Happy 2009

I’ve been getting a lot of requests to update my blog, and it’s obviously long overdue.  It’s been well over a year since my last update.  A good part of my time is devoted to working in the shop, but this past year brought a wonderful surprise – my son.  He is the best, and it is difficult to get motivated to work some mornings when it is such a joy to play with him.  Between all that comes with being a new father and running a continuously growing workshop, there is little time to write.

If you are a frequent visitor to the web site, you know that I update fairly often with pictures and descriptions of the latest projects. If it seems as though those updates have been happening less often, it is because I have had some projects that have lingered in the shop for some time. Today I finally finished a pair of rattan chairs I've had for some time. Clearly this is not the sort of routine cane or rush weaving I usually do, nor is it even a binder cane weave I've seen before. With the help of some other pros from the Wicker Woman's forum, books, and a good amount of head scratching, I finally succeeded. Usually when I get a seat apart, it's pretty obvious how it went together. This one was a mystery. I don't like to lose to a chair, though. I just hope I don't see another one of these for awhile!

My other two long term restorations are cabinets damaged from Katrina - the last two flooded items I have waiting. They are both major restorations: stained, broken, parts missing, etc. With any luck I'll have them both done in another few weeks. I'm so ready to be done with flood restorations that I've started turning them away. It is time to move on. I'm always a bit surprised when a new client contacts me about restoring flooded furniture after it has been sitting for three and a half years.

In addition to a slew of chair repairs, refinishing a Heywood Wakefield bed, restoring several yacht cabinet doors, and the normal caning work that trickles in, I also undertook the caning of some Cesca chairs from a client in Houston. It was a lot of caning as there were four seats with 100 holes each, and two backs blind caned with 86 holes each. I had quoted prices for the seats over the phone and was unaware that the chair backs were coming as well. After presenting the written estimate for the costs of both the seats and backs to the client, I was told to proceed. I ordered extra cane stock to be on the safe side, and I was glad I did. I went through about 2 weeks of problems with two of my suppliers. Apparently paying for overnight shipping means getting it a week later. Despite the supply delays and the rigors of blind caning, I completed everything and sent off the invoice. To my surprise, the client had a fit about the bill despite seeing everything in writing ahead of time. I'm still not entirely sure what happened, but I was glad I had a paper trail of communication to document my side of things. I think they just wanted to weasel out of paying the bill (as they admitted to considering buying 'fake' replacement seats and backs which are considerably cheaper). The long and short of it is that they agreed to satisfy the bill. I normally have such excellent customers who appreciate quality and are reliable. It always throws me off when I encounter one who is difficult. That is a fast way to insure we won't be doing business again.

This morning I picked up three more chairs. All of them are to be restored and recaned, and all of them are in pretty rough shape. These were new clients and they had a beautiful home. On top of that, they were super nice people. When I left, I had seven chairs in the truck. This happens a lot, it seems, but I don't mind. These were obviously people who value their furniture and are willing to have it treated right. Even though the temperature hadn't climbed out of the 40's when I was there, the woman carried chairs wearing her bathrobe... You've got to love the folks in New Orleans.

This afternoon's task is to finish up somebody else's dirty work. Last Saturday I spent a few hours rubbing out a table that had been refinished by someone else. It was a horrible finishing job. The surface was rough, dusty, and orange peeled. I don't know how any finisher with a conscience could let a table leave the shop looking like that. The eight chairs around the table were even worse. There are drips everywhere, uneven color, and the finish feels like a piece of old leather. I asked the client who did this so that I'm sure never to refer any work to them, and I'm still waiting to hear.