Blog Woods: February 2014

Monday, February 24, 2014

Stickley End Table

I found this darling (well, it is now!) side table from some guy that was clearing out

his mothers house. It was trashed. Didn't find out until I got it home and did

some research that it was a Stickley piece.

Fifteen dollah make you holla!! LOL

I had already started when I remembered I hadn't snapped a before photo!

Solid mahogany with this cool design inlay. As you can see, it was quite damaged. These pieces can actually be worth quite a bit in a pristine state. However, pristine was 3 decades ago with this piece. It was too far gone. But I did save the solid wood top. It finished up beautifully.

I'm still soaking the hardware. I'm doing the patina soak. Cider vinegar and sea salt.

Hoping to get some of the verdigris look.

So first off, since this is mahogany and we know how this bleeds, I painted it with a wood sealer. You must start using this! Plus, it protects the wood. So, if in the future anyone wants to take off the paint and attempt to restore the wood, they can. With this stuff, you don't have to sand the crap out of the wood and damage any intricate areas (like the legs) in order to get the paint off. It's quick, easy and dries fast. Sometimes you can use a white primer but sometimes you don't want the white primer to show when you are distressing.

Use the seal coat.

MORE THAN JUST A PEDICURE lions foot chest

The veneer on one side and top had to be completely removed due to water damage.

We have all come across those bubbling and wavy surfaces and sometimes it can be fixed.

But not this time.

I stripped and sanded and filled and sanded some more,

then added several coats of paint and wax to get this crisp clean white surface.

The right side veneer was saved and I restained the wood on the left.

She has her original key locks still in place and I out fitted her with a set of reproduction handles.

She is painted in ASCP Old White and clear wax,

and is the perfect height for a grand bedside table.

You can find a side by side before and after pic here.

Sharing at:

LEARNING TO LET GO gothic sideboard

I learned about letting go of things years ago when I purged most of my belongings after a divorce.

It felt so good and the few things I kept I only hung onto for living purposes. Like the bed to sleep in

and a desk with chair to work at. It only hurt while I thought about letting the stuff go, once it is was

gone it didnt matter. And its not really hurt but a feeling of anxiety. This weekend Ive had that

same anxiety again committing to letting go of a piece I cherish. For some reason it would seem

this piece is different and its taken a few days to come to terms with the decision.

Im selling my wonderful white washed gothic sideboard. I know crazy huh!

It has a warm creamy finish and lots of storage.

The center door has a mesh panel that you can display things behind but not have to clean.

This is all vintage solid wood with carved design, no appliques. I spent some good money on

the piece years ago before digging her out of someones basement . Word to the wise, dig it out first,

then negotiate the price.

I refinished her for my TV to sit on,

but now the TV is resting on something else I love just as much.

The new piece works better for my space, it is not as long taking up less space, the cat loves

walking under it and there is a floor vent that will be a more efficient now that it is uncovered.

I promise I will miss you gothic sideboard ...

Sunday, February 23, 2014

THE DAY MY HUSBAND MET MY BOYFRIEND trestle table

Once upon a time, in a land far far away from my current life

I managed a large warehouse where we housed a lot of retail fixtures.

Jason would stop by every few days to pick something up or coordinate on a job.

He worked in the same industry but for another company that we worked in concert with.

While dating George, Jasons name would come up frequently,

after all he was a colleague I saw all the time, even spent countless time on the phone with.

For some strange reason George never got to meet Jason, he became a phantom idea.

There were many times one of them would show up and the other had just left.

It really became amusing for all of us.

My relationship with Jason continued after I moved into field work.

Jason was on many sites that I worked, but again George never got to meet him.

One day last spring George was perusing ads and came across an offer of free lumber,

and it was just down the road.

George loves to surprise me with goodies so he set up to see the lumber with the owners wife

and she made all the arrangements for George to meet up with her husband Sunday morning.

So when Sunday morning came he whisked me off in the van with promises of wonder and delightment.

Have you figured it out?

The man giving away the wood turned out to be none other than Jason.

I just stood there dumb struck, then we laughed about it.

Needless to say this is how I came across the beautiful 2" thick cedar I got to use on this

reclaimed Trestle Table I built.

