Back in the days before it was discovered by reporter from the local newspaper, ‘Joe’s Fine Antiques and Furniture Design’ was known of as ‘Joe’s Junk and Antique Shop’. It’s owner, a man who goes only by the name of Gustave, would have much preferred to let the shop keep its original name, which he felt lent the place a certain quaint character. But once the cat was out of the bag, there was no stopping it. The shop became famous, and people came from everywhere in order to see and buy its treasures.
Gustave’s fans came from the world of interior design, and they were drawn to him the way that groupies are drawn to rock-stars. What attracted them was his remarkable ability to see hidden beauty in beaten-up baby cribs and rusted-out bedsteads. Almost as if by magic, he would transform them into works of breathtaking genius. They ceased to be furniture and became conversation pieces. The interior designers’ very rich clients went mad for it. Gustave could simply not produce enough new pieces to meet their demands. The waiting list for one of his pieces grew in length.
Gustave was a professional furniture designer who specialized in furniture recycling. He was always on the look-out for good pieces, visiting both estate sales and yard sales in his never-ending quest for used furniture. Twice a week, on the night before garbage-day, he cruised the streets in search of potential pieces. When he found one, he immediately brought it back to the shop, where he stripped it down and remodeled it. Cheap armchairs became stylish pieces of furniture fit for executive living rooms in his skilled hands. Their curbside origins remained a secret between himself and the interior designer purchasing it.
Until the newspaper ran the article, the sad truth was that, outside of a handful of up-and-coming interior designers, very few people ever realized that there were furniture designers who specialized in the type of furniture recycling that Gustave did.
But that was not all that he did. Gustave was also an expert in antique furniture. His unique talent enabled him to unerringly sniff out the pure gold of a legitimate find from amongst the broken down dross of other, lesser pieces. He was able to recognize genuine Pennsylvania Farmhouse dining sets almost at a glance, no matter how many layers of paint they were hidden under.
Once an antique was in his hands he would spend hours lovingly restoring it, no matter how lowly it was. It did not even have to be a piece of furniture. His interest in other antiques started when he discovered a strange-looking object amongst the personal effects of the store’s previous owner. His inner alarm bells went off instantly. Sure enough, after a bit of research he was able to determine that he had a genuine nineteenth century bedpan on his hands. He could not have been more pleased.
Celebrity is not an easy thing for a devoted artist of Gustave’s caliber. If it were not for how much his fans appreciate of his work, he’d throw it all away in an instant. To help him bear the load, he’s taken on an apprentice who goes by the single name of ‘Charles’. As for the bedpan, it now has a new home in the collection of a once famous movie-star whose name Gustave refuses to divulge.
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