All Hands on Deck - Decorating with Antiques

One of the cool things about this house is the nautical antiques that came with it. Pa was an oysterman. He captained an old Oyster Sloop built in the 1880s. It was a workboat and he was an Old Yankee from way back and nothing went to waste. When she was no longer seaworthy, she was scrapped and much of the rigging made it back here. Some of it is getting a new life in the entryway. I could have easily gone overboard and filled the room with it, but I didn't want to do that. I wanted to pick the most interesting pieces and show them off.

I wish I took a "before" picture of this porthole. The original glass was in it. The glass was remarkably thick but also cracked. I took it to someone who had experience restoring old windows/glass.  He painstakingly removed the gasket that held the glass in. He soaked it and unscrewed it a little at a time to avoid having to cut it. Once the old glass was out, he replaced it with a mirror, screwed it back together, and caulked it. While he had it, he found markings inside and researched them. It turns out it dates back to the 1840's; older than the boat. We believe that this was a salvaged piece that he used when he extended the bulkhead. 

Now, it is screwed to the wall (it is HEAVY) just inside the door. Mom is having copies made of some old pictures of my grandparents to add to this wall. 

The cleats are the only antiques here. They were with the ones I used for the coat rack. The rope mirror is from Walmart. The sign came from Mom. She got it as a gift and never found the right spot for it until I started this remodel. She decided that this was the perfect spot! I agreed.

These were the old running lights. I think oil lamps went inside. The green one was found in my garage and unfortunately missing the glass. I was more upset about not finding its mate. Dad said he had more parts at his shop and he would look for a red one but wasn't sure if he had anything the same size, but he would look. When he said he found something, I figured I could make it work. I was absolutely blown away to find the mate!

When a ship enters or leaves a harbor, there are red and green buoys that mark the channel. When you are entering the port, you put the red markers on your right, Red, Right, Returning is how we remember. So, when you enter my home, the red is on the right as a way of saying "welcome". At some point, I would love to have an electrician wire them to light up.

I decided to use the wall opposite the chimney as a feature wall to highlight these antiques. Parallel to the ceiling is an oar that I found. It isn't too old and still quite serviceable, but I only have one and no boat to row, so here it is. It is resting in a pair of antique oarlocks. Over the door is part of broken oyster tongs. I am sure they could be fitted with new handles and put back into service, but I buy my oysters these days. Lastly, to the right is a monkey fist that was probably tied by my great grandfather. There is a lead ball inside for weight. When approaching the dock, it was tied on to the lines and thrown onto the dock where a hand would pick up the lines and pull the boat in. 

I have a couple more additions to make that involve some upcycling of what I found. Those will be posted as soon as I am done, so stay tuned!