As my days of stripping (furniture) are coming to an end, I find myself reminiscing about all the oddities and treasures that I have come across in the past year.  Finding cool stuff was definitely my favorite part of stripping furniture.  Sure, most of the “stuff” I found in the nooks and crannies was junk or trash but every so often I would discover a cool thingamabob.  It may have been as simple as a Lego or a charm but it was the idea that it was someone’s Lego or charm that made it intriguing.  It made me start to think of what memories I would have found in the furniture that I grew up with.

After many hours of research, here is a list of the top 5 things that would most likely be found in a generously used piece of furniture:

1.) Loose change (no duh!  That one was obvious one)

2.) Food (usually popcorn, pretzels, and candy)

3.) Guitar picks (who would have thought?)

4.) Small toys or pieces of toys

5.) Nail files

Some of our less common discoveries have the best stories.  A while back we found an English newspaper from 1998.  I know that doesn’t sound very old, but that is nearly 15 years ago.  In the paper there was a sweepstakes to win a trip to New York City with a large photo of the New York skyline with the Twin Towers still in place.  It was rather chilling.

More recently, I found what might be the largest remote control I have ever seen.  By the size of it, I estimated that it must have been produced circa 1991.  It was so over sized that it was comical.  I bagged that sucker and insisted that it be returned to its rightful owner.  Upon receiving their long lost remote control, we learned that its disappearance caused several arguments.  This happy couple can finally close the case of the missing remote. I regret not taking a picture.

As a Sprucette stripper, my secret hope was to find a suitcase full of money buried in a cushion.  Sadly, that day never came.  Here are some of the things I found instead…

Meredith and Clar bringing back plastic barrettes.

All of the change we find really adds up!  Your contribution to our beer fund is greatly appreciated.

The goodies in these next few pictures were all found in one chair.  With every layer of fabric that i pulled back, I found more treats.

This was no ordinary deck of playing cards.  They were appropriately called “laugh-in playing cards”.  Complete with jokes and funny faces.

A “professional sample” of chewable vitamins.

As you can see, stripping furniture can be quite a thrilling experience.  I must confess that while I am bummed that my days of pirating through cushions are over, I am excited to be upholstering 5 days a week now.  Living the dream!

*** Just to be clear… I am not leaving Spruce.  I am only relinquishing my duties as the Sprucette stripper so that I can now upholster 5 days a week.

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I am pickin’ up what Stephen Burks is layin’ down! Man oh man! As I peeled through the current Elle Decor, this wonderful designer’s look and work certainly caught my eye. I’ll add that I am quite late on being privy to his contributions- he has been making waves in industrial and hand-made design for some time now. Little did I know the things that I have been loving have his stamp on it. A name to a product!

Here’s what I saw in Elle Decor - click the link to read the article. Featured are some of Burks’s stools made in collaboration with the Italian fabric company Dedar. There they are below – brilliant, hand-made with lovely texture, looking strong and lasting for years. I covet these stools. These treasures consist of rope, fabric trimmings, and rubber.

Mr. Burks has founded readymade projects inc., making this company his creative hub for designs in retail interiors, events, packaging design, lighting, furniture, home accessories – it seems there’s nothing he can’t tackle. Please visit his site. He’s collaborated with everyone, so naturally you may be familiar! Below are some of my other favorites from Stephen Burks (via plenty of designers and collaborations – I will do my best to footnote!)

I hope you’ll follow the rabbit trail on the web to all points leading to Stephen Burks. You will find that he is everywhere in design. He is truly one to watch as he is prolific in his small amount of years. I am stimulated! Mr. Burks – I admire and salute you – will be watching you moving forward. Thank you for your illumination in design! Love it!

 

 

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Hi Everyone! We are hope you are having a great week We have now been able to nail down the new dates for April through August of 2012. There will be lots of variety for everyone and we will be offering one to two classes a month . Here is a quick list of what we will be offering.

April 27-28th: BYOC Class
May 4th: Bench Class
May 18-19th: BYOC Class
June 15th: Bench Class
July 12-13th: BYOC Class
July 20-21st: Headboard Class
August 10th: Lampshade Class

Check out the link below for the new dates and even register online!

http://spruceaustin.com/shop/classes

We hope to see you in our classes and hope you have a wonderful Wednesday!

The Sprucettes

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Happy President’s Day everyone! If you have the day off (lucky ducks) I hope you are out and about enjoying the day. I know many of you have been inquiring about the new class dates for this year. Have no fear, we are finalizing them this week! They will be up and ready for you to register online very very soon. Speaking of classes, a few months ago Country Living wrote to us letting us know that they wanted to include our classes in their March issue. We certainly jumped at the chance! The issue just came and I know many of your have emailed us hoping to snag a spot in one of the classes. We are so excited to have folks from all over come in for some redesigning! Check out the write up below and check the site for new classes this week!

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We have been busy busy busy at the shop cranking out client and retail pieces, so our classes have been a welcome interruption.  During the past few weeks we have hosted a bench class and more recently a headboard class.  These two classes are pretty cool because you literally show up with nothing and leave with a special custom piece.  Before you arrive, our little elves (Clar and I) magically construct your headboard or bench.  People really love these classes because while they are simple, you learn tons of skills that you can apply when reupholstering other projects at home.

Check out some action shots from our bench class.

You guys did great!  This was such an easy going group and you really made our jobs easy.  I hope you are sitting on your new bench as you read this!

 

Last weekend we had our headboard class.  This class is truly one of my favorites because it is so rewarding.  The end product looks as though you ordered it from a magazine.  It is such a practical idea because once we teach you all of the tricks of the trade you can go home and go nuts making custom headboards for every room.

See for yourself…

See!…I told you they were awesome.  Not only did everyone leave with a pretty awesome headboard but we also had a good time and stuffed our faces with homemade king cake (filled with cream cheese…YUM!) in preparation for Mardi Gras!

I hope everyone has a relaxing President’s Day weekend!

 

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