Entry Redo (after!)

ta-DA! The entry is done! We put the finial pieces together last week. What do you think?!

A few other things to notice:

1. Framed historical pictures from 1893-1912 from Keeler with the new Belwith mission, vision, and values statements. Tim LaDuke, a Holland based photographer/artist, was able to print the photos over lunch while we ate some awesome burritos down the street. I used frames/mats from Target and the finished result is classy and simple.

2. Hardware wall. We used 4 wall displays, lucky that there were exactly 4 left from a previous project, and mounted display boards. The products shown are what our customers get for their showrooms and retail stores.

3. Plants. New (real) plant in the beet red vase and a fake orchid plant on the reception counter. Only my Grandma seems to know how to keep the real ones alive. Fake is better for a busy office!

4. Pillows. Kind of a small accent, but I sewed them. And I often fix them when people push them around on the sofa. It bugs me when they're out of place.

Gold Leafed Logo

Our red accent wall needed a bright logo. We toyed around with using sheet brass, metallic sticking paper, and spray paint. In the end, gold leaf won. I wandered around Hobby Lobby looking for a good metallic material and came across packets of variegated leaf, with colors of gold, copper, and light blue and greens. The variety of colors, I thought, would look great on the red.

Despite it being my first time using gold leaf, it was easy to follow the steps: prime, base paint, spray adhesive, brush on the flakes, and seal.

Irv and Gary, part of our model making team, cut out the 36" tall logo from a laminated MDF using a band saw. Jeff finish sanded and primed. I applied the finish. Jeff helped me to stick the logo to the wall (yea for tall people!).

You can see one of the pieces in progress and the finished logo. It seems to be a hit.

Reception Desk Fiasco

Our efforts to reuse the reception desk turned in to a mini nightmare. The painting of the base went as planned: dark grey paint sprayed on and let to dry. The painting of the four surfaces (2 for the desk, 2 for the counter) became a pain in the you-know-what when the black paint WOULD NOT DRY! After two weeks of it air drying, baking in our finishing ovens, and sitting in the sun, it still could not be considered completely dry . . . so we sealed it. (This was actually Jeff's decision and I think he was a little nervous about doing it.) The 2 desk surfaces have done ok so far with the water based poly. The upper surfaces were sealed with a thick mixing resin, like the thick clear coating you'd see on a bar or restaurant table.

It truly became a "fiasco" when the thick resin hardened too quickly and in some parts pulled away from the paint. It was not consistent enough to claim that that was the texture we were going for: smooth and thick as glass, then bubbly, then not even covering the paint, all on one surface. It was gross! Our finishing expert, Bob, said they were fire wood.

After the resin failure we used bondo to fill the dips. After sanding and priming I determined there were still too many imperfections to paint and poly it. I decided to re-texture it with drywall compound (spackle), primed, and painted it with loose brush strokes. After a coat of poly, it resembles a venetian plaster look. And I've gotten a lot of compliments on it.

The previous explaination of the steps we went through probably bored or confused you; we were just frustrated. To say the least, I'm glad that the surfaces are done.