New items in Abodewell's Etsy shop and new Etsy shop for leather goods!

I've been a very busy monkey over the past few months, making new stuff for my Abodewell shop and starting up my new Etsy shop for handmade leather goods, Sorringowl & Sons.

Here are a few new items from my new leather goods shop on Etsy, Sorringowl & Sons:

And here are some items from my new Etsy Abodewell shop:

I will also be adding some "new" vintage and refurbished items on my blog here and advertising them on Apartment Therapy soon.  So... stay tuned!

And Thanks for looking!

New items on Abodewell! and Happy Belated New Year!

Okay, yes, I haven't written in awhile (and for that I apologize), and yes, I haven't posted any items on here for awhile (again, my apologies) and, yes, I haven't really been around.  But if this were school and I had to give you a note, well, it would go something along the lines of the excuse my sister once gave her homeroom teacher in high school for being absent:

                                          Dear Blog Followers:

                                          I'm sorry I was absent but...

                                          I had to go to the beach.

                                          Sincerely,

                                          Frank @ 

                                          Abodewell  

And while, technically (and despite living in L.A.) I'm not a beach person, and while, technically, I didn't really go to the beach, I did need to get some stuff in order and take a much needed break, which, for all intents and purposes, was my "beach".  So, I hope you can excuse this and hopefully I won't have to make it up in summer school.

So now that that ugly but necessary business has been taken care of, onto brighter things.  

Happy (Belated--see above) New Year!  It's a New Year and I have some new stuff (with more to come here and in my Etsy shop)!


First up, this beautiful, all solid wood (maple, no less) butterfly gate leg table.

The top on this has gorgeous tiger striped grain...

 

And this is like three tables in one.  Both leaves can be folded down (to a size of 22" deep x 40" long x 29.5" high) so this can be used like an occasional table or sofa table, which is great if you don't have a lot of space.  It can also be used with one leaf up, as a desk or small table (size with one leaf open is 39" long x 40" deep x 29.5" high)...

And, of course, fully open (size is 56" long x 40" deep x 29.5" high fully opened) for dinner parties or an extra buffet table that you can tuck away after the party. 

This is available for sale right now on Craigslist (see the ad here) or, contact me directly me through my blog here.  Only $225.  Practically a steal!


Happy Belated New Year!


Frank @
Abodewell

Update 1/20/11: This item has gone to a good home.  More to come.

Vintage Swiss Grey Dresser on Apt Therapy L.A. Scavenger!

The nice people at ATLA have included the Vintage Swiss Grey Dresser I have up for sale today on Craigslist!  Those are some swell folks! (with good taste, wink, wink...)

Vintage Swiss Grey Dresser on ATLA!

New Vintage items up on Craigslist L.A.!!!

Here are a few new items up on Craigslist L.A.

First, we have this lovely Swiss Grey Tallboy Dresser.  Made of solid wood with the original brass hardware. 

I love the color of this and I really like the way the old brass looks up against this.  Reminds me of an old piece of military furniture from an officer's quarters.  Solid wood and solid brass hardware.  See the Craigslist ad here for this beautiful dresser.

Next up is a Mid Century Coffee Table made in Sweden.  Very nice teak on this and the turned, solid wood legs are solid (no wobbling here).

Has recently been refurbished and oiled and waxed.  This is a gorgeous, retro piece that will really stand out.  Check the Craigslist for this coffee table here.

And finally, this week, check out this cute, little solid wood table with turned legs and a little drawer.

 
This would be perfect for a side table, night table, occasional table or even a laptop table.  It's the perfect desk height to work on (26") and is very well constructed.  Put some small notepads and pencils in the drawer and you're good to go.  See the ad here.

Email via this blog or via Craigslist to see any of these items.  Have a great weekend!

My First Treasury List on Etsy!

The other night I couldn't sleep, so, I decided to get online and just browse Etsy as a shopper (something I rarely do).  I saw so many beautiful things, I decided to make a Treasury List.  Here it is, inspired by tobacco and literary figures, Tobacco Wrote

Green & Chrome Chairs on Etsy's Front Page!

Just recently found out these made it to Etsy's Front Page!

Suh...weeeet!

Furniture Makeover! From boring, outdated armoire to very hip, modern and oh so tres chic Barmoire!

What is a "Barmoire," you may ask?  It is a fancy name I came up with for an outdated armoire, like so...

