Determining the Age of Antique Furniture

It's been a busy couple of weeks, hence, my limited number of blogs....SORRY! I hope everyone is continuing to enjoy the holidays! It really is a fun time of the year. It's alomost 2011, now that's amazing. It's going to be another good year, I can feel it.

I came across this great article that you might find helpful as you are visiting antique shops and trying to determine the age of certain pieces. Take a few minutes and read through it and maybe even print it off. Feel free to use this article when you are in an antique shop.

Here is the link that you can copy and paste: http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/home/how-to-identify-antique-wooden-furniture-for-refinishing.htm

Christmas is Next Weekend!

Can you believe how quickly Christmas has arrived! It's only a week away! Is your shopping done? If not, don't stress over it. Make the holidays about spending time with family and friends and not so much about the material things. However, a little something is nice to exchange for Christmas : ) ......just no need to go overboard with the gifts.

Then, it's New Years and we are in 2011, that fast! 2011 is going to great!

Well, I better get back to work as it's a busy day here. ENJOY!

Oh yeah, Happy 50th Birthday to my brother Gary! He's awesome!

COLD in VA!

Wow! It is COLD today! There was even some snow on the ground this morning. Further North, the schools were 2 hours delayed. Hmmmm...is this any indication of a snowy and cold winter? I don't mind because I am a big kid and love the snow!

Today was yet another productive day. I remind myself that when there is something that you really want, no matter how hard the work is involved to get there, it's worth it. Stay positive, stay focused and everything will come together. If it's meant to be, then it's meant to be. I was told that again today and I agree!

Tomorrow is an auction and I am so tempted to go. I will take a look through the pictures again and see if this one is worthwhile. Perhaps I will wait until Friday's auction. So, if there is something you are looking for, just let me know!

Oh yeah, the antique shops in NY, AWESOME! Can't wait to go back and peruse.

Skipped the 2:30!

So I had my coffee, many hours ago now and we walked around the city and popped into this great restaurant where the food and service (Mike) was amazing. To be honest, we met quite a few Mike's in NY and they were all so nice...must be the name!

It was so nice in NY that we decided to move our trip from the 2:30 to the 5:30 bus and it was well worth it. Something about walking the streets of NY while it's snowing with a cup of coffee. We are on the bus now just outside of Baltimore and should be arriving at Union Station within the hour.

See you in January NY! Hello VA!

Monday, Monday!

Well, waking up on a Monday in New York sure is cool! This is no typical Monday for us. After all we are in NY! We've had such a nice time and accomplished a lot as well. I can't thank Mishi enough for getting us around the city. She is awesome!

The NY subway system has been great. It's so convenient. We also did a tremendous amount of walking as well. There is so much to see in NY that we did not realize how much walking we actually did until we got home. It's a good workout : )

By the way, the food in NY has been delicious! So many great little restaurants.
It's a little chilly today but it feels great! I am looking out the window at Vesuvio and can't wait to get a cup of coffee. We leave today at 2:30 but will be back in January. Mishi will be back in a couple of weeks to spend Christmas with her Mom and sister.

I know you are probably wondering when will I reveal our concept. The mission of this trip was to do research to get different ideas and make sure that our concept will work. Like I said in my previous post, yes it will. I don't want to spoil the surprise just yet since we have a lot of work to do before we can reveal it. As soon as everything comes together, we will definitely announce our project! OK, I need that cup of coffee.....off I go!

The Excitement Continues!

Hey! Sorry, but I did not get a chance to give you an update yesterday afternoon but it was a great day. We have done so much walking and continue to enjoy our stay along with getting lots of work done. Based on our research, yes, our concept will definitely work and we are thrilled about it! Sorry, I can't tell you what it is but I know you are going to love it!

After a lot of walking around, we went to a restaurant called Shelly's. One of the owner's came over to us a gave us a nice little treat. We had a great conversation and it turns out his company also owns a couple of restaurants in the National Harbor.

Today, we continued our research and then took a break and went to a fantastic art show!

OK, so I have to run for now. The family owned place that we are visiting right now is so nice! They are closing so I better sign off for now. Updates coming soon....

Another Research Kind of Day!

Good morning to you! Hopefully you're weekend is off to a great start. Saturday in Soho is off to an interesting start but I will leave that to the news media.

Where did I leave off last night? Oh yeah, that's right we were taking a break before heading back out for more research. This is such an awesome city. I learned what "UWS" and "LWS" meant. Before you know it all of our words are going to be decreased to just one letter.

