Anything Lost can be Found Again

2011 has been a tough 1^st year in business.  Lots of people are hurting in the pocket book and it is sinking in that riches might not be abundant anytime soon.  It is going to take buckling down hard work to recover, not just some quick government bailout.  The markets aren’t going to just bounce back and return us our foreclosed homes.  We’ll have to lose our mail on Saturdays, consider closing a few schools here and there, cut funding that might help people, and watch our taxes go up in the process.  We know this now not just from what warnings we have heeded from news or state of union addresses but from experience.  Saving has become a luxury that only those who have can afford to do.  Sustainability is more than just a catch phrase it is something to be sought after and lived in every fashion possible.  For a couple of the busiest months of the summer I was bidding jobs as low as I could just to stay in business because the competition was so fierce that I had to for survival.  I was saying yes to projects outside of my comfort zone that ideally I would let go to someone else and I was completing them regardless for as little as I could.  It was hard for me to remain grateful as Thanksgiving approached.  Then a client asked me to do something out of the ordinary, away from the main stream.  She presented me an exhausted bed frame and asked me if it could be made into a bench.  This thought was, perfectly against the grain, just like me.  Though scarce, there is hope.

The bed was a pretty piece in its day, but would likely never be a suitable furniture item again for two big reasons.  The joints were weakening and the panels were starting to fall out.  That first issue could be resolved but the second issue really forced a question of value to the forefront.  The size of it was out of date with current mattress sizes.  It would be too big for a full size, yet too small for a queen.  I am sure it was just right when it was built but not anymore.  Like an education in any industry that involves technology from the past, computer or phone it just wasn’t compatible anymore.  Though an obsolete bed frame and starting to fatigue, I could see why it could be desirable as more than just firewood.  It would only be unsuitable if keeping the status quo, but a bench?  The potential was breathtaking.  The posts were partly carved and partly turned.  The panel work had carvings on it as well.  The footboard had a matching carved panel that if removed and resized carefully would make a perfect drawer face.  The top of the headboard had a chunky flat sawn dentil border with more carvings on it.  All of it was a rich black ash.  The whole work was a wonderful combination of rustic and regal.  “Yes!” I said enthusiastically thinking that making it into a bench for a front entry would be a perfect look for such a magnificently built frame.  How to change its joint work and keep its structure took some ingenuity, careful planning and there was no room for error.  I only had one chance to get the new design and reworking right.  I did make a few new pieces with matching custom woodwork for the sides, only because they never existed in the first place or I would have tried to save them too.  

Creating the idea, I give all the credit to my client who was the real genius in this project.  I have seen broken step ladders and suitcases made into furniture.  I have seen all sorts of discarded things transformed to something relatively useful.  I am hoping with crossed fingers this is the first step toward a new renaissance.  Unfortunately, most of these new salvage trendy rescues, I feel, will be the hot topic for a brief period but lose appeal after a little time passes.  Who will want to look at the same old piece of luggage reworked into a hip chair or coffee table?  There is only so long oddities can sustain themselves as conversation pieces.  Also, anyone can find a post modern storage made of particle board at IKEA and it will serve for a handful of years.  The vision of this more subtle transformation is visually appealing, incredibly useful, will remain structurally sound for half a century or more and is inconspicuous enough that most people will never even know that it used to be a bed.  Materials were minimal.  Nothing was wasted.  The end product will remain and continue to serve in its newly found life.  This was truly a brilliant idea. 

After college the world changed and discarded most of my skills in a career I had been honing with scary precision for nearly a decade.  The world got up and changed and outgrew a lovely piece of furniture that someone found too beautiful to let it be thrown away.  There is no way to know how many people walked past this old bed without a second thought.  Other artisans turned the project down, uncertain how to make the idea a reality.  I jumped on board with certainty that anything that gets lost can be found again.  Another tough year is behind us and new days are ahead.  I’ll always see a reflection of my own history when I see this transforming restoration project in my portfolio.  Surely, the bench and all of us adjusting to new ways will see lots of shoes and witness wonderful miles on them in the years to come.