Ungracefully Aged!

"Make it look like it's been there for 150 years!" That was the charge given to the project team by a client not long ago. Actually, come to think of it, that seems to be the charge given to many projects that are being built today. Dallas is so "new" in comparison with most of the towns of the old South that everyone seems to want "history" added to their project. Our history anchors us. It gives us a sense of bygone values which make us feel comfortable in these changing, uncertain times!

So we did - with the help of an arsenal of techniques, we turned something that is brand new; something that works perfectly; something that offers modern day function, into something very old. And it's really fun! I keep a copy of Country Living's Country Paint on my desk at all times. They have fabulous finishes, and they even tell you step by step how to do each finish!

It's all in the Finishes!

Naturally when you buy something brand new that's just the way it looks - brand new. So finding chemicals, glazes, waxes, even chains and tools that will scar the target materials requires some imagination and patience. Failure is common! If at first you don't succeed, try and try again! Adopt a mindset that makes the process fun and not drudgery.

Brand spanking new - but it doesn't look that way! The stucco (above) is applied over brick so that the wall has "movement" to it, all before the finish is rubbed with buttermilk and cow manure. We also like to use yogurt in some applications because it grows moss really quickly.

This was a finish out of Charleston, South Carolina that we were trying to copy. We just didn't have the 150 years to wait for our stucco to look like this!

Sometimes you have to "cheat" a little bit to acquire age. This Italian Mediterranean home was originally built in 1929. Everything from the dropped down roof to the left of the fireplace chimney, and to the right of the drainpipe, is new. Lucky for us we found the old quarry in Austin that produced the original limestone back in the 20's, and quarried all of the new stone for the additions out of the same pit. If you look carefully you will see that we stained an occasional limestone block with a rustic wash to make the new sections blend with the old. The old roof tile was carefully removed and blended with new tile before being re-applied so that all blended naturally together.

Old, refurbished, antique doors aid immeasurably to the aging process when used in combination with new materials. The doors below were discovered here locally, stripped and refinished to look old. Look carefully to see how the original rick-rack on the doors was duplicated on the cowling of the vent-a-hood - a really nice touch! Our cabinets also pick up the design with a diamond motif copied from the doors.

Even mistakes can sometimes work to your favor when aging materials. This copper vent-a-hood was originally ordered with a variegated (read: lime green) finish, but it came out looking like an easter egg! Our guys chemically washed and scrubbed the hood with acetone and steel wool and this was the result. Looks like it's been there for 150 years!

Finally, using family heirlooms in a brand new piece not only brings a sense of nostalgia to the home, but also a sense of history to the piece in which they are used. These Delph tiles are very old and valuable - perfect for enjoying every day in the Kitchen!

What's It Worth?

This economy has a chokehold on all of us! The news out of Washington while encouraging of late is still nothing to write home about. With all the doom and gloom blasting us in the face by multi media sources, the temptation to "cheap out" has never been greater. People are flocking to Walmart, not Neiman Marcus.

In my last post we talked about repainting the Living Room. Admittedly when it came time to buy the paint for the room, I had to cross that all too familiar threshold of "price versus quality." Wouldn't now be the perfect time to save a few bucks and cut a little corner on quality? Couldn't I cheat a little bit and buy the lesser quality paint that might cover up all that red? Not with the prospect of twenty-five ladies sitting in that room for an upcoming party! You always get what you pay for!

Sherwin Williams makes several grades of paint retailing for a range of $25 - $49.49 (Design Basics to Duration) per gallon. It is easy to convince yourself that a half price sale is all you need to get the job done. "Duration" is their top of the line paint which is advertised to be more washable than most brands. I chose "Super" grade paint at $40.99 per gallon because it is designed to cover with one coat - and I was trying to cover red! After eighteen years with the same red it was time for a change and I was hopeful that one coat would do it.

But that is precisely my point - eighteen years is a very long time between paint color facelifts! When our home was built back in '92 - '93 we hired a painter who took great care to prepare the walls and the wood so that we would maximize the longevity of the finish. Had we used cheaper paint and inferior labor, both that more closely fit our budget at the time, we could never have gotten eighteen years out of this paint job. By cutting corners and using lesser grades of material and labor how many times would we have had to paint walls and molding in those eighteen years to keep it looking fresh?




Walmart and Neimans both sell clothing. So do a lot of other fine department stores. The main differences between Walmart and Neimans are product style, product durability, and service. A busy executive that wears a suit everyday most probably would not buy his suit at Walmart. No, the styling, the materials, and the service offered when you gain a few extra pounds are better at Neimans. To be fair other fine department stores offer the same advantage. Nothing wrong with Walmart, but if you have ever had a Neimans suit - you probably still have it!

That tension burns within us. "Quality" has a price, but "price" often doesn't have quality. What's it worth to me - do I spend a little bit more now and save a lot later? Or by saving a few bucks now will I risk getting caught short on quality? It usually costs an awful lot to fix it later!

Junkyard Dogs!

Everyone loves a deal! Who wouldn't? The thrill of "beating the system" invigorates the soul and brings bragging rights with it. You can't be in construction, or construction related industries without developing an eye for a deal. Everywhere we go we keep a constant gaze for the undervalued while staying ready with the wallet. Our friends affectionately refer to Molly and I as "the junkyard dogs" because we are so all about the deal...

