Scavenger Chic

Visiting Black Dog Salvage

• By Joan
• September 17, 2015
• 8 Comments

If you recognize the picture above then you are probably a follower of the DIY Network series, Salvage Dawgs. Salvage Dawgs follows the Black Dog Salvage Company in Roanoke, Virginia as they travel to historical buildings that are about to be torn down and salvage what they can before the building and all it’s treasures are lost forever.

Frankly, it sounds like my dream job, but the commute (4 and a half hours) would be rather far.

Love the show, and my husband, who knows I love the show, gave me a trip to Roanoke to visit the one and only Black Dog Salvage for my birthday. Road trip!

If you live too far away to take your own trip, I’m going to show you around. Maybe you can get some inspiration like I did.

As soon as you pull into the parking lot you’re greeted by an eclectic mix of rust and nostalgic pieces.  This huge barrel with toys was salvaged from the Geyser Gulch in Branson, Missouri. If you’re not able to make a trip to Roanoke, you can apparently buy it at their Ebay shop. It wouldn’t fit in our car, so it’s still there.

Also in the parking lot, the front grill and fenders.

Still on the outside of the building, an enormous frying pan is mounted on the building. I think that was from Geyser Gulch also.

We were actually surprised to find that half of the main part of the building is occupied by antique dealers and artisans.

This booth was showing paint techniques using Annie Sloan chalk paint.  Another booth around the corner offered classes and had a huge stock of the chalk paints and wax.

Hanging from the eaves of the building were these two beautiful pieces of stained glass.

Now here is something I could do. Old beadboard is transformed into a cool chandelier. If you follow my pinterest board and blog you know I love upcycled lighting.

Look past the teddy bear and shirt and you’ll see this beautiful mirror made from pieces of scrap molding.  They had several of these sitting around in various sizes.

Love upcycled?  How about this fish of corks, corn skewers, can openers, scrabble letters….

I love the size of the timbers that were used to create this beautiful table.

An adirondack chair created from water skis…of course.

In the center of their shop is an awesome area devoted to custom one of a kind pieces created in their own workshop. Like this marquee letter N table with reclaimed wood.

The picture doesn’t do it justice, but this table is massive.  You know that you’ll never find another table like this anywhere in the world.

This window has been converted to a coffee table.  Love the finish inside.

Is this kitchen decoration?  I don’t know, but check out the fork, knives and spoons and interesting salads with tomatoes.

 

This was in one of the artisan booths.  Silverware garden spikes.

If you love this desk, it is apparently not for sale…It’s marked that it’s going in one of the big bosses offices.  It looks like it’s made from an old airplane wing.  Really cool!

Now if I can only find my own airplane wing, I could have my own airplane desk.

Maybe this is what I can do with one of my old spindles.  This guy has painted tin for his wings.

The other half of the store not devoted to antiques and artisans is truly the architectural salvage part of the store. Here you can find more mortise locks than you know what to do with.  If you liked my mortise lock shelves, this would be a great place to start.

They also have a ton of door plates for doorknobs.  At $10 a piece, they are not cheap, but if you are trying to match an existing plate they probably have it.

Great selection of cast iron tub feet.

And loads of doors.

I believe these are also from the Geyser Gulch amusement park.  Not terribly old, but I love the red color.

This is probably my favorite table. Love the color and the added corbels.

This is the first factory cart I’ve seen where it’s not resting on it’s wheels.  I believe a glass piece fits in the top.

The black dog is for sale,not the real one, just the garden art.  You can also buy Black dog tshirts.

How about a bench made from Chevrolet truck parts.

Out back there is a ton of rusty iron pieces.

This cart of glass and mirror pieces is where I found a great mirror for $10, I’ll show you what I did with it next week.  I also bought a cement bunny…they have a great selection of garden art.

This concludes our visit of Black Dog Salvage.  Oh, and by the way we did see Robert and Grayson just walking around and chatting with customers as if they are just normal people and not TV stars…oh right, they are just normal people.

And one more piece of “upcycled lighting”, this one not from Black Dawg Salvage but from a little place in downtown Roanoke,  Jack Brown’s Beer and Burger Joint. Not sure I’ll be recreating this piece of art, but it was a conversation starter and it did do a nice job of repurposing everyday items. 🙂

I’ll be back tomorrow sharing another fun diy over at My Repurposed Life.  I hope you’ll join me.

Shared at Think and Make Thursday, Handmade Hangout Party,

Creativity Unleashed, Link Party Palooza, Finding Silver Pennies,

Metamorphosis Monday, Wow us Wednesdays,