New Stock Arrives Daily

This week we got in a large shipment of reclaimed wood furniture. We’ve restocked many pieces from our Irish Coast line in the African dusk colour including: large & medium extension dinning tables, small coffee & end tables, media units, and three drawer nightstands. The three drawer Lifestyle filling cabinet is also back in stock. A couple of Sundried pieces showed up as well: the large bookcase and the medium media unit.

We normally sell out of garden gnomes in the fall and bring them back in the spring. But they have become so popular that we have decided to stock them year round from now on. We got in a fresh batch of garden gnomes this week!

Antique furniture arrivals from this past week included: 2 piece 2 door pine flat to the wall cupboard, halfmoon hall table, wicker mirror, pine dry sink, pine open corner cupboard, 3 door pine flat to the wall, 4 oak school chairs, 2 modern marble top wine tables, 2 Victorian chairs, assorted lamp tables, cherry wood wash stand, leather top kneehole desk, 2 chicken coop chairs, assorted primitive chairs, and more.

All the rest of the antique stuff from this past week included: cool Dentist drill and light set-a photo is attached, 5’7” arched top window mirror, selection of cups & saucers, carboy, blue ceramic planter, assorted copper pieces[ pots, kettle, & boiler], 3 pot planter, Tiffany style floor lamp, tie stand, some red ceramic planters, iron towel stand, 2 unusual round wooden planters, 4′ wooden step ladder, white step ladder, 3 Tiffany style hanging fixtures- one nice one with blue glass and grapes, set of 4 large four seasons figurines-a photo is attached, large quantity of coin silver flatware, red mini firepit, 5 wicker baskets, Guizot’s history of France[8 books], 3 vintage suitcases, collection of 10 sugar shakers, gas cranberry hobnail hallway light fixture, and more.

Last week we got in 50 of our best selling replica vintage tin signs. A while back we special ordered all the ones that sell out first, and they finally showed up!

We also received a large shipment from our Nature Form line. New Nature Form arrivals include: the very popular blown glass stump vases in 5 table top sizes plus 3 floor model sizes, cool new multilegged stools in two sizes, hand carved teak fruit bowls, Corona boat paddles and lifesavers, 2 new totem poles[large and small], 20” motorbikes, Volkswagen wall plaques, parrot puppets, carved elephants & hippos, skull treasure boxes in four sizes, hand carved fruit bowls with handles in two sizes, skull canes, and skull signs[Halloween is coming]. There was also a new multilegged table to match the multilegged stools, a photo is attached. Photos of some of these items can be seen on our Reproductions page.

New antique furniture arrivals include: 11piece banded mahogany dinning room suite [table with 3 leaves and heat pads, china cabinet, sideboard, and 8 shield back chairs-dated 1931], curved glass oak curio cabinet, Gibbard French Provincial server, perhaps the best Canadianna flat to the wall we have ever had-a photo is attached, Jacobian gateleg dropleaf table, mahogany lyre drum table, 1970’s round banded dining room table with 2 leaves, nice walnut 1880’s dresser, 2 primitive wash stands, some pine lamp tables, blue French Provincial living room chair, small pine blanket box, assortment of small primitive tables, oval Eastlake coffee table, gunstock chair, wicker desk, wicker vanity, 2 more cherry lamp table, Oriental treasure box, Boston nursing rocker, cherry wood dropleaf table, set of 6 oak press back chairs, 3/4 maple roped bed, a fantastic tiger & Birdseye maple queen size roped bed, and more.

New non furniture antique arrivals include: a great pair of stained glass window-a photo is attached, 20 rolls of vintage wallpaper, wicker towel stand, 2 brass planters, 27” x 34”gold fleck mirror, 4 more wicker baskets, 6 assorted tree stumps, cast iron Singer sewing machine base, shaving mirror, 2 nice window mirrors, Royal Albert large 6 cup tea pot, 8 assorted cups and saucers, and more.

Some week’s there is almost too much cool new stuff, this was one of those week’s. We emptied out an estate full of great Canadianna furniture this past week. As of the writing of this update we have got the first nine pieces in the building. We will bring in lots more in the days and weeks to come as we sort through it. It’s been years since we’ve acquired this many great Canadianna pieces at one time. We were too busy this week to get great photos, but there are three attached.

