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Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Hitting a Snag

It's been awhile since I've written a post.  One of my dear customers had a bit of an "oops" and it's taken the wind out of my sails.  I came into possession a lovely Dixie dresser and chest....and thought she would love it.


After she saw the pictures of the 'unloved' pieces, she fell in love with them.  Her vision was a black base, darker than the traditional walnut stain I generally use, and pewter hardware.  Done!

During the 'relove' process, I kept her up to date on the progress:  Tops stripped and looking good, hardware done, drawers and base prepped, painted and top coats applied.  Top getting the final stain and top coats....Let's make a plan for the hand off.  She was so excited!  On this beautiful sunny, spring day, she had hubby, daughter and daughter's boyfriend with her to help load these two gorgeous pieces.  This was her time away from her home...just an hour or so.  Why is that a big deal, you might ask?  Well, you see, she has a special needs child, so most of her waking hours are spent loving him, trying to anticipate his needs and next move.  Decorating her home is her one 'vice' and it gives her so much pleasure.

She walked into the house and saw them:




Another happy adoption.  Let's load 'em up and get 'em home.

An hour later I receive the following text:

Robin, I am heart broken, one of the drawers fell out of the truck on the highway.  Honestly I just now stopped crying.  Do you know of any way that we can get another matching drawer.  It was the top left drawer of the dresser.  :(

My heart stopped.  This dresser is from the late 1950s...not like we can call the company and order another drawer.  So my quest to help her resolve this has begun.  But my stride has slowed, thus no new posts.

We've found someone who can make the drawer...but there is a lovely rope detail in the bottom lip of the drawer that we are having trouble duplicating.  No mill rooms in this area can or are willing to make it....

This was the only close up I had showing the rope detail...not very clear but you get the idea:



And then, one of the dearest, kindest ladies in this business posted a picture of the exact dresser on her blog:


Do you guys know Danielle at Finding Silver Pennies?  If not, I suggest you check out her blog.  She is so creative and shares so much of her process with all of us.  Thank you, Danielle!

Anyway, we exchanged emails and she said she would reach out to some fellow DIYers to see if they had any ideas on how to recreate this molding.  That got me thinking...I should also be reaching out.

So here I am.  Do you have any ideas on how to make a form and duplicate this trim?  I've read lots of tutorials, but all of the appliques made were flat.  Because this drawer has a radius, the mold can not lay flat, which would also make it hard to pour any liquid substance into a mold that has an arc to it.  I'M STUMPED.  I know DoItYourselfChic makes flexible appliques which would be perfect, but their rope applique it too big for this project.  Any thoughts???

Thank you for listening....I hope somehow this gets resolved and my lovely client can get her new bedroom put together.

Robin

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