New Pieces, Upcoming Alameda Antique Fair(Booth T-20, Sunday 7/5)

Hard to believe three weeks have passed since my last post. In my next post I m going to show some photos of recent salvage finds, Victorian Columns with wonderfully carved capitals, also some leaded glass diamond pane cabinet doors. Shown here are pieces I have made in the last couple weeks. The Singer sewing machine base was a rusty mess when I got it. I cleaned it up and painted red, a departure from what I usually pick for colors, it does pick up some red in the distressed wood top nicely though. The next piece was described to me by my gf Jan as "Weird, Bryan", high praise indeed! I have had the stove base for a while, been dying to incorporate into something. I added an old metal medical cabinet, has beveled glass doors with locks(where they kept the narcotics??), the top is solid black walnut, salvaged from an old eastlake dresser. Some cute balusters and beadboard backdrop for a shelf. Weird, I know but this is what would create for my house. The lower drawers are fronted with some small cast iron registers with vey nice antique gass knobs. The next photos are of a table with 4 benches. I made one recently for a custom order, I loved the way it came out so I made another! A client saw it and bought the benches so I made two more. The base is from an old farmhouse table, I created the top from various colored wood, finished with varnish to seal it. The benches are of some more of the colored wood, also sealed. Finally, the coatracks were recently ordered by a local wholesale client. I willbe showing quite often in the next couple months, Alameda sunday 7/5, Petaluma Art&Garden sunday 7/12, Moss Landing Antique fair sunday 7/26. Come on out! Peace, Bryan

NEW PIECES, ALAMEDA

Here are some new pieces made last week. I am continuing to clean out my shop of "projects", pieces I have acquired to create with. The dresser at top right was covered with a layer of brown paint when I got it. I started sanding it and discovered pink and blue layers underneath. The top was veneer, badly degraded, I removed it and made a new top out of some old beadboard that had many layers of blue and pink in it. Finally, I made handles out of some old black porcelain doorknobs, adding the oval backplates as well. I also renailed/screwed/glued all drawers and body back together. It is very cute and sturdy once again! The glass door cabinet started out as a shell of old redwood, painted white at one time. It was salvaged by a friend at the Monterey dumpsite, where they pick through what people dump and sell it. I had these glass cabinet doors from a victorian in SF, they were almost exactly the right size for the opening! The front feet are cast iron stove feet, very decorative and OLD. The space below the cabinet body puzzled me at first, I realized that it had probably had a drawer there at one time. I rebuilt the frame/body of the cabinet to accomodate a drawer that I built. New shelves and a crest from an old gate. I recently picked up some very ornate brass victorian hinges on ebay , I used them with a brass cabinet latch and bin pulls to complete this one. The last piece started out as two very old built in kitchen top cabinets. Each had been installed in a corner, so only one side had the many layers of colorful paint. I mated the two face frames together to make one cabinet, and spent may hours stripping the layers down to reveal what is there now. I added a base with feet, trimmed it out and added some little carved grape leaves along the front trim piece, salvaged from an old victorian oval mirror frame. The doors are made with vertical multi-colored slats, I call this look a "patchwork quilt", various colors and textures of wood. The hardware is some old cast-iron window catches as cabinet latches, and the knobs are some beautiful milk glass opalescent with bamboo aesthetic eastlake brass backplates. The white glass door cabinet is now for sale at "Abode", a store in Half Moon Bay, Ca. Bay. http://abodehalfmoonbay.com/ . Check them out! The other pieces are still available from Bryan Appleton Designs. I am excited about my upcoming show at the Petaluma Art and Garden festival, Sunday July 12. I will send an email to all on my list as the date approaches. Thanks, Bryan

CUSTOM PIECES, NEW CABINET

Here are some photos of new pieces. First is custom wall cabinet with blue shutter door. Built for a referral from a local store, it has victorian cast iron hardware, old stamped tin for crest, and some antique furniture parts as an embellishment along the top rail. The second set of photos shows a custom table and bench set built for another referral. The client wanted lots of color to lighten up the space it was to be in. I used a "patchwork quilt" arrangement of top boards, random widths with various colors and textures. We decided to switch the direction of the top boards for the benches, keeping the patchwork quilt arrangement though. All 3 pieces were finished with several coats of a satin spar varnish to seal. I really liked the way it came out, I think I will be making more like this. The last set of photos are of a new hutch piece. I have been trying to unclutter my shop, it was getting pretty plugged up with "projects", pieces that I have acquired and felt they had potential. This piece was one of those. It was in pretty bad shape. I completely rebuilt it, replaced the cheap, delaminating plywood back wih some old T&G beadboard with lots of color, and added the same to the rather plain lower door panels. Some amber glass knobs and other cool hardware completed this piece. Alot of work! Sometimes it is more time consuming to rehabilitate a piece like this than to build one from scratch. This piece and all my other new work will be at Alameda Point Antique fair this coming sunday, June 7. Booth space T-20. Peace, Bryan