However, lets start with Reproductions. We got in a bran new batch of vintage metal signs [embossed, die-cut, enamel, and 3D] in various sizes. 18 of the new signs were part of a regular shipment. However we also bought another 108 sample signs that are sold in the United States and were brought to Canada to gauge interest. So we are the first to get them in Canada! Quite a few featured guns and mentioned “No Trespassing”, we generally don’t see a lot of signs like that north of the border. All the large signs and about half the small ones are already out on display.

We also got in the first pieces of a new line of geometric wall art that we will be carrying. Maple leaves, cats, dogs, moose, and ship’s anchors were the first to arrive. A batch of cast iron pieces also turned up: 3 types of bookends, handheld bells, set of keys, and wall mounted moose heads. More new arrivals included large wooden rainbow Canadian flag, and two types of fantastic rustic iron firepits. We also got in some samples of new outdoor items that we are thinking of carrying in larger quantity next spring: large Moai statue, patio Buddha, oval planter on stand, and a patio apple. Because who doesn’t need a patio apple!

Another small shipment of reclaimed wood furniture arrived this week. This shipment was mostly special orders for customers. We normally get two shipments of reclaimed wood furniture per month. The shipments have been small recently due to covid19 related factory and shipping delays. So our stock of reclaimed wood furniture has been dwindling. The good news is that things are getting back to normal and this will be the last small shipment. We have some enormous reclaimed wood furniture shipments en route and in production that will begin arriving mid September and will continue arriving straight into 2021.

New antique furniture arrivals included: 1920’s quarter cut oak drop front desk, 2 early Quebec pine armoires[one small, one large], solid walnut dresser, nice pine jam cupboard, 2 solid cherry lamp tables, 1880’s solid maple double roped bed[new rails have been made so it will fit a standard boxspring], 32” x 52” pine coffee table, cutdown round oak coffee table, pine captain’s chair, walnut gateleg dropleaf table, reupholstered Queen Ann fireside bench, child’s rocker, terrific reupholstered Victorian gentleman’s chair and matching footstool, ash dropleaf table, and a 1920′ Canadian walnut china cabinet by Knechtel.

More antique new arrivals included: large quantity of silver plate flatware including lots of serving pieces, a batch of assorted silverplate holloware, 1930’s Tiffany style table lamp, swing floor lamp, wicker baskets and hampers, assorted tools, double whipple tree, large meat cooler door handle, 6 sets of crystal glasses, 2 ceiling light fixtures, 2 crocks, 4 step wrought iron plant stand, and more.

This week we got in a shipment from our Mango Wood line. The tall icebox cabinet, icebox server, tall barn door cabinet, and barn door media unit are all back in stock. A photo of the two tall cabinets is below. 

As we often do late in the summer we’ve brought in a new batch of outdoor metal birds. They are popular throughout the fall and for Christmas gifts. New birds include: cardinals, wall hanging owls with extended wings, regular size pink flamingos[we still have the giant pink flamingos in stock], and woodpeckers.

A few more reproduction arrivals included: nautical bookends, painted milk cans in two sizes, and maple leaf wall décor[very Canadianna]. 

New antique arrivals include: a fantastic 5 pieces Louis XV parlour set-a photo is attached[we don’t get sets like this very often], reproduction table top Victrola with brass horn, vintage round vitrine, heavily carved walnut parlour table, set of 4 walnut kitchen chairs, hobnail pigeon’s blood adjustable candle hall light, walnut dresser and mirror, large wicker hamper, 6 assorted wicker baskets, child’s rocking chair, 5” Dresden vase, mantle clock-a photo is attached, oak table top printer’s chest with drawers, cheque writer machine, black rotary phone, a batch of 14 assorted cups and saucers[Paragon, Aynsley, Royal Albert, Royal Darwood Expo 67, Hammersley Royal visit memento, occupied Japan, etc.], and more.

The long overdue Springwater shipment arrived this past week. The Springwater factory has been slowed down by covid19 safety measures they have put in place. But good things come to those who wait! New Springwater arrivals include: ladder shelves, chimney bookcases, tater bins, tall sideboards, 3 & 4 foot bucket benches, 3 cube cubby benches, 6 cube high cubbies, tall foyer tables, double foyer table, 3 & 5 hook panel coat racks, tilt bin, pet bed end table, double flip panel coffee table, and cottage coat rack. Many of these pieces are in stock in lots of different fun colours. The double foyer table and the pet bed end table are bran new items. We think the pet bed end table is a fantastic idea. It is just like it sounds, a pet bed built into the bottom of an end table. This shipment had a lot of special orders for customers. One customer ordered the Acadian console in berry over black, a photo is below. We think its such a fun looking piece that we will be getting more.

