October 17, 2009

Tour de Baltimore: The Good, the Bad & the Ugly

The good was the people who were on the tour. The bad was some of the furniture we saw at one of the places we visited. The ugly was the weather – pouring rain all day and temperatures never getting above 45F.

We started out at Housewerks where there are always fascinating things to be seen and good stories to be told about the goods there. The good story today was about the couple who had their wedding at Housewerks. What a great place for a party! 10-10 003 We then headed up to Gore Dean Antiques, where we found loads of amazing lamps, chandeliers, china, glassware and much more. Here are some treasures we saw at Gore Dean.

Beautiful hallmarked silver from Tiffany and Cartier

Tour de Baltimore 002 Tour de Baltimore 003

Brilliantly-coloured two-foot long candles.Tour de Baltimore 008Sometimes, I think it would be easier to have a dog like this, instead of Connor. Especially this week with the vet bills he’s racking up. And he won’t eat his pills, even coated in peanut butter!Tour de Baltimore 028  This lamp was made from a pattern roller. I am sure that this just represented one colour of many.Tour de Baltimore 029I loved this Chinoiserie chic etched goblet.Tour de Baltimore 031 Virginia Creeper covering the outside of Gore Dean’s shop.Tour de Baltimore 044We drove through the streets of my old neighbourhood on the way to lunch. This is the same neighbourhood where decorator Billy Baldwin grew up, and I’ve written about it here and here. Isn’t this house gorgeous?Tour de Baltimore 045 After lunch, we headed to Book Thing, where we scored a magazine with pictures of porches from the neighbourhood where we’d just driven through. How lucky!

We ended the day at Second Chance, where we saw some truly bad furniture and fixtures, including this monstrous chandelier with “passionate purple” drops. It measures 53” x 53”! Hideous and huge!Tour de Baltimore 048 I tried to count the number of different layers of paint on this foot from a claw-foot tub. Tour de Baltimore 057 Saw one of the tackiest chairs ever. Apparently, they deconstructed a garish mansion in Washington, DC full of things like this. All amazing woods and fabrics, but utterly taste-free.Tour de Baltimore 061This is from the same house…Tour de Baltimore 064  As was this satinwood bed, with attached side tables, and the olivewood book cases behind them.Tour de Baltimore 065 All in all, a fun day with new friends! I hope that you will be able to join me on the next Tour de Baltimore, sometime in the spring of 2010!

18 comments:

  1. Meg, Dog pill advice from a terrier owner. Grind them with butter, spread the medicine-butter on sliced roastbeef from the deli, roll it up and pop it in his mouth before he can taste the pill in the butter. If he's suspicious, give him a butter roast beef pill without medicine first, and after, so that he doesn't get to dislike the idea. Hope its just funny tummy or something.

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  2. Looks like a great day. All days of hunting and gathering included a brow furrowing pieces. Hope I make it up sometime soon.

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  3. Looks like a good fun wet day! Hope Connor improves. I second Balsamfir's grind and hide trick. Our dog ended up on what the jaded vet tech called "bambi and spud": venison and potato. In the last six months, I had to grind that. Wore out two food processors. Oh, what we do for love!

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  4. Connor's got a hot spot, and is on antibiotics. I am now wrapping the pills in orange cheese slices.

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  5. the weather IS awful! Did you know about the new Gore Dean in Georgetown -small but fabulous of course.

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  6. Hello,

    indeed you're right the furniture is.. well i have no words for it :-s

    let's burn it in the garden :-)

    David

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  7. That bed should belong to me. Really.

    Try encasing Connor's pill in cream cheese. That works well for my pups.

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  8. Yep, I could imagine having that bed, but it is very eccentric.

    Anyway, if Connor is food motivated, you hold up the first bit of cream cheese - the one with the pill - and have a second in your hand so he'll want to swallow the first and get right on to the second. Works very well.

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  9. My very picky pugs will do anything for a 'Pill Pocket'. In fact, I used 'PPs' for training rewards as the pugs would not eat the cheese and deli meat I first tried. Might work for you!

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  10. Hope the dog took her pills...
    Would so love to have joined you, but I 'll aim for spring, looks all so interesting and promising.
    Great stuff, love the candles and the book case.

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  11. OMG these are unreal, except for the silver candles, dog etc. Hope your baby is better soon!

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  12. that house, i love the basement window - we don't those in houston and they have always intriqued me. it is such a beauty! amazing they sold out of that map!!!! i'm sure it was from your blog.

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  13. sorry to hear about connor and i feel your pain about the pill giving- mona refuses to swallow tablets, and has the miraculous ability to throw back up just the pill out of any food covered pill combo i try. i've taken to ordering her everyday medication from a druggist mail. they place into individual gelatin covered capsules which we discovered by miraculous accident she doesn't mind at all. i just plop the capsule in her food, and she never even knows she ate it!

    and let me tell you, giving a recalcitrant dog a pill is a TREAT in comparison to a cat- that can wreck your whole day!

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  14. That vanity is amazingly hideous!

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  15. What fun! I wish I could have been there....

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  16. Glad to see you had a great time despite the dreary weather! I definitely missed out!

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  17. Love your blog and am just "catching up" on it. I just wanted to tell you (and Connor) about "Pill Pockets" made by "Greenies" but see someone already beat me to the punch. I am currently taking care of my daughter's dog who needs medication in pill form FOUR times a day. He LOVES Pill Pockets and it's never a problem giving him his meds. Wish I had invented this!

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