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Decorating on a Dime: Lombardy Hotel Suite

We’re really excited to feature and introduce Daniel VanHall and Gail Shields-Miller on Second Hand Social today!

These photos are from a gut renovation and decoration of a suite at the Lombardy Hotel on East 56th Street in New York City. Gail and I believe a truly interesting interior has an eclectic mix of objects and elements. We find many of those things at flea markets, both local and abroad, estate sales, antique fairs, consignment shops…the new phenomena since the downturn in the economy…and even from friends and family members tossing things out they don’t care for anymore, but in which we see hidden potential!

  • The credenza under the TV was a great find at Housing Works right here on 17th Street, in NYC. It is a late 1930′s French piece that needed some refinishing and a little TLC. We paid just $1500 for it.
  • The lovely 1960′s table lamp in the corner is from a sale we stopped at upstate near Hudson while visiting a client. We polished it up and dressed it with a new shade and now it looks like a million bucks. We paid $150 for it.
  • The writing table was a toss out from a family member who had no use for it anymore. We refinished and inlayed it with a metal top and now it’s a show stopper and we paid nothing for it!
  • In the dressing /sitting area we incorporated a great painting from a large flea market just outside of New Hope, PA, that cost only $300. We added a beautiful new gesso frame and voila, a dramatic addition to a small desk area in the apartment.
  • The deco chandelier in the bedroom came from a flea market in Paris where we paid only 1,000 Euros, plus shipping back to the States. A real find, as it turned out to be a signed piece!
  • The bedside lamps, which we believe to be 1940′s, are from a trip some years back to the Brimfield Market in Massachusetts, where we go annually to walk the show. The lamps cost $400 for the pair and again we dressed them with new shades and had them rewired.

All these items integrated with high end custom upholstery and case pieces, art work and accessories truly make a rich, original interior and we simply love finding them and then mixing them up all together.

About the Designers: Daniel has been doing interior design in Manhattan for a decade and a half. “I began my studies in North Carolina, Chapel Hill where I studied Art and Art history. I then came to NYC and completed my Interior design Degree at The Fashion Institute of Technology. I joined forces with Gail Shields-Miller and Shields & Company in 2005 where I have been to present date. Gail started her business in 1988, and moved it into Manhattan in 1991. She studied Interior Design at Parsons The New School for Design in New York City, and had real hands on training working in her family’s interior design business, Joan Shields Interiors, while she was going to school.”

The suite looks like a million bucks! What are your thoughts? Feel free to share your comments below!

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Keep It Green and Clean

In a book review, Sweeping the German Nation by Nancy Reagin (New York 2007) Jason Crouthamel observes there’s no shortage of fodder for historians about the nature of the German national character. Some of the most telling artifacts that have migrated from German attics to flea market stalls are the stacks of linens embroidered with proverbs like Keep Order, Love It and Cleanliness Brings Joy. These testimonies to the daily existence of the hausfrau reinforce well-known stereotypes and jokes about German obsessions with order, discipline, and cleanliness that persist even today which got me to thinking about “keeping it clean” when you bring it home from the fleas.

They Don’t Call It the Flea Market For Nothing

Some say the eponymous fleas are named for the Marche aux Puces in France which got its name from the flea infested goods it sold. Others say the name comes from a time when the slums and alleys of Paris were demolished and replaced by new construction. The dealers in second-hand goods who lived and worked in these old neighborhoods were forced to “flee”. The merchants’ new gathering place was referred to as the “flee market,” which later became “flea market.” Still others claim that it is associated with New York City’s 18th century Fly Market because the Dutch name for the market was vlie which means valley, but is pronounced “flea.”

One Man’s Trash Is Another Man’s Treasure

I don’t’ care where my treasures come from, I treat everything like trash until they’re sanitized. Heck, there’s a national epidemic of bed bugs going on, so there is no reason to spread more from dusty, musty, and downright dirty flea markets. So no bringing it in the house until it’s been sanitized!

Flea Market Fresh Checklist

1. Wear plastic (those thin surgical) gloves when you go trolling to avoid germs, bacteria, and bed bugs from spreading. I bring two pairs in case one rips. If you intend on lifting heavy things, slip a pair of gardening gloves right over them. (I put on hand lotion in advance!)

2. Re-use these plastic gloves by washing them as you would your hands in hot soapy water when you are done if they are not ripped. Remove them gently and hang dry on a dish rack.

3. Store your flea market purchases outside, preferably in a dry and well-ventilated area like a storage shed, away from the house until you’ve sanitized everything. This goes double for anything with cloth or that is stuffed.

4. Broom clean and cloth wipe everything down outside, including wood and metals.

5. Vacuum it if you can and empty the canister in the outside trash.

6. Toss what you can safely into the washing machine or dishwasher. Nothing will survive those temperatures, just use your best judgment or machine was on a lingerie gently cycle with Woolite and line or air dry.

7. Wash the rest by hand in the kitchen sink with a mild dishwashing detergent and rinse with hot hot water.

8. You can also spray your item down with a cleaning solution of 1 part bleach to 5 parts hot water in a reusable spray bottle. Rinse everything thoroughly in the sink until there’s no odor or visible dirt left.

9. Good pieces and antiques can just as easily be cleaned, but they require more attention and caution. Gently dust and/or brush with a soft dust broom and then wipe down with a dry or slightly damp cloth.

10. Don’t buy new dust rags. Use and reuse old cut up bath towels. Toss them into the washing machine too. If it’s a nice day, line dry everything.

Now you’re ready to bring those treasures into your home!

Lisa La Valle-Finan is a global readiness consultant by profession and flea market fanatic by nature. She welcomes all comments and can be reached at LLFinan@live.com or you can visit her Old World Living stall at http://www.etsy.com/shop/creativeconverzens for European elegance on a flea market budget.

Notes
dailyinfographic. (n.d.). Retrieved June 12, 2012, from http://dailyinfographic.com: http://dailyinfographic.com/big-germ-on-campus-infographic
h-net. (n.d.). Retrieved Juner` 12, 2012, from .h-net.org: http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showpdf.php?id=13074
Where did the term flea market come from? (n.d.). Retrieved June 12, 2012, from ask.com: http://ask.yahoo.com/20010709.html