Welcome!

Welcome to The Sunshine Grove!

As corny as it sounds every picked vintage good is a bit of sunshine to us.

Too many times we have been browsing in antique stores around town and all we see is junk priced outrageously. We all know the saying one man’s trash is another’s treasure but this stuff really is not the quality to be priced so high. We also saw a lack of pride with the way vendors were displaying the wares in their spaces. Some of these antique stores looked more like garage sales. Our local flea market has better curb appeal!

After complaining about the lack of quality vintage goods and being inspired by some reality TV we had the sunny idea of opening our own shop! Here’s a little about who we are and why we love old stuff.

About Natalie:  My love affair with vintage started when I was young. My mom had a space at one of the antique shops at the Orange Circle and I would tag along. We would travel inland for estate sales and come home with pretty glass bottles, glass cookware in all kinds of color and kitchen gadgets. Linens with embroidery and lace where cleaned and ironed until they were crisp and folded neatly with their small price tag. My mom is a real neat-freak so her space was always clean and organized. You could see every item that she had for sale, and if something was out of place on her weekly visits she knew it!

It was on those estate sale hunts that I would find wares that added sunshine to my own room. There was the kidney bean shaped vanity painted light blue, with shelves and drawers that had a gingham curtain front. I used that even after college to house my intimates and rouge. On my desk I used a tin liquid measuring cup and glass flower frogs to hold my pens and pencils. Somewhere between leaving home for college and coming back I discovered I am very era specific. Anything late 1940s to mid 1960s I pretty much love. Not too much of the country or shabby, very little of the bold, neon colors. More Mid Century, Danish modern with some Lucite handles. I like clean lines and kitchen wares and although I don’t cook much, my heart skips a beat for Pyrex. I desperately long to wear vintage hats but I haven’t found one that looks good on me yet. I’m drawn to 1950s clear rhinestone jewelry and the quirky pendants like watches, pencils and owls.

I really, really want my own old house to take apart and put back together with the beautiful old soul items we’ve collected over the years. A craftsman or colonial; a house with character inside and out. I’m a sucker for wrap around porches, yellow houses with white trim and navy blue shutters.

About Jeremy: I was born in Maine and grew up literally surrounded by forest.  The sound of trees moving to the wind or the gunshot snap of a limb during a heavy snowstorm gave me an appreciation for this living resource. I love the feel of wood furniture, the flow of the grain.  Working with a material that was once living is interesting and challenging because each piece has its own character.  I also like the idea that even the sturdiest of tables or benches still flex and move according to the wood.  I am surprised with how long it took me to start woodworking, but I am not surprised with how much I enjoy it.   Finding vintage furniture in need of a little TLC and refinishing keeps me happy, and our garage filled with projects. 

My wife and I share the same taste in furniture and luckily, I enjoy working with my hands.  Growing up, garage sales were a weekend staple during the summer so I have always had the love of the hunt.  As I have graduated from toys to tools (which my wife will argue are my toys) I find vintage tools, furniture and hardware fascinating.  Something about how they were built to last beyond the years of even the original owner is inspiring.    I also enjoy finding ways to use reclaimed wood, like 2x4 scraps left over from renovating our house or the aged frames of shipping containers, even retired tables and headboards.  Living in southern California doesn’t give me access to the more popular forms of reclaimed wood from barns and warehouses, but I get by with what I find on craigslist and the occasional curb, something I like to call “Reclaimed Urban Wood”.  

I try to keep a blog updated with projects around the house, as well as my restoration projects. If nothing else, you may learn how NOT to do something!  Visit J’s Workbench on Blogger.com.