inauguration day, custom orders

Here is a custom order coffee table, built for a "machine label" collector. It is a shadow box type construction, a thick piece of glass sits on top. Here is a photo of the table without the glass. I like this idea, I have some old cast iron pieces that would look nice displayed like this. Here is a photo of one of these pieces. My website is down for a couple of weeks, hopefully it will be back up soon. It has to be rebuilt, there were some problems and the web developer wants to start over. Enjoy the inaugurtion everybody.

Happy New Year

One of my resolutions is to keep up on my posts. Here goes. Last post was in August, alot has happened since then. The Economic meltdown hit B.A.D. hard in Dec., but January is looking like a busy month. In addition to the furniture, B.A.D. will soon be offering beautiful redwood planter boxes to the online community. They are made from old-growth redwood, materials salvaged from old decks otherwise slated for the landfill. Here in No. Ca., I have had personal experience replacing decks for clients because the substructures had rotted away due to poor materials choices. The redwood decking covering the rotted framing is in many cases from old-growth stock, full of the naturally occuring tannins that prevent dry rot fungus and termites from attacking it. I rescued some of this material, remilled it, designed some attractive and functional boxes, and started buiding them. They will last for many years, I made some for my parents that are still functional over 10 years now. I will post some better photos soon, but here is a photo of the square boxes. Price info at my website-http://bryanappletondesigns.com/

Alameda Point Antique Fair

These are some of the items I recently bought at the local monthly antique fair-Alameda Point Antique Faire. Had a great day digging through boxes, looking for material I think will make great art. I will devote my next few posts to these finds. Here are a couple photos, the first is a collection of architectural elements from the Boulder Creek area. The second I think will make a great cabinet door. The dealer said it was fom the UK. Very Cool.

Cabinets

Here are four cabinets sold to Graves Country, a contemporary folk art gallery located in Lodi, Ca. (see link). Roff Graves is the owner, he loves my work and has a very impressive collection of folk art. The green shutters I bought at Alameda point antique fair, they have hand forged hardware on them, very old I believe. The tall cabinet has a triangular top created from an old corbel wih a sunburst motif. The door I built of recycled beadboard inserting an old stained glass window into the top, and adding some fun embellishments below, some architectural fragments an an old pink depression glass lid I picked up at some flea market yeas ago. The hutch I built from scratch around a set of cabinet doors rescued from a victorian remodel dumpster in Vallejo,
Ca. The last one pictured, I made the door from a stained glass
window with a tulip motif, adding some interesting victorian hardware, architecural fragments and some old stove legs for the feet.

customer's photo

These photos were sent to me by Naomi Branagan, customer and c-owner of Warmth Co. of Aptos,Ca. (see link, great store!) She asked me to make this table from a vintage window and balusters collected at Alameda Point Antique Fair, our local monthly antique market here in the SF bay area. She also included a photo of one of my doorknob coatracks.

Custom Pieces

Here are a couple of new pieces, made for a store opening in Danville, Ca. First is a chalkboard for the menu. On the sides are a couple of balusters, salvaged from a victorian era stair railing. I deconstructed a couple of doors for the frame, and added some other embellishments to that. An old picket fence, and some old door casing contributed some whimsical elements. A shabby, vintage corbel cut in half finishes off the crest. Second, a mirror for the bathroom. This was really fun. I used the same look with the balusters flanking the sides. The piece of hardware centered in the upper area I believe is from an old victorian doorbell assembly. The crown molding I made from a mahogany handrailing. Some vintage crystal knobs as finials. Both pieces are good examples of what I call useing repurposed or recycled materials. They are at home in a rustic, primitive collection, or maybe a shabby cottage look. They are colorful, whisical, unique. All my pieces are individually numbered and signed. Thanks for reading!

Here are my latest flea market finds. This past sunday (7/13), I went to the local SF flea market(Allemany), a small, sometimes productive place to find material to work with. The first photo shows a pair of shutters of eastern european lineage(according to the dealer). I liked them especially because of all the various hardware on them, and also because of their appearance. The second find was thisVictorian fireplace mantle, it came with a beveled mirror(not shown). Third, a very plain bedside cabinet. The shutters I think I will use as doors on a cabinet. The Mantle, probably a headboard for a bed, or perhaps a sideboard cabinet. The small cabinet will be fun, I will dress it up with a shelf above, and door/s below. I look forward to posting the results in the near future.