Posts by Steve

I was asked to restore the sun damaged finish in the library of the Rhodes mansion on Capitol Hill, Seattle. Built in 1915 to a superb standard, the library was paneled in shellac finished mahogany with leaded glass bookcases, filigreed bronze radiator covers and light fixtures. The sun had bleached the interior sills and casements…

I was very excited to have the opportunity to use my furniture restoration skills on this project. Every piece of furniture from this era has a unique finish and multiple hand crafted parts. The artisan that built the furniture had his own secrets and special ways of making the components and assembling them. The modern…

Achieving a consistent appearance is very difficult when working with mahogany. The process of creating a piece and matching it to other furniture in the bedroom suite requires great patience. Our objective for this project was to completely redesign and restore two classic mahogany beds, and to create a new and unique matching piece. We…

This piece came in from a very ‘southern’ client who had childhood recollections of her family calling it “blacky” back in Vicksberg, Mississippi. It arrived in some few pieces, dusty, grimy, with carving, paint and gilt losses. Known as torchieres and used as candlestands , hundreds of these were made in Venice and elsewhere during…

This 17c. spanish desk was discovered by my client in Marysville in extremely poor condition. He wanted to participate in the restoration, so we had half day Saturday sessions for several months. The trestle leg assembly was riddled with woodworm and required partial replacement, joint reconstruction & re-glued with hide glue. The walnut top was…

The library windows are furnished with embossed and painted shade / screens custom built in 1925. The painted leather window screens feature figures engaged in hunting and seem to have been cut from a 17c. oil painted leather tapestry. These paintings were then inserted into leather clad and stamped screens.The backgrounds were modified and the…