We also got in a small shipment of reclaimed wood furniture by way of Vancouver this week. We’ve restocked some pieces from our Irish Coast line, but the exciting new arrival is the Apollo bar. It’s funky and another bran new item, a photo is below. A Reproduction Shell oil sign and a Public Market sign also arrived.

Antique arrivals from this past week include: 2 kneehole desks in excellent condition[1 mahogany, 1 walnut], small English wardrobe, ornate marble top French parlour table, 2 red bamboo chairs, a collection of storm windows in various sizes[4 without glass, 7 with glass], pair of white hobnail bedroom lamps, Victorian side chair, nice hall chair, 2 exceptional clocks[1 wall, 1 mantle], 3 mirrors, modern glass top dinning room table with two marble bases, Empire sofa, unusual hall tree, Dr. Pepper wood crate, magazine stand, 1940’s floor model radio, nine drawer mini chest, child’s swinging doll rocker, 2 excellent printer’s trays, red ceramic top wine table, 1960’s large Corona floor model beer cooler-a photo is attached, vintage suitcase, child’s roll top desk & chair, 2 wooden boxes, old sleigh turned into a coffee table, 2 brass steam whistles, potty chair, memory box, coffee table books, Bennington ware spittoon, wicker picnic basket & waste basket, 1920’s bed pan, assorted tools, oil painting on board, and more.

This week we got in a big batch of the very popular vintage replica tin signs. We now have 100 different tin signs in stock. The best part of these signs is that they make you smile and laugh. While wearing a mask of course. A photo of a sampling is attached

We’ve been getting asked for coat racks a lot lately so we’ve found a new line of hall trees. There are four different models that just arrived. Two metal and wood combinations, one chrome plated, and a funky four legged one.

Antique arrivals from this past week included: fantastic needlepoint ladies chair-a photo is attached, small walnut bookcase with two drawers, child’s rocker, oak rocking chair, plant stand, a pair of newly upholstered French chairs-a photo is attached, 10 hook wall coat rack, large cranberry with white overlay table lamp, Silverwood diary milk bottle, 70 piece set of Staffordshire-midwinter, tackle box with lures, iron umbrella stand, pair of walnut lamp tables, working treadle sewing machine, oak Redpath’s stool, window mirror, porcelain top shabby sheik table, 5 army stretchers, broad axe, vintage gas cans, ice picks, blowtorch, assorted tools, homemade primitive sleigh, three shelf walnut end table, jam cupboard painted white, set of 6 refractory chairs, mini pine jam cupboard, terrific feathered mahogany gentleman’s dresser with mirror-1880’s, and more.

This past week we also picked up the remains of an estate we bought that had 80 assorted pieces of wicker and 86 wooden boxes and containers and drawers. We will bring it in as we have time to sort through it and clean it up. It has been sitting in a garage for a long time. As of the writing of this update we got in half a dozen wooden boxes and the following pieces of wicker: a trunk, serving tray, three window planters, tall round planter, and a wicker chair with leather seat. More to come!

Last week we got in a large shipment from our hugely popular Nature Form line. Lots of old favorites have been restocked and a bunch of bran new items arrived. Old favorites included: large and small blown glass stump vases, rooster & parrot puppets, Corona boat paddles, canoe bookcase, 2 sizes of Buddhas, skull and pirate treasure boxes in a variety of sizes, hand carved wooden animal figures: hippos, horses, elephants, rhinos, etc., great teak mushroom table, large and extra large teak fruit bowls, frog croaker, motorbike, carved animal head walking sticks, and of course the wooden skulls with spikes. The bran new stuff included: extra large tribal and tiki masks, decorative life preservers and anchors, rustic white two door hall cabinet, superhero puppets, beach sign, a variety of decorative ship’s wheels, a cool one piece carved bowl with handle, and a great new totem pole. Also there was a couple of unusual multilegged bamboo stools that we got just to have a look at, they have already sold, so more are on the way. There are a couple of photos attached of some of the items, more photos can be seen on our Reproductions page.

