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This Saturday, August 14th, Aurora has their annual Aurora Colony Days. Come celebrate Aurora’s history! There is a large outdoor antiques fair with antique dealers from around the Northwest from 9 am- 5 pm, a pancake breakfast from 7 to 11 am, an art show and sale from 10 -5, children activities, a living history demonstration, live music and so much more! Admission is free!
As someone who works with architectural salvage, I am always looking for new ways to reuse items. Some ideas come readily such as the tall, sleek and beautiful pharmaceutical measuring beaker I use as a vase (I love antique lab equipment!) but what to do with a light bulb, that UGLY 1970’s dresser or worn out wool t-shirts or blankets. I discovered a magazine at my library called READYMADE – Instructions for Everyday Life. This isn’t just about reusing that cool vintage piece but using all those scrappy, banal items that, well, we normally just sadly toss. There are also great articles about what designers and artist are doing in the world of reuse and actually some pretty tasty recipes. Their look is edgy, modern and fun. At the ReadyMade website there is a list of projects to make and some of these projects have a broken down price list to help you estimate the cost. When I first logged on to their site for this blog post I saw a picture of a Wonder Woman wallet. I definitely have to make this!  Wonder Woman wallet made from comic book pages! Artist Kara of Kara Paslay Designs created this chandelier using Mason jars. The light is bright and crisp. This link gives how-to directions. This is the same concept for the chandeliers Doug Washington created at Irving Street Kitchen in Portland’s Pearl District. A picture of those chandeliers are on an earlier blog post of mine.  Mason Jar Chandelier - This was a blog post on the ReadyMade website.  Bud vase made from an old lightbulb. Think about all the other cool light bulb shapes there are out there! Directions for this light bulb vase are also on the ReadyMade website. As are the directions for making this very cool solar system pillow. This one doesn’t directly say to use recycled materials but you could.  Solar system Pillow - It is hard to see the rings in this photo but the directions have them. The ReadyMade website is http://www.readymade.com. Get your creative juices flowing and try one of their projects or think of a new way to use something you may be ready to toss in the trash. Something I realized recently is that many people don’t know the scope of the lumber yard we have at Aurora Mills. It’s huge! A number of customers have commented that it is one of the largest of its kind around here.  A section of the lumber yard at Aurora Mills Architectural Salvage We specialize in only reclaimed timbers, beams and barnwood and all of the wood in our lumber yard is salvaged locally. This material comes from barns, warehouses and homes that are being torn down. We also get a fair amount of corrugated tin from the roofs of barns we salvage.  Sample of some of the corrugated tin salvaged from barn roofs. We have two styles available. Our barnwood is all old growth Douglas fir that is approximately 80 years old or older. We have hand hewn beams that were salvaged from an 1860s barn and rough sawn beams and timbers ranging in size from 2” x 4”s up to 17” x 17” and sometimes wider.  A few of our larger timbers, though they do get bigger! Over the years we have saved hundreds of thousands of board feet from going into the landfill or a burn pile – something to be proud of when making the decision to use reclaimed materials.  Barnwood at Aurora Mills Our inventory is constantly changing so if you are interested in learning more about the lumber we have at Aurora Mills, please call for quantity available and pricing. Also, this next week I will focus our blog on a few people who have turned these raw materials into treasure. Their work is truly inspiring. We have a new face around Aurora Mills! I am so pleased to announce Sarah Cox has joined our staff. Sarah comes to us from Hardline Design and Construction and has a degree in interior design. She also is a Pacific Northwest native originally from Winlock, Washington.  Welcome Sarah! Sarah said that when she saw our website the only word that came to mind was, “WOW!” She loves architectural salvage and buildings because of her background in design. As our new staff member she tells me she loves working here because the people are so friendly, “There is good energy here.” It didn’t hurt matters that on Sarah’s first day Randy, a long time customer, brought in big ice cream cones for all of us. Sarah loves to garden, being outside, history and family. Please join me in welcoming Sarah to the Aurora Mills family! We are so lucky to have her join the team! My grandmother was a very exact woman when it came to her crafts. As a young child I was aware of this and should have known better when she decided it was time for me to learn how to sew. Her favorite phrase was, “your front is only as good as your back.” and I fully knew this phrase long before I ever sat at her sewing machine. It was her mantra. So at eight years old I sat at that sewing machine trying to make a skirt whose pattern I got from a show called Zoom. I sat trying to make my lines perfectly straight. My focus so intense the bobbing thread arm would smack my forehead because I