Animals as therapists ... Pets Adventures at the Barn

Following the horrible tragedy that happened last Friday, there has been an influx of pictures going viral of animals working as therapists to help the families of Connecticut heal.



Our golden, Hunter

Here at Furniture From The Barn, we have four dogs, one horse, one mini pony and plenty of cats… we honestly wouldn’t have it any other way. Waking up early to feed and water the horses is more of a blessing than a chore. Our dogs accompany us in the office helping keep the stress levels low when they might otherwise escalate. Having a slew of animals around all the time is really important to us and our business. We wouldn’t be the same people without them. Currently sleeping at my feet, I have a golden retriever named Hunter and a Shelti- Chihuahua mix named Bocephus. Our animals provide, comfort, laughter, and joy. I hope the animals visiting the grieving families in Connecticut can provide similar emotions and maybe make this Christmas a little bit better than it would have been otherwise.

God Bless and Merry Christmas.

Bocephus and Hunter

Our barn cats

Hunter and Lila taking an afternoon nap in the office.

What You Need to Know About Chestnut Wood Species in Furniture

When new customers come to the shop to see our furniture first hand, we show them the five different types of reclaimed wood we utilize. People are always shocked to hear that Chestnut wood is relatively extinct in the Northeast. Here is a detailed version of the historical facts we share with our customers about one of the most beautiful types of wood to use when creating long lasting, hand crafted, furniture.

The American Chestnut tree (Castanea Dentata) was once a native tree that grew from southern Maine across the midwest to Michigan, and south to Alabama and Mississippi.

Highlighted in green, was where the American Chestnut tree was most prominent.

 The American Chestnut was cultivated in 1800 and was once considered to be the queen of the eastern American forest. This tree was known to reach a height of 100 feet.

Queen of the Forest, American Chestnut Tree

For the people of the Appalachians, the American Chestnut was important. The reddish-brown wood was lightweight, soft, easy to split, resistant to decay and did not warp or shrink. Because of its resistance to decay it was widely used for anything destined to last such as: posts, poles, piling, railroad ties, split rail fences, log cabins, barns, etc. Original fencing along country roads can still be found that was made from chestnut.

But soon after that, the American chestnuts were nearly wiped out by chestnut blight. The discovery of the blight fungus on some Asian chestnut trees planted on Long Island, New York was made public in 1904. Within 40 years, the near-four billion-strong American chestnut population in North America was devastated; only a few clumps of trees remained in California and the Pacific Northwest. Due to disease, American chestnut wood almost disappeared from the market for decades.

People who salvage wood from old buildings in the Northeast usually wonder what species they have. In particular, folks often want to know if the wood could be American chestnut, because chestnut was a common species in the past but is now rare and the wood can be valuable.

At Furniture From The Barn, we can custom design a piece of furniture crafted from reclaimed Wormy Chestnut wood, yes your table or piece may have lots of worm holes, we love the character it adds to tables and other pieces we make from the wood  but it may not be for you. The wood is beautiful and will hold its value for years to come. We do not paint our Chestnut wood pieces as we feel it would be a shame to cover such amazing history. 

The table top and bench top are made from reclaimed, American Chestnut wood.

Sources:
Appalachain Woods, LLC
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chestnut

What is Milk Paint and why do we use it at Furniture From The Barn?

If you are familiar with our work, you have probably already noticed that we utilize milk paint to finish our furniture. We get questions all the time asking about milk paint, what it is and why we use it.

When I first started working for Furniture From The Barn, helped in the shop with the finishing process of the furniture. Being an art major in college, I was excited to get started showcasing my amazing painting skills… I hoped that my expensive art school degree wouldn’t let me down! Not only was I sure of my talents… I also thought that I had seen it all in terms of painting and supplies. I had been through oil painting classes, water color classes, abstract painting, art history, etc. On my first day, I expected to grab a can of paint off the shelf, pry it open with a screw driver, open up all the doors and windows to