LampGoods: Light Up My Life

Everyone on the Maven team is addicted to restoration. We've never met an old house we didn't like, and all of us have, at one time or another, contemplated buying a wreck just to save it.

Here in Orono, after nearly seven years of fixing up an 1850s farmhouse, we can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. And it's beautiful. The light, that is (the house doesn't look half bad, either).

Choosing the right lighting can be tricky, especially in an older home. The shiny stuff at the big-box stores doesn't really look right against a tin ceiling, but the safety of antique fixtures can be questionable and often expensive. That's why we love LampGoods, a Maine-based company that rehabs vintage fixtures and creates new ones that are perfect for old homes. Case in point: the Ball jar lights pictured above, which are stylish, simple and oh-so-perfect for a farmhouse kitchen. Strangely enough, the designer, Jann, calls this line "Orono."

Midcentury Modern or retro milk glass more your style? You're in luck. The selection here is great, safe and best of all, nothing you'll see at a chain store.

See the light at LampGoods' Etsy store or blog.

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Local Stores, Big Deals

There's nothing that bugs us more than when one of our friends says, "Well, I wanted a deal on a dryer/refrigerator/stove so I bought it at (insert big box store here)."

News flash: Big box stores don't always have the best prices. Actually, as we've found with products other than laundry detergent and other staples, they rarely have the best prices. The selection, especially when you get up into the higher-end brands, is limited. And in our experience, the salespeople have no clue about the products you're trying to buy.

Which is why we always buy our appliances from Dunnett Inc. in Bangor. It all started when we bought our house seven years ago. It was what some might call a "handyman's special" and others might call a "disaster." Everything needed to go. Especially the appliances. Problem is, we were young and foolish and had no idea what we were doing, so we naturally headed to the Home Depot, then Best Buy, then Sears, then the nearest bar to drown our sorrows. The people we met (when we could actually track down people) were less than helpful, and the stuff we found was A) not what we were looking for and B) way more expensive than we anticipated.

Then we saw an ad for Dunnett's, which was selling the entire set of kitchen appliances we wanted — in brushed stainless — for a fraction of the cost of the larger retailers. When we arrived, someone greeted us and — gasp! — asked us if we needed help. We did. And the people there were extremely accommodating. We were so impressed that we bought the kitchen set and when our washing machine broke a few years ago, we returned for a Bosch washer. Two weeks ago, we bought the matching dryer, which has been discontinued, for half the original retail price. We found it in the "scratch and dent room," a magical place full of discontinued models and Viking stoves with imperceptible blemishes for ridiculously low prices. How's that for a deal?

Take that, big boxes.

We want to know all about your favorite local appliance or home-goods store in Maine (for example, The Maven's parents have long sworn by Vic's Appliance in Saco because of the great service). Tell us  by posting a comment below.

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Bloggers We Love: Katy Elliott

You know that Anne Taintor card with the woman in the tiara that says, "Domestically disabled"? Totally made for The Maven.

If it weren't for Jason, she'd probably still have milk crates for bookshelves and a pantry full of Kraft dinner.

But lately, she's been feathering the nest in anticipation of the Little Lainsbury's arrival. By "feathering the nest," we mean "doing things that we would never normally do." Like sew. Or think about sewing, at least.

Which leads us to our most recent and most favorite blog discovery: katyelliot.com. We're not sure how we missed this for so long, but Katy Elliott is a domestic goddess. Her blog is a daily design journal that centers on the restoration of — and the choosing of decor for — her 1700s home in Marblehead, Mass.

A Maine native, artist and former online editor for House & Garden and Domino, Katy often writes about finds in the Pine Tree State — such as the Michael Miller fabric she scored at the Sanford Marden's or the wonderful selection at Smitten in Wiscasset. It was through her blog that we were able to track down the manufacturer of some textiles we had our eye on for the nursery (which, unfortunately, are only available to the trade; even if they weren't, the baby bedding line starts at $465).

Regardless of whether or not the products and ideas she posts are luxurious or practical, they're an endless source of design inspiration — and trust us, we could use a little of that here.

For more information, visit www.katyelliott.com

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Gray Matters

When we bought our house six years ago, it was a bit of a fixer-upper. And by "fixer-upper," we mean "handyman's special" or "money pit."

This was what we wanted — a house that needed love. As first-timers, we didn't understand quite how much love it would end up needing, but that's a story for another day. We've always been old-house people, and despite all of the headaches we've had over the renovation/restoration, we still maintain that they don't make 'em like they used to.

This is a good thing in the sense of superior craftsmanship, even in a plain farmhouse such as ours. It's a bad thing when, say, whole windows are missing their molding. If you're shopping off the rack, even at higher-end home-supply stores, you can't find anything close to antique molding anywhere these days. At the big boxes, you're lucky if the molding is actual wood.

We didn't think we'd be able to afford custom woodwork, and for a while, we grappled with the idea of saving what we could and finding a suitable, if inferior, replacement for the rest. Then we found out about Owen Gray & Son in Brewer.

