Living Room Tables

This is Mandy, guest blogging for my Dad to show off the tables he made for me.  He is so modest about how much work he puts into his projects (and his skill level) that I felt the need to do some bragging on him!  He makes living room tables for each of his children around a certain birthday that I shall not name (and give away my age).  He also made tables for my mother--and each style is carefully thought over to reflect our individual taste.  Dad had me and my husband looking through furniture books to see what we liked.  It was a my first glimpse into the amazing world that my Dad is an expert in...I didn't know much about the genres and styles of furniture.  And beyond being grateful for the education, I started to become immensely grateful to see how much work my Dad put into his project for me and how much he has taught himself over the years.  I realized that this work he does is more like art than mere construction. 

The first thing I picked for my tables was this beautiful granite.  I love white oak with it's distinctive wood grain and warm color.  Both of these were accented by my Dad with beautiful chestnut burl veneer with walnut bun feet.  I also loved the turned legs and curved lines, which fits in so well with our other decor.

This side table has the same style of turned legs on a taller scale, which I love.  These side tables have cherry bun feet that also accent the other wood choices and even pick up the colors of our wood floor. 

I couldn't have been more thrilled with how the tables pulled together the furniture and colors I was already using in my home.  My sister-in-law commented that it was like I got new "antiques" when she saw the style my Dad captured for me.  I know about how he sands and finishes--and then sands and finished again and again--the wood so that the finish is perfectly smooth and durable enough to  heirloom. 

My Granddaughters Get Their Big Horse

My daughter posted videos of her little girls getting the big horse I made for them.  Here is a link to those videos:

http://clarkefamilyof5.blogspot.com/2011/01/girls-get-big-horse.html

Snapshots of the Horses

A shot of the big horse on the work bench.  Pictures really cannot do justice to these horses. 

This is the big horse again.

The light of the Christmas tree warms up the horses.  This shot shows the comparison in sizes of the original small horse and scaled up larger horse.

This view of the big horse shows off the beautiful wood grain.

A beautiful pair of finished horses.

This grouping of both sizes and different wood types shows off the beauty and warmth of these heirloom horses.