leaned in so close. When completed I was grateful to be done with the stress from that fast moving machine with a grudge. Then came the moment of truth – my grandmother’s inspection. I knew what she was thinking, ”Your front is only as good as your back.” I saw her hand slip into her pocket taking out a seam ripper. A seam ripper I would see many more times. I am just grateful Grandma wasn’t Rosie the Riveter…. A couple of months ago I wrote about some planter boxes I had seen on a website and that I was going to make my own planter boxes out of some corrugated tin we have at Aurora Mills. Well, the monsoons have stopped and we now have sunshine in Portlandia. I made two planter boxes that are 3′ x 3′ square out of channel corrugated tin. Now, I am not a metal smith by any means and I think this was the first time I even attempted to cut through metal with a circular saw, but I did! With Norm Abrams voice in my head saying, “Measure twice. Cut once.” and Dick Naven (a Portland Master Carpenter I did my grad school internship with) reminding me how he still has all ten fingers – I cut eight, three foot panels. I measured, drew chalk lines then cut with a blade made for metals and corrugated tin. My lines weren’t as straight as the chalk lines or even as straight as I had hoped. I secured the panels to 4″ x 4″ rot resistant posts with screws and washers and to cover my crooked ways I used some ridge caps we have at Aurora Mills that were salvaged from a barn. Voila! Crooked lines covered and a more attractive edge.  Planter boxes for my tomatoes. Now you may be thinking, ” Wow! Those are tall planter boxes.” The truth of the matter is I have a Hell Strip on the side of my house. A rocking hot area that has compressed fill dirt and gravel with about 1/8″ of top soil that has no redeeming value. The planter boxes are 2′ high because that is the width of the corrugated tin. I filled the boxes with the heavy clay soil my yard is blessed with (from another project) and mixed in lots of compost from the compost pile. I am hopeful the planter box depth will allow for the first potatoes I have ever grown to not have stunted growth.  So far, so good! Potatoes look happy after their first 2 weeks in the ground. There is still more I want to do to these boxes. I want to put a wood edge around the top because corrugated tin is sharp. In my interest to get the tomato plants I bought back in April into the ground, I skipped this last part and will finish it in the Fall. I am also wanting to make three more planter boxes for my Hell Strip because now I can have something green over there. The front of my planter boxes may not be as pretty as their backs but THEY WORK! My crooked lines are covered, I have green in a land that was dismal and dusty and I used virtually all reclaimed materials. All in all, I would like to think Grandma would have been more satisfied with a nice, home-grown, juicy tomato than shallow aesthetic beauty. Maybe. Many of us have had that one item of clothing we wore until it was completely thread-bare. That one item that made us feel comfortable, soothed and warm. Mine was a UCLA sweatshirt that my Aunt Beckie gave me when I was around 13 years old. Originally it hung well past my fingertips but by the end of my freshman year in college it was the perfect size, the perfect thinness from years of wear and wash and the perfect go to item in my meager wardrobe. That sweatshirt was there with me in my giggly, silly times and my stressed-out, ugly final times. It gave me that sense of comfort, contentment and memory. Walking into the home of Bryan and Claire, owners of ¿Por Que No? (that amazingly yummy taqueria in North and South East Portland) is much like that. Standing in their threshold the words “old soul” immediately came to mind. Their home is part PBS Globe Trekker, part flea market and part temple that come together for a cozy, muted pallet of things well worn and loved. Claire and Bryan embarked on a massive restoration of their very large Four Square home in North East Portland. Within a matter of months they made their much dated home into a personalized gem. And nothing slowed them down either. Not even the impending birth of their first child – a beautiful girl who came into this world one week after their restoration was complete. Talk about super human feats and perfect timing! Claire says that their home is furnished with items from their travels, thrift and salvage stores. She and Bryan love items with a story and with a not-so-gentle touch of wear. Clair’s childhood friend, Tracey Durbin, helped them design the look of their home. Tracey owned the clothing store Matisse (it was on NE Broadway and 15th) for 17 years. Enjoy the tour of Clair and Bryan’s home. Maybe it will make you think of that something you’ve had that brought you that perfect sense of contentment.  Claire and Bryan's living room. The primitive cabinet is from Aurora Mills. The cabinet drawers have mother-of-pearl inlay. The kitchen is every chef’s dream -large and airy with plenty of work space. They have a large kitchen island/table made from salvage industrial table bases and a walnut top with a live edge. It is organic meets machine age at the same time.  Kitchen table built using industrial machine bases and walnut  Kitchen table showing detail of the live edge The kitchen base cabinet hardware is from Aurora Mills. It is used in conjunction with new kitchen cabinets.
