Friday 29 April 2011

By popular demand...

...Well ok, just the one request from Michael, who I'm sure was only being polite!

I have expanded my business empire - not only do I buy new furniture to repair, I've also taken to buying old stuff at sales (much more fun and the old furniture is just begging to be repaired, and I can't resist it).

This was a 'pine rocker' (according to the auctioneer). It's actually beech and was a bit battered and scratched and orange, but weighed a ton and felt solid as a rock, so I bought it, sanded it down and painted some of it with Farrow and Ball and rubbed the rest with linseed. All it needs now is a Grandfather, a tartan blanket and a packet of Worthers Originals:-) Note the gratuitous use of a law book to add it bit of class to the proceedings.



And this was a rather dated oak dresser that has also been sanded down and given the Farrow and Ball face lift.




And this is my very favourite. A retro mahogany sideboard that has been loved and tweaked and polished to bits by me, put on sale for too much money by me, all because I don't actually want to part with it.




And this is a rather expensive new oak dresser top which had damage. It has had a bit of work and some extra virgin olive oil rubbed into it to restore its lustre. I sold this one quite quickly.



And this is Bar-Os, my quality control supervisor - Vintage Ercol clearly isn't his thing (not sure it's mine either), but a bit of Farrow and Ball....



And this is another new item, a dining table that needed a bit of work to repair damaged legs.




And this is the sort of thing I have to work on - straight from the auction, just waiting to be revived. Pics of the finished article to follow.






Now will somebody please give me a pupillage? My back hurts, my hands are like sandpaper and I miss law. If worse comes to worse and I'm useless at being a pupil barrister, you can set me on renovating chambers rickety old furniture during my second six:-)


p.s. the shell above is finished; here it is. Now I promise no more pics of furniture:-)




 


11 comments:

Minx said...

*Phew*! I'm glad to see you back, Maid - the ether hasn't been the same without you!
(I was getting a bit worried, actually- I even left a comment on your last post wondering how you are/were!!)

The furniture looks AMAZING! I am soo jealous!

All the very best for the application season this year. I've no doubt that you put your back into your apps as much as you did to your wonderful restoration work - and, that being the case, no chambers will be able to resist you.

Android said...

OMG. You work is absolutely amazing!!

How long do you normally spend on each item?

Barmaid said...

Thanks Minxy and Andro.

I'll catch up later when there's a bit more time.

Good luck with the olpas apps - hope they bring plenty of interviews:-)

Anonymous said...

Furntiture looks great! Just need to see the before photos to really appreciate the effort you have put in!

simply wondered said...

i'd buy that rocker like a shot if we had the space. unfortunately we are swamped with blasted ercol!!!

Michael said...

Wow... that all looks great! And it's also good to see that Bar-Os was on hand, keeping an eye on proceedings!

Glad you're not a fan of Ercol (in-laws seem to love it!!) - I can't stand the stuff personally!! :-\

btw, I hope you didn't get any grass stains on Archibold! ;-)

Barmaid said...

Well SW, can't say I am a fan of Ercol, but I'm a bit of a furniture tart and will buy and sell whatever's going if it's going to earn me a few bob:-) The rocker sold yesterday, which I was surprised about, didn't realise how popular they are. Now I just need to find a few more to refurbish.

Nah, Michael, Archbold is intact, but he's sooo last year (I can't afford a 2011 edition:-)).

Anonymous said...

I love your furniture. I don't have a country-style house to put this sort of style in, but I am working on it, so I hope that you get a pupillage but still manage to keep your hand in with this, so that I can buy some when I have my dream house!

Word verification is "knesles" - I can imagine "knesling" on the floor sanding the stuff down!

Tulsa Divorce Lawyers said...

Barmaid that sounds like a lot of fun :)

Oklahoma City Divorce Attorneys said...

I like the pine rocker - call it a diamond in the rough!

Oklahoma City Cleaning Service said...

The oak dresser looks expensive.