Custom Painted Hardware & Furniture Finishing

Q. Describe the most common types of jobs you do for your clients.

A. Nearly half of my work is decorative hardware. These are items like drapery rods, staircase banisters, hand rails, and picture frames. The other half of my work is vintage and mid-century furniture. I of course do other furniture as well, almost anything in fact, but Portland Oregon has a deep love for modern decor and mid century styles that have alot of unique character.

Q. What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?

A. I always encourage my customers to do a bit of research and homework. Check prices. If the price seems TOO reasonable, chances are the provider of the service is inexperienced, or desperate. The art of finishing fine furniture requires alot of tools, and materials. These things are expensive. A good paint job requires several coats of paint or stain, as well as a good clean enviorment to dry and cure. Find a good price, but remember that you get what you pay for, and a service provider who works at bottom prices, likely uses cheaper materials, or has a poorly equiped facility or worse...

Q. What important information should buyers have thought through before seeking you out?

A. Often times when a customer contacts a finisher they dont really know the value of the property they with to have re-done. Often time an antique can loose value when refinished. I encourage people who own an antique to have it aprasied before deciding to alter it so that they dont find out later that their property has been diminished in value.

Another important thing to think about is color. My services include color consultation, but its always nice when a customer has already got a plan. Some colors of stains can change drasticly based on the type of wood a piece of furniture is made from.

Q. Why does your work stand out from others who do what you do?

A. I have been in my trade since I was old enough to legaly work. Its almost all I've ever done. I learned my trade from men who were finishing and painting before either the spray gun or even the paint roller were invented. I do nearly all my work by hand. No sprayers or heavy machinery. Just brushes and rags. They say they dont make things like they used to... But I do. I do my trade just like they did in 1940 or earlier, and I think that makes a huge diference in the quality and character of my work.

Q. What do you like most about your job?

A. I love the fact that what I do enhances and preserves the quality of the items people value. Because I do what I do, a fine piece of furniture that has come down through the generations in a family can be restored, and reused for another generation. It reduces waste caused by people throwing out their old table or chair, and it saves the personal histories of families and loved ones in a physical tangible form. it means that great grandma's rocking chair will remain to rock new generations of babies to sleep and that grandfathers desk will continue to house the important documents of a family for years to come...