Not long ago, I had to accept some field trips in order to remain employed. These trips would last from a month or ½ a year. Most of the time they were close enough that I cold commute if I enjoyed a 2+ hour drive. I could get home every weekend. Other field trips were far away and the company would pay for the air fare.

I wanted than a hotel room or a mattress on the apartment floor. There was a construction and the foreman let me pick up some material from the scrap pile. I re-worked the wood and design this style. When I made the furniture it was able to fold to lay flat in the truck. Including the draws.  I was able to flat-pack the furniture, you know that air takes up most of the space. Put the mattress on top and cover. Now I had a modest furnished apartment. Then this phase of employment began to shift to grass roots contracts and the work was in the home office and I found someone who really wanted the set.

This customer was looking for someone who could build this unit. She took a chance on me. I did not do this for a living, only as a hobby.

The vanity’s top and side is made from bamboo and the side panels are made from Black walnut. The draws have a push open / soft close rails. That is why there are no draw pulls on it, I also had to make the draws so the plumbing under the sink would work. The vanity is mounted to the wall to give it a floating look. She was very happy with the work.

The lady with the vanity had another problem. She loved the design of this hutch but it was 22” deep. That was way too large for the space that she wanted to place it. I took off 8” to 10” from the back. This is harder that it looks. I had to shorten shelves, draws, trim and match the painting style used. When I finished it looked like it was made that way. As a safety measure I anchored it to the wall. The was too tall and narrow to stand alone.

This is called an apothecary style. It made from red oak. It is 48” tall by 28” wide and 14” deep. I was able to find some old style draw pulls that have a window so you can arrange your CDs as you like.

I have made several shelves like this one. They are great for displaying larger stuff. The wood was an old cedar fence. I trimmed and re-surfaced the old fence boards and used a cleat for mounting. That way the back of the shelves is your wall.

That is what I like to call my shop (garage) because it’s true. I have all of my toys on casters so I can move them out of the way.

When I was making the Toy Box, many of my wood working said to paint everything white to make it look bigger. That goring too. Also white gets real dirty real quick. I thought that bright prime colors would be better. I also used flooring as my counter tops. It is a fun little space to play in.

Lisa was opening up a tearoom and she wanted something special. She had this foot board from her grandfather that was made in a small Texas town back in 1908. It had been stored at several places. I had to take it to a car wash just to get all of the storage smelling stuff off. So I was able to make her a bench. When I refinished it, I had to match some of the missing carvings. I stained the base in walnut and the carvings with rosewood. It has become a popular seat that the tearoom that people make reservations for that table.

My next door neighbor could not find a proper foyer table. Most of the ones she found were only 4’ to 5’ long. She wanted one that was over 6’ long and only 14” deep and about 4’ tall. This is made from black walnut and fits in her formal dining room just the way she wanted it to.

Since that looked so nice, she got me to refinish her dining table. Doing a large flat surface with 2 leaves is not as easy as it sounds but things worked out. The problem with a large flat surface is that any minor flaw stick out. Also the leaves did not fit properly and need some adjusting.

I’m a bit on the tall side so I wanted a sofa that I was for me. Most furniture store sofas sit low. I had a lot of nice scrap, but not enough for a full project. I found a way to use this wonderful material. I just started cutting and gluing. It took about 2 weeks to make a board that was 1” thick by 1 foot wide and 5’ long. You only have a limited number of clamps. The wood is its natural color and this is real wood, not a veneer glued to some plywood. The sofa is 7’-6” long by 4’ tall and 3’ deep. The mirror has a small shelf in it.   The nice part about using a mixed boards is you can take the scrap and glue them back together. That is why I made medicine cabinet for the bath. I made the guitar too. I don’t know how to play one but some of my friends do.

These Bed Crowns are made for the new girl. Mounted over her bed. I like to take the painting to a vanishing point. These samples are the colors that they wanted. Some are complete as is, others have holes in them for ribbons. They range in price from $225 to $325.

Lynn had gone to Rockler Hardware and wanted to know if they knew anyone who could take a bird cage that she had and make it special. They gave her my name. So I modify the cage and because she was from New Orleans, I gave it that grand style. She didn’t care for the green color and tiny birdhouses so I did touched it up. She loved the cat in stained glass look. The open windows are really clear hard Plexiglas. As a bonus, it turns out that these colorful small birds love to set on a perch at the upper windows. They have a clear view of her friends when they visit.