New antique arrivals from this past week included: excellent carved 1860’s sofa, a terrific 8 piece oak dinning room suite[table with 4 leaves, 6 chairs, sideboard], another drafting table[we had one last week], 26” prancing wooden horse, oak mirror, unusual floor lamp, gunstock chair, 5 different magazine stands[ one with a pullout for drinks], quarter cut oak round split pedestal dinning room table with 6 t back chairs, nice quarter cut oak curio cabinet, rustic oak sideboard, press back high chair, Lloyd’s loom wicker chair & matching rocker, unusual Queen Ann rectangular walnut window planter, candle stand, 2 crocks, 2 halfmoon tables, nice hump trunk, 3 chandeliers, 5 assorted planters, 3 fire screens, a stop sign, a silver plate tea service, small drop front desk, and more.

We have had a couple of shipments of new furniture delayed, so instead we brought in lots and lots of antiques over the last couple of weeks. New antique arrivals include: portable singer sewing machine, 4 chandeliers including a nice bronze and crystal chandelier, 2 oak wall phones, nice crockery butter churn, treadle sewing machine, 5 piece bowl & pitcher set, reproduction oak bowl & pitcher stand with bowl & pitcher, a bunch of silver plate holloware including 6 piece tea set, crocks, bottles, sad irons, spinning wheel, 2 washboards, 3 planters painted red, unusual brown Bakelite wall phone, cement birdbath, Grundig Classic shortwave radio, reproduction tabletop Victrola, large needlepoint picture, 3 oil on canvas paintings, 2 small cast iron planters, Art Deco table mirror, 8′ step ladder, assorted mirrors, a collection of copper pans & pots & kettles-a photo is attached, and lots of assorted smalls.

Antique furniture new arrivals included: a nice drafting table-a photos is below, 6 foot pine leather top desk, oak school desk, pair of mahogany corner chairs, 6 foot Victorian mahogany sideboard, exceptional Victorian needlepoint rocking chair, square oak coffee table, walnut china cabinet, tall & narrow pine kitchen cabinet, redone steamer trunk, and assorted chairs.

We also got in new iron plantstands in black and white. As well as a huge batch of garden gnomes. We now have 16 different garden gnomes in stock, for all your gnomey needs.

If you have been in The Barn over the last couple of weeks you may have noticed that things look a little different than normal. There are a lot more sold pieces than normal and even a few empty spaces. We always have lots of extra inventory to bring in at The Barn, and as items leave we bring in new ones, that’s why The Barn is always packed. But safety measures we have in place for covid19 and the prolonged heatwave have slowed us down a bit, things are taking a little longer than normal. We have had an incredibly busy month of July and we are having a little trouble keeping up with demand. Sales have been much higher than we expected since we reopened. We are not complaining, with so many businesses struggling right now it’s a wonderful problem to have. Be assured we are getting the sold pieces out and bringing new items in as quickly as we can. The Barn will be packed again soon. The good news is that there will be lots of new arrivals in the weeks to come.

Quarantine Series: The Long Kiss Goodnight

This is a follow up to our recent post about the movie business. I wrote about renting and selling to to movie business, but I left something out. I thought I would do a post about what happens when things go wrong. 99% of the time everything operates smoothly with the movie folks, but not always.

These days the movie folks mostly buy rather than rent. Rentals still happen, a show called Nurses rented a few things things this past week. But every year we are getting fewer and fewer rentals and more and more purchases from the movie folks. This change has happened for two main reasons. First, the movie folks mostly come to us for antique pieces and antiques used to be so expensive they couldn’t afford to buy them, they had to rent. They would even work out shooting schedules so that they would only have to pay one week rental instead of two. Second, movies made for theatres used to be the main thing. They often had short shooting schedules and than the production would shut down. Now the main thing is TV series often for streaming services, so productions often go on for years. Renting items for years doesn’t make sense. Rentals are great for us, but they have caused some problems over the years.

A couple of years back we had a magnificent Victorian dinning room table and eight chairs. Murdoch Mysteries wanted to rent just four of the chairs. The whole set wasn’t within their budget. They used to get a budget for a block of episodes and sometimes by the time they got to the last couple of episodes in a block, money got tight. They were such good customers and we knew they could be trusted to take care of the chairs so we agreed. The problem occurred when somebody stole the truck that had the chairs and a few more of our items inside. The police found the truck about a week later but its contents were long gone.

