Fence Restoration, Part 2

I just completed the rear part of a fence, the front part of which is shown in the previous post. The original fence was built in the 20's and I reproduced it almost exactly. I guess I can justifiably call it a "restoration" because I was able to use most of the original posts (or replacement posts that are themselves decades old). All the other verticals and horizontals and the top boards are of new material (Western Red Cedar). All in all this part of the fence is about 164' long, with about fifty feet of it sloping down toward the street, as shown above.

The house in the background is a 70's house, not the old stone Tudor house on the property that the fence belongs to. And why didn't I actually snap a picture of the old house, which is a beautiful thing, while I was snapping the fence? I should have. Sorry. But the fence is a beautiful thing in its own right, if I do say so myself.

Historic Restoration: Custom Fence

This is not a recent job of mine, but worth a look anyhow.

The large Tudor style home (not shown) on this lot was built in the twenties, and so was the long lattice-work fence running along one side of the property (just the front half of it shows here). This is not the original fence, which was severely rotted in many places and basically falling to pieces when I tore it down three years ago and replaced it, retaining the original styling.

While a different type of fence for a replacement would have looked OK in this place, the homeowner thought it was important to keep the original look, which was definitely tailored to the traditional style of his house. Being a fan of historic preservation, and also having a technical degree in the field, I agreed with him wholeheartedly--and went to work.

This image may not show off the character of the fence as well as it might, but maybe you can tell that it was certainly a beautiful morning for snapping a picture!

Custom Two-Sink Vanity: A Style Hybrid

This design is the joint work of myself and interior designer Barb Dock. I built it as part of a complete remodel of a 70s-era master bathroom. The whole house has been basically furnished in a modern style, with a slight veering recently into the craftsman idiom with the addition of some understated "mission style" furniture in the living room. This vanity was meant to go along with that move. It's a kind of a craftsman/modern blend, which I think works out well because the two movements are divergent but not antithetical to each other. It keeps to the straightforward lines of modernism with some added elaboration of details that backs off the doctrinaire severity of the modern style.

I find it is almost always interesting, and often productive, to put two different style approaches together in a synthesis: One way plus one way equals a third (new) way. This piece is an example of that process.

Reception Desk on a Budget

I designed and built this reception desk/cashier station for an art gallery in Owosso, Michigan. The budget was limited, so the choice was made to use economical materials (birch plywood and poplar hardwoods). Fortunately the wood stain chosen for the piece, a translucent acrylic color stain, is a type of stain that evens out color variations in the wood while still allowing much of the interesting grain patterning to show through.

Not shown are the many functional features behind the desk, providing for a cash drawer, filing cabinets, and shelf and drawer storage for office supplies and gift wrapping materials.

The style of the piece is what could be called Unobtrusive Contemporary--with an understated elegance that doesn't toot it's own horn. It's not supposed to upstage the art, after all.

The desk this new one replaces was not very big, not very functional, and not very handsome either, so this is a big improvement, which the people working at the gallery, and their customers too, will use and enjoy for years to come.

Reclaimed Wood/Barn Beam Furnture

Pictured here are some interesting pieces I made recently for an artist friend of mine using some salvaged old barn beams, other reclaimed wood, and western red cedar.

At top is a large frame that will do double duty as a frame for art works or a blank white screen for a projection TV.

Next is the headboard of a bed made with weathered old beams of about 6x8--as bedposts--with cedar slats spanning between and custom-turned finials topping the posts (also see finial detail next).

I like to make turnings in unique organic forms--shying away from traditional shapes that usually come off as stuffy and Victorian or just kind of run-of-the-mill (literally).

The next image shows an end of a large L-shaped work surface unit, and the next a cabinet for a small sink. Note that these cabinets have yet to get their top, which will be of soapstone in a nice rich dark green.

All of the barn wood is finished with a satin polyurethane after a light/medium sanding. This simple process yields a very satisfying look--the brown aged oak patterned with irregular much darker streaky areas, with lots of texture from cracks and fissures developed over decades in that old barn.

It is great having clients with a taste for the bold and different.

See the work of my artist client, Brian McKelvey, here.

And you can view my own art blog here.

Headboard Remodel

This project began with a carved oriental screen, presumably used as a bed headboard previously. To make the headboard wider to accommodate a bigger bed, posts of reclaimed barn wood were added to each end. Custom-turned double finials top the posts. The image doesn't do justice to the finishes on the added parts: the old gray wood responded well to a light sanding and two coats of varnish, yielding a a dark brownish finish with black streaks and all the interesting blotches and fissures and marks imprinted on the wood over decades; the finials were done to a mottled effect with a combination of staining and painting (green to match the screen) with sanding between coats.

A Retro-Eclectic Kitchen

The image shows the range wall of a small kitchen I designed and built recently--putting together a restored 1953 Wedgewood range, rather simple white cabinets by Plain and Fancy with a couple of vaguely Victorian brackets (and other like details), white marble countertops, and 3x6 checkerboard subway tiles on the walls. I think the look works. I have to credit my client with the inspiration for the design, and some details as well. My work on this one was mostly harmonizing things, laying things out, and putting it all together.

Art Table

In the category of "small architecture," or certainly in the category of "home design" very broadly understood . . . .

Here is a piece of "art furniture" I have made, a table I call it "The Archetypes."

A parlor game: What does each leg seem to represent?

A deep question: Is it possible to make truly "fine" art in the forms of the "useful" or "decorative" arts?

You can ckeck out my art blog here.

Ancient Chinese HDTV Stand

I made this small TV stand for an older couple who have several antique furniture pieces in their house, some of them from China. I suggested we make the new piece in a style to go along with their oriental items, and after a bit of research I came up with a cabinet patterned after typical small antique Chinese cabinets.

The cabinet could have been fancied up with contrasting wood species and/or contrasting finishes--playing with some of the exotic design elements--but we kept it simple after all, and both I and the customers were pleased with the result done in cherry wood with a warm red-brown finish. The piece is functional and fits in well in the room.

Custom Bookcases

Commissions for Large Architecture projects (home design) have not been flooding in of late, but recently I had the opportunity to design and build a Small Architecture project--i.e., custom cabinets--for a client in Okemos, MI. Pictured is one of two classically-inspired bookcases flanking a set of large windows in the master bedroom. I also did a similarly styled bank of bathroom vanities at the same time.

The illustration may not show enough detail, but take may word for it: I used some nice carved parts from Enkeboll, along with special-order moldings from a local supplier, to good effect to create a rich and stately impression--a warm brown-red stain on the cherry solids and veneers contributing to the overall impression. It's a beautiful thing--and provides a good amount of storage/display space for books and small art objects.

The built-ins were made to harmonize with furnishings the homeowners already had, and went along with a upgrade of interior wood trim.