Dining Set

In mid December, I had someone contact me about doing a custom dining set for them.  I was really excited about this - one, it was my first time doing an entire SET rather than bits and pieces.. and two, I was flattered someone wanted ME to do it.  We've amazingly been doing the whole process via phone & email, which is pretty impressive.  Between craiglist purchases and delivery coordination, to sharing paint codes so I could get the exact colors - it's been a fun adventure.  I'm almost done, and I thought now that I have a good line up of pictures, it would be a good time to start the sharing.  So over the next few days, I'll show the journey that has been, the dining set. Let's catch you up to speed, here are the chairs as they arrived:

 Oh my....

 Someone, somewhere, loved that print - and got a LOT of use out of them. These chairs were really.... something.  I was so curious to see what was causing the interesting  lumpy-saggy front thing they had going on. 

First things first, I took the seats off. I was SO happy and relieved to see that the base was wood, and not some crazy spring contraption that would have tripled the time on these.  But look at all these layers I found! At least 6, and whoever covered them (over and over again......) just wasn't really feeling the whole, remove some layers FIRST idea.  Notice the clever use of old comforters as a padding between layers, No wonder they had such a lumpy shape before! I found a brown and cream label that said "Davis Cabinet Company - makers of fine furniture - Nashville, Tennessee"  I'm going to say at least 1960's.

 

 Why hello there!  These chairs just aged themselves.. this is the original padding on the wood.  Mesh, straw, and pure unfiltered cotton. You can see all the little husks in it! But, this is a new day and age and we have super-cushy synthetic padding now, so these got a good salute - then the boot. Haha, how cheesy...

Here they are, all six, lined up and cleaned up, ready to be worked on. Keep an eye out tomorrow when I show you what happened next.

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String Art Tablets & The Divine Minimalist

If you have followed the blog for long, you know of my love for string art - as seen here and here.  But those are more, installations for your wall and can't come with you if you move.  So I thought I should try to do a few on wood, since I LOVE wood grain too.  Here are some photos:

I picked out a nice looking piece of wood and began to cut it into tablets.  Then I beveled the edges and sanded the fronts smooth.  I chose my designs for my prototypes and got to stringing. It was a lot of fun! These are all available in my Etsy shop, and I'm available for custom orders.  My favorite is the Old English letter, which obviously can be done in any letter or font.  I think they'd look great on each side of a bed, or on the bedroom doors of a family home.

On the same note, just this morning I saw a post on The Divine Minimalist about my string art! Special thanks to a long time friend, Betsy Webster, for featuring my string art tablets on her blog today.  If you haven't checked out The Divine Minimalist yet, hop over when you have a chance.  It's like a steady stream of eye candy for those of us who love design and home decor.  Plus all kinds of creative ideas to keep your creative side lively and fresh.  I LOVE her post on wood grain candles, seen here. Thanks Betsy!

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Featured: Better After!

Aah, what an honor - both in the same day! Yesterday was a big day for the Frank Lloyd Wright Table! Lindsey, from Better After, featuring not one, not two, but THREE of my before & afters on her blog! I LOVE better after. I subscribe to the updates so everyday I get 3-4 morsels of inspiration from other furniture refinishers in the world. I was so shocked to see my pictures come through the feed!  Her post is super sweet too, made me blush! Head on over to Better After and cruise through all the amazing transformations.  Thanks again Lindsey!  Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

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Featured! On Design*Sponge...

I love Design*Sponge, I've been following them for a few years now and I've been lucky enough to be featured on their front page as part of their before & after series.  If you haven't checked out Design*Sponge before, head over! There's something for everyone and a LOT of great ideas. A big thank you to the team at Design Sponge for including my table!

Here's what she had to say:

"I know that painting or drawing on wood continues to attract controversy, but today I’m excited to share two* of the prettiest painted furniture pieces I’ve come across recently. First up is this Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired table by Jesse Dresbach, owner of the furniture-restoration shop Nine Red. We’ve featured some of Jesse’s skilled restoration work in the past, but this may be my new favorite — the combination of the ultra-dark espresso stain with the rich, earthy color palette is wonderful, and the pattern is a worthy homage to the talented architect and designer who inspired it.

According to Jesse, the secret to this project is Frog tape, but I would have to add a patient, skilled hand to the requirements. If you don’t feel like acquiring either of those, you can always purchase the original from Nine Red. Great work, Jesse! — Kate "

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Sakura goes to France, Part 2

I really liked the original Sakura table (here) and wanted to do another one.  We came across this table on a walk one day and I fell for it.  It had all the right shapes and carvings one would love, but the overall look left much to be desired.  I had to highlight those carvings, and what better way than a good distress & stain job?  Top it off with another visit from the Sakura flower punch book pages, and we have Sakura goes to France 2.0.... Here it is before:

 and here is the after!

I like how it came out, and I went a little more subtle with the flower this time. They are cute and make some very interesting phrases as your eye goes across them... This table is for sale in the shop, and will have free shipping for the holidays.  Have a great weekend!

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