by Stephanie – 2 Comments

It is obvious to me, as I watch Ken and Tom load this very heavy, 11 foot long

country store counter, that they must have eaten their Wonder Bread. Because,

as we all know, Wonder Bread Builds Strong Bodies 8 Ways.

I was thrilled to get this fabulous counter because of its hand-painted advertising.

We will probably make 2 four foot counters and one 3 footer. Or something like that.

Unless a customer wants it long. Maybe I’ll put half in the Hudson Supermarket and

keep the other half. Here I go again, planning to keep my inventory. But, when will I

ever see another one of these again? Sheesh.

It is difficult for most antique dealers, at least the ones who purchase only what they

love, to part with any of it. Especially the special things, the one of a kind items, the

pieces that you will never forget. Most have lists in their minds of the things they

wish they kept. Many of us constantly switch this piece for that one in our houses.

But in the end, it is a business, a livelihood and, sadly, we can’t keep it all. But why

not just this one counter??????

Perfect or Patina?

Posted in Uncategorized on June 12th, 2011 by Stephanie – 1 Comment

The iron horse (below) languished at the bottom of the ocean off the Jersey shore until

it was discovered, along with many other small treasures, by a deep-sea-diving antique

dealer. Its charm is so great that I have never wanted to part with it.

Would anyone else have chosen this rusty old downspout? It is one of the oldest

downspouts in my large collection. The fact that its top is a bit bashed and I have

had to glue its original embellishments back on a few times has only made me

love it more.

Or this worn out puti? There is real beauty under the fabulous old paint. It is nice

to see the cracks and texture in the straw-plaster mix and find parts of the iron

wire structure, that help to make permanent what really is so delicate, peeking out in

places.

My best frame? Not for everybody. And, the gilded lion who perches inside it once graced

something far fancier than I’d ever possess. Unless covered in layers of paint and grunge.

The beautiful mirrored glass fragments with the deeply-cut stars were originally owned,

in the same broken condition, by a dancer with the New York Ballet who must have

loved them as much as I do. His downsizing (at a sale run by the fabulous Janet Sherwood

of Antiques at 30B) was my good luck and, while I’ve moved them around many times

over the last 15 years, I have never considered, even under the greatest of customer

pressure, letting these lucky stars leave my house.

Alligatoring! Nice! Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, of course, and alligatoring…one

of the many expressions of patina… is one that I always hope to find.

Most people don’t want lamps in this deteriorating state. But, “looks good, works good,

is good”, that’s what I say. The tests of form and function are both satisfied and so am I.

And I guess they wouldn’t pick this copper flag pole topper out of the crowd, either. Or

should I just admit that it is an industrial plunger and move on? Where there’s patina,

who needs a fancy title?

Patina with writing? I love it! This colorful early washtub is a testament to our

longing for beauty in our work-a-day lives, the hope for little pleasures to make

what could be a dreary chore more fun.

Zinc labeling on wood. Old gray paint. Good as it gets.

Nothing like a whole pile of patina to make my heart sing. So many people stopped

on their way down our country road to ask when our sale started that we had to

pitch a tent, hidden behind one of the barns, to temporarily store this huge overflow

from a week’s worth of shopping at Brimfield.

Some would say that these doors had seen better days. They would be wrong!

Raggedy old her? Right up my alley!

Her, too…same alley.

Mighty good pickins in some of those alleys!

Why, oh, why did I sell this cupboard? Yes, I know it is the top half of a cupboard.

But, so what? Its proportions are good and just look at the layer upon layer of

whites, grays, blues over nice old pine.

And this one? Sooo pretty. And, look here: while the previous cupboard was the

top half, this one is the side half… cut down the middle. See the bottom rail? When

it was whole, it had a traditional inverted heart-shaped skirt. A clever fix for a

piece that must have been too damaged to retain its full width.

What about this cupboard? The paint is original on all of these, I swear that it’s

true. The way that the paint has re-arranged itself on this one is a feast for the

patina-loving eye.

At least I still have the weather vane (below). It is not old, of that I am sure.

But it is extremely well made from old patina-ready iron parts and I couldn’t be

happier with it even if it were celebrating its hundredth birthday.

And, this one! I took it to my shop, then thought better of it and brought it right back home

where it belongs.

But, this pretty-in-pink shutter panel, one of 8…..gone with the wind.

Same sad story for the pink-over-green sofa. Gone but not forgotten.

