A Rad Day Off, Part 1: Architectural Salvage and Reclamation

I had an epic day off last Friday – first up let’s talk salvage and reclamation!

I had seen a post from Delilah Snell of the Road Less Traveled store in Santa Ana last week; the Santa Ana Historical Preservation Society was having a sale of some of their salvage and reclamation items at their storage unit, and I knew I wanted to check it out! I totally dig old architectural elements, was thinking maybe they’d have something little I could bring home, and also… I’m sort of nosy.

To get the day started off right, I did a little FaceTime with the family. The boys were in New Mexico dog sitting for Grandma last week and I am so grateful for modern technology. It’s been hard not having my guys here, and I can’t imagine what this sort of thing would be like back in the 1800’s when all you had were letters that took ages to get there.

So we finished up our conversation, and I was out the door for my favorite weekly tradition, Fancy Coffee Friday!

I’ve been doing Fancy Coffee Friday visits to Starbucks since 2009, but just started doodling on the cups a few weeks ago. It makes it even more of a weekend celebration! Coffee in hand (or cup holder, rather), I booked it to the storage unit in Santa Ana – it was time to feast my eyes on some architectural salvage and reclamation.

Lots of old doors, guys. LOTS of old doors – it was so cool to see these really old pieces, and if I had something bigger than my Honda Civic with me, I might have brought one home to make a cute table. As one of the volunteers was flipping through these doors to show a customer, we all had a chuckle over the one that had “NO FAT BITCHES” scrawled on the back.

Probably gonna need a paint job on that one.

Unless you’re against women of a certain poundage, then you’re good to go.

And then, as I was amongst the architectural salvage and reclamation goodness, I picked my head up and pow! There was my buddy Delilah! She was there looking for (and finding) all kinds of goodies for her new home.

“HEY! You should get those windows, they’d make a great headboard!” She told me excitedly. She was talking about these awesome pieces:

Awwwwwwww man. Those vintage windows WOULD make a rad headboard! Alas, the glass was thin and our toddler is chock full of boisterous activity… Had to pass this time. But when the kid is older, I may take Delilah up on that.

Have you made anything cool with old architectural salvage? Share some links if you got em!

 

Freelance Illustrator Steph Calvert โ€ข Steph Calvert Art | https://stephcalvertart.com

Freelance illustrator Steph Calvert is an award-winning artist with 24 years of experience working as a creative professional. She is based in McDonough, Georgia, just south of Atlanta.

Steph Calvert has expertise as aย childrenโ€™s book illustrator. She is an expertย surface pattern designerย forย art licensingย and createsย line drawingsย for publishing and product design. Steph has years of additional expertise as aย mural artist, creatingย original art, andย logo designย for small businesses. She is currently querying literary agents with her first author/illustrator book projects.

National SCBWI Conference, 2023
Illustration Summer Camp โ€“ The Highlights Foundation, 2021
Make Art That Sells, 2017
BFA in Computer Art โ€“ SCAD, 1999


5 responses to “A Rad Day Off, Part 1: Architectural Salvage and Reclamation”

  1. Oh! I thought you went with Delilah. I wanted to go so bad but I had PT. Boo. I love salvage, but I was hoping to see finds like big letters from signage and such. Oh well. Doors.

  2. We have an old, old window that we bought and restained. It was in our first condo, and now it’s just in the garage collecting dust. Someday I’ll find a use for it, I hope. It has beveled glass in it and everything. I would love to find a sale like that down here- we need a headboard. BAD.

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