...that is repurposed into a new (looking), modern Bar, complete with sliding wine rack drawers, mirrored tile, fancy (and eco-friendly) lights and a wooden glass rack overhead.  As in, like so...

Here's are a few close ups of the components:

the inside

battery operated, eco-friendly L.E.D. lights add nice, soft mood lighting at very little expense to you and the environment

...and the sliding wine rack drawers are a nice place to store your favorite bottles of Chateau Bluh Bluh Bluh, '57 (obviously, I'm very knowledgeable about wine).  

the finished piece complete with glass knobs.

So, before you throw out that hulking or outdated piece of furniture, you might ask yourself, "Hmmm....I wonder if I can use that for something else?"

Mid Century Green and Chrome Chairs on Apartment Therapy's Scavenger Roundup! SOLD!

I was browsing through Apartment Therapy today and, lo and behold, on today's installment of Apt Therapy's Scavenger Roundup, I see the set of Mid Century Chairs that I currently have up for sale on ATLA classifieds and Craigslist!  Perdy kewl!

Almost makes me want to keep them...

...but then I'd have to find space for them...

...and... seeing as I already have eight chairs...

and four more would make twelve....

...in a place where I'm the only one around......

....hmmm....
...maybe I could...
...bolt them to the ceiling???...

Fine.  I'll just sell them...(grumble, grumble)

So, uh...if you wanna' see them...I guess I'll show 'em to you...whatever....
...just email me through my stupid blog...or...whatever...whatevs...

New (Vintage) item up on Craigslist! Vintage Swedish Grey Dresser --Sold!

Just recently completed some big custom jobs I was working on this summer and now I'm starting to put up more vintage and mid century items on Craigslist and Apartment Therapy LA classifieds:

Here is the latest: This is  a Vintage Swedish Grey Dresser in solid wood, with turned wooden knobs and brass hardware...

As you can see, I had a pair of these but the first one sold in about three days!  The second one, (pictured in the top left photo) is in very nice condition and awaits its new home.  The solid wood drawers slide in and out easily and this is ready to be put to use now (as in, right now!).

Some detail of the hardware:

...and one last pic for the road...

 Check out the Craigslist ad for this here and on Apartment Therapy L.A. classifieds and/or email me through here to see this Swedish beauty!  Thanks for looking at my blog!

Update:  8/24/10 This item has sold!

Antique Dresser -- From Hidden Gem to Swedish Jewel

Before

This antique, solid wood dresser was sitting in a closet (literally) for years when a client showed this to me.  The construction was very well made, the finish still in fairly decent condition for it's age (1930's, most likely) and the original, thick brass hardware, was still nicely secured and worked perfectly.  When I asked her why she had such a nice piece of furniture in the closet, she answered, "I hate the look of it.  The brass hardware is dated and it's too dark.  It doesn't really fit in any part of my home."

While I would always recommend considering refinishing a quality piece of furniture to its original finish first (which this piece really didn't need) or selling it to make room for something you do like, this piece had been in the family for many years and was not something she wanted to part with.

In that case, updating a piece of furniture so that you can actually use it (and not have it hidden) is often the best option.  We talked some more and she told me she needed a dresser for her child's room and thought to use this one but again, she thought it too heavy, dark and severe looking for a young girl.  I agreed.  But how to make it fit?  Painting such a quality piece a bright "kid's" color would be a no-no, but a sophisticated neutral is sometimes the right way to go.  So, we decided on a slightly distressed, dove grey finish, in the Swedish style.

Here's the result:

After

Sometimes, painting over what seems like perfectly good wood is better than hiding an outdated but functional, well made piece of furniture.   And since the original finish was still in good shape (acting as a protective layer underneath the paint), should she change her mind in the future and want to refinish it, stripping this would not be that difficult as the paint will not be going on (and into) the wood itself, but rather, over the finish.

Now this looks like more of what it actually is: a family heirloom that has been around for years but that is so well made it has stood up to the test of time beautifully and with some character to boot.  The paint is applied in layers, distressed carefully, and then waxed by hand, using beeswax and natural pigments to make it look like this was found in the attic rather than hidden in the closet.

Set of four green Mid Century chairs for sale

This is a set of four, Mid Century, green vinyl and chrome tubing chairs, in excellent shape!  Just got these in and did a thorough cleaning and polishing so, they look awesome and are ready to use right now (like, now!).

They won't last so, if you're interested, you can see the ads here on L.A. Craigslist and the classifieds section of Apartment Therapy L.A. and contact me through those ads or right here from my blog.  Thanks for looking!