Nothing we love more than repeat business, so when so when some past clients reached out and asked for a second set of nightstands with a few color tweaks we were thrilled to help. So thrilled that we decided to make a set for our own home as well (so don’t be confused if you see a couple different types of wood in the pics).
The client wanted to alter the colors of their original tables (see pic) to have a black top with a little more gray to the white-wash effect to match the hues of their daughter’s room. They also wanted to add a set of drawers with some unique knobs they had found. After a quick discussion we chose white oak as the wood for the job. This particular wood came from a tree that was standing dead in Lecompton, Kansas in 2011. We had the idea of using an age-tested finishing technique employing vinegar and steel wool (more on this to come), but before we started we made some test strips for client approval.
Once we all agreed on wood and colors, we started the process of cutting the boards to rough dimension and planing them to be flat and of uniform thickness. Then we joined the boards to form the tops and bottoms.
While the glue was drying, we began fabricating the hairpin legs by cutting round metal, heating the center with a torch and bending them to the rough shape. Additionally we cut the metal that will form the mounting bracket for the legs.
While the metal cooled it was time to release the wood from the clamps and fix a few natural imperfections with epoxy tinted slightly brown to match the natural color of the wood.
While the epoxy was curing, we finished welding the legs and painted them the color the client requested, gold. The gold in the legs accentuates the gold in the pulls that the client purchased for the drawers.
Next was to finish the tops of the nightstands. Using the vinegar and steel wool solution we made we coated the top and let the mixture react with tannin in the white oak. The reaction took only a few minutes, but it produced an incredible result
On to creating the drawers. We used Baltic birch for the drawer body due to its unique visual properties. The addition of custom-cut rabbet joints provide strength and aesthetic appeal. Once the drawers are dry we will round over the edges with a trim router and attach to the drawer face.
Our clients were so happy with how the tops turned out the light/dark contrast with the white oak, that we jointly decided to skip the white-wash look and let the oak stand on its own. We used a water-based finish on the oak to preserve the light color and an oil-based solution on the the set of nightstands we were making for ourselves. The drawer slides were installed and the knobs the client picked out were affixed.
The final results are two interesting nightstands, custom made for our client’s daughter’s room.