 Detail of kitchen cabinet hardware  Stairwell banister made from corbells and column from Aurora Mills  Interior view of stairwell banister  A mix of vintage textiles was used for the sitting area in master bedroom.The master bedroom sink originally had a hot and a cold faucet. Claire and Bryan decided to have only one faucet and used the space for the cold faucet space for a standing soap dish. The sink is from Aurora Mills.  Guest bedroom and quiet resting place for Melvin, the family cat.
From their website: ¿Por Que No? strives to support our local economy and community; whether it means using local hormone and antibiotic-free meats, donating to local school and non-profit organizations or remodeling with recycled materials. There are two location in Portland, Oregon: 3524 N Mississippi Ave. Portland, OR 97227 (503) 467 – 4149 4635 SE Hawthorne Blvd. Portland, OR 97215 (503) 954 – 3138 It is a strange day when you meet a complete stranger that can tell you all about the soggy depths of your backyard. A few months ago I met a very inquisitive four-year-old boy who asked the typical questions, “Well, what is your name? How old are you (uggh)? Where do you live?” When I answered “In Beaverton” he became the sharpest GPS locating device trying to hone in on my exact quadrants “Where in Beaverton? What street?” Until his dad flipped his head around and asked where on my given street did I live. I thought, “Well, I see where the boy gets it.” As it turns out though, Todd grew up in my neighborhood and his childhood friend (now coach for the Miami Heat) grew up in my house. So not only was Todd very familiar with the ins and outs of my house but also my yard. When Todd asked if my backyard was still a swampy pit during the spring I didn’t take it too personally because he obviously was remembering mud pits from years long past. Quite possibly the very same mud pits my daughters play in today. Todd and his wife Amy now reside in Portland and were kind enough to let me visit their beautiful 1909 Ladd’s Addition home. They have completed a number of renovation projects with materials from Aurora Mills Architectural Salvage. Amy told me that when they bought their home a few years ago their mantel was nothing more than a single hunk of wood that was out of scale with their large living room. With reclaimed lumber from Aurora Mills, the impressive skills of their carpenter, Scott Eisland of Quartersawn Construction and the color matching genius of David “Bo” Bowman (he color matched the mantel stain with the rest of the woodwork in the house), they were able to create a mantel that looks like it was born to their home.  Fireplace created with salvaged lumber from Aurora Mills  Fireplace details are complimentary to wood trim found throughout the house. Todd and Amy also used salvaged banister parts to make a “new” banister that was higher to protect their young boys. This is another seamless and period-sensitive design. They also replaced a few doors with some of Aurora Mill’s 5-panel doors. These blend so well with the home’s original doors that even Amy was having difficulty telling me which were original and which were from Aurora Mills.  Railing created from salvaged materials  Five-panel doors that were stripped and stained A fun detail in their bathroom is the use of an old window header with vintage croquet mallets that have been used to make colorful and whimsical towel hooks in the boy’s bathroom.  Whimsical bathroom hooks made from croquet mallets  Croquet mallet bathroom hooks created by Amy The love of architectural detail and family marry so well in this home. Todd and Amy have taken into account space for them and their three boys to grow. Carpenter: Scott Eisland with Quartersawn Construction. Phone: 503-481-6294 Stain color matching/ wood distressing: David “Bo” Bowman. Phone 503-281-5728 Pick any movie about hidden treasure and the build-up of suspense is all the same – Indie had it in Raiders. Most of us as kids even had it digging in our back yards. The feeling that you want to know, down to your bones – what is behind the wall or below the ground. You want to know what treasure is out there only for you…. Okay, maybe that’s a little on the dramatic side but that’s how we all feel here when a new container comes in from one of our buying trips. We just finished unloading the 53 foot long container yesterday. It was completely full with great architectural materials including a BIG assortment of industrial items. We have a very large selection of industrial table legs and foundry pieces and a good number of modern pieces too.
