My Blog

a peek into our world at the Antique Society

Antique Society

b y - Selena Cate

The antique business isn't necessarily something one plans to do when leaving high school. For me, I sort of fell into this business years later. Buying vintage wares and antique furniture has been my passion since childhood. My parents and grandparents were collectors themselves.

In my early 30's I began a blog called Apron Thrift Girl about my love of thrifting. The more that I wrote about what I bought, the more I began to sell what I found. I'm not sure what came first, the writer or the antique dealer. They just seemed to blend perfectly together.

Antiques, Interior Design, Furniture Building & Restoration all morphed out of my little blog that I started in 2006. It grew into another blog, Antique Curators which better represented my interests and business direction of the last few years.

Back Wall with Art, Dishes and Cast Iron

My style took on a more mature feel than the youngish apron wearer that I had been. The gray was painted over the aqua and gold and brass took over the 60's chrome. I mostly left the days of teak behind and began to appreciate 1900's oak and antique fir.

the right side of the space is more industrial in style

While I enjoyed collecting and selling items from the Mid Century Modern style, I find that this new genre allows me to be far more creative. Now that I have the perfect partner in crime, Timothy Whitcomb, that creative knows no bounds. Designing and building furniture has taken this business and passion to a new level.

HappenFound Restoration desk that we recently finished

We have a very successful turnover at the store and although this was taken just a month ago, the furniture selection looks completely different now. That's the fun of selling in a space like this. It's always changing depending on what we source or build. We can create small vignettes with furniture and create a feeling that we hope connects with our customers.

If you'd like to see our furniture in person and are in the area the Antique Society is at 2661 Gravenstein Hwy, South, Sebastopol, Calif. 95472. Their number is 707.829.1733.

What's your favorite Antique collective?

We travel extensively in the Western US and soon to the Midwest. Leave us your favorite place and we'll try to visit.

Whitcomb + Cate

We offer Full Estate Liquidation Assistance. This includes Full Estate Liquidation, a Clean Out option or hosting a sale offsite at our Whitcomb + Cate Warehouse in Sebastopol, Calif.

Contact us for a free consultation and quote.

Whitcomb + Cate also offer a number of Services for you such as Furniture Design and Restoration where we utilize wood and metal alchemy to handcraft reclaimed old growth furniture and unique lighting with materials sourced from Marin, Napa and Sonoma Counties. We specialize in restoring antique/vintage furniture and lighting.

 

HappenFound Restoration - 10 Drawer Cabinet

Happen Found Restoration - 10 Drawer Cabinet

B y - Selena Cate

This last weekend was a fabulous furniture buying weekend. We spent four days procuring inventory and as soon as we arrived home, we got out our sanders and began working.

This piece above was nestled in a closet of an office in a house up in Cloverdale. It was a piece that was rather worn but had so much potential. I search especially for items that are ideal for artists and designers.

When I bring something home, I don't always have a vision of what it might look like from the stoart. The piece usually evolves into something else naturally. That is the magic of this kind of work.

Before Photo of Drawer

Each Drawer Sanded by Hand

New Old Stock Mercury Glass Style Knob

When I'm out scouting for inventory one of my favorite things to come across is New Old Stock items. These are items that are basically in new condition, many many years later. I found a box of these old knobs still in their original paper wrapper. I discovered 25 in total. These were perfect against the beautiful grain of this wood. 

The old drawers originally had a semi gloss stain on it. After sanding I simply used Howard's Feed-n-Wax and it brought out the natural color of the wood.

This was delivered to the Antique Society, an antique collective, in Sebastopol yesterday afternoon.

For more information about pricing, please visit our Whitcomb + Cate Studio page.

Handcrafting from Antique Wood

Reclaimed Old Growth Workbench / Kitchen Island

b y - Timothy Whitcomb

I truly feel it's a privilege to come across old growth that was cut so recklessly in our past and give it a more dignified life. The rare Red Fir we used on this bench for example spent its first 125 years in the dark recesses of the walls of an apartment building in San Francisco holding up lathe and plaster walls. The least we could do was lay it horizontally and bring outs it beautiful grain where it can now spend another 100 years in the open as the workbench companion to an artist, craftsman or gourmet chef.

Top Surface - Red Fir

The Redwood legs were culled from a 100 year old ranch in Sonoma County and the rare Red Fir - Abeis Magnifica in Latin - spent its first 125 years holding up walls in a historic building in downtown San Francisco.

The once abundant Red Fir was cut from old growth stands in Northern California and we were only able to secure enough of this rare wood for a few pieces which make them really one of a kind tables.

This piece is from our HappenWood Furniture Line and is currently available at the Antique Society in Sebastopol, Calif.

Latest Restoration Project - Antique Mercantile Oak Drawer Unit

B y - Selena Cate

This is one of our favorite pieces that we've ever come across. This stunning oak piece of furniture began in an old Mercantile, later ended up in an insurance agency (probably mid 1950's) and eventually made it's way into a workshop in Sonoma County.

Before Photo - Condition As Found

Although it had such an interesting patina when we found it, we wanted to bring it back to as close as it's original look as we could. It features 26 drawers, oak and fir wood and boast an amazing 8 foot 4 inches in size.

may we present....

Whitcomb + Cate

Established 2015