10 Ways to Find Love in the Salvage Yard: Santa Fe Wrecking

Filed under: House + Garden — StyleGuide @ 7:54 am

When you want to add expensive touches to your home at a bargain price, try buying used at a salvage yard.  Santa Fe Wrecking Company, a 50,000 square-foot salvage yard near downtown L.A., is a great place to start.

It may seem intimidating, so here are 10 ways to make it easier to, as they say, find “the items you need for restoring the original beauty of antique architecture, hardware and building materials”: 

1.  Expect to get dirty.  This place is filthy.

2.  See past the dirt.  Check for permanent stains, but you can wash dirt off. 

3.  Think big… or small.  Replace your hollow-core doors with old solid wood ones.  Change out standard door knobs with vintage crystal ones.  Even add columns around your front door! 

4.  Bring measurements.  That way you’ll know whether the fabulous old built-in will work in your dining room, or that hand-painted fireplace mantle will fit.

5.  Get to know a refinisher.  Old pedestal sinks or claw-foot tubs can be recoated; ask staff for a recommendation.

6.  Go for newer items, too.  I picked up a plumber-recommended Toto toilet for a third of the cost of new.  

7.  Light it up and get cooking!  They carry an extensive selection of antique lighting and stoves.

8.  Be patient.  Block off a good hour or two to navigate the enormous inventory.  New items arrive regularly, so come back if you didn’t find what you were looking for.

9.  Expect to work alone.  Staff can help load, but I would never consider this place full-service.

10.  Bargaining is OK.

Where:  1600 South Santa Fe Ave., Los Angeles, 90021

Call:  213-632-3119

http://www.santafewrecking.com/

Have you been?  Tell us all about it.

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