This chair is part of a set of four stylish oak chairs which I traded in for an old chest of drawers. The bland looking wood was sanded and stained, the drop-in seats needed re-upholstering. Continue reading Upcycling furniture: chair
Upcycling with paint: the design for this small table, well-proportioned but bland, was created by masking off successive parts of the beech wood table top and painting it in different colours. I wasn’t thinking of a particular motive, but I began to see an image which I best describe through a poem:Â
Deserted place,
trees stretching toward the horizon.
Dust on the sidewalk,
dappled with sunlight.
Curtains drawn to block out heat.
Branches yearning
for the cool of concrete.
This image reminds me of a still and brooding Sunday Afternoon, which I chose as the name for this table.
Sunday Afternoon
Beech wood, acrylic paint, varnish. 1999.
64 x 64 x 74 cm
Upcycling: Red Nose is one of those pieces of furniture that have done service for generations. I found it in the basement of an elderly couple’s house in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. They did not want to bring it to their new downsized place. The straightforward proportions of this chest of drawers have influenced my design. Its name derives from the new round knobs that I chose because they make a perfect match for the painted red circles.
Red Nose
Wood, acrylic paint. 1997
99 x 51 x 84 cm
This vintage chest of drawers is one of the first pieces of furniture that I painted. It illustrates my idea of upcycling furniture, giving it a new life by painting it and by finding stylish matching hardware for it. I had found the piece at a garage sale in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, where I used to live in the 1990s. It appealed to me with its clean proportions. I named it Double Breasted because I arranged the knobs like buttons on a men’s suit.
Wood, acrylic paint, brass hardware. 1998
76x46x84 cm
Detail: top plate