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!

More Furniture Makeovers!

From Seventies Party Pooper to Modern Day Life of the Party!

Before

This Sixties Hollywood Regency Credenza goes from a snoozer with tired paint, outdated brass hardware and a dated, early '70's, gold and dull yellow paint combo to... 

After

...an eye catcher!  With a fresh Mermaid Blue/Ocean Metallic paint finish and new (and much smaller) chrome/glass handles that draw the eye to the lovely frame and panel doors, this once obnoxious party pooper has been updated to a modern, functional, life of the party centerpiece that can be used as a bar, buffet, media cabinet or as storage for books, china or collectibles.  This piece says, "Yes, I am still funky but I clean up nice for parties and special occasions!"

Before and After

Mid Century Vintage Danish Dresser -- From Wallflower to Showpiece 

Before

This is an interesting piece a client brought to me that was in need of some TLC: a Danish Mid Century Dresser with teak veneer and solid wood drawers.  The veneer was peeling in places and scratched, the finish had either disappeared in spots or melted into a plasticky puddles.  Instead of this piece taking the spotlight as a show stopper, it meekly whispered, "Oh, no, that's cool...I'll just be right here in the corner."

After

Well, working with my client (who had just moved and wanted to make a statement with her place), we came up with a plan to really make this piece shine.

The construction of the piece was solid but the condition of the veneer on the drawer faces was such that it would have to be replaced (an often difficult and expensive undertaking) and my client wanted to stay within a budget. 

So, we decided to give the front of this piece a new facelift and paint it white.  For this, I used a quality semi-gloss paint that would resist fading, yellowing and stains; I also added a few coats of wax to the finish to give it even more protection.  The top, sides and legs of this piece were then sanded carefully (so as to avoid sanding through the very thin teak veneer), stained with a natural walnut stain and finished with an all natural, oil and beeswax finish (all applied by hand) and then hand buffed.

The result (which we were both very happy with), is a piece that now says "I'm sophisticated, I have great bone structure and I won't be ignored."   Shine on, you beautiful, little Danish diamond.  Shine on.

Pipe Dreams and Manly Men!--Father's Day Gift Ideas from the Men of Etsy!

As we approach Father's Day, I have been feeling more of a need to get in touch with my masculine side and reconnect with my muy macho muchachos (aka, my buddies).   Maybe it's because it seems harder nowadays to have male bonding time.  What with me being a full time father of three (cats: Primo, Bella and Camilla) and trying to raise them correctly (teaching them valuable lessons, like, they shouldn't jump on the dining room table...anymore--okay, I let it go on longer than it should have), finding the time to be a "man's man" often gets tossed to the side of the road, like a discarded and under-appreciated Tom Selleck Moustache (which, in my opinion, is a work of genius not to be attempted by anyone other than Mr. Selleck himself).

Well, in the words of "Lost" Scotsman and manly man himself, Desmond Hume...  

"No more, Brutha'!"

In fact, recently, I've been thinking about the age-old question, what makes a man a man?  Is it, as the BIG Lebowski once posed to The Dude, "...being prepared to do the right thing, whatever the cost?"...or is it just the Dude's well thought out answer to that question of questions?

Well, I never figured that one out, but I do know this, there are probably few things as definitely masculine as a pipe!

So, here are some pipe inspired gift ideas for Father's Day from none other than a few of the men of Etsy, or MoE's.

I recently joined the Etsy Group, Men of Etsy (spearheaded by another MoE, Giani, who makes great jewelry, his Etsy shop is here. )  These are the brave and fearless few of the male species on Etsy, who are dedicated to making things out of wood, glass, stone (and other manly materials) using their bare hands, hand tools (or sometimes nothing but their teeth), to create things like wood furniture, stone jewelry, clay pottery, art, housewares, things with electrical switches, and other doo-dads and thingamajigs that they've created in their man caves (aka, garage or shed, or an unused portion of their girlfriend's closet--and I say, "doo-dads" and "thingamajigs" because I'm too busy making things to actually name them--like a real man).

Looking through the many Men of Etsy shops , I noticed a pattern: Pipes!
(Okay, well, maybe I was looking for that pattern because I wanted to do a pipe-related post for Father's Day and it appeared to me after searching for it but, whatever.)  Nothing says "Man" more than a pipe!  And what better way to say Happy Father's Day to your favorite man than by giving him one of these pipe-inspired creations and saying to him, "Here, Dad.  Put this in your pipe, and smoke it."

Here are a few of the MoE shops that highlight Pipes (and pipe related doo-dads, what-nots and what have yous):