Reflections and Resolutions

I just finished updating my bookkeeping for 2011 which is a task that makes my head hurt.   My books are ugly in every sense of the word.  My categories for receipts make no sense.  It looks like I made a small fortune in December but had no income at all for August or September.  The numbers just don’t make sense and to think math always came easy to me.  They all add up, they are just messy and scattered.  How did that 7 get all the way over there?   Honestly, I don’t know how I got through the year, but somehow I did.

My goals when I started were to expect nothing more than the unexpected and to make beautiful things happen with very little to start with.  Barely dragging through the slow months, I am gearing up for another year, hopefully cleaner, more organized and with a bit more vision of how I would like to grow. 

The accomplishments are as follows (high five):

Outlined a business plan
Purchased and repaired some quality used machinery
Found friends neighbors and family that might need projects completed
Advertised through small inexpensive avenues
Maintained a strong working relationship with another craftsman who helps feed my pipeline 
Developed a new relationship with a fellow contractor who teaches me a bit about estimating and contracting
Built a website (I had the assistance of a wonderful and patient friend)
Completed a half a dozen painting projects
Completed a half a dozen woodworking projects
Completed many small side projects
Produced a handful of original designs and colorizations

The failures were minimal but interesting:

I listened to the helpful associate at a big box paint store who recommended a specific primer for a project that required some special care.  I believe his advice was sound and he went through the process step by step with me before I got started.  The only thing he failed to mention was that the product was oil based and until then we had been looking at only water based paints.  The project was an early start so the little details I needed to be paying attention to like brush selection went right out the door.  I had the procedure exactly memorized in my head so I ran with it.  It wasn’t until trying to wash out my brush in my clients sink and smearing the discolored oily water all over everything that I realized that my brush was ruined and that I had one terrible mess to clean up in her bathroom.  I also suffered the embarrassment of having to say, “Whoops, I am good painter, I swear!  …and don’t worry, I’ll have all this cleaned up, I promise.”  Meanwhile, just under the surface of her patient face, the horror was brewing into a secret fury.  Everything turned out fine just fine in the end with no mess or damage, but I learned that I have to double check all my materials and know what the heck I am getting into without any doubts or questions, preferably before destroying the appearance of anyone’s bathroom.

My first client, I wanted the project so badly that I cheapened my bid in hopes that she wouldn’t keep looking for someone else.  This is a tendency that I continue to have even though I learned my lesson the first time.  I figured my labor earnings of about two dollars and fifty cents per hour after that project was done, but it sure was pretty.  It doesn’t work to be so emotionally attached that the intake won’t pay enough.  I have since walked away from some projects for this reason, although it remains difficult.

I also tried to go national with color, and did get one small project in California, but mostly it was a waste of effort trying to mobilize my idea.  I am letting this rest until color technology catches up with the rest of the digital age.  It just isn't there yet.

Mostly my documentation and office work is awful.  I am a craftsman, not a bookkeeper or a business man.  My overhead is low but incredibly inefficient and time consuming.  I would show you a photo of my office but frankly it is just too embarrassing and I even clean it and reorganize on a regular basis.  So that concludes the notable fail list.   

I heard somewhere that 75 percent of businesses don’t survive their first year.  I certainly didn’t strike it rich, as a matter of fact, I know that I need to earn more in the years to follow than I did this year or I won’t be able to keep this up.  The five year anniversary is the next business marker to overtake.  I believe it was 90 percent don’t make it past 5 years.  After one year, and looking over the failures and accomplishments, I believe that Against the Grain Woodwork will be a name that you can count on in the years to come for quality craftsmanship, pleasing designs and excellent service. 

In 2012 Look for:

Rescued furniture with neo-rustic finishes

More options in specialty paints

Kitchen makeovers without remodeling

...and of course more of the unexpected.

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.

Don't Rush into Gold

Why is it important to spend quality time with color selection?

