This was a great solution by a client to utilize a small entryway to create storage and functionality.
The benchtop is made from upcycled butcher block. The shelf with coat hooks was made with oak to withstand years of use.
Mud Room Locker
This is a great way to organize a rear entry. Just drop all your keys, mail, backpacks, and shoes on the way in the door in their designated spots!
The design is Shaker/Mission and the beadboard under the hooks adds a little extra visual detail.
Oversized Rocking Chairs
Some friends gave me free reign to create two matching rocking chairs–given some specific dimensions.
I’d been hankering to work with complete slabs of wood ever since the wood slab light fixture. I found a great, concave slab of cottonwood that I thought would be awesome as chair backs. Then the vision just developed from there.
The chairs were just finished with oil to keep their character as natural as possible. The thought that guided my work was to have the feeling of “being hugged by a tree”, so I left as much raw edge on the wood as possible.
The original concave slab that kicked off the vision
One of the concave chair backs sanded smooth
The slices of cottonwood for the rest of the chairs.
Fitting some of the pieces
Shaped, sanded, and ready to assemble!
Prepping for joinery/fastening.
Getting the rockers just right was key.
Finishing touches
Ready to be oiled
First chair completely assembled and ready for oil
Chair 1 getting oil, chair 2 still under assembly.
Both chairs completed.
Ready to ROCK!
The perfect imperfections of this tree are my favorite parts.
Really nice grain detail and live edge on this one.
My #2 helper hard at work!
Barn Door with Frosted Pane
This was a fun door to do. The client wanted to access the light provided by the back door, but without having to see and hear the laundry room all the time.
Since it was going to be painted, the plywood inserts didn’t have to match the door–or each other.
Wood Slab Light Fixture
Using live edge wood can add a new dimension to your home. Craftsman, modern, rustic, or transitional styles can all be accented with the natural contours of a literal tree slice.
These slabs can be used for coffee tables, sofa tables, headboards, or just accent pieces in your home.
The wood in the sanding process. You can start to see the grain emerge.
Holes cut for the lights.
The back side, where I tested different stains, with the wiring completed.
Dark stain on the wood will help to pop against beige ceiling.
Looking up at the wood grain.
The finished product hung in place.
Lights on!
The original builder-grade light fixture.
Authentic Barn Wood Door
This is wood from an deconstructed barn in Shiner, Texas. The reds and white you see are authentic, but we added and then distressed some turquoise to accent an antique family furniture piece by the door.
As with most projects, this idea was hatched from a picture on Pinterest. It looks awesome in this modern home with many rustic touches.
The door is largely going to serve a visual purpose in the house, but I wanted the other side to be functional–particularly for small kids in the house. So I used chalkboard paint to make a giant canvas on the back side. I routed out a finger pull, which we decided to paint the same turquoise used in the door as a little accent “pop”.
The artist-client did me the favor of some advertisement as the first chalk masterpiece to be drawn on the door.
I’ve done enough doors now that I thought it was finally time to be able to move the doors out to my “finishing booth” (aka the woods) by myself. So this door got to be the first to ride the wagon out for its clear coats.
Also, although I didn’t get a good picture of it, I fabricated a door stay that mounted to the wall since this door and floor type weren’t conducive to routing a groove in the bottom of the door for a guide. I also put together the pipe door handle.
The Pintrest picture that started the vision.
Laying out the pieces to be sure there was enough…barely.
Building the “wagon”.
The wagon at work in the “spray booth”.
The chalkboard side.
Attaching the side trim.
The pipe handle.
Elegant Barn Door with Full Length Mirror
The inspiration for this door came to my client via Pintrest (see the light colored door pictured below). They had just done a master bedroom/bathroom remodel and wanted a door to the bath that made an elegant statement, but also had the functionality of the full mirror on the back.
The door was so big and heavy–and the mirror so fragile–that most of the assembly and finishing occurred on the shop floor. It was a real challenge.
The finished product was made even better by the great hardware the clients chose to blend with current fixtures in their beautiful home.
Wood Ceiling
This high-ceilinged room needed something special.
I started by creating some faux beams and painting a dark color in case any knots allowed the ceiling to show.
Rustic Barn Door
What a great way to make art functional–a barn door. This belongs to another Pinterest-inspired client.
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- The Pinterest inspiration
Picture Ledges
I wanted to display a variety of pictures of different size, but didn’t want to buy and arrange frames on the wall.
So picture ledge to the rescue!
Each picture is mounted with always-sticky glue onto 1/4 hardboard. This allows changing out of pictures periodically–and pictures can be mounted to both sides.
I like to burn words into the wood so that as you get close to see the pictures, you get a beautiful poem or verse to go with the mood.
