Good Old Things: Creating Extraordinary Interiors with Architectural Salvage

by Brian D.; Mayers Dan Coleman

Architectural salvage is all about saving and reusing unique bits and pieces of the past--whether from old buildings, businesses, or homes--and preserving them as beautiful reminders of the talent and artistry of yesteryear. Good Old Things shows how architectural elements and antiques--such as a 200-year-old solid-oak door, an Arts & Crafts fireplace mantel, a Victorian stained-glass window, or an Art Deco lamp--can impart character and heritage to any home, even if you never got around to buying that perfectly restored historic home of your dreams. See how vintage sinks, hardware, and lighting are perfectly blended into new environments, giving the items a new lease on life, and in the process, preserving them for future generations to enjoy.

Hardcover

First published May 6, 2005

Reviews

[R.B. Lemberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Worth picking up for the author's extraordinary and outrageous redesign of a tiny tenement apartment. "We began, room by room, restoring the apartment to how it might have been in the 1880s if a more affluent tenant had resided here." - a MUCH more affluent tenant, and that tenant wouldn't have ever resided in a tenement building. Still, it was gleefully over the top and I'd like to have read a whole book about that process. Other interiors were much less interesting to me.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely browse of a book, full of the most creative ideas on re-use and refurbishment. Design eye-candy at its best!

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gets an extra star for its use of Arts & Crafts antiques, otherwise I'd deem it 3 stars.

If you're looking for useable tips and hints, this book doesn't have many. The homes featured are pretty much exclusively those of the extreme rich or at least upper class who can afford to gut their homes and make large-scale improvements and alterations. But as eye candy? It's lovely.