Color is as powerful attribute to ambiance as music is to a dance hall. Color is one of the most fulfilling elements in our lives. Color can change your mood, it can draw attention or it can camouflage and protect. It speaks to who you are, how you feel and where you're going.  Here are three more good arguments.

1 Color can unite unique rare accent pieces with standard mass produced items in your home.
2 Intense hues that shine of boldness can add spirit to spaces that also feature more grounded elements like wood, wrought iron or woven textiles.
3 Negative space gains a glimmer of happiness with the enhancement of bright colors.

Hue
the property of light by which the color of an object is classified as red, blue, green, or yellow in reference to the spectrum.

Spectrum
this band or series of colors together with extensions at the ends that are not visible to the eye, but that can be studied by means of photography, heat effects, etc., and that are produced by the dispersion of radiant energy other than ordinary light rays.

Value
When in reference to fine arts=  a. degree of lightness or darkness in a color. b. the relation of light and shade in a painting, drawing, or the like.


So how do we complete the complex task of choosing a brilliant color scheme? 

Erase everything from your mind but that which stays

Determine what features or existing elements of the space you would consider permanent.  For example: the bricks and/or stucco, or the fine Italian sofa you got as a wedding gift or anything that is staying put  and that has spatial value within the scope of vision in the project you are looking at.  The colors you select must work well with these elements as well as with themselves.

Determine a point of focus

There are things about your project that you would want to see naked and things that don’t give the space any definition at all.  Emphasize your project's attractive features, like an arch or a crown molding.  You can draw more attention to these details by  means of contrast.  If there isn't much to work with you can create interest by adding a border.

Simplicity creates flow

Once you have created you color palette, continue the theme around the house without deviation.  This doesn’t mean every area has to look identical, but if you deviate from your palette you will lose that which ties the entire home together. 

Don’t finalize your selection at 11 AM on Saturday morning

I realize that the week is busy and that projects get accomplished when there is time.  If you start looking at colors when you get up on Saturday morning and have them chosen before lunchtime, you might get lucky, but you might find out the hard way that you didn’t take enough time with your color palette.  When the sun is in the west it creates a completely different look as it does in the morning.  The same goes with your artificial light after dark.  You might find that the brown you chose that looks so full and rich at midday turns black at night.  You might find that the wonderful blue you selected that was so calming and crisp in the morning only turns mottled and bland in the evening.  Spend at least twenty four hours before purchasing multiple gallons of paint.  Look at your colors in every light possible.  Another note I should add here is make sure you like the color from every angle at the various times of day you view them.  Some hues can change by entire shades of value on different walls.  A slightly more challenging imagination gag is that small blotches of color can appear different when finished if it is a grand space like an entire room from floor to ceiling or the color of the siding on an exterior.  Even what is considered an overwhelming color in small proportions can soften in a large surface and sometimes vice-versa.  Something rich in small amounts can become bland in large amounts.  Now I probably have you really confused. 

The most important thing when deciding colors is will you be satisfied with it for years to come.  What is hot this year may become old news next year.  Choose colors by your overall taste in what represents you at your core, not just what you are attracted to right now, unless you want to repaint every other year.  There is nothing wrong with wanting changes often if you have the means.  Most of us don’t though, which is why it is so important for us to take the time and energy to really consider our colors.  It is the most underrated aspect of any project because we all get excited about it but few of us really know how to do it right. 

Creating a tasteful color scheme can add so much value to your home.  I have seen lovely sturdy homes sit on the market unsold with mediocre curb appeal while neighboring homes in need of repair but tastefully colored sell immediately.  Only about 5% of the houses have a well selected color scheme.  I am not saying that it is going to bump your square footage up and increase your value by twenty thousand dollars, but if you decided to put it on the market right now, as it stands, would potential buyers stop and stare in the street pondering the idea or walk tucking a brochure into the enormous pile that they have already collected?  That makes for a huge difference in value.  And if you aren’t considering selling, it sure feels nice to have the pretty house on the block to come home to.