gigantic weathered wood frames

well, it’s happening folks. my buddy and I found a workshop in an industrial part of town and we’re building custom furniture!

it’s crazy….and crazy fun.

we’ve been keeping busy with custom furniture builds, and this is one of my favorites.

gigantic wood frames. our client has 40″ x 60″ canvas prints of photos they’ve taken and wanted a cool way to display them and spice up a huge blank white wall.

even without the canvases, these look like stunning pieces of art by themselves!

but look how cool this one looks with the canvas mounted? 

we always start with new wood. why? well, it’s just easier to work with, and has a far lower chance of harboring any bugs.

living near the beach, we’ve got some nice termites that don’t need any additional friends to join the party.

we’ve tested a few different techniques and have arrived at one that we LOVE to make new wood look like this.

groovy, distressed, perfect. the grain allows for the stains and paints to settle in just perfectly to give them a nice weathered, restoration hardware looking finish.

if you look at real, old wood, you’ll note that there are many variations within a single piece of wood.

if you’re a super sleuth, you’ll note that none of these planks have any nail holes or distinguishing marks that indicate that these are reclaimed.

i used Gilbertson’s Safe Paints on these. it’s a new product made by Anne Gilbertson out of Huntington Beach, CA. her products are 100% NO VOC.

and the results are pretty impressive. no VOC means these products are safe for humans and pets. like this guy.

“i’m just a lover…”

so, welcome to the new world where we have enough room to build massive pieces like this.    

and our shop has enough room for an occasional visitor….so stay tuned for some upcoming workshops!