One of the items I was able to get a photo of is this really, really cool sign that reads, ” The Yellow Kid.” The opposite side of the sign reads “Poor Mans Friend.” The sign is zinc and as you can tell with the Poor Mans side, originally had milk glass behind the letters.
I found a website that had a little history on The Yellow Kid since the stories are a little before my time. This is from Learn NC, from the UNC School of Education.
“The Yellow Kid was the lead character in Richard F. Outcault’s 1890s comic strip Hogan’s Alley, one of the first Sunday supplement comic strips in an American newspaper The Yellow Kid was a bald, snaggle-toothed child with a goofy grin in a yellow nightshirt who hung around in a ghetto alley filled with equally odd characters, mostly other children. Instead of speaking, the kid wore his words on his shirt in a satire of advertising billboards. His bald head suggested that it had been recently shaved to get rid of lice, as was common in ghettos at the time.” And from Virtue Magazine’s online blog I was able to find this: “After Outcault started working for Hearst’s Journal, Pulitzer hired a man named George Lukz to take over drawing Hogan’s Alley at the World. As a result, for the next year two different versions of the Yellow Kid competed in the two newspapers, which each paper claiming to have the genuine strip. The phrase “yellow journalism” (when sensationalism, profiteering, and in some cases propaganda and jingoism take dominance over factual reporting in news media) originates from this battle over the Yellow Kid.” That is your history lesson for today!
We met Tasha, Shelter Director for Family Dogs New Life, when she came to Aurora Mills looking for materials to create a set for photographing homeless dogs. Family Dogs New Life is a non profit, no kill, dog shelter dedicated to rescuing and re-homing needy dogs regardless of age, breed or history. They have found homes for over 6000 dogs since their beginning in 2004. Ira, the cute little guy in the wagon, is just one of the adorable furry friends they have up for adoption.
 Ira
The people at Family Dogs New Life created a set using all reclaimed, recycled materials – even the wagon. Please check out their website. The photographs (by local Portland photographer Bob Libby) are captivating, but those big puppy dog eyes don’t hurt either!
 Polly Check out their website at www.familydogsnewlife.org What comes to mind when you think of preservation? Is it that grand old building in town? Grandma’s House? Lotions and creams to help keep wrinkles at bay? May is National Preservation Month and the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s theme for 2010 is “Old is the New Green.” We hear daily the latest environmental issues facing us and the planet and it is easy to feel overwhelmed. Yet, as individuals there are many choices me make daily that effect our interactions with our planet. Remembering to carry out our groceries in our own bags is just a start – but we do need to consciously choose to start somewhere. The National Trust for Historic Preservation’s website if full of great ideas – from teaching preservation to school children to historic preservation’s relationship with a more sustainable planet to weatherization tips for those living in older and historic homes. I have included links to a few of their articles below.  Bramhall House: Portland, Oregon Feel good about doing your one thing towards making the world a better/healthier place. Please take a moment to think what historic preservation means – both to you and your community. Visit an historic property, support businesses whose mission is sustainability and most important, ask yourself if you need to buy that new this or that. Or, can you get it used, salvaged or reclaimed. THANKS SO MUCH!  Dr. John McLoughlin House in Historic Oregon City, Oregon http://www.preservationnation.org/resources/teaching-preservation/why-teach-preservation.html http://www.preservationnation.org/issues/sustainability/ |
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