Filed under: Architecture, Furniture, Industrial, Inspiration, Nature, Our Work, Surface
I made these finials to go on top of the farm rollers I’ve mentioned before. The oak body of the finial is turned from a solid piece of wood. I like the checking (cracks) you can achieve with a solid piece of wood….the outside surface drys more quickly than the inside core of the wood so it cracks. If you were to laminate several smaller pieces of wood together and than turn the piece you would get little or no checking which is generally the most desired affect but not for me, I like to see the grain and nature of a single block of wood. The shape of the finial was inspired by a classical urn shape, often fashioned in metal and seen on old European entry gates, in stone on the roof of 18th century Palladian styled manor house or furniture…they’re everywhere. The zinc leaves are cut from salvaged roofing material. I just cut random size leaves, gathered them together in a pattern designed to represent the agave plant…..drilled the top of the urn and forced them in. You can use these in pairs to create symmetry or singly in another composition. Outside, a pair of these on the turned oak columns could give a garden path a little zest.
The agave plant was the inspiration for the zinc leaves.
Filed under: Furniture, Industrial, Inspiration, Latest Find, What will it be?
Look at this killer industrial table base. A Custom size wood top dinning table could transform this old factory relic into a handsome one of a kind dining table … A zinc top would work too…
Here is a sample of a zinc top I tried just to play around with it.
The color of the zinc works well with the old sage green paint.
Filed under: Architecture, Industrial, Inspiration, Latest Find, Surface, What will it be?
One of my favorite things about being an antiques dealer and designer is finding things that inspire me. I bought a pair of these not knowing what they were, just that I thought they were beautifully worn solid white oak “rollers” of some sort. I later found out that they were used in fields to compact the soil after the seeds were sown to keep the moisture in the soil. I cut off the stems on the ends so they stand on end more steadily. They make great pedestals for urns or finials. They have a very ” Rough Lux ” look.
I had a request for a game table….
” Could I do something in Zinc?” Of course.
So after the details were discussed, we made this table. After all the finishes were applied, we meticulously used masking tape to cover up what would be the zinc squares and painted the black squares…still not sure if I wouldn’t have put a border of a thin black edge around the game board section. They love it though, and that’s what counts.
How great would a section of this tree be as a table base? Because the tree is being choked by a non native invasive makes it a mark…
It’s getting cut any way …
What better way to usher in an earlier spring than to snip a few flowering tree branches and place them in water in your warm home. Watch the buds swell and than explode. Pictured here is cornus mas, a type of dog wood.
I think the term salvaged has generally been reserved for shipwrecks and other property or goods saved with the intention of being reused or sold. Architectural salvage has been a familiar phrase to many of us, but the term put to plants may seem a bit off, but for me digging up any very large, long lived mature specimen just seems like salvaging. It requires finding these specimens in unexpected places, often on old estates slated for demolition. Like the the beauty one finds in a salvage architectural antique door surround or old window, these plants have a size and beauty only acquired with time. They bring instant maturity to a new garden without all the fuss of waiting 30 years.
This is a converted chicken coupe I’ve been working on. It is also my summer kitchen. I’m to the point on the project where I need to build luvered vents for ventilation above the windows. I’m very excited because I’d like the vents to also function as habitat for bats. I’m currently looking for reclaimed unfinished cedar boards to build them as I’ve found out bats prefer raw wood to hold on to. I also need to find bat guana ( bat shit ) to put in little cheese cloth bags, staple them to the newly constructed vent to attract new residents. There will be screening on the inside as to keep the bats out of the inside. Why bats? Why not….they eat a lot of bugs and they don’t bother me
People always ask me where I get all my cool stuff. I have my favorite spots I visit and I’ve been at it long enough that people come to me with things they think I’ll be interested in. I have to say ,though, driving a truck and being open to what the world presents is as good a source as any…and the price is often really good. ( see the sign ). These doors are actually beautifully crafted pine doors, at least 100 years old. They would make a handsome cabinet door or stripped of their old paint and used in new construction as a door could add a touch of character to a new space.