Another one that didn’t work out so well was a Benjamin Moore paint commercial from decades ago. They had rented a bunch of expensive reproduction Canadianna pine pieces that could be easily damaged. The items we rent more than 80% of the time are antique pieces. So a minor scratch from time to time doesn’t make much of a difference. However sometimes they want to rent new pieces. We always warn new customers in advance that they have to return items in the same condition as they receive them. Otherwise they have to buy the pieces or pay for the repairs. The Benjamin Moore folks said they understood and that the pieces were going to be lightly used so it wouldn’t be a problem.

When the pieces came back, they looked like they had been through a war. I particularly remember a large dinning room table that had deep gouges the entire length of the table. What’s more they tried to tell us that this was the same condition in which they had received the pieces.

The funny part of the story is that a few months later I was watching TV one night and saw the Benjamin Moore paint commercial with our furniture in it. Not only did they drag paint cans across the table in the commercial. But they also had dogs run across the table. And a child crash into a sideboard while driving a toy car. And there was paint spilling everywhere. The commercial was about painting in a chaotic house. Basically saying if your painting project gets messed up by the chaos, we can fix it. Lightly used!

The worst situation we ever had was a movie called The Long Kiss Goodnight staring Geena Davis and Samuel L. Jackson. In 1996 when the movie was shot, it was the biggest budget production that had ever come to Canada. They rented an entire cube van full of expensive antiques including an enormous French bedroom suite, which I remember for some reason. This was before the collapse of the antique market when prices were high.

They picked everything up late one day, just as we were closing. The next morning I’m driving into work and I hear on the radio that the historic 127 year old Windermere House in the Muskoka’s had burned to the ground during the filming of a movie called The Long Kiss Goodnight. We knew our furniture was going to the Windermere House. But we thought they didn’t have time to get the furniture up there and unload before the fire. It turns out that was exactly what happened. They unloaded everything just in time for it to burn.

Movie companies are responsible to pay for lost or damaged or destroyed items and they knew that. The problem arose because this was an American production and they informed us that they were going to pay in U.S. dollars at an exchanged rate that was very favorable to their insurance company and not to us. We eventually got paid in Canadian dollars, but it took ten weeks.

What we found out later was that The Windermere House resort had an iron clad insurance contract with the production and they had to pay to have everything rebuilt brick by brick. We were told that it cost the insurance company eight million dollars for the restoration.

Normally we get set decoration buyers for the movies in The Barn nearly every day this time of year, and they always snap up some hard to find items right away. But with the movie business just getting up and running again we have items in stock that we normally wouldn’t. So grab them while you can!

Check out a few photos below of some of this week’s new arrivals.

This past week a shipment of reclaimed wood furniture arrived from Vancouver. The Settler sundried lingerie chest is back in stock, a photo is attached. We also restocked much of our Provence line including the Provence sideboard which had been sold out for some time. Check out our Reproductions page for more photos.

Antique arrivals from the past two weeks included: a nice pair of Louis XVI gilt arm chairs-a photo is attached, pine armoire, two very different oak fireplace mantels[one quarter cut oak, and one Arts & Crafts], a heavily carved rocking chair-a photo is attached, 3piece walnut Peppler bedroom suite, sap buckets, rocking chair painted blue, umbrella stand painted red, crystal chandelier with purple prisms, mahogany corner chair, small French marble top commode, 7 & 1/2 foot high Canadianna flatback, pair of bar height leather arm chairs, industrial sewing machine base, brass floor lamp, pair of gold floor lamps, fancy pair of brass fire dogs, ornate bevelled gilt mirror, a few paintings including a nice ornately framed painting, mahogany sofa table in perfect condition, wicker night stand, and more.

A quick note for those who read last week’s article on the movie business. I wrote that hopefully movie business would resume shortly. Well it has! The set decoration buyers started showing up at The Barn again last week. Fittingly Murdoch Mysteries was the first production to make a purchase since all productions shut down in March. We were told that none of the really big productions were up and running yet, they are still figuring out how to operate in our new normal, but they are working on it. It’s great to see another industry getting back to work.

Quarantine Series: Film & Television

One of the most fun things we do at The Barn is supply film and television productions with furniture, props, household goods, and lots more. We’ve been working with the film industry for so long we don’t even know how it started. We do know it started sometime in the 1970’s. Let’s just call it the movie business because film and television production is a mouthful. Plus it’s not just movies and tv, its also commercials, and content created for dozens of online platforms. Plus they don’t often use film these days.

