Podcast, Episode 47: Antique Expert Shane Robuck

This past Fall, Karen met antique dealer Shane Robuck of Robuck & Co on a buying trip to Europe, and we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to chat with him about antiques, travel, and his love of furniture. Shane travels the world looking for the most beautiful curiosities and furniture pieces and sells them in his shop in Atlanta.

• Shane tells us about his love of Italy and his favorite cities for finding the best pieces
• Shane tells us about how he started buying antiques and who helped him educate his eye
• The guiding principal he uses to buy pieces — gauging with your heart and buying what you love
• We talk about why the millennial generation doesn’t buying as many antiques
• Shane gives us a quick lesson on antiques from various countries
• Shane tells us the story of buying his tufted sofa with adjustable arms
• He tells us what types of antiques are currently trending in his shop
• Taryn asks about tips about shopping for antiques in a shop
• We talk about negotiating and what’s a fair price to offer

Decorating Dilemmas:

Hi ladies!

Re-doing our master bedroom ensuite was one of my top priorities when we bought our home. However, I quickly realized it was too big and expensive of a project to do it properly and we needed to focus on MANY other things. So 2 years later, though I’m happy the other parts of house have really come together, I still have my crummy ensuite that I hate using every day. 

As you can see there are two doors that lead out to a deck, a small shower/toilet area to the left, one sink/bathroom cabinet in the middle, and a step up to a huge tub area on the right. My husband created this clever wood cover for the too-big spa bathtub since we never used it and we wanted to make better use of space. We also plan on taking down those huge mirrors over the tub. Any suggestions on how to make that area useful? Its huge and I’d love to make it some sort of storage area. Maybe for seasonal clothes, linens, etc?  I don’t want to put much weight on the actual cover but we’ve considered some kind of hanging closet organizers in there.  Maybe move some of the items from our bedroom, like laundry bins in there?  Would it be odd to hang curtains  from the ceiling or put in a room divider to hide/close off that space to hide items or better to be open?

I’d really like to paint the existing bathroom cabinet and update the hardware. And is there anything to do to paint or cover the green accent tile that might be nice too?

Any Suggestions for window treatments, lighting, or any other suggestions welcome.

Essentially, my decorating dilemma is can you please take this oddly laid out 80’s bathroom and help me create useful space, cohesion, and maybe even some calm/beauty?

Thanks in advance!

Heather

Heather,

Shane suggests basically gutting your bathroom, making the sink smaller (maybe a pedestal sink). Remove the tub and shower, and turn that entire space into a shower and a closet to create more storage. Then, create a new door to your toilet room so you can close off the door in the main bathroom and place cabientry along that wall.

Gutting your bathroom is going to be a big project, so I get that you may not be ready to pull the trigger just yet. If it were me, I’d do some small fixes — basically paint everything white (the mirror frame and vanity) and bring in some new fluffy towels — just to help neutralize the space. Hang some curtains on the outside of the bathroom in the bedroom so you can block off the room when you aren’t in there. For me, I wouldn’t want to constantly be looking at a bathroom I hate, so adding drapery in the interim might help reduce the visual clutter.

My last ditch suggestion once you’ve painted everything white is to find a wallpaper that you totally love, and wallpaper the bathroom. A bold color and pattern will help draw your attention away from the 80s finish and funky shape while you’re saving up for a big gut job.

Just hang in there and keep saving your pennies!

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Hi,

Love your podcast! We just moved into a new house and our dining room has wonderful, high wainscoting but I have no idea how to add art on the walls in here. Our house has craftsman mouldings throughout, and I’ve read that the top of the wainscoting in traditional craftsman cottages was used as a plate rail. That said, I’ve considered leaning some of my larger white ironstone platters along the ledge, but have no idea how to secure them to the wall. I’m also thinking that may be too monochromatic, and patterned plates feel a bit too granny for me. I’ve seen other people add framed art above the rail and it just seems out of place because it’s far above the average person’s line of sight. I also can’t do a mirror because the dining room is beside the entry where we have a large mirror already. Please help! 

Thanks!
Elizabeth

Shane suggests a series of engravings instead of plates. He also suggests you swap your table for something round. There are already a lot of squares and sharp angles in your room, so a round table will help balance those angles out.

I suggest adding some patterned drapery. To Shane’s point, some softness (through drapes) will help break up all of those angles, and a patterned drapery will help eat up some of the wall space that you’re wanting to fill. Maybe you aren’t interested in a bold pattern, but even a smaller pattern would accomplish the same thing.

Taryn suggests adding a sideboard on the large, windowless wall. This is a great way to bring some art because you could lean one large art print over the top of the sideboard, and you won’t need to worry about hanging it over or under the wainscoting.

Show Notes

• Ballard Signature Towels
• Inman Textured Drapery Panels
• Tatem Thin Striped Sheer Panels
• Essential Drapery Panels in Natural
• Robuck & Co on Instgram
• Robuck & Co’s website

Please send in your questions so we can answer them on our next episode! And of course, subscribe to the podcast in iTunes so you never miss an episode. You can always check back here to see new episodes, but if you subscribe, it’ll automatically download to your phone.

Happy Decorating!

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