Many of the houses in this area were built during the lumber boom of the late 1800s, and the molding — even in the finest homes — was supplied by the Morse mill, along the Kenduskeag Stream in Bangor. Owen Gray & Son now has the original knives used to cut all of that molding, and if you bring in a sample, chances are they can replicate it — for way less than a custom woodworker and not much more than a big-box store.

This place, in a humble gray building just off the Wilson Street strip-mall extravaganza, is old-school in a good way. A few employees mill everything by hand, using a variety of woods, and while you won't get your order on the same day, you know it will be done right the first time. We were so impressed with our molding, we ended up ordering stair treads, and we've referred dozens of our friends to Owen Gray, too.

If you live in an old house in Eastern Maine, Owen Gray is a must. We'd even make the trip from southern Maine (although we'd love to hear about it if you know of a similar business elsewhere — e-mail us at kristen@mainemaven.com).

It took a little bit of the sting out of our renovation. Now, if they only did drywall, we'd be all set...

Owen Gray & Son is located at 300 Chamberlain St., Brewer, Maine. For information, call 989-3575.

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Nice Knobs

There are two types of renovators: those who are just fine with whatever they find at The Home Depot or Lowe's, and those who aren't. Perhaps that's the true distinction between a renovation and a restoration, but either way, you fall under the latter category.

You obsess over the tiniest details. You're willing to pay 80 percent more for nails that look rustic. You scoured hundreds of antiques shops to find the perfect soap dish. You're trying to figure out how to reproduce the look of pumpkin pine. You're the only person you know who actually takes the bathtub with them when they move.

For you, we recommend a trip to Decorum in Portland's Old Port. Southern Mainers have revered this place for decades, with good reason: they sell everything a demanding homeowner could ever want or need, from custom-made lighting to reproduction glass knobs, which is what brought us there on a recent afternoon. Not only were they perfect for the rustic jelly cabinet we just built, they also cost 50 percent less than our favorite online supplier, Van Dykes Restorers. If you need knobs or drawer pulls, this is the place to go. There are more than 100 options in stock, all of them far more appealing than what you'll find at your local big box.

Decorum also carries one of the best selections of higher-end sinks and bathtubs we've seen in Maine. So next time you move, you can leave the tub behind.

Decorum is located at 231 Commercial St. in Portland or online at Decorum Hardware.

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Fit To Be Tiled

Here at The Maven, we're all about renovation — two of us have been restoring an old farmhouse for the last six years, and the third has a bid in on an Arts & Crafts-style home. "Fixer-upper" is a laughable understatement for the farmhouse and a fairly accurate description of the Bungalow-on-steroids.

While we're a little tired of the dust, the surprises (rotted sill, electrified squirrel) and the less-than-stellar R-value of wavy-glass windows, there is an upshot. We've found some of the best craftsmen and craftswomen, suppliers and salvage sources in Maine.

Kim Walker of Heirloom Tileworks in Sullivan is one of them. We first discovered her high-relief tiles, which feature Maine-inspired botanical and nautical motifs, at SevenArts Gallery in Ellsworth. There, they were displayed as small, beautiful accent pieces. On a larger scale, they are the perfect complement to a turn-of-the-century home or a higher-end new build. They're gorgeous in a backsplash or a bathroom, and they really shine as a fireplace surround.

Though we never expected to find Arts & Crafts-style tile made in Maine, Heirloom Tileworks is the type of surprise we've come to appreciate — unlike ice dams and hornet nests — after six years of renovation.

For more information, visit Heirloom Tileworks online.

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Park's And Rec

Day six of our staycation involved sleeping in, eating homemade scones and eventually getting off our asses and heading downtown to run errands. As usual in the Lainsbury household, our trip involved a stop at Ampersand for everything we forgot to buy at the grocery store, a stop at Park's Hardware for batteries and a stop at Burby & Bates, which truly has one of the best wine and beer selections around, to return bottles. While at Burby's, we learned that they carry Unibroue Ephemere, the wonderful green apple brew we sampled at Novare Res a few weeks ago. Mmmm.

But let's get back to Park's for a minute. The Maven met her husband there in 1998 — and the selection (of stuff, not of men) has only gotten better since then. This old-fashioned hardware store has taken on an entirely modern feel.

We recently wrote about Park's excellent seed offerings — today, we grabbed a pack of leek seeds — but owner Linwood White Jr. has recently started the switch to all organic garden supplies, including pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers. Though "Twilight" lovers may disagree, nothing stinks quite so much as a bag of dried blood, but since we started using it, our veggies have never looked happier.

Also new are the lovely — and tasteful — garden decorations, including outdoor candle holders, handblown gazing balls and very cool sundials. And if you're in the market for cookware, Park's has you covered, with gadgets, canisters, and enameled cast iron from Lodge that gives our beloved LeCreuset a run for its money.

At the Maven, we're all about buying (and apparently marrying) local, and for us, Park's certainly has everything we need.

Park's Hardware is located on Mill Street in Orono. For information, call 207.866.7811.

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