October Surprise

 October is here and it's no political surprise for me but I did have an unplanned surprise this month.  I've been saving to have the huge but outdated, energy hog sliding doors that give entrance to my outdoor atrium.  

I finally had enough saved to have them installed and I'm head over teakettle in love with the finished look.

Before the changeout.  The sliders were single pane and not energy efficient.  They let lots of hot and cold air come and go and were always falling off the track.

The former sliders were so big that I had to add a pair of sidelights to each side and then we could install the french doors.

Love, love, love the way it turned out.  So now I have to paint the inside and outside of the doors and sidelights.  We are in the middle of a very humid week so I will have to wait until the air changes so I can begin the paint job.

And before the doors were installed, I was cleaning and then updating my outdoor ceiling fans.  I really didn't care for them as they were dated and not really pretty but they worked beautifully and I didn't want to spend a couple of hundred to replace them.  

So I grabbed some spray paint with colors that are in my outdoor rung and got busy.

Love these colors and so easy to apply, really fast drying too.

Oh yes!!!   Exactly what I wanted.  A few cans of spray paint turned those dated fan paddles into a fun and updated look.  

And they match my outdoor rug as I wanted to tie in that color pallette with the fan paddles.

In between all of the house upgrading I was doing, I made a quick trip to my favorite place for unique architectural salvage at the Junk Co. in Port Richey.  I was looking for an odd size door to replace the bifolds to my guest hallway linen closet.  It is a small door and I despise the present bifolds. Finally, a door that measured 18" by 80" came in and it is like a french door layout.  My next home project is to bleach the wood and do a faux mercury glass mirror finish on the clear windows.  That will come in the next few weeks so you will have to wait to see it.  But, I did find some treasure while I was there.

Vintage cast metal crucifix insert.  Most likely part of a Last Rites kit where this would fit into a stand.  Circa 1930s

I sold a table and needed another one quickly and found this neat marriage of antique meets mid century table.  Who would have thought that a crate made from antique tongue and groove flooring would look so at home with mid century, atomic iron legs.  Original paint on the crate and the top lifts up for storage, circa 1880s and the iron legs are from the 1950s.

Another great piece from the Junk Co., a faboosh, heavy slate, vintage chalkboard with original wood frame.  Nice size and perfect for a kitchen.

I'm crazy for antique books and have a special weakness for school readers.  

This was a thrift store find.

I don't come across much vintage Stangl here in Florida like I did when I lived in the mid-west but this Granada Gold, double candy dish is too cha cha for words.

Another Lefton turkey found me at my local Thrift haunt.  Oh how I love the Lefton turkeys.  This planter is in excellent condition, but I use mine to serve hot breadsticks.

Marvelous antique Halloween clacker.  Tin litho has wooden clackers and it makes a lot of noise.  M B Co. copyrighted.  Neat pumpkin face.  Circa 1920s

and finally, this charming, mid century, plump, glass piggy bank. This one is larger than the typical smaller piggy that fits in your hand.  

I'm finding it hard to accept that it is mid October and the year will be over way too soon.  The days are slowly getting shorter with sunsets so much earlier these days.  I already miss the long summer nights with daylight to play outdoors.  Wishing everyone blessings to you and those you love. Sea Witch