Furniture Painting Finished

It took most of the week, but the furniture is painted and clearcoated with polyacrylic. The designs came from a cousin's work and a little bell I bought in Kutna Hora. (click to enlarge)

I'm not sure how much more I'll get finished before we have to start packing up for the trip southward. I noticed a goodly amount of robins in the back yard today. They're gathering for their trip to their winter stomping grounds, too.

Furniture Shop Still Swinging

Today I sanded the furniture, put on a coat of gesso and one of the base color, and painted one of the chests. It was fun to see the little assembly line as the tables, chairs, and chests moved along. First photo show them with the little tabs and slots smoothed over with the wallboard mud.

 Next photo shows all but one coated with gesso.

 And the last photo shows the pieces with their base coat. I painted one chest in a manner similar to a chest I photographed in a log cabin in the Czech Republic belonging to the family of one of my cousins. My eyes gave out after the one chest was decorated. I'll address the rest tomorrow. They won't be as intricate, I think. We'll see where the muse takes me.

The paint colors are too raw, and I don't like the flat finish of the acrylics. When the decoration is complete, I'll use a glaze of some sort to mute the colors a bit and give it a satin finish.

In the steps of my grandfather

My grandfather, the Alois for whom mini Alois is named, was a master cabinetmaker. I'm joking about following in his steps, but I thought about him today as I assembled furniture for the inn. Alois and his brother-in-law operated the Krejsa & Martinek Saloon and Restaurant in Niles, Illinois, in the early 1900s. I never met him, as he passed on long before I was born, but I can feel him and my father looking over my shoulder as I work on this project.

Here is the furniture. It is very simple, but appropriate for the inn. It will be painted, and the chairs will have seat pads to cover the tab-and-slot construction. The table tops will be spackled smooth, as will the cupboards. I don't recall where I got these. They are by Woodcraft, made in China. I put together all three sets, thinking to sell what I don't use, but after doing a little staging, it appears I'll be using all of them on place or another.

Here is where construction stands. All but one exterior wall and the ground floor ceiling glued in place. I'm pleased to report that the stairway and partition wall slide in and out very easily. The swinging door will eventually lead into the kitchen. It is taped to a dowel that is held in place by the weight of the ceiling. I put the dowel there to keep the ceiling from sagging.

The missing wall needs some carpentry work, namely a couple of doorways cut into it before it goes up. As I mentioned earlier, a kitchen wing will be added on the other side of the swinging door. I'd thought to attach it to the main house, but I'm now thinking to make it freestanding. I need to scope out the roof line before making a final decision.

The room layout for the second floor has yet to be finalized. The furniture up there is just scattered about. The general plan is to have the far corner, at the top of the stairs, be a sort of lounge/public area for the guests, with two guest rooms to the left of it and one larger room to the right. A doorway in the missing wall will lead into the room above the kitchen, where there will be a stairway to the 3rd floor/attic rooms and a shared bathroom.

I'd hoped to have a  fireplace in the dining room (on the missing wall), but with three tables, there really isn't room. If I replace one of the square tables with a small round one, it might work. Debating.

The private dining room is looking good. Alois is in his favorite place, behind the bar. He'll be even happier when it is stocked. Although some of the walls appear to be white, the entire ground floor (except for the lobby) is painted Venetian Stucco by Glidden.