I was carrying on with sanding the reclaimed planks this weekend and whilst this is not too interesting in itself, it does raise the subject of respect for wood. Now, don't worry, I'm not a crazy environmentalist so this statement is not meant to be too serious. Actually, some of you may have made the link already to a tv show we love called Curb Your Enthusiasm, where respect for wood is the subject of one episode:
I think by Larry's (the bald guy's) standard, I respect wood. In fact I have made a few things previously from wood. I love it as a material to work with - hence it's inclusion in our garage project. The first wood project I completed was a coffee table made from a crate I picked up from the skip at work. I sanded and waxed it before fitting some guides to house a piece of glass I had cut at a local glass supplier:
A few months later, I found another crate in the skip, which was a bit smaller and newer. Perfect for a stationery chest for the office I thought. So I made some inserts to hold various bits of stationery, added some hinges and a latch and put the crate on wheels so that the stationery box was not a stationary box (a pun for Abbey there):
Most recently, my respect for wood has culminated in the creation of an office desk for Marta, made from a larger crate that I broke down into individual planks before re-configuring into a chevron table top. I added some hairpin legs and a made a drawer from an old etching basket, also found in the work skip (it is a treasure trove).
It now sits in Marta's office upon the floor that I rejuvenated from the original floorboards with a sand and varnish:
So, all in all, the evidence is there for all to see - I respect wood. Glad we cleared that one up.
Anyway, back to the garage (can you tell it has been a slow news week?) - I thought I'd share an example of a pretty ordinary piece of wood turning into one of my favourite bits for the outside cladding.
Anyway, back to the garage (can you tell it has been a slow news week?) - I thought I'd share an example of a pretty ordinary piece of wood turning into one of my favourite bits for the outside cladding.
As always, there is a choice of two sides before choosing which to finish well. I am tending to choose the redder tones rather than the yellow. This is where I'm up to now, with sanded stuff on the right, and unsanded on the left:
No help this weekend, as Marcel was with his girlfriend in London. It seems her birthday is more important than our garage. He should be back again later in the process to help with some heavy lifting.
This weekend, we have my uncle and nanny (I call mine nanny, others might call theirs grandma) visiting, with the idea that my uncle, who is a carpenter by trade, will be able to quote us on some work. He is also trying to start a business making concrete interior features (worktops etc.) - something we are keen to include in our interior as a design feature - so we'll talk about that too and hopefully update you on the progress in the next blog.
Stay tuned!
This weekend, we have my uncle and nanny (I call mine nanny, others might call theirs grandma) visiting, with the idea that my uncle, who is a carpenter by trade, will be able to quote us on some work. He is also trying to start a business making concrete interior features (worktops etc.) - something we are keen to include in our interior as a design feature - so we'll talk about that too and hopefully update you on the progress in the next blog.
Stay tuned!