The standard height of a dining table is between 28" and 30"

so I jack him up a bit with some bun feet to meet these requirements.

While the glue set up on the feet I painted him with ASCP and distressed with a wet sponge.

I had to get back to working on the surface, all the boards needed to be cleaned and smoothed.

The end grain had to be closed so out came the angle grinder with 36 grit disc.

Plz understand I have used a grinder with my driftwood furniture for more than 15 years,

this is not a tool you just pick up and try with out the guidance of a trusted professional.

I didnt quite have all the right sized boards to get the table finished so I shouted out in

a past post if anyone had some 2" lumber. Elinor of The Passionate Home invited me over to
see if she could contribute. The bright orange center board is from her lumber stash.

So the next step was to age her orange piece to match the weathered look the other boards had.

To achieve this look ...

I used a wash of black and brown paint on hers then white washed all the boards.

Next I strapped them all together. Above is the underside of the surface.

The strapping lines up perfectly to the table base.

I was able to date the original table to 1 of 2 furniture companies in Vancouver

between 1912 and 1939, so he has been around.

The original top has some water damage

but you know I will find a fabulous use for it in the future.

There are already some ideas running around in my head.

The final steps were to lay 2 coats of Wipe On Poly followed by 2 coats of Furniture wax to the new top.

Both product I used are from MINWAX.

This is one I would keep for sure if I had the space!!!

Check out some of the new listings over at Firstfinds Etsy Shop

DIY Drill Charging Station

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I finally decided to get busy on my Drill Charging Station, one more woodworking project that would help me organize my shop some more. It came out wonderfully and was actually really easy to do.

Here are the dimensions of the main pieces for those who are interested.
Bottom- 7 ¾” x 19”
Back- 10 ¼” x 19”
Sides- 11” x 7 ¾”
Inside Dividers- 7” x 10 ¼”
Shelf- 6 ½” x 10 ½”

I left about 3 ½” in the slot for the drills to drop down into. The wires just bunch up behind it and stay pretty well since the French cleats put pressure against the wall holding them there.

If anyone has and questions feel free to let me know.

Don’t forget to check out Will Ellis too! http://www.o2thinkbig.co.uk/Projects/Project-Home/?clubId=1739

UNCLE RONNIES CONTRIBUTION shabby chic toile dining chairs

The truth is almost 30 chairs have come into this house

over the last month from one place or another.

I think the Chairs for Charity Auction has something to do with it,

Im sure its a conspiracy and I will get to the bottom of it or die trying to get them all done.

These 4 tired 70s dining chairs came to me via Uncle Ronnie.

While I was working on the last set all propped up in the driveway

he stopped in to let me know they were on the roadside just up the street.

Bird poop and all

Great Upholstery ... oh the memories!

Some arms missing ... of course both left arms.

So I amputated the 2 remaining right arms, cleaned, and repaired everything

They got a sprayed coat of a custom blue I mixed.

Plz dont asked about this color ... I started with Provence but it was like a mad scientists lab on the kitchen counter while I added a touch of this and a drop of that trying to achieve something.

BTW I didnt achieve what I wanted.

Then I dry brushed a light grey over the blue,

but it didnt give me the light bright overall appearance I really wanted.

So they all got a good painting of white and because of a few rain showers

they got to dry in the kitchen.

My cat doesnt get to go on the kitchen island but apparently freshly painted furniture does!

I still wanted a punch of the blue to come thru so they

got a good edge sanding to bring it out.

This time I did have the black toile in the house,

I had picked it up with the red toile that I purchased for the last set of chairs.

The first layer of upholstery is more durable drop cloth

then covered with the toile.

Dont forget you all marked your calendar for this Thursdays

*CHAIRS FOR CHARITY*

The Passionate Home

20605 Fraser Hwy Langley

18 RECLAIMED chairs have thoughtfully been
RESTYLED into beautiful themed thrones,
some come with celebrity autographs

Each will be auctioned off the evening of Thursday, October 27, 2011
benefiting the Langley Christmas Bureau.

four celebrity chairs will go on the LIVE auction block at 7:00pm
with the remaining chairs available through silent auction bids in store all day long

10:00am - 7:30pm.

Below you can see all the chairs and celebs