Potato Chips? Paint chips? Who’s asking?

Another metal label. Why don’t they do this any more? I mean I know it’s about cost, but

what a shame to see bar codes on hard-to-remove stickers where craftsmanship used to

reside.

Green, over red, over white, over who knows what else? So many layers, so carefully

chosen, showing for all they are worth and knowing full well that things of beauty

have no fear of time.

And, patina does take time…

Sometimes the elements help.

But, wait! Did I say that patina takes time? I guess that I meant that SOMETIMES

patina takes time. While other times it just needs a little skill: like in the case of this

cupboard, currently at the Hudson Supermarket, that benefited so greatly from

Ken’s magic brush.

I’ve never chosen perfect things and, to be honest, while I can appreciate items of

high quality and fine finishes, I don’t particularly care to own them. They seem

ordinary, a little hum-drum, too high maintenance. Maybe too easy. Definitely

not as much fun. Sometimes it is price that makes me choose the fixer-uppers, the

pieces begging to be turned into something else. Sometimes it is just the imperfection

itself that reels me in. I do know for sure, though, that given the choice between

perfect and patina, I will choose patina every time. Or, maybe that’s just another

way of saying that patina IS perfect.

Dang It !

Posted in Uncategorized on May 27th, 2011 by Stephanie – 1 Comment

Life is meant to be fun and I am committed to doing my best toward that end.

The copper sink, the custom steer head from a western ranch, the letters that

could have come straight out of the mouth of a cowboy on that ranch all put a

smile on my face.

Friendly Service…is not a thing of the past. All these photos are of my items in

the Hudson Supermarket, where friendly service is alive and well.

This glass melting pot, from a 1905 glass-blowing factory in West Virginia has an

unusual story attached. The pickers who cleaned the place out when it closed in the

1990s, were told that this was called a “pee pot” and, in order to keep the pot primed,

it was necessary to (yikes!) pee in it first.

I have a tall stack of 1950′s Motor Magazines and every cover is a

joy to behold.

Who doesn’t like a tiny pair of 1930′s football pants? Only about 2 feet long,

I can just see the tough little freckle- faced kid who wore these.

I have a real thing for contractor’s model houses (see the roof sitting behind it?). The best

one I ever saw, at Brimfield, of course, was enormous, about 5 feet long and three stories

tall. It, too, was a contractor’s piece but this time, the house was an advertisement for

home renovations. It had a dozen tiny workers: painters, carpenters, roofers, electricians,

all standing on ladders or in some way attached to the building, doing their jobs. The

happy homeowners were standing outside watching the proceedings with much good cheer.

A few of the people and house parts were sitting near the house and the seller told us that

he had driven all the way from Virginia with the house, uncovered, on top of his truck.

Sheesh! No wonder all those renovations were required. That house did not make it to my

house, only because the price was so sadly, but justifiably, high. But, after 20+ years, I

remember it still.

This garden string winder is a thing of such beauty to my eyes. The patina, shape

and the remnants of old twine just leave me, like that cowboy, saying

“Dang!” Life sure is fun…

Red Chair Comes To Hudson!

Posted in Uncategorized on May 27th, 2011 by Stephanie – Be the first to comment

Much to my delight, Red Chair Antiques, formerly of Peterborough, New

Hampshire, has moved to Hudson, New York. Located at 606 Warren

Street, right in the heart of Hudson’s fabulous and famous antique district,

owner, Jocie Sinauer, has, once again created a stunning, dream-like feast

for the eyes.

Ken and I enjoyed a sneak peek yesterday, a day before her Memorial Weekend

opening. Somewhat larger than the lovely Peterborough store, this location has a

real Swedish farmhouse feel with its soft colors, two levels and rear courtyard.

The look is European-American-rustic-sophisticated-edgy-fresh and 100% chic.

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The photos here are of Jocie and her husband, David’s, Peterborough house

but give an idea of the treasures and treats to be expected at the new store.

Check out Jocie’s site, www.redchair-antiques.com for more.

All these photos are the property of:

Amy Azzarito of Design Sponge (wwwdesignsponge.com).

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Red Chair is only three blocks up from the Hudson Supermarket and it is

going to be fun having such a fabulous new store in the hood. I highly

recommend that a visit be planned ASAP.

Red Chair on Warren

606 Warren Street,

Hudson, New York 12534

redchair-antiques.com

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