We were fortunate enough to be able to stop by a couple of great places last night. I was impressed with this one location we visited. A young guy just opened his location and was doing a fantastic job. Young entrepreneurs ROCK!

Guess where we ended up after walking around the city, Arturo's again! Tony the bartender is awesome and the music us just perfect! I enjoyed linguini with marinara and of course a Guiness. Mishi, arugula salad. Oh yeah, when walking there we passed by Cipriani's, which is 2 blocks from where are staying, there was a 2011 Rolls Royce parked in front of the restaurant with, of course, a driver waiting. I have to admit, I was impressed. I even came home and Googled the cost of the car.....don't pass out but it was $245,000. Hmmmm should I order one? hahaha...yeah right!

We are heading out now to continue our venture. The research here has been tremendously helpful so far and I am confident it will continue....CURIOUS? First off, a late morning cup of coffee. I wounder what is in store for us today? Stay tuned and I will let you know!

Spotted: Jim Carey in Central Park!

As I was getting ready to go out for the day, there was someone playing Jingle Bells with their car horn, pretty cool until NYPD yelled through their microphone for them to stop.

Then we headed out and had a great cup of coffee at Vesuvio in Soho, you have to go there! Oh yeah, the chocolate chip cookies are addicting! We then went to an art gallery and appreciated some beautiful paintings. From there we hopped on the subway and headed to Central Park area. Thanks Mishi for getting us around on the subway! Got a little hungry so we stopped at Jalepeno and had a couple burritos with a Stella.

Then, we did some research, for the concept : ) At one point we were looking up directions in front of a movie trailer. All of a sudden, Jim Carey walks out of the trailer. He was 2 feet away from us! He was walking to a movie set. That, of course, was an awesome experience!

We walked around the city as snow flurries were falling and just an overall great experience admiring the city. We are back at our place now taking a break and are heading out in a bit to do a little more research while walking around the city. It's Friday night, so the city should be interesting. I will let you know what happens a little later....Continue to stay tuned!

Friday morning in Soho

We arrived in Soho last night around 10:00, dropped off our bags at the very cool spot where we are staying (Thanks Gisi for the accommodations, your place is awesome!) We enjoyed a great meal at Arturo's. Thankfully, we were able to walk there since it is only 2 blocks or so away. I was torn between a pizza or the sausage, I went for the sausage with a Guiness to go along with it and will go back for the pizza since it is delicious! Mishi had an arugula salad and a Merlot and it was fantastic! The locals were all hanging out and there was live jazz music playing. In fact, one of the songs was the Charlie Brown Christmas song! So fun! Today, we are about to walk right across the street to Vesuvio for a coffee. Then our research continues in NY as we explore our concept. Yikes! I almost revealed it! So stay tuned.....the adventure continues!

On the BOLT bus!

So as I mentioned yesterday, I would do a little blogging while in New York. We are an hour and a half into our trip on the BOLT bus and it's awesome. I highly recommend them. We should arrive in Soho around 09:45 and then off to Arturo's for dinner. Perhaps we will see Bill Murray there again as it appears to be one of his favorite local hang outs. Or, perhaps we will run into Brook Shields again at one of the great local restaurants again (forgot the name)! Stay tuned...I will keep you posted! Be back soon...

New York Bound!

Tomorrow I am heading to New York to do a little research on a new concept that I am working on. I am so excited about the concept but I can't reveal what it is just yet as there is a lot of work to do before I can talk about. It's a busy, yet, very exciting time for JP's!

I've heard so much about the antique markets in New York so as you can imagine I am looking forward to visiting and hopefully checking out a few of them.

We have added quite a bit of new merchandise in our shop so be sure to check out our items on the link to the right. As always, if you are shopping around for anything in particular, please let me know!

I will hopefully do a little blogging from New York so stay tuned!

Furnishing Your Home?

Have you recently purchased a home and would like to furnish it with beautiful antique furniture? Let me know and I can help you!

I am noticing a trend in our shop, a good one I must add, that there is a wonderful increase in new homeowners wanting to furnish their home with antique furniture. Personally, I think it's a great idea as antique furniture is made so well and seems to last forever!

If you are a lucky new homeowner, or just shopping around for certain pieces, feel free to send me an e-mail of the items you are looking for and I will be happy to keep an eye out for you. I am always out and about shopping around for merchandise for the shop along with specific items for our customers.

Take a look at one of the Empire pieces that just sold.....a great addition to our customer's home.

Weekend is here!

