Monday, December 10, 2012

Chandelier No. 5


   Here is a new chandelier by Filliquist. Since moving to Sweden I have realized how important it is with proper illumination as the sun is now hiding in the Southern Hemisphere.
You cannot go wrong with combining candles with lights! I bet it would look good over your dining room table.

Friday, December 7, 2012

Pantone Trys Again...

   If you are up to date with the design world then you will be thrilled at the news that is generated by Pantone and their annual color choice of the year. This year is Emerald! How wonderful. Or as Craig Nakano of the L.A. Times puts it, "It's Green."
  I too was expecting something a bit more, I don't know, just not green. I was also hoping fpr something that would work with last years color. I don't think it is very fair for Pantone to be jumping all over the color spectrum from one year to the next. It makes it very difficult to match last years color of the year with this years color of the year. Sorry but Tangarine Tango does not work so well with Emerald. So again like last year I am putting forth my suggestion for the color of the year. After last years choice of Bergbana Blue, also known as Pantone's 3025 EC, I am crossing the color wheel and lightening the color 30 points (in Photoshop) to get .......


                                                                                            Pantone 5005 EC.

  I don't know what to call this color, and neither does Pantone apparently. So I am open to suggestions and comments. The strong blue from last year will be easily matched by this color and I have started to see this and darker more saturated versions of this around and it seems to work well with the times. Since the seasons seem to have been particularily dark and damp lately this should lighten the mood.   

  With that in mind I can almost see the reason for Pantone's choice this year's color but it just doesn't work with the choices from the past. So here's to a bright and sunny spring where all colors will be saturated by beautiful pure sunlight and this year's FilliQuist Color Choice of (what should it be called?)  hanging from windows, accenting tables and maybe even covering a bit of sun kissed skin.

Thursday, November 22, 2012

It Always Pays to Recycle!!


  In the middle of the seach for parts and supplies for a dining table lamp I came across this gem.... a Flos Model 2097-30 chandelier! Very excited to find the lamp unassembled in its original box I asked the attendant at the recycling center (yes a recycling center!!) how much for this light here, he looks at it shugs and says 150 SEK or about $25! The Flos 2097 retails for around 12,000 SEK which is about $1800 USD. Recycling centers, flea markets and thrift stores are always a great resource. Just remember it pays to recycle!


Friday, October 19, 2012

The Fall Migration

Here is a shot just outside of town on the way to Kolbäck. It is sunset and in between rain storms. Many types of birds coming though on their way south. The next day there was a flock of Sandhill cranes just down the road from the house.

Well Well Well.....

  Things are changing have changed! I won't soften the blow so here it is -the tearing off of the Band-Aid from a really hairy arm- FilliQuist is now in Sweden!
How about that!
  Once FilliQuist found out that it was moving I stopped posting (since work more or less stopped in the shop) and we began preparing for our move. With much work and a significant amount of streamlining we readied for the move. Pretty much all tools that ran on 120V electricity found new "forever homes" and the rest are on a boat in the Baltic headed to port as I type. Yea! Can't wait to get all of our goodies!!
   Since it has been about three months since the last post I figure that it is time to get back to work on the blog and in the shop.
  Since being here I have already made/put together a table, scrounged up some old school chairs, and am working on some benches for the time being....

  Oh and taking wallpaper off of our bedroom walls, patching holes, stacking firewood, clearing saplings and dead trees in the yard, meeting the neighbors.....well keeping busy, anyway.
  I will keep you informed of all the new changes...I promise. And there will be some great new content as FilliQuist gets used to a new country and continent.
  So for now... Hej då!!

Monday, June 25, 2012

Chicago Library Desk Restoration

 Here is a restoration project that was recently completed. An early piece maybe 1920's(?) this desk was originally one of many ordered to furnish one of Chicago's libraries.

 
From this......
To this.

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Installation of a Barn Door for a Room

 Barn doors a great. They take up little operating room since they don't need to swing open. They don't get blown open, or slam shut. Best of all they can bring a touch of character to any room.

  With guests staying with us we have had to devise ways of creating privacy in an office/guest room. A dressing screen kind of worked(not really) but was awkward to use as a door. A curtain was just too flimsy and offers no audio interference. In other words, guests make noise, like snoring and the sort. It is also nice to be able to keep the cats and their curiosity out of the room and off the guests. So the installation of a solid door was in order.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Thinking in Tents

Right:

Below is a few samples from a line of tents by Field Candy.  They have taken a few designers and let them have at the rain flys of their tents. A refreshing take on the stand-by solid color tents!

