Holiday Antique Shopping: Gilleys and Red Barn, Plainfield Indiana

In case you just cant stand shopping for ordinary at strip centers and ""Big box retailers between now and Christmas we will feature some Antiques Buyers destinations, all in the midwest, where you can actually find Victorian antiques without wading through tons of "mid century" thrift store crap.

Nicer than average fainting sofa, fairly priced.The bargain of this booth might be the Pump Organ at only 175.00!

Today we travel to Plainfield Indiana which is about 20 minutes east of Indianapolis on US40. The downtown has several small antiques shops but the "must see/must shop" is Gilleys and Red barn antiques located just west of downtown on US40.

Gilley's is at 5789 E US HWY 40 In Plainfield

Gilleys has always been a favorite Antique Mall of mine. It consistently has a good selection of Victorian era antiques.  Furniture is always on display and when it comes to "smalls" Gilleys is the perfect place to find that old Kitchen Tin or coffee grinder, find a replacement plate or Sit-a-bout to complete that table scape you are working on. For those of you who collect vintage jewelry a couple of vendors have a good offering of Jewelry ranging from Victorian cameos to art noveau. I have scored some major finds here over the years. There is also a large craft mall in the same complex for those last minute gifts.

Kaye's Red Barn Antiques Featured Victorian furniture like this selection featured here.

Kaye's Red Barn Antiques, next door, ALWAYS has Victorian furniture and  a good selection of projects needing upholstery. You will also find some good architectural salvage and stained glass.

One "bargain' at Kaye's was this button tufted settee priced under 200.00!

Its an old barn so head clearances are low in spots and the second floor is not heated or air conditioned so dress accordingly but it is worth the drive. They are only open Friday-Sundays but often expand their shopping schedule on the holidays. They also carry cast iron urns and other garden stuff. In the summer there is an outdoor flea market on weekend.

Kaye's Antiques Barn, 317-837-7574

Oh and bring your truck because if you are like me you will easily fill it up, I know I did last week when I took these pictures!

Antique of the Week: Paris Anyone? A rare Collection!

Collectors , well they collect things, sometimes a great cost. Othertimes seemingly simple things collected at the time, amass value later on.

Such is the case with todays Antique of the week offering. Whether you are an architecture buff, and art collector or a historian, this has to be one of the more unusual and most complete collections of its time. WW1 ended on November 1918. We will never know why the individual who amassed this collection did so. What we do know is these cards were not available in the US so it is presumed that the person who put together this  unique book traveled to Paris, bought these postcards then painstakingly cataloged them and  went into great detail describing the sites. The collection is dated 1918 on page 1.

The book itself is a fine embossed cover is labeled "souvenier cards"  Each postcard is in a holder and in places they have been carefully labeled with typewritten (Remember typewriters?) text.

There are 155 cards in this collection. These cards feature sites such a "Avenue des Champs Elysees", 'Pont de l alma", "Rue de Rivoli",  " Fountaine Carpeaux" and hundreds other. The street scenes show the Second Empire "Mansart" designed Buildings as well as very early motorcars. Some of the scenes depicted were forever changes when WW11 came so this is a rare glimpse of Paris as it left the Victorian age and moved into  the new century. If you could find them. which could take years to do you would pay between 7-25.00 for just ONE card!  While we could make more money selling these individually we believe collections such as this should be maintained, intact.

The Ultimate "Christmas Gift" for the Historian, rare book collector, architect , postcard collector, or lover of all things European, we are offering this rare collection for the reasonable sum of 250.00 and shipping is included in the lower 48. We accept paypal of course. Please contact us at victiques@hotmail.com
if you would like to make this rare collection yours.

Antique of the Week is a series dedicated to bringing quality antiques and collectibles to our readers, we do the work, finding the rare and ususual so you don't have to! looking for something special, ask us we may already have it or can find it for you!

Prep your old house for Winter

With the Midwest in the midst of "Indian summer' like weather its hard to believe that we could have snow on the  ground. Cold weather is coming and now is the time to get your house ready for the winter months , and all your inside restoration projects.

Your first priority should be outside yard work. Clean up leaves and consider composting. Now is an excellent time to power-wash sidewalks and decks. Make sure that grills are covered or brought into the garage for winter. You should inspect the outside of all windows and check the glazing. if it is cracked or missing time to reglaze those windows and put in storms. TIP: Put your screen in plastic bags (after you clean them) and they will be ready to use when warm weather arrives.

Inspect the outside of your home for any openings near the junction of the walls and foundation and caulk as appropriate. Check any locations where sidewalks may be next to foundations and check for cracks. If they are there use a caulk made for concrete and caulk them. This will prevent water from seeping into the foundation wall and freezing causing damage. Clean gutters and make sure downspouts are well attached. Check around water spigots for air leaks and caulk. If you do not have an "anti freeze' design spigot be sure to put a cover over the spigot for the winter. Check doors and make sure they have proper insulation and weather stripping.

REMEMBER the weatherization and energy efficiency tax credit end this year so now is the time to insulate!

INSIDE: Change your furnace filters and have a annual inspection and tune up. Inspect your ductwork . Ductwork is a MAJOR source of heat loss. All joints should be taped with foil back tape , not ductape! Insulate your ductwork. This is one of the best low cost ways to improve efficiency. properly insulated ductwork can save hundreds on your heat bill. Consider install dampers in the ductwork if you have an old system and some rooms are colder than others. You may want to ask you HVAC technician if you have adequate cold air returns. A properly balanced system is more efficient. Insulate your water pipes with the foam pipe insulation and make sure you have an insulation cover blanket for your Water heater. If you water heater is several years old it may be time to replace it and take advantage of that energy credit. Check the inside of your basement foundation for air leaks and insulate as necessary. Check to see if your local utility offers a energy audit. If you do not have a programmable thermostat now is time to upgrade!

Appliances: make sure all appliances are in good working order and if they are older and not energy star rated take advantage of that tax credit and buy them now. Now is also a good time to pick up salt for winter and make sure your shovel is ready or if you are lucky enough to own a snowblower , perform the annual checklist.

Attic: Inspect your attic insulation  and  go on line for tables to tell you how much insulation you need for your area. Inspect areas where chimneys enter the house for leaks.

Performing a fall checklist like the above can save you a lot of money on your heating bill, maybe enough enough to buy that wallpaper you've been wanting!

Historic resources: Historic Wallpaper Reproduction

You have just found that 'fragment' of original wallpaper under a piece of drywall or behind a piece of trim. Now what do you do? You can't go down to the local wallpaper store and order 120 year old wallpaper. Fortunately there are a number of artisans across the country who now reproduce limited run wallpapers. One of the most highly recommended is Carter and Co Mt Diablo Handprints. In addition to a very nice line of historic wallpapers that they resell, the also have a reproduction service. So, if you have the money, there are now resources out there to really restore that room back to original appearance.

You can check out their historic wallpapers and get information about their reproduction services here:

http://www.carterandco.com/