Antique Customization

"I want to use it but it's too tall, not tall enough, not enough drawers, I need more storage space, it just won't fit."

This is an old whiskey barrel .

Here is a pair of 4 door cabinets with lots of wasted space, that I changed into 3 drawers each, & no wasted space. Teflon drawer glides, new hardware that I distressed & patinated, including side locks so they won’t open when the yacht starts rolling. Yes, they are now on a boat.

The designers asked if I could make it into an end table. For: Henry Johnstone & Co.

Antique walnut bed that was just too small.

Now there's room for the dog.

The problem was that when the flat screen was engaged for viewing the chandelier was in the way. My solution was an old style pulley system that raises the chandelier up and out the way.

For: Tom Stringer Design Partners

A plain wood mirror that I gave a make over. Gessoed, silver leafed and antiqued, faux lapis lazuli center stone, faux jade side and colunm base stones, with cross hatching running up the columns.

New matching leaf for a
table that was too small for the family.

This piece found a home here but the doors needed to be cut in half and turned into a pair of bifolds so they could be opened.

For: Tom Stringer Design Partners

I made this cabinet. It was in a room that was so small I couldn't get a decent picture.

Various sink installations in antique cabinets

Note the cut drawers.

This was a mass produced walnut table with no charm. I softened the machined edges, deepened the carving and added a moulding around the top to accept a piece of antiqued mirror. Then I gessoed, silver leafed and antiqued the piece.

I stripped the old finish and put a thin clear coat on the raw mahogany, changed the hardware and repaired the drawers and runners on the inside.

For: Tom Stringer Design Partners

This is a 19th C. Gustavian trunk with a wonderful old paint finish. The job was to install a lift to raise back to back flat screens on a swivel by remote control & make it work as quietly as possible.
The trunk was too small. I put it up on bun feet & dropped the bottom a few inches. Then I added the 4" wide band you see just under the lid and duplicated the finish. Then put in the sound proofing and the double lift. The TV's were not in it when the picture was taken.

This is old dinning table, dry, checked, bleached out white oak needed to be raised 3 1/2 '. I cut the legs, made 4 blocks of white oak, treated them to look like the rest of the table and installed them. For; Tom Stringer design Partners

For: Michael Berman Limited

Even though a wood finish is nice sometimes a painted finish works better. For: Michael Berman Limited

This is a Madagascar wood an oak armoire that needed more shelves and a sensitive refurbishing of the dried up, alligatored exterior finish without damaging the beautiful sun bleached color of the wood. "Don't make it look new." The designer said. "I hate that look."

A '60's card table chopped in half, I took off the knife edge from around the table top, added some nice composition details to the edge, apron and the legs along with an interesting finish and a marble top and it's now a pair of turn of the century demilunes.

I replaced the clear glass with antiqued mirror and changed the shelving.

I also install earth quack resistant hardware in cabinetry and secure furniture. For: Michael Berman Limited

Sometimes customizing can be just some leafing & paint.

A Tole chandelier needed an upgrade. I also rewired it ( a metal light fixture with exposed wire is particularly scary) and painted it, adding some patina so it didn't look too fresh.

Really dangerous wiring is common in old fixtures.

For James Radin Interiors

The center back of a couch, stripped and ready for decorating.

Antique white and aged silver leaf. For: Tom Beeton Inc.

This cabinet was a perfect foil for decorating in metal leaf and paint. The scrafetti design was inspired by the field decoration of an old cigarette machine. I also added black and gold marble to the top.

A detail picture of the center back of the couch.

Before

Another piece that was crying out for color and a serpentine marble top.

For : Tom Beeton Inc.

After

Fo: James Radin Inc.

Faux bamboo makes things more fun.