I'm back!

So here we are 2 months later and I am just updating. Be assured that we have not stopped building furniture, we have just become overwhelmed with so many things to keep up with.
So here is just a taste for today of some recent builds.






A Before









An after...

update

I started this blog because I enjoy reading blogs and had this vision of building upon this as a way for customers to follow the progress of their custom furniture piece. What has happened, as usual, is that life has intervened. I really am not sure if anyone is reading this at all, so if you are out there and find this interesting, please click on comments and leave me a message.
As if the economy isn't enough, we had to put a transmission in the Jeep. Thanks to a really really good friend, we did have wheels, but Wow....transmissions are expensive!!!!
So i am going to post a few pictures of things that have been being built and delivered since my last post.
Thanks for reading

The Greek key finaled and decorated....


The famous sliding bookcases!!!!!

I just wanted to show off this table cover that I had to have. We were actually on the road doing measures and I found this table cover at Marshall's. I didn't buy it because $19.99 seemed too extravagant. We continued on our travels and I just kept thinking how nice it would look and I made Steve drive out of the way to buy it....But doesn't it look pretty......?

The kitchen remodel at our homestead is proceeding slowly but nicely. Since we are trying to do this for little or no monetary output we are proceeding as planned. We have all of the doors on except for the sink area. We cannot rip this area out until we have a new faucet and a counter top. Since I keep changing my mind on this.....I guess I am the one holding the project up. So we have changed our mind on the floor....vinyl tiles that look so real you have to touch them to see that they aren't is what we are now leaning towards. We did rip the peninsula out and the kitchen looks bigger but with so few cabinets now. We moved the trash compactor to the area where the peninsula was. I lost a bank of drawers so we are trying to build the island along with customer pieces so that we regain some of the storage. I will try to send updated pix of this as soon as I can. Right now it is time for kickoff.....Go Cards.

It can't be February!!!

Wow..I can't believe i let 2 weeks slip by without checking in... I made the decision to do this and now I have slipped already. We have been working hard and had some catching up to do on some pieces. so here is the after picture of the built in. this is not the final picture however, there was some tweaking that needed to be done, but the customer has promised to send me a really good picture after she dresses it up...i can't wait because she is an awesome interior designer...send it soon AT!! By the way, that configuration of moldings above the mantle is called a Greek key...new to us! the doors were designed by the customer and turned out quite nice. the color is Ben Moore Lady Finger and I glazed it with a provincial and coffee glaze...

Busy, Snowy, Tuesday...Icy Wednesday

Tuesday and Wednesday were busy on the road days for Steve. Wednesday was part one of the built ins that we have been following. So, here is a before and after for day one. There are always tweaks and changes on a built in of this scale and we strive to make sure that when we leave, the customer has everything they want.

Before









Step 2

Wednesday brought another day of traveling in the snow and ice to put in a mantle and do some touch up work at a job that I will post a picture of after it is complete.

Before
After


Thursday has been all about getting ready for Friday.
More on that later

vignettes

Vignettes are small settings that tell a story...pronounced vin...yet. When decorating, you can use these "little views" to create pleasing settings around your home. It is advised to always use an uneven number...I prefer three. Three different height candlesticks, perhaps in three different types of material make a better look than a pair of candles.
Place 3 books of similar subject on their side on a bookcase or three picture frames of similar but not quite alike material in a grouping on a tabletop, although with picture frames more look even better. If you browse magazines you will find many vignettes. Often a decorator will have a chair, a small table and a lamp grouped together to form a cozy area....this is a form of vignette.
The story can be made larger by adding a pillow and piece of artwork.

Another way of creating a vignette is to take a piece of artwork and bring it out into the room with material similar to the composition subject. This painting could easily stand alone, but i like to carry the greens and wildlife out onto the mantle. This can be done with any decor from contemporary to country.
So find a tabletop, mantle and play...collect things from other areas of your space and keep tweaking it until you have something...Have fun!

Refacing

Saturday ran away from me, so I thought I'd take this opportunity to show what we are doing on the home front. Although we build kitchen cabinets, we have decided to take our 1980's outdated kitchen into the next century and give it a European flair with some painted doors.
Since we can only work on this on our occasional day off, it has been a long time in progress.
Here is what the original doors and cabinets looked like....






We have chosen to make new doors with several layers of molding on them in order to give interest to cabinets that once had a 1980 formica door! Somehow, when I put that kitchen in, I thought it was so cool looking.... The color I chose for this reface is a Ben Moore Color called Mayonnaise...I am slowly painting all of the molding in our house this color. It is a warm color that seems to blend with all other colors. It is not white nor off-white, it is creamy like hmmmmm....mayonnaise.
The new doors look like this...and I love them.


So here they are without the knobs on all since I forgot to order more!!!!

The basic layout of the kitchen will not change with the exception of the peninsula. We have already removed a hanging cabinet that was over the peninsula. Once the kitchen is opened up we will build an island that is a piece of furniture and can be centered. That may be a way off, but we are slowly getting there.


Refacing is a way of getting a fresh new look at a fraction of the cost...and yes, Stowebound does refacing. Here is one we did just about a year ago.



after






Before

I hope everyone had a Happy New Year...We certainly enjoyed having another day off!!! Not too many of those in the upcoming weeks.


All of the pieces of the built-ins are finished. As you can see, we do not assemble the pieces until they are completely finished. Often, customers think I have their pieces sitting here waiting for the finish, but that is not what happens. We cannot assemble if you have not chosen a color yet!

The pieces and parts of the bookcases and mantle have now had 3 coats of paint with a trip back out to the main room between each coat. Here they get lightly sanded and wiped down then brought in for another coat. After all of their paint is completely dry....I glaze them. You can see the glaze stuck in the nooks and crannies. (hmmm, sounds like an English muffin).

Tomorrow, Steve will begin assembling the pieces, then take them apart again for transporting to the customers house where they will be reassembled.

Until tomorrow.......








Door with nooks and crannies!

The Built In Continues

Once all the pieces have gotten their first coat of paint, they come back out into the main workroom where they get sanded and wiped down and sent back in for their next coat of paint....