Latest things to leave the shop

Here's snapshots of some of the latest things to leave the shop.

Hostess stand

This is a quick snapshot of a hostess stand I completed for a new wine bar getting ready to open in my town called Origins wine bar. It was a serious amount of work to make the random pattern actually work and fit together.

Projects

As always we are very busy. Here's some snapshots of things we are working on or completed. Also, we are in the early stages of opening a coffee bar in our town on Loveland Colorado.  We will of course be building the bar and furniture for it and creating an amazing atmosphere while serving the best coffee possible.

Home bar

Here is a home bar I just finished. It has 6 drawers with dovetail  joints, hickory top stained with ebony stain before sealed. It houses a sub zero fridge that I built an overlay door for so it all matches. It is around 6.5 feet long about 40 high and 24 deep. Everything  was kind of built around the fridge so it dictated how it all fit together. It's going to its new home tomorrow. There were a lot of hours in this one. As always.  These are my designs and in no way can they be copied without my consent.

Schedule

I want to thank everyone this year for all the business.  From past clients who came back for new pieces, to the new clients and companies I have never worked with before. The list of companies I would want to thank is so long that I would hate to list some and possibly forget others, so I will leave it at thank you, you know who you are :)

Anyway, as of right now unless some things possibly get delayed, all new orders will not be able to start fabrication until 2015.  I am booked pretty solid right now, and really have no more weekends to squeeze things in until the start of next year.  As with every year, the very beginning of the year is the best time to get a place in my schedule with a new build, as once May rolls around, I get totally full and fast.  If things change with this schedule with some of the big projects, I will post an update.  Thanks so much.

Reception desk

Here's a snap of a reception desk that's close to done. The long leg of it is about 10 feet long. It will have a hickory top and cladding along with drawers . Will post more pictures when finished.

Shipping by freight

I have a lot of people ask about shipping. I ship worldwide but its not as simple as a small end table every time. I routinely ship very large items up to 10.feet once in the crate and can weigh up to 1000 lbs or more for some. As you can imagine its quite a process. First I build a very heavy duty crate around each item.which can.cost $100 or more just for the materials alone. Then a few hours to build it and wrap and secure the piece inside. Then loading is not always so simple. A lot of my pieces are very.big and can not fit.sideways into the freight truck door so it.has to go longways. This is quite a challenge when you have no loading dock. Some people are shocked by freight costs but if you look at all that goes on with it, it makes sense and is quite reasonable. Were not shipping pillows and something I've spent months building and a client has waited for needs to.get there safe.

terrible imported junk furniture

Just a quick post.  For the first time in my life, I happened to be near a Restoration Hardware store, and went in.  I post this because I get emails from people with pictures attached saying, "can you build this but in my size?"  my answers vary and are hard to give, but basically come down to these basic things...

1.  I will not copy someone elses work. There is not a challenge in doing this, and I have had it done to me so many times, and a couple people are literally building a business off my designs, so I would not do the same.  I want to build unique, handcrafted, durable, high quality items with no corners cut.

2. This will echo number 2 a bit, but I will not build junk like the store mentioned or others that easily come to mind.  Or for that matter some of the people copying me.  I spend a lot of time on the details, and others do not.  Not to mention I use the highest quality wood, rivets, and bolts, and finishes available.  It all cost me more time and money, but I truly want it to last.  Back to Restoration hardware.  They sell cheap soft woods like pine that are unfinished and will never hold up to any kind of use, along with a strange coating and very cheap imported scrap metal for materials.  It all adds up to a very flimsy, and disappointing product.  What I do and these other stores are not even comparable.  I spend hours picking out materials and pouring over decisions, and my patina process along with clear coat can take 3-4 days and is genuine. Not some sprayed on paint coating.  I know my wife went to touch the fake door lock on one of the pieces at Restoration Hardware and it was not a door lock at all but how you opened the door.  We could hardly control our laughter.  There is a reason they have very dim lighting in the store. Think about it.

My purpose here is not necessarily to put these other stores down, but it all goes back to why I started my business.  I was tired of buying junk, and learned from the saying "you get what you pay for" .  I cant think of many times if any where I spent less money and was actually happy in the end.  There was always that regret that was hard to admit out  in the open.  All to save a few hundred dollars, but in the end I never saved anything, because I ended up selling the piece of junk I bought a starting the search again.  What I do is so far different than any of these big chain stores.  If you really dont think there is a difference and just want the cheapest product there is, then they may be a fit for you and I urge you to buy from them.  You will have to learn the lesson on your own.

Kitchen.cabinet

This is a kitchen cabinet I just completed. I built it so it will fit right into a nook in the wall the homeowners have built during construction of the house. Its 9 feet long and 2.5 feet deep and 36 inches high. Every door has a keyed lock and a door catch. Along with the handles I've been making to put on most things lately. It has reclaimed elm wood on top and I spent a lot if time on little details so it turned out extra clean in.the end.

Hostess stand

This is a hostess stand for hotel Teatro in Denver. It has two drawers and 6 adjustable shelves. Also a false back that allows wires to run from top through hollow space in back to the bottom so the cords really are not seen. Big money if you want these things.

New pictures

There are new pictures on my website at justinrealfurniture.com

Fridge overlay door panel

The door on left is a solid 3x1 tube door with a slot on back side that a piece of glass will slide into. The overlay on right is a wood core door I covered with 18 gauge sheet metal bent around by bending brake and welded up. Then its routered out on back to let the mesh sandwich between fridge door and overlay panel. I'm not showing the backs because I Dont want to give my secrets away. The point was to make them look the same but the overlay door had a weight limit of 10 pounds. I came in about 7 lbs. This was a lot of fun. Will shoe finished piece soon.

Some things heading out

A few things headed to new homes. Also make sure to visit my website as we add new things about every month. There's quite a few new things with pictures taken like the cabinets I built for Kayak.com and Shimano bike company.

Industrial reception desk.

Here's a work station I just completed. Has 1.5 inch reclaimed oak top and skip planed oak on side panels. It detaches into 3 parts to ship. Its going to Australia next week.

Shimano bike company

Some more of the items I made for Shimano.