Take this coffee table for instance. Purchased for $175 with the beveled glass top from one of my favorite local haunts, Lots of Furniture down on Riverfront. It was rusty when I bought it but it cleaned up nicely - before I shot it with lacquer.

Sometimes the inspiration for a brand new piece can come from a source that wasn't an undervalued product. These gates (or the original design) were in a studio we visited out in the countryside of France. The price in France was prohibitive so we copied the design, made some minor modifications and enhancements, and had them produced in Dallas for a home in Grand Cayman. They turned a rather plain entry into something special!



This wrought iron was found in one of my favorite places in all the world - Marchee de Pusche (the flea market) in Paris. The single gate with several side panels came off a Parisian manor. Fortunately we came along a just the right time and had them shipped back to the States. Though it has now been years since that trip we have them stowed away comfortably just waiting for the right place.

We probably saved more money in France than we could ever afford, but the exchange rate several years ago made it silly cheap to pick up really fine treasures. This gorgeous old sideboard (below - in Paris) was another find from the flea market. Made of solid walnut (a/k/a "black gold" here in the States because it is such an expensive wood to work with), we tried  the piece in several places in our home before it ended up in our Dining Room.




Our clients like it too when we shop. Often uniqueness of the products we use will differentiate their home from their friends.

The secret to finding really terrific values is knowing when and where something "fits" in your design scheme and being ready at a moments notice to buy it and get it home. Molly travelled with her Mom and sisters years ago to London and found this chandelier which she just had to have for our Dining Room. She chose not to electrify it but rather uses candles to soften the mood for dinner parties.



But being a "junkyard dog" can also take on a very sentimental point of view. As our girls were growing up we would often eat at a local restaurant that always had wonderful, original oil paintings. Our family fell in love with this particular work! Painted by local artist Kelly Stribling Sutherland in 1993 it came to represent the wholesomeness of Americana as a mother and her children picnic'd. Imagine our horror when we walked in to the restaurant one day and the picture was gone! Come to find out management had decided to rotate the art in several of their properties and they just happened to have moved it to the main office inventory. Not for long... Molly and I tracked it down, bought it and now enjoy it every day. I reminds us of the good times we have enjoyed as a family!

Trash or Treasure?

If the SPCA had a profile for their "perfect" adopting family, we most probably would be at the top of their list. Molly and I love strays! Furniture that is... We have furnished our home with a wide variety of castoffs, rescued from the jaws of death and given a facelift for continued use. Oh, we have the resources to go buy an entire home of new furniture if we wanted to. But we would lose the sense of family that typically goes with re-using old (and re-built) furnishings. Often we have spent more by being socially conscious and re-furbishing old pieces. We just like the look and durability of old furniture!

This mantle came out of Molly's father's old childhood home in Bernice, Louisiana. When we received it it was covered with years of old sooted varnish. Because it was virtually black I told Molly that it was going straight to the trash dump... Wrong! After Thanksgiving dinner one year I wandered out to my workshop (under my father-in-law's watchful eye!) just to see if it would clean up. With a little Klean Strip Stripper, some single "0" steel wool, and a little elbow grease this absolutely gorgeous oak mantle came back to life! I used a Minwax wax finish to complete the process. We have enjoyed the mantle every day we have been in our home.

Before Shelby came along Molly was in complete denial about having a baby. So much in denial that she had me do the entire first nursery (that will NEVER happen again!). Anyway, I bought this crib which started life with slats on both headboard and footboard. After our kids grew out of it, that crib took up almost permanent residency in our attic - until grandbaby #1 came along. Thinking that we would get something completely new to spoil all grandkids rotten I suggested that we clean out the attic and get rid of the baby bed. Wrong again! Molly had my trim crew remove the old slats from the ends of the bed and add panels. Once completed she hired Debbie Cole of La Foofaraw in Plano to dress up what used to be a very boring blond baby bed. As you can see, Debbie did a phenomenal job!

Shortly after we married Molly and I were in Monroe, Louisiana visiting family when we happened in to a wonderful antique store. This table caught our eye. We bought it and used it for many years with the old carmel finish that was original to the piece. The table was incredibly well built but really did not go in our new home. Molly loves black and white! So I stole a page out of our painter's book and used a finish that we have done in many of our homes.  First, I stripped the table. Because the stain was so well impregnated into the old wood I did not need to stain the table again and could proceed to the next step which was to paint the table with Sherwin Williams flat latex black paint. Once dry I then sanded that amount of stain that I wanted to show through the finished product. After cleaning up the dust I coated it with Dura Seal Polyurethane - a product we typically will use on floors. I like how thin it goes on and how evenly it dries.  Two coats later we have a beautiful finish that wears like iron!

When we talk about "rescued from the jaws of death" we really mean RESCUED! This walnut armoire now sits in our bedroom, the top crown after having been used at one point as a chicken feeding trough! We found it way in the back of an antique store (where all the really good stuff is!). I think I paid $400 for it maybe fifteen years ago. Same program as we detailed above, a lot of love and a ton of elbow grease makes things clean up pretty well!

This is next... Molly told me to take her old "hope chest" from when she was a girl to the Goodwill. I saw it as a toy chest for the newly completed Playroom that was detailed a few blogs ago. As this is being written the chest sits on my work bench partially stripped. At some point we will try to show the progression to completion.

Look around - I bet you have things which could be re-used. Each has a story: all will continue to bring you pleasure if you will rescue them!