Emily Paine Carter

Recent columns

• Readers write of run-ins with political bigwigs
• Recording holds clues from 6 decades ago
• Rubbed shoulders with any big names?
• Column archive

"What? There is insurance for that?" I said with a cackle to insurance agent and then-boyfriend Don Seay years ago.

This was the only time I've ever even smiled while looking at a legal document. I had spotted an Errors and Omissions category and thought, "Man, I'd like to have that blanketing all my lifetime goofs."

Alas, I have no such policy. It's just my humble self and my keyboard, trying to make up for some omissions.

We fielded many calls about omissions from the Jan. 26 column on beauty salons' saving vintage Salem buildings.

• Owner and stylist Michelle Anas of Salem said she greatly appreciated whatever clients took the time to remind me of her Renaissance Salon. It relocated 14 months ago from across from Towers to 17 W. Main St., across from Wachovia Bank.

Both she and receptionist Ruth Wilklow, also of Salem, said many clients followed their move. Anas added new flooring and painted the walls a dramatic burgundy.

The space had been an antique consignment shop and a Ford dealership. (375-8888)

• I had mentioned Salem's Cut Above but had not given it the attention it merits. Donna Stover -- one of four owners -- had originally been looking for an older place for the salon's 11 employees. (Other owners are Marissa Herndon, Suzanne McNulty and Rick Hoosier -- who used to cut my son's hair in that tiny Boulevard building now housing the colorfully named Old Mule's Hot Dog Co.).

Even though the huge brick building on Fourth Street is relatively new at 25 years, Stover has graced it with such charming antique touches as a 100-year-old wardrobe and vintage dressers for stations. She said she finds and refurbishes chairs, circa 1925-35, for the salon. She was also proud of the lovely frame her father built for a massive mirror there.

The interior is painted a sandstone hue; some deep Chinese-red walls are highlighted by gold brushwork. (387-4955)

• Do you drive the same paths daily? Like being on a slot-car track, or making rounds like an old hound dog, that's how I missed the transformation wrought by Studio 5 Hair Design: My route bypasses the salon's Colorado Street location.

Owner Debbie Bailey-Kaiser of Botetourt said she and co-owner Addie Crawley of Catawba worked very hard to save "a falling-in, nearly ruined house." (389-2911)

Bailey-Kaiser added pale-green Venetian plaster to the hallway -- and the former farmhouse seemed to cry for that big front porch. There's an outside entrance to an upstairs apartment and generous parking spaces. The pale-yellow walls and black shutters can be seen throughout the spacious building, furnished with black wicker.

"Neighbors have thanked us for saving this house," Bailey-Kaiser said. "We had knocked on doors, searching for a place. We bought this in June '06, painted in 95-degree heat, worked on it late at night and opened in mid-August." Having worked in Salem since age 18 -- from a small West Main spot to the parking-challenged Library Square, Number 5 (the source for the salon's name) to a brief stint behind Shiloh Baptist Church, she said she is delighted "to own, finally to have found a home. We won't be moving!"

Are there lessons here? First of all, owners' and clients' justifiable pride and passion for such restored places suggest that future business owners should consider reusing other old buildings. Second, I shouldn't bite off more than I can chew; don't omit anyone. There are just too many good folks around here, and it's a shame to overlook anyone.

Thanks to all you alert readers. Now, let's make appointments to banish the winter blues with some beauty.