New Cabinets, Coatracks

Here are several photos of my latest pieces. The large colorful cabinet on the right is setup as an Armoire. I purchased the carcass of this cabinet at Allemany Flea in SF quitea few years ago. I used it to store my ski jackets, etc. , in my house. I moved it in to the shop many months ago and there it sat with all my other "projects". It was originally a "built-in" cabinet, kinda ugly with the top and bottom panels of the door having had many small holes drilled into the wood, and a very blah coat of grey and green paint on it. I added a nice set of old cast-iron stove feet and some old chair rail trim to the bottom to lift it up. I found these colors under the top layers of paint., and that inspired me to fill in the door panels with the very colorful vertical boards you see in the photo. Some old chippy trim as crown moulding and some cast-iron victorian hardware completes this piece. I wish I had taken a "before" photo, what a difference. The six drawer piece I found at Urban Ore in Berkeley, pretty tore up but it was obviously very old, sqaure nail construction and hand carved drawer handles. I think it would make a nice night stand type piece next to a bed or even a couch. I added feet and the top and the shelf /backsplash construction. The crest above the shelf is another piece from the lot of old victorian furniture parts I bought from Steve at Ohmega salvage in Berkeley. The small balusters holdng up the shelf came off of Ebay, very cute. The small wall cabinet I found in a Middletown, Ca. antique store. Divine consignments I think is what it is called. Owner is Gwendlyn, very friendly. It was just a shell, I added beadboard on the back, made a door out of some old beadboard, and added trim and the beautiful cast-iron victorian hardware you see in the photo. I have also added some photos of the new coatracks I recently made. I have been buying lots of old cast iron coathooks on ebay recently, they are getting harder to find. There is one photo of a coatrack where I used some brass eastlake victorian curtain tie-backs as hooks. Very unique hardware, beautiful castings. Thanks for looking, Bryan I will be at Alameda Pointe first sunday in June (6/7). Booth space T-20

Kitchen Cabinet Refacing Project, Really Cool Art!!

These photos are of a project I recently worked on in Lake County. The first Kitchen photo is of the cabinets as they appeared before starting. I took off all the doors and began by applying a layer of material on the face frame. I started with some 100 yr old beadboard salvaged from a remodel job in Oakland, Ca. last year. There were many layers of paint, I sanded down to the colors I liked, white and several shades of a cream color, with just a hint of red peeking out. Visually, it is a strikingly different look from the natural wood tones originally there. There are several more photos of the cabinets after the face frame and doors were completed, I will continue to post photos as the project continues. The two photos at the top of my post are of a Doghouse I found displayed on the lawn of an antique store in Middletown, Ca. I loved the whimsical nature of this anonymous artists creation. The owner of the store said it predated her arrival, didn't knw the maker. Enjoy! Bryan

OLD GROWTH,GUILT FREE,Planter Boxes, Coatracks, Custom Table

The first photos are of some custom planters recently completed. These boxes are made from REPURPOSED OLD GROWTH stock. I use old decks, fences, and door parts. I remill it and build these boxes. I have been building planters like these for over 15 years, many are with family and friends and are still in use today. The planters I see sold commercially today are built with inferior materials such as redwood containing sapwood( it is the outside layers of the log, it is white in color and it rots out within a couple of years- is usually disguised by application of full-coat stains), cedar(again, has very little resistence to decay), or second growth redwood(pink in color, what you see at the lumber yards today, and again has much less resistence to decay than old growth). I believe that my boxes will last decades. I build them on a frame fastened with stainless steel screws, the boards are nailed with galvanized nails. I use full 1" stock for the bottoms, and use a transparent penetrating oil finish to enhance the natural color of the wood. I have seen only one other company making high quality boxes like these, they are on the web, located near Healdsburg, and my prices are approx. half of what they are charging. I have applied and been accepted by seveal local farmers market associations to sell these boxes as an artisanthis summer. I will be visiting the Marin Farmers markets in San Rafael throughout the summer, thurs. and Sundays at the Civic Center. Also, the Urban Village markets, Claremont(Oakland) and Los Altos. Contact me for specific dates. The table pictured here was a custom order. I recently was given a quantity of rough sawn Douglas Fir framing stock, repurposed from a SF victorian remodel. The clients wanted a rustic piece, they visited my studio/shop and picked out this material for their table. I attached it to a base they purchased at the Alameda monthly Antique Faire,a heavy cast iron piece.I liked the way it came out, I plan on building several other tables out of this material. Finally, I posted several more photos of coatracks, many of these are going to Zonal, on Hayes st. in SF. I am still using the antique furniture parts as embellishments on these, they are very popular.

Antique Furniture Salvage, Tables

Here are some new photos. The small metal cabinet I recently picked up at the local flea(Allemany in SF). I put a photo of it in the last post here it is with a new top! The next one is a small table built with some more of the Lodi farmhouse beadboard material, I love the beach blue/green colors. The turned post is some salvage from an old victorian porch railing assembly, I found this at Urban Ore in Berkeley. A wonderful warehouse full of possibilities! The base is a piece of marble(wrapped in wood), once the step of a victorian entryway on Hayes St. in SF. The coatracks below are examples of some new pieces I have been making using some antique furniture salvage I recently bought from Steve over in Berkeley at Ohmega Salvage. They have a wonderful inventory of beautiful salvage pieces from all over the world. They are on San Pablo in Berkeley. Check them out! Finally, Thanks to all who visited at the Petaluma Antique Fair this past sunday, the weather was perfect and the people could not have been friendlier! I had a great show and many pieces found a new home! Looking forward to this sundays upcoming Alameda Pt. Antique fair, hope to see you there. I will be back in space T-20. Hope the weather cooperates. Peace, Bryan