So the weekend is finally here and you are probably going through a list of things to do, some of which are considered chores and you really don't want to do them, right? I know the feeling. I would suggest putting those chores on hold, pour yourself a well deserved cup of coffee and spend the day outside! The weather is going to be awesome this weekend so why not enjoy it before Mother Nature sends us gifts of cold and snow in a month or two.

Oh yeah, while you are outside enjoying the weather, why not stop by our antique shop! It's a perfect day for it. Something about nice weather really makes "antiquing" that much more fun!

Whatever it is that you decide to do, make sure you enjoy each day, especially today!

Exciting Time in our Shop!

Wow! It's an exciting time for us, and of course for you! We have been adding a lot of new merchandise lately. It's very busy, many thanks to you :) and, as a result, we have been doing a lot of shopping around and have discovered some great pieces. We don't have all the pictures available here on our blog so it might be a good idea to stop on by this weekend. We look forward to seing you! If you don't see what you are looking for, no worries, just let us know and we will keep an eye out for you.

Have a great weekend! Hope to see you at the shop.

Fall is just around the corner!

The weather in the DC area is fantastic! I love this time of the year. In fact, it's almost time to break out the fall/winter wardrobe! In that case, perhaps this rabbit fur coat should be added to your collection! It's so nice, if you don't mind wearing fur coats, that is.

Danish Modern Style Dining Set!

Hi there! We just received this fantastic Danish Dining Set! It sturdy and beautiful!

To see more of our items, click on the link to the right for some of our available merchandise!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Wow! Once again, it's been a while since my last post! Where does the time go? It's an excting time as the shop has been very busy. Many thanks to our customers for stopping by! If you have not had a chance to stop by, please do! We are always adding new inventory and have tons of beautiful merchandise. In fact, I will go ahead and add a few more pieces online this evening so you can have a peek! Hope to see you soon!

MORE NEW ITEMS!

A Couple New Items!

Check out the size of the mahogany sideboard! So convenient!

Also, the Federal Style dining chairs are amazing.....

ETSY!

Hello! Guess what? We are selling on ETSY now! So excited. We also accept PayPal so if you see something you are interested in, let me know. Should have signed up for PayPal a LONG time ago. Never too late though. ENJOY!

Beautiful Antique Wall Miror

Wow! It's been a few weeks since I've blogged! So sorry....New York was great, as always. Now preparing for the beach for the 4th. Hope I can make it!

Check out this beautiful wall mirror that we have available. The beveled mirror and the detail in the wood is amazing....

New Inventory!

I am off to New York for the weekend but wanted to let you know that we have some new inventory. Take a look to the right and click on the picture under "Check Out Some of Our Inventory." For a better look, stop by our shop on Saturday! Our shop is full of beautiful merchandise!

SOLD!

Our great sale was a success! Check out a few of the items recently sold!

Great weather! Great sale!

It's a beautiful time of the year so why not have a sale!

Solid Oak dining table and 6 matching chairs....ONLY $995!

Depression Era bedroom set...ONLY $950!

Beautiful Antique Homes!

The first picture is called a Prarie School style home. The second is a Queen Anne and the last picture is a French Eclectic style home. Beautiful, right?! For more go to www.antiquehome.org.

It's Available!

Nice wing back arm chair is available!

Check out these great tips for your antiques! It's time to show them off!

Click on the following link:

Caring for Antique Furniture - How to Clean and Care for Antique Furniture Video - About.com

ON SALE! Rabbit Fur Coat!

Take a look at this beautiful rabbit fur coat. The tag notates that it's genuine rabbit fur with leather trim and nylon lining. It's a size 11/12. In beautiful condition! Interested? Let me know!

Lots of Attention on the Depression Era Bedroom Set

During the past few days, this Depression Era bedroom set sure is getting a lot of attention! I must admit, it is a beauty!

New Merchandise!

French Provincial Style Arm Chairs!

Aren't these beautiful! Their French provincial style wing back arm chairs.

Four Piece Bedroom Set - STILL AVAILABLE!

Can you believe it? We still have this beautiful antique bedroom set available!

Hard to Find! Antique Draw Dining Table!

You will love this one! Hard to find as well. We have a beautiful antique draw dining table with six chairs. The set is in fantastic condition!

SNOW, SNOW, SNOW!

The snow has been beautiful and exciting! Although the shop is closed, you can still see some of our merchandise online right here on my blog!

Full of Great Merchandise!

It's a new year and our shop is full of beautiful antiques and collectibles! Stop by! We have come across great items and have also received requests for certain pieces that we are shopping around for and should have the items soon. What are you shopping around for? Let us know!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Wishing you the very best for 2010! Cherish each day!