Redesign vintage objects
Where Heritage Meets Modern Utility
Over the years, we acquire old furniture like a grandmother’s china cabinet, a sturdy iron workbench, or a beautiful but broken chest of drawers. These things hold immense sentimental value.
You love their story, but the object doesn’t fit your modern lifestyle. So it gets relegated to the basement where the next generation forgets the story behind it.
I blend expert craftsmanship with creative design to give your vintage item a second, purposeful life. Your family’s story deserves to be shared with the next generation.
Your project begins with your furniture and your story. I partner with you every step of the way:
- Share Your History: Tell me about your old furniture and what it means to you.
- Define Your Needs: We discuss your home’s style and how the transformed object needs to work now.
- Design the Transformation: I share a concept or two that preserves its legacy while delivering modern utility.
As part of the collaboration, I will send you progress photos and then guarantee my work: the materials, joinery and finish.
How to start?
Text me at 612-707-9425 to schedule a free, no-obligation consultation.
Why transform old furniture?
Ready to turn a your family history into a sustainable, functional anchor for your modern home? Let’s discuss how to transform your heirloom today.
Story of an old iron workbench
Backstory: My client came to me with this project to create special gift for her husband made out of his father’s old iron workbench. I got the base straight out of storage without a top. It was sturdy and made of iron, assembled with bolts, and adjustable feet.
New purpose: My client wanted a side table for her husband’s computer desk to replace wobbly TV trays and assorted boxes.
Challenges: The base is about 7″ too short for its new use, so I had to integrate a new wooden base while keeping its iron personality. My goal with the top was simple, highlight the straight grain of the Douglas fir.
Details and specifications
Dimensions: 43″ wide, 17″ deep, and 29″ tall
Materials: Made from solid Douglas fir, named after Scottish botanist David Douglas, who highlighted the remarkable qualities of the species.
Finish: Five to eight coats of shellac with a hard wax buffed to a light sheen. All natural finish with no volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Shellac was the dominant wood finish in Europe and North America until the 1930s when it was replaced by nitrocellulose lacquer. It is a natural resin secreted by the female lac insect on trees in India and Thailand.
transformation
The first step in the process is to clean and measure. In this case, the workbench was riveted, so I had to work around the existing iron structure.
Adding the top was straightforward. The base is carefully mortised and assembled around the iron braces and the cast iron feet were also mortised and bolted.
My Case for Re-imagined Heirlooms
Most of the furniture in your home is made from manufactured wood, flimsy hardware, and cheap veneers. It was designed to be discarded when it breaks or falls out of style.
Giant retail stores attract us with their low prices and convenience. This negatively affects environment, pocketbook and our souls as we continually feel surrounded by broken things.
Your old solid hardwood furniture is not just an object; it is a long-term environmental asset. Your heirloom acts as a carbon sink. During its life, the tree absorbed carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and it gets sequestered within the wood for the decades or centuries. In my opinion, choosing to invest in a new or redesigned solid wood piece is a radical act of sustainability.
By taking a sentimental heirloom and performing a functional transformation, you create a bridge to your family’s past. The object becomes a backdrop for countless new memories, and something to pass to the next generation.
Your history deserves a future. Let’s collaborate and transform your vintage furniture into a modern legacy piece.
You can text me at 612-707-9435 to start.
Tim B Studio 