I'm No Good at Relaxing and Pretty Close-ups

We're off on a long weekend in Florida. When we left yesterday morning it was 5 degrees out. FIVE. The only thing more bitter than the weather was my mood. I hate flying. I'm not sure I hate anything more than flying, except bitter cold weather. And so I weeped and panicked my way through the two and a half hour flight (yes, I'm that asshole), but I suppose it was worth it (for me at least, my travel companions were pretty miffed with my histrionics). I'm typing this from the gorgeous patio of my friend's gorgeous Floridian home. I'm barefoot, there are palm trees and flowers and dewey green grass...and I'm bored off my kettle.
          I'm fairly certain I'd much rather be crouched on my filthy freezing concrete workshop floor, furiously painting away on something, muttering to myself, spilling my luke warm coffee, all the wonderful things that are home. I'm trying trying trying to relax and soak up the sun, and slow down, but who has time for silly things like that?!
           I need something to do with my hands so I'm blogging. Here's some pretty close-ups from pieces of furniture I finished over the years. 95% of the pictures I share with you are of the piece as a whole, but I do try to snap close-ups when there's a particularly enchanting detail, or bit of decorative paint work that I did custom. And of course, lots and lots of beautiful carving.

So many of these pictures were taken in Spring and summer, it's making me ache for warmer weather. The warm weather down here is eerie and fake, there are Christmas decorations everywhere but it's going to be well into the 80s today. It's like living in a dream, a perpetual summer that's gotten worn and ragged from overuse.

A Pine Sideboard in Pale Green

So much of 20th century design is unoriginal. So much of it is a direct reference, if not an exact copy of Queen Anne (1730-1770), Chippendale (1756-1790) , and Federal forms (1785-1820). Don't get me wrong, those forms are lovely, and the Colonial Revival and Bicentennial stuff is beautiful, but it is so nice to see an unfamiliar face from time to time.
       This Thomasville pine sideboard can hardly even be called 'vintage', I don't think it's more than fifteen years old. It's pine veneer over composite in places, though the legs and doors are solid wood, so hopefully no crazy old ladies are going to yell at me for painting it, also, I think it's much much better with paint. The design is loosely Scandinavian in feel but really a unique and attractive confection curves, and that paint flatters it perfectly. I refinished it custom for a wonderful client; she gave the color lots of thought ahead of time. I think she hit it spot on, a color choice home run. The shade is Benjamin Moore's 'Parsley Sprig', with the interior in 'Grasshopper'. We highlighted all the wonderful detailing with oil based gold applied very very very carefully by hand with a wee little detail brush. It helps that this is in one of my favorite colors, but boy, I'd love to keep this one for myself!

A Vintage Stepback Cupboard in Aqua

Boy oh boy, if this weren't custom for a client, I'd be keeping it. I LOVE this mid 20th century solid maple stepback cupboard. It's so beautifully built, all handmade, and in absolutely flawless condition. I also love what the client chose to do with it- a fresh shade of aqua, antique white backboard, glass knobs, and a lighter clearer shade for the top. Perfection. It's got a bit of a Scandinavian vibe to it too, which feels so right on a bitter cold day with the promise of snow thick in the air.
          To start I refinished the top. I did this step first because I knew I'd be painting all around and directly above that finished top. Where as the old surface would take the paint and hold it, my new glossy smooth top would repel the paint like magic, so any errant drips could just be wiped away with a wet paper towel.
           Once the top was done I set to work on the case. The color is inspired by a coastal hutch I refinished a couple years ago. That hutch is one of the most popular pieces I've ever done, and I've had the color requested a few times since. It truly is a magnificent shade of aqua, bright and playful, but not too over the top, just right for a pop of color in a classic farmhouse space. The backboard is also a custom mixed antique white. I distressed the entire thing and then sealed it with my homemade dark wax.

inspiration hutch

My Big Dumb Dream

Do you have a Big Dumb Dream? You should. Everyone should. Without us lovers and dreamers, Kermit would have nothing to sing about.

         I have lots of medium sized, not so crazy dreams. I dream of having a roof that doesn't leak, or possibly just a big old house on a large slice of land. I dream about having my own show on HGTV (don't act like you wouldn't watch the shit out of that masterpiece), I dream about publishing a book on furniture adventures. Those are my normal dreams, the ones that I'm pretty sure if I just keep working like flaming Satan is chasing me, maybe, just maybe I will achieve. At least I hope so. I'm pretty damn determined to achieve all those goals or die trying...probably when our rotten roof caves in and squashes me.


          No, a Big Dumb Dream is the one that's waaaaaaaay out in left field. But still, a dream nonetheless. It's a wild flailing hope that Lady Luck might get clumsy and give you an extra serving. That somehow, in some unfathomable string theory-esque alternate dimension there's a turn that you take, or a person that you meet, that leads you down the road to the Big Dumb Dream. Or, to put it bluntly, it's the crazy idea I told my little sister this morning, and she responded with:

             So Erin's apparently not onboard. But there it is. I want so So SOOOOO much, desperately, madly, painfully to attend the Academy Awards. For years, for years this Big Dumb Dream has driven me up the wall. Pathetically, I always think this might be the year, and then of course it isn't, and then I feel like an utter failure once more.  I mean I haven't really tried. Wishing doesn't count as trying. And yes, I know I'm a commoner. I'm not blindingly beautiful, or brilliantly talented, or swimming through mountains of gold Scrooge McDuck style...or, say an actress or producer-someone who has a right to be there. But still, every year I hope. Every year I pick out an imaginary dress, and I start hitting the gym (down 7lbs already woooo!), and I wish on every star, like a child, or a madwoman. Other people's dreams come true- DISNEY HAS SHOWN ME THIS. So, why not my impractical, selfish wish?

via

             This coming year,  I'm trying a new strategy, which I've code named "Bribing and Manipulation". Here's the deal. In 2017 in March, I'm going to give away a piece of furniture, something medium-ish sized, and if the winner lives far away, I'm gonna ship it- FOR FREE. Anyone can enter (in the US)- let's not get carried away. And here's the manipulation part. One of you knows someone, one of you has a friend, a contact... something, hook a gal up, don't make me go through this bizarre, thankless ritual for yet another movie awards season. I promise I will NOT grope the celebrities. I promise I WILL write lots of mirth filled content while actively concentrating on not groping said celebrities.

               
             

A Mahogany Desk in Sky Blue

Remember blue sky? We haven't had a blue sky in almost a decade, or at least that's how it feels. It's probably been more like four days, but I'm getting antsy. Specifically, I can't properly photograph in sullen, stubborn cloud cover; Generally, I like the sun, I'm not a cloudy day kind of gal. Cloudy day gals knit their own socks and drink lots of tea. They probably write poetry. Yes I'm casting shade at cloudy day gals, but shade's just what they like, now isn't it?

              Since the sky refuses to be blue, by god this desk WILL BE. The bluest sky blue that is decent. It's a solid mahogany c.1950 desk made by the Huntington Furniture Company. I had to stalk it for more than a month at the ReStore before its price became anywhere near reasonable. (Their prices have been skyrocketing lately, much to my chagrin...that's what I get for giving them so much free advertising). So when the price finally dropped I snatched it up. It needed a fair amount of work, a runner guide had gotten detached, and one of the drawer lips had a pretty sizable nip out of it.

              Luckily I'm a master at repairing both those problems, probably because they're two of the most common issues I encounter on vintage case pieces. Once I had the structure set aright, I painted the case in my custom mixed blue, and sanded, stained, and sealed the glorious mahogany top and replaced the dowdy Chippendale pulls with sleek modern ones for a bit of fun and cheek.