By Kate Williams on April 1, 2014 in Salvage Shopping, Upcycling Furniture
I recently moved from England to the USA and I’m living in the Skagit Valley in Washington State. I’m house hunting and also exploring my options for buying furniture and other home decor and home furnishing items, with an eye to upcycling and re-purposing materials and items.
My search started with a trip to McMillan Brothers Auction Gallery on Dunbar Road in Mount Vernon, Washington. What a great place! And to think I never visited them when I lived in Mount Vernon before I went to move in with my kids in England. I guess I was just too distracted by my job and commute. Becoming an auction junkie commenced in England.
First Visit to McMillan Bros. in Mount Vernon, WA
I found some great furniture — and I got a personal tour around the auction room and storage areas.
And there’s plenty of furniture ready for your bids to buy furniture on a budget!
And here’s one that got away….Bids were just too high on auction day. It went for more than I wanted to spend at my first experience buying furniture on a budget at auction.
I have my heart set on a piece like this at some point…but first things first…I need to hold out for some basic pieces to set up a new place to live (like a couch, kitchen table, etc.). And when I buy furniture to refresh and refurbish, the price has to be right. <Sigh>
There will be many more auctions and flea markets to come!
Check out the website for McMillan Bros. Auctions if you are on the trail, buying furniture on a budget. They have some exciting auctions coming up. There’s something for everyone from furniture to jewelry and other collectibles including fine art and toys.
Warm regards,
P.S. My next post about treasures found at auctions will be this week or next. I’ll focus on treasures to be found outside, in the architectural treasures to be found in auction yards. Don’t miss out! Sign up for my list (right hand sidebar) and get my blog updates.
P.P.S. More McMillan Bros. pictures available at my Facebook page. Take a look (and please LIKE my page)!
Milk
Paint Powder: What is It? From Wikipedia: Milk paint From Wikipedia,
the free encyclopedia Milk paint is a nontoxic water-based mixture used
as a paint. It is made from milk and lime with or without pigments added
for color.[1][2][3] Borax may be added to the milk paint recipe to
assist the lime in dissolving the casein and as a preservative.[4][5]
Though milk paint has been used for thousands […]Continue Reading 0
Vintage Costume Jewelry: Kate Upcycler Following Her Nose
By Kate Williams on March 30, 2014 in Vintage Jewelry
Is This Vintage Costume Jewelry? I have a new source of income to add to my multiple streams (trickles for now ) — a part-time gig as Instructional Coordinator for a training company whose entrepreneurial founder and executive is not only growing a school providing career and technical education, she’s drop dead gorgeous and a […]Continue Reading 0
House Hunting with an Upcycler: Finding a house to do up and make a home
By Kate Williams on March 17, 2014 in Kate’s Adventures
Larry
is a really nice guy, a real estate agent who is house hunting with an
Upcycler. I am the Upcycler searching for a house to do up and make a
home. I don’t have a big budget so I’m competing in a hot market full of
bargain hunters who want to find a house […]Continue Reading 0
Kate is Upcycling Furniture — and Upcycling Her Life
By Kate Williams on March 3, 2014 in Kate’s Adventures
About Kate Hi I’m Kate Williams… …upcycler, re-imaginer and re-puposer, do-it-yourself-er; adventurer in antiquing and vin-tiquing; adult learning specialist and social media strategist and trainer. I am shopping for salvage and upcycling furniture — and upcycling my life. UpCycling My Life is a new and evolving creation inspired by a process over the past 5 […]Continue Reading 0
Kate’s Upcycling Projects in the UK: Upcycling a French Country Cupboard
By Kate Williams on March 2, 2014 in Twisted Wood, Working with Antiques
In
2012 Kate moved in with the kids and daughter Georgia and Kate had some
wonderful adventures in antiquing and vin-tiquing in East Anglia. This
upcycling project was first featured on the Facebook Page for Twisted
Wood, our furniture business in the UK. Upcycling Projects from the
United Kingdom: Our First French Piece This cupboard […]Continue Reading 0
Vintage Furniture Restored: Summer 2013 at Twisted Wood
By Kate Williams on July 12, 2013 in Twisted Wood, Vintage Home Decor
Vintage Furniture Restored: Recent Twisted Wood Projects Solid Oak School Desk The desk graduated from our backyard workshop after: Rust clean up Removal of some permanent marker graffiti Light sanding Danish oil treatment This piece was not polished, varnished or heavily waxed as we found it. We used Danish Oil to finish. From Judith Miller’s […]Continue Reading 0
How to Flatten Bubbled Veneer with Hand Weights
By Kate Williams on July 9, 2013 in Twisted Wood, Working with Antiques
A
Project: Flatten Bubbled Veneer with Hand Weights One of the projects
for this week is to flatten bubbles that developed in the top of a
dining table we are refurbishing. Lacking the tools from the restorer’s
guide I was using, here’s how I’m achieving the result with the weights I
borrowed from my grandson: […]Continue Reading 0
UpCycling and Recycling for Money: How to Make Some Money on the Road
By Kate Williams on July 6, 2013 in Recycling for Money
Upcycling and Recycling for Money Do you have a way to make money while you are on the road? A side gig that you can do even while you are traveling? When I moved to England recently (moved in with my kids), we needed a way to make more money that we had coming in […]Continue Reading 0
Our Own Antiques Roadshow 2012
By Kate Williams on January 31, 2013 in Adventures in Antiquing, Kate’s Adventures
On
the Road in East Anglia, UK: We take in the sites and begin our
education in antique and vintage furniture with our own Antiques
Roadshow on the road in East Anglia, UK. In the late Spring into Summer
2012, Georgia and I (Kate) combined exploring the UK, especially East
Anglia, and exploring the world […]Continue Reading 2
Seared by the Memory
By Kate Williams on January 22, 2013 in Moving In With the Kids
“We, the people, still believe that enduring security and lasting peace do not require perpetual war. (Applause.) Our brave men and women in uniform, tempered by the flames of battle, are unmatched in skill and courage. (Applause.) Our citizens, seared by the memory of those we have lost, know too well the price that is […]Continue Reading 7