The Never-Ending Story

    It's been a very long time since my last post; not because there has been nothing of interest, it simply boils down to time and information. Now that the shop is not located at our home, it can be very difficult for me to get there in time to take photos before an order is completed and delivered. There have been many that I haven't even seen. Add into the equation all of the hassles of daily life with seven kids, and blogging just has to take a back seat at times.Who wants to see a blog without pictures of finished projects anyway?!

    One of the largest projects that we've taken on so far (and one that I have really wanted to share) was a kitchen, bath, and living room combo for a new construction home. We bid and received the job back in April. It was supposed to be a 5 week project, but with construction, things rarely ever happen on schedule.  The delays always increase exponentially with every person involved in the chain of construction. This particular job seemed to have more than its fair share of hiccups along the way: back-ordered lumber, miss-tinted paint, glass and granite that were cut to the wrong dimensions, broken or missing hardware, appliances that didn't match the dimensions on their spec sheets, and an impromptu trim design fix that ended up all over the house, throwing off many of the measurements and complicating the design. All of this along with the standard construction scheduling and the hassles of being the last in line for installations made this one doozy of a job. Thankfully, the homeowners are wonderfully sweet people who kept their cool and had the patience to see their dream design come to life, while the builders did a great job on this house. Sometimes it pays off to not rush into something simply because of a hiccup. This seemingly never-ending story has about come to an end and the results are gorgeous. I'll save the photos of the baths and living room for another post, but I hope that you enjoy watching this story find its happy ending!
 

base cabinets being prepped for paint & glaze

the first coat of paint

drawer faces prepped for glaze

walnut island cabinets coming together

Island details (this side was for the stools and faces the living room)

Staining is always a messy process, but it looks so nice!

 And the finished product....

the island

walnut 'coffee cabinet'

base with beaded panels

glass knobs to match the chandeliers and add vintage charm

beaded corners

 

custom crown

grass cloth back

painted and glazed cabinets with adjustable shelves

walnut island cabinets with microwave shelf and pull out trash bins

    

A Sculpture

Earlier this year at an art show, we were pleased to meet a couple that has decorated their entire home with art from local artists. The result has been a beautiful assortment of paintings in every room; a tribute to the creativity that can be found here in Rome, GA. One wall remained blank and they had a vision of hanging a large carving of a snail shell in the void. Try as they might, they had been unable to find just the right piece. They were thrilled to find that Gorg would be able to create something for them. We were honored to have a piece of Gorg's work added to their collection. After much deliberation and a merry chase to find just the right wood; spalded, quarter-sawn Sycamore (American Lacewood), their dream began to come to life. 

Just the beginning

After being roughed out

With a slight adjustment to the center spiral

 

Let the carving begin!

 

Ready for the finish

In order to bring out the detail of the carving and the beauty of the wood, Gorg used a French polish technique which involves many layers of finish, wax, and buffing. The first step was to bring out the grain with Teak Oil.

All of the black is due to the spalding

After allowing the wood to absorb the oil, it was time to begin the polish technique with the first coat of shellac.

This was followed by waxing and buffing. Then the entire processes was repeated several times. A final heavy buffing had the wood glowing and the quarter-sawn flecks appearing to be three dimensional. The pictures don't do it justice. Everyone, say hello to Gary...