WHATS HAPPENING LATELY

Daniele Bywater 5/22/19 Daniele Bywater 5/22/19

The timely process of restoration

Restoration or refurbishment is the process of repairing, fixing , modifying, repainting and repolishing an item of furniture.

It can often be a lengthy process, as repairs especially to antique pieces that are hundreds of years old require skill, patience and craftsmanship to ensure every detail is completed successfully whilst often keeping the delicate infrastructure intact, especially the case with veneers, paper thin and fragile, the successful repair of these can really make or break a treasured heirloom.

The argument for restoration is a strong one, sustainably wise and of great sentimental value, the journey of restoration is often an emotional one.

The adventure of restoration provides us with such a sense of satisfaction . Being involved in our clients’ family history and being able to restore a much loved item of furniture for them is one of the best things about our work. Being privvy to such an evocative journey reinforces our love of why we do the things we do.

16th Century chest needing restoration.jpg

There is so much history in each and every piece, a tapesty of lives interwoven and we are honoured to be able to enrich each and every piece of furniture, albeit it a tiny child’s chair, or grandmother’s dressing table, a great great grandfathers chair or a favourite aunty’s dining table .

Restoration is a gift for now and the future

A forgotten dressing table , some would say has seen better days …

An old dressing table is now a gorgeous new bathroom vanity

Daniele Bywater 5/15/19 Daniele Bywater 5/15/19

Salvaging Silky Oak ...

Exciting times ahead for Bywater Design, as previously mentioned we are busily creating new work for our gallery.

We strive to follow our ethos of using reclaimed and salvaged timber wherever and whenever we can and by using recyled timber we are contributing to saving our plantations as well as using something that may be destined for the scrap heap.

More often than not resalvaged timber has a charm and a wonderful patina all of its own, and with age comes beauty and character, timber is no different.

Currently we are in the process of using some salvaged Silky Oak and making some small items of furniture with it.

Silky Oak (Grevillea Robusta ) is an ideal timber to use for furniture making, its warm pink lustre, and detailed grain make for a wonderful finished product.

Its durability for most types of climate make it wonderful for the Queensland Climate.

A beautiful table just waiting to happen …

We cant wait to reveal the final product

Ethical classic and durable

Watch this space !

Daniele Bywater 2/6/19 Daniele Bywater 2/6/19

Ucyling teak to make a beautiful bedroom ensemble

Wanting to make use of an old Teak Malaysian Wall panel,our clients were keen for us to make a new bed out of this 300 year old beautiful panel.

A wonderful way to upcyle, and re use a piece of history, we made a new bed head and footer.

Character and ambience abounds in this wonderful bedroom

The teak bedroom ensemble blends in beautifully with the existing decor

Daniele Bywater 1/29/19 Daniele Bywater 1/29/19

Making a dining table out of recycled timber

There is a lot to be said for using recycled materials, and in particular recycled timber.

Less waste, and more often than not the character and grain of the timber is exceptional.

Age does provide beauty.

For this classic style dining table we sourced blackbutt, red iron bark, grey iron bark and spotted gum, iconic Australian timbers that were once used as timber beams for a house of over 100 years. Now this timber will serve another wonderful purpose and will stand the test of time and will look even better with age.

Gorgeous Australian timbers feature in this classic style dining table.

The glorious colours of timber. A natural beauty

Daniele Bywater 9/17/18 Daniele Bywater 9/17/18

Mogens Lassen Scandinavian 3 legged Stool Restoration

We are currently in the midst of restoring some wonderful mid century Scandinavian furniture.

The clean aesthetic lines , the blonde timbers the ease of design are synonymous with this era of furniture design.

The 3 legged stool designed by Mogens Lassen in 1942 was inspired by the stool used by shoemakers, functional and simplistic in design, it evolved into an elegant 3 legged stool smooth of surface and understated in design.

3 legged stool by Mogens Lassen read for restoratation

The restoration process involved carefully removing the white paint, regluing the legs, sanding and re-polishing to bring out the beauty of the natural grain.