It’s always surprising how wood will react to the introduction of certain oils.
Depending on the wood, its age, the finish and the oil being used, no one can ever be really sure how it will look until it’s done.
But the results are always satisfying.
This rare vintage rosewood is no exception. By sanding the old, dated varnish and adding a slow curing tung oil it’s taken on a remarkable hue that will only deepen and become richer in time.
When we found a large batch of window frame timber being ripped out and thrown away we had to go dumpster diving to find out more.
How it started…how it’s going 🥰
To our delight and amazement it was really rare vintage Brazilian mahogany. It’s increasingly difficult to buy this timber nowadays due to it being overharversted.
So, when we were approached to make a custom sized pigeon hole shelving unit we had to use this amazing timber.
We planed, sanded, stained, oiled, waxed and polished the mahogany and assembled it into a really functional and stylish piece of furniture that has a beautiful warm vintage feel with tons of character. We love this piece 😍
Frenchic make beautiful chalk paints and this is no exception. ‘Polar Bear’ from Frenchic has a fantastic matt finish, lending to a warm, comfortable look. Finished with beeswax to preserve the colour and provide a lovely lustre.
The chest is adorned with hand painted themes from the classic ‘Alice in Wonderland’.
Back in the time before everyone had mobile phones we relied on having a dedicated space in our homes for our landline telephones.
So, it was common to have a piece of furniture which complimented not only the era, but the decor in the home itself.
From the 1960s onwards, minimalist telephone seats were commonplace to have a place to talk with our loved ones while having a comfy place to sit as we couldn’t lug the phone around the home.
But it was just as important that the piece looked as good as it was functional so having a stylish, yet practical, telephone seat was the ideal solution.
Sadly, these Scandinavian inspired pieces fell out of fashion as there was less need for them.
So what to do with a beautiful piece of furniture which no longer has a practical application? Update it for the 21st century of course!
We stripped this 1960s telephone seat of it’s orange-y varnish and gave it a sympathetic light stain to highlight to beautiful wood grain. Adding a couple of coats of tung oil gave it further warmth and polishing it with organic beeswax really gave it a beautifully gentle lustre.
But what about the practical aspect? Well, we added a wireless charging pad to keep it’s original intention relevant.
A beautiful, fun and luxurious navy blue tropical fabric (complete with capuchin monkeys 😍) to give it a contemporary look really made it pop!
And a complimentary blue was added to the inner shelf to complete the update, while holding on to it’s roots.
What do you get if you cross a functional circle of cast iron that’s literally walked over every day and an unquenchable thirst for all things coffee related?
A delightful piece of industrial furniture made from solid hardware, soft colours and a whole lotta inspiration ❤
