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This Sixties Hollywood Regency Credenza goes from a snoozer with tired paint, outdated brass hardware and a dated, early '70's, gold and dull yellow paint combo to...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

New Eco Friendly Items at my Etsy Shop!

This week I am adding all new items to my Etsy shop.  They are earth friendly, made of recycled wood and have a rustic but modern edge to them. 

 

 

These Napkin Rings are made of one chunk of beautifully scented Eucalyptus wood, cut into four sections.  

The knots and checks in the wood have been left intact to remind you that this was part of a tree (and not something that does not resemble a tree, or even wood).  These are hand finished and left in the sun to mellow the patina.  

 

These would be great on a summer night for an intimate, outdoor dinner or during the day for a Sunday brunch.

 

And if you're looking for some great eco-friendly napkin options to go with this set, please visit TerreMum's Etsy Shop (who was kind enough to include one of my candle holders in her awesome blog by the same name--Thank you, Jennie!--more on that later).   

She makes really beautiful, handcrafted, hand printed linen napkins (you know, proper napkins--but ones you can use everyday) like these:

 

To see these, and other great, eco friendly gift options, check out my Etsy shop (and others) and thanks for visiting my blog!

New item for sale! Mid Century Modern Metallic Silver Cabinet/Bar/Hutch or what would YOU use it for? -- Sold!

This is a very nice, Mid Century Modern Cabinet with sliding doors that could be used for a bookcase, extra storage, a hutch, a fancy bar or to house a collection of your favorite art, oddities or collectibles.  It has a Metallic Gunmetal Silver finish and the original brushed chrome handles have been polished to perfection!

This is in excellent condition and is ready to be put to use! It is for sale in the Los Angeles area on L.A. Craigslist and Apartment Therapy Los Angeles Classifieds (click the links to see the ads).

Email me through Craigslist, ATLA or right here, via my blog if you have questions or would like to see this in person.  Thanks for visiting my blog!

Trash To Treasure Series! Ugly Duckling Dresser turned into Dove Grey Beauty!

This was a piece of furniture I acquired as a partial trade toward a refinishing job I completed fairly recently.  The dresser had good bones (frame and panel sides and a solid top and drawers) but the finish was badly scratched and there were enough holes (30, in all!) on the drawer fronts to make it look like it had been part of the set for the movie, Scarface.  The one thing it had going for it though (besides the good bones) was the interesting, faceted drawer fronts.  I wasn't sure what I would do with it but I knew it was an ugly duckling just waiting to be turned into a swan.

I planned to refinish this and put it up for sale but I had a client who came to see another dresser I had and she liked this one so much (ugly duckling and all) that she purchased it before it was even completed and had me finish it to her specifications.  I sanded this over a few days (did I mention it was REALLY badly scratched?) and plugged up all the "bullet" holes.  I then mixed the dove grey paint (just enough for this one piece so, it will never be replicated exactly again).  It was then primed, painted a few coats, all by hand, over a few days and then I hand applied different colored pigments to give it an aged, burnished look.  It was then waxed, by hand, using a mixture of wax and pigment to give it another layer of color and then distressed.  The distressing revealed layers of paint below that ranged from mahogany stain to a navy blue to a bright taxi cab yellow underneath.  The resulting finish is multi-layered, giving this a patina that looks like it has been in the family for ages.

But what about hardware?  We thought about Glass handles from Anthropologie but it would probably require two per drawer (ten, total).  The handles could have easily cost as much as the dresser itself so, my client, wanting to stay within her budget, asked me if I could come up with a more economical solution.  So, I did: leather handles.  I had some leftover, metallic silver, leather that I purchased to make some guitar straps a few years ago.  I used that to make five leather handles like you might see on a vintage piece of luggage.  I made loops from the same leather and nailed them in for a secure yet modern solution to expensive, store bought hardware.

Devising a final look for this piece was challenging as I didn't know what it looked like originally but it helps to have a client that's open to suggestions, willing to try something new and trusts in your vision--even if you don't know what that is right away (thanks, Sandra)!

Enjoy your new (vintage) dresser!