Category: Custom project

cedar, Custom project, Paint, Woodworking

Ooh, I’m painting my life away…

DaysRiver

On the off chance that craft shows will begin again in 2021, we have decided to do a little preparation for them now. Leave it to us to start a business where we plan to travel to craft shows the year a pandemic cancelled uh, well, everything.

In the end it might work out okay because we’ll be able to make Christmas things during the winter, summer goods in the summer and Halloween/Thanksgiving items as the weather begins to cool in the fall and be ahead of the game for 2021. For some reason the thought of diving into a crochet pattern for a toasty hat and scarf set when it’s 80 degrees outside isn’t particularly appealing to me. Weird.

In between some trials and prep for next year, the Old Man made a cedar wood spinner. I liked it. And we sold a few. But then while sitting on the porch watching our trial run one spin in the breeze I began to wonder what it would look like painted.

So I painted it.

And I was quite pleased with it.

As were others.

The grass green really pops!
Cranberry paint.
Red, white and blue. I’m glad I put the white on the edges. It wouldn’t have popped as a letter color like the red and blue did.
Navy blue looks great on the cedar even in the gloom of a rainy day.

I have a few other ideas I’m itching to try on these spinners as soon as I get a chance. Hopefully they’ll be a success and I’ll have a follow up post to this in the near future.

And as always, I’m sure my best friend will be doing everything he can to help me.

Guess which of us is doing the work… Zzz.
cedar, Custom project, Customer love, Finished project

Darling, you look fabulous!

DaysRiver

Almost two weeks ago we delivered a custom order of unfinished cedar planters and window boxes. The customers have a beautiful house with a breathtaking view and, just like us, are busy with the finishing touches on their home.

It was very nice to see where the Old Man’s hard work will end up, but it’s even better seeing everything stained and installed and planted with brightly colored flowers.

I just can’t get over how phenomenal these turned out. Thank you, Mark and Sharon, for the updated pictures. Great job finishing them. Your home looks fabulous!

cedar, Custom project, Woodworking

We are going on vacation…a working vacation

DaysRiver

The Old Man has been working really hard on several custom cedar orders. Some have been for planters of various sizes similar to the ones he for made for me for Mother’s Day, but he also branched out into flower boxes and curved corbels to mount them.  In fact, this gorgeous order is getting delivered tomorrow.

I can’t wait to see how these end up looking once they are stained and installed by the homeowner.

cedar, Custom project

It’s awesome being married to such talent

DaysRiver

Even though our new house has been finished for a couple years, it’s really probably never going to be finished finished. Yes, we wrapped up the major construction and the construction loan, but there’s still lots of small (and some not so small) details that need to get done.

One of these not so small projects is getting the finishing touches on the porch. We have a fabulous 12′ x 40′ covered porch that we splurged on composite deck boards. (By the way, these are most definitely worth the added expense.) And for the ceiling we went tongue and groove cedar.

We’ve already put up white lattice around the porch to keep any animals out and next up is wrapping the posts and beams with cedar to complete the look.

And today, for Mother’s Day, the Old Man went over and above by creating a dozen custom cedar planters for the lemon balm, lavender and mint plants he bought me.

The plan is to line place them on either side of each of the posts and utilize their natural bug repellant properties to help keep the few mosquitoes we do get at bay. I’m so excited to really rock this porch and make it a serene place to kick back and enjoy some down time.

Barnwood, Custom project, Furniture

The Big Reveal

DaysRiver

Last weekend the day finally came for us to reveal the custom barnwood table and bench as a finished product and deliver it to its new home. So without further adieu, here it is after a month of hard work and painstaking finishing.

Personally I think it looks fabulous. Not that I’m biased or anything.

It’s really going to be stunning when its new owner picks out the chairs to complement the other sides.

Doesn’t this look like a happy customer?

And now the process begins all over again with the next order.

Barnwood, Custom project, Furniture

The last sneak peek

DaysRiver

We watch way too much HGTV. How do I know this? Well, besides seeing all sorts of great ideas that we put into our new house, I’ve shopped Magnolia Market.

I’ve been known to say, “Teamwork makes the dream work.”

And most recently the Old Man told his sister and niece that they weren’t going to get anymore peeks at the dining table until it’s done because he wants to do his own “great reveal”.

So these are the last few pictures until it’s done.

The next time you’ll see this table it will be done and hopefully sitting in its permanent home surrounded by the family that loves it.

Barnwood, Custom project, Furniture

A table for way more than two

DaysRiver

The Old Man has started making a barnwood dining table for our niece. It began as a surprise for her, but he needed input on what kind of finish she’d like best.

On the one he made for our house, he just barely knocked down the really rough spots. I wanted as much original character in it as possible and I absolutely love it. But I also don’t have little ones around all the time that might make a rough table surface impractical.

To get her opinion on what she wanted the finished piece to look like he made a test piece of one of the boards and finished it in three ways. He left part of it in its almost raw state, gave part of it a medium sanding, and gave the rest a good sanding. She chose the medium sanding to smooth it out but still keep a lot of the character.

And now that that decision has been made, he can kick it into high gear getting additional structural components ready.

And planing the boards to a uniform depth for a nice, even surface.

And tomorrow, assembly begins.