Like most industries the movie business has changed tremendously over the years. Today, before the recent Covid19 shutdown the movie business was booming in southern Ontario. Its been booming for a long time now. Toronto is always in the top five of North American cities with the most productions every year. Before production shutdown in March there was over 100 productions of various sizes on the go in Southern Ontario. Everyone wants new content for their platforms these days. The movie business employs 30 000 people in Toronto and is worth two billion annually to the economy.

In the 70’s and 80’s the industry was smaller and not as well established. That was great for us because the studios didn’t yet have well stocked prop warehouses. They needed just about everything and we were happy to supply them. Back then it was a big deal for TV shows to get to 100 episodes because that meant they could go into syndication. One day a show we had been working with for years showed up with a fleet of trucks and rented approximately a quarter of our inventory. They told us that they needed three more shows to get to 100 and syndication. They were going to shoot all three in one week before the production ran out of money.

These days production companies have their own permanent prop warehouses. Many long running shows even have their own permanent prop warehouses. But they still show up at The Barn looking for new items and things that are hard to find. Murdoch Mysteries was probably our best customer for many years. But now that they are thirteen seasons in they are showing up less. But they still need new items even as their prop warehouse has grown. A set decoration buyer once told us that he guessed that half of the of their prop warehouse was purchased from The Barn over the years.

We rent and sell to the movie business. It depends on the production and how long they will be needing the items. In the old days the majority of the productions were movies, so rentals were more common. These days TV shows represent the majority of productions, so they mostly buy. Also antique prices have dropped so much over the years that they can now buy most pieces for less than it used to cost to rent them.

The people we deal with are called set decoration buyers. They move from production to production searching for the pieces they need to fill out their sets. Many of them have become friends over the years. The way in usually works is they come in and take a lot of photos. They show the photos to a set decorator or production designer or director. Then they email us all the photos of the pieces they want to buy or rent. Sometimes they just grab what they want right away because they are trusted and don’t need to get approval. If you have ever been in The Barn and seen someone walking around taking an enormous quantity of photos, they probably work in the movie business.

Because we know so many set decoration buyers, and they know that we have a large inventory that is not on display. We often get phone calls asking for specific, hard to find items. One such memorable phone call from last year went something like this: “I need a chair that can be used to torture someone in an asylum circa 1850.”. I thought about it for a couple of seconds and said “Yeah we got that.”. “Great” she said and came in the next day a bought the chair I had in mind. This is a common occurrence. And more often than you would think we get asked for torture devises.

We have supplied more horror movies than I can count. The Saw movie franchise as well as The Friday the Thirteen movie franchise were both terrific customers. A horror movie called The Marsh was particularly memorable because they took all our antique garden tools. We were told they were going to be dropped from the roof of a barn to murder people in the film. They also turned an old carousel horse into a demonic rocking horse. We’ve also supplied a pile of Stephen King movies and TV shows over the years.

We like to be as environmentally friendly as possible at The Barn and the movie business comes in handy there too. We often buy out large estates and have to take everything, even some items we don’t want. We donate what we can and often items that would otherwise have gone to landfill we give to set decoration buyers. We had a piles and piles of old bundled up newspapers that we were going to recycle. Instead we gave them to the hit remake of Stephen King’s It from a few years ago. We’ve given lots of damaged pieces of furniture to post apocalyptic productions over the years, including the TV show 12 Monkeys. Ann of green gables even took the ashes out of our fireplace.

When we do the math, average number of movie productions we supply every year, times the number of years we have been supplying the movies. We come up with a number that is well over a thousand. Before I started writing this I sat down and wrote out the names of some of the more memorable productions we have supplied over the years. I stopped writing when the page was full. Here is a list of a few of the movies that came to mind: The Fly, Chicago[yes it was filmed in Toronto], Cinderella Man, the Resident Evil series, The Virgin Suicides, John Q, Twister, Death to Smoochy[a truly horrible film], Scanners, Existenz, Exotica, the Police Academy series, American Psycho, Canadian Bacon, The F Word, Capote, Blizzard, X-Men, A Map of the World, The Recruit, Red, Shazam, Scott Pilgrim vs the World, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Owning Mahowny, Pacific Rim, A History of Violence, Chloe, The Long Kiss Goodnight, and The Shape of Water, to name a few.