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Anything Can be a Stool

I did this in kindergarten.
     OK I need to be less bitter. The use of strong magnets, iron filings, and resin is great and produces wonderful "flowers" that ultimately display the wonder of Mother Natures magnetic power. The ultimate issue that I take is, why a stool? A stool is about one step up from a lamp, which -by the way- can be made out of anything. For an object that is as heralded as this I expect more, much much more.
Design Milk

Sunday, June 3, 2012

This Barn Door Hits the Mark

c/o Remodelista

     Barn door rails and wheels come in many variations. Here they are applied to an exterior window, quite brilliantly I might add. These wonderful workhorses (no pun intended) have lasted decades and centuries and I can't wait to use them on a project.

Monday, April 23, 2012

1st Class Deck Chair Restoration and "Templatation"

     What is generally known as the 1st Class Deck Chair is a chair style that has been on the decks of cruise ships from the days of yore. These being vessels such as the Titanic and Normandie; or, in this case, the S.S. New Amsterdam.
 
   There are many types and styles of these chairs; most having the same badging as this one, "1st Class" on the head and "S. S. New Amsterdam" at the foot. Pictured in this post are two such chairs that I restored for a customer. If you click on any picture you can zoom in for the detail.....


    An added bonus was that while the chair was in pieces I made a template of each and every piece so that the chair could be reproduced for future clients.


More pictures and details after the jump:

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

The French Farm Table

Here is a story of "localvoreism".
  A couple comes to me and says, "Hey we'd like to get a table, at a good price, and maybe learn something in the process."
Me- "Ok, sure."
Well, here's the table.

More picts and details after the leap.....

Monday, April 16, 2012

Vanity: The Jackson Vanity and Mirror


   A simple bath vanity for pedestal sinks, a lower shelf for off the floor storage and an iron towel bar. The piece is to be installed in the master bath by a contractor. 
The matching mirror and more details and options after the jump.

Saturday, April 14, 2012

The Aimee: The Creation of a Farm Table

   Pictures, lots of pictures. That's how this project started.
 
 


 


The results? Pieced together after the jump!

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Custom Copy: The Hong Sofa Table and Desk

   A couple from Seattle came to me with a request to build a piece that they liked in a catalog; but, ultimately it was not the right size for their home. The table is a classic design using steel and wood, in this case, maple.
More details and pricing after the jump:

Friday, March 30, 2012

Topiary- The Bench

   Benches serve a great purpose and with the onset of Spring, perhaps it is a good time to introduce the Topiary, the bench, to the world.

Details after the jump..

Thursday, March 8, 2012

The Toasted Head Chandelier


  Wine making is a unarguably one of the most appreciated endeavors that man undertakes. As a result of the nectar refining process there is waste. FilliQuist Studio has taken a stab at some leftovers and come up with a few ideas, like the Wine Bench.
    The chandelier is made from eight clear wine bottles that are mounted to a barrel ring from a toasted head wine barrel. They are all discreetly wired with cloth wrapped wire that is finished off with a vintage flat plug that can be removed if the chandelier is to be hard wired. And the whole piece is hung from four hand woven sisal ropes that come together into one bound loop at the top for mounting. The bulbs are incandescent tube bulbs or display cabinet bulbs that are rated for 40W, if necessary 25W bulbs would work just fine.  Well here is the latest piece! And as always more pictures after the jump.....

Friday, February 17, 2012

Fresh Out of the Studio

    Fresh out the door is a side table that will be used as a vanity for a bathroom. The new owners will be using marble vessel sinks. Finishing touches include the matching mirror and towel bar below the vanity top.
More pictures after the jump.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Introducing: The Nelson Bench


A client requested a simple and economical bench to go with the Farmhouse Table they ordered and this is what I came up with for them. It is 5 feet long 11 1/2 inches wide and 19" tall and can handle a family growing up on them with ease. The design now bears the family name for which it was designed "The Nelson". The bench is available at a price of $120 bare and $150 in most any finish and is guaranteed to last the 20 years or so it takes to raise a family . See more pictures of the bench and table after the jump.