PITTSBURGH — If it’s abandoned, discarded or on the auction block, artist Beth Salak wants it. She rescues furniture and breathes new life into it.
"Sanding is the most important part," says Salak, the owner of Vintage 73, a new shop in Pittsburgh. "I used to hate sanding, but now I love it."
She has come to see sanding as the elixir of life when it comes to making something old new again. She finds her furniture at auctions, estate sales and even at the curbside.
"Usually, it is the stuff no one else wants," she says.
For example, Salak found a solid, old wardrobe with the look of mid-century modern minimalism on the side of the road.
"I couldn’t pass it up," she says.
"I think it’s from the 1940s," says her husband, C.J. Salak, who fixed its door.
With a little TLC, some paint and a lot of sanding, she revived the reject.
"I have always loved painting," she says. "I paint everything."
And she means it — she paints rooms, furniture. You name it, and she will paint it.
"I was mainly a housewife painting on the side until I decided to do this," she explaines.
It was a $25 dresser found at a flea market that got her hooked on furniture restoration. She cut out and painted the Empire-style dresser and turned it into her kitchen sink.
After taking off a coat of white paint on a recent find, she discovered another coat of old green paint that she left in place on the top and sides.
"I sanded the drawers down to the wood and will add new hardware," Salak says.
She is deciding whether to add a hand-painted motif such as ivy on the front of the chest.
Her new store, though, includes more than her work.
"I didn’t want this shop to just be about me, so I have invited some local craftsmen and artists to include their things in the inventory," Salak says.
Photographer and craftsman Tim Salinetro designed and built some rustic hanging lights, and Salak’s husband built crosses out of reclaimed wood to offer for sale.
"If it is not old or vintage, I want it to be hand-crafted," she says.
Along with her restored dressers and antiques, there are baby blankets made by a local woman, as well as soy candles and American Girl-style baby doll clothing, all handmade. "I feel like I am meant to be here. It was God’s plan," she says.
— Tribune News Service