The Shape of Water is one of my favorites. Not only is it a great movie that won the Oscar for best picture in 2018. It also won for best production design. In his acceptance speech the fellow who accepted the award thanked a bunch of our favorite set decoration buyers. We couldn’t have been happier for them, they are lovely hard working people who are very good at their jobs.

Some of the TV shows we have supplied that came to mind were: Night Heat[ a Canadian Law & Order before there was Law & Order], Degrassi, The Strain, The Handmaid’s Tale, Shitt’s Creek, American Gods, Bitten, What we do in the Shadows, Bomb Girls, Being Erica, Beauty and the Beast, Traders, Nikita, Hannibal, Counterstrike, Lost Girl, Frankie Drake Mysteries, Mary Kills People, Due South, Flashpoint, Shadow Hunters, King of Kensington, Rookie Blue, Ann of Green Gables[ too many different versions to count], Locke & Key, Star Trek: Discovery, The Umbrella Academy, Orphan Black, See, Workin Moms and Little Mosque on the Prairie, to name a few. I started watching Hannibal because they kept renting piles and piles of our table pads and I wanted to see what they were doing with them. That was a mistake, that show was too graphic for me. It turns out they were using stacks of table pads to look like stacks of antique binders.

An old friend of mine who is an actress told me once that when she watches TV she often gets distracted from what she is watching because she sees all her friends on the screen. Well if I spend an evening flipping through the channels I will sometimes notice all of the furniture from The Barn. Not the same as seeing your friends on the screen, but it keeps me amused. I can never make it through a dozen scenes before I spot something that came from The Barn. Of course I know which shows to choose.

Hopefully movie production will resume shortly in southern Ontario. They are allowed to start up again as part of the stage two reopening. But I imagine starting up major productions after so much down time is not easy. There have been a lot of people out of work for too long due to covid19, so we are pulling for them. I’m sure they will find ways to operate safely. After all they are used to finding creative solutions to complicated problems, its a big part of their job.

This week we thought we would update our new arrivals from the last few weeks. We will eventually go back to weekly updates on new arrivals, but for now they will remain sporadic. It turns out things don’t run quite as smoothly during a pandemic. For example we are expecting an enormous shipment from Springwater Woodcraft. But as their factory is operating with reduced staff, to accommodate social distancing, they can’t give us a clear arrival date like they did precovid. So we might do another new arrivals update next week, or it might be a couple of weeks. I’m not sure precovid is a word, but I’m sure we are all looking forward to postcovid.

One of the things that has returned to a regular schedule is our shipments of reclaimed wood furniture from Vancouver. We get shipments twice a month, so orders are arriving quickly again. This past shipment was mostly special orders for customers who are enjoying shopping from home. However we did restock some of the items from our Irish Coast line, including both sizes of media units. Since nearly everyone seems to be spending more time in front of screens these days, why not do it in style!

We also managed to restock six of our smaller garden gnomes that had sold out. A photo is attached. The medium gnomes are still sold out, but we do have the large bobbleheads in stock. We also got in a few sample outdoor pieces: plant stands and a peacock chair. We have sold out of the yellow butterfly benches for the season, so we figured, why not peacocks?

Antique arrivals from the last few weeks included: Louis XV style loveseat in nice condition, two cast iron gates-a photo is below, Buisson flatina, Ne Plus Ultra accordion, metal elephant bench, printer’s tray, cedar chest, trunk with leather straps, pine cradle, ornate oval Victorian parlour table, oak draw leaf pub table, full walnut Chippendale style secretary desk, pair of large fiberglass planters, working 1950’s electric lawnmower, nice brass slipper box, floral design card table, reupholstered Duncan Phyfe sofa, ornate marble top credenza with lots of ormolu-a photo is below, brass floor lamp, 2 fire axes, firebox from a firetruck, shabby sheik bench, new batch of hand saws, 4 miniature oil lamps, assorted odd chairs and a few pairs of chairs, pine hall table, pine lift bench, nice backbar cabinet, small drop leaf end table, and more.

We’ve also been unpacking lots of boxes of smalls. So the curios and china cabinets are filled up. As is the green wardrobe. All you regulars should know about all the goodies hidden in the green wardrobe by now. Stay cool and safe everyone, its hot!