Living Room (w. "new" Taos Sofa)

Here are some photos of our living room. The new highlight is a Taos sofa that I recently bought from a seller on Craigslist.

This is a Taos Sofa, handmade in Santa Fe, New Mexico. This particular piece has recently been reupholstered with what appears to be heavy corduroy. The seller didn't like the look, but it seems a little Asian to me, which I think is a nice touch. Suges likes it too because it's "softer" than leather.  

A close-up of the sofa arm, which is constructed of Ponderosa Pine. Notice the pegged mortise-and-tenon construction.  Also, the wood is hand planed, not sanded.

This is a little corner of my favorite stuff. Gus, Spanish Bench, Pottery Barn Tripod Photographer's Lamp and Taos Sofa (not to mention Jacob's art work on the wall).

Gus

Table with some chachki on it: coasters, an old gin bottle that ML bought for me, and a copy of *Hometown Pasadena*

Rustic Chest Turned Coffee Table

Suges and I picked up a pine Spanish Chest right after we got married. It came unfinished. I randomly bought some unknown laquer/varish/poly and slapped a coat on it by the moonlight on our old balcony.

Well, 10 years later, it needed a touch up.

Here's the before:

I sanded it down, oiled and waxed it into this:

Buying a Bow Arm Morris Chair, Part 3

Bought! 

Got over to the Fedde's "Traditional" which houses their Stickley showroom. Kim, the salesperson*, was very helpful and also seemed interested in Jungian Psychology, partially because she is reading Sacred Contracts by Caroline Myss.

Brought just Jacob today. He's my number one chair tester. He really likes chairs and has no problem spending an hour in a chair store sitting on seating over and over again, and answering questions like, "does this chair make me look little?"

But to the point: I have come to the conclusion that a bow arm Morris Chair is my chair. Also, among the Stickley models, a chair known as the "Gus" is my favorite. The Gus is slightly smaller (30 1/2 inches wide instead of 35 inches wide) which suits me because I am a slightly smaller human being. And it has open space instead of spindles or slats. 

I figured I'd just take a look and then go ahead and buy the replica of the standard bow arm Morris that's made by Sam Moore. But Kim tells me they have a Gus chair in stock that is on clearance (40% off msrp)! 

Well, no more story to tell. I bought it. Here it is:

 

The finish is Stickley's #53, Oak Park, named after the Chicago suburb that was the home of architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

 

Stickley "Gus" Bow Arm Morris Chair, model #89-2340

*Note: I have never had better experiences with salespeople than I have had with Arts and Crafts/Mission furniture salespeople. They all seem low-key, genuine, unhurried, conversational, no pressure, no airs, surprisingly down-to-earth given that they are selling $3000 chairs. 

So thank you Kim and Shirley at Fedde's, Gabriel at Historic Lighting and Cove-Lee at Pasadena Furniture Company. You all helped make this a lot of fun.

Buying a Bow Arm Morris Chair, Part 2

There's this furniture store in East Pasadena called Fedde's that has been there since I was a little kid (actually been there since 1937, 35 years before I was born). Well, finally went in this week, looking for my Bow Arm Morris Chair.

First, it should be stated that there are basically 3 stores, all on or near the corner of Colorado Blvd. and Sierra Madre Blvd. On the South-West corner is the main store and a connecting show room. These are not the stores that house the Stickley furniture.

There is another store off the North-East corner that has all the Stickley furniture.

We brought Jacob and Rainer. Rainer is only 2, so a fine furniture store can only contain his impatience for so long. That said, we only had time to check out the South-West store. But it was worth the trip.

I was introduced to a viable alternative to Warren Hile, Caledonia and Stickley.  A company called Sam Moore produces a Morris Chair that does not have spindles and sells for well under than $2000. No offense to Frank Lloyd Wright, but I really don't like the spindle look.

On a sentimental aside, Sam Moore is a Virginian company.

Here's the catalogue picture:

The chair they had on the floor has through tenons and leather upholstery.  The salesperson (Shirley, very helpful) mentioned that it may be possible to custom order the piece without any slats!

Furniture Making School

So, I get it in my head that I want to make furniture. A fine idea, I'm sure. And, if I let myself dream, I'd like to turn chair building into a profitable business.

Being a nerdy kind of person, I decide to look into schools. Because it would be ridiculous to just start building stuff without going to class first. The first thing I came upon was something called Penn Foster College. I sign up for some information, which arrived in the mail today. The most interesting thing I learned in PFC's info packet was that furniture makers earn an average of $25,000 a year. I had to read that three times.  Well...

Okay, so maybe this will be a hobby.

Locally there are three or four schools I'm considering taking classes at.

1) Cerritos College

These guys offer a program in Woodworking Manufacturing Technology with a specialization in Furniture Building. They also offer a "Morris Chair" class that can be taken up to 4 times! This may be a nice way for me to build 4 Morris Chairs with access to a complete shop and a teacher.

2) Fullerton College

Fullerton has a Wood Technology program that includes a "furniture making specialist" subprogram.

3) William Ng Woodworks, School of Fine Woodworking

WNW is a private institution that takes woodworkers into William Ng's shop for anywhere from 2 days to 2 weeks in order to learn specific techniques or to build specific pieces of furniture. They also offer a Morris Chair class.

4) Los Angeles Trade Tech College

LATT has, by far, the most convenient location. But their program is not really geared towards furniture building but is focused on cabinet making instead. They offer one class on furniture design and manufacture.

Sanskriti Bookcase

Just got a bookcase from Sanskriti in North Hollywood. 

It's made out of old pillars. They have a lot of unique Indian teak furniture. The prices are fair and the salesman (Viresh) is easy-going.

Buying a Bow Arm Morris Chair, Part 1

My hope is that someday I'll be making these, but till then, I'm looking to buy one.

Went to Historic Lighting in Monrovia today with Jacob (age 5).  The staff were friendly and low-key, my favorite kind of salespeople.  We spent over an hour sitting in every chair in the building.  Amazing stuff.  

They have a chair there called "Jacob's Ladder."  Jacs sorta liked it and it sorta gave him the creeps.  It looks something like this.

Came in thinking I wanted a Warren Hile Bow Arm Morris Chair, like this one:

And left knowing I wanted the same chair made by Caledonia:

Looks exactly the same you say?  Well, yeah, basically and especially in pictures.  But in person you can tell that the Caledonia has more of a, for lack of a better term, ENFP personality.

The helpful salesman at HL, put it this way (I paraphrase), with the Hile you know exactly what you're going to get.  The piece you get is the same as the piece they made 12 years ago and will be the same as the one they make 12 years from now....  

With the Caledonia, there's more variation.  A little wider this time, a little narrower next time, notches here, but not there.  I like that.

And, to round out the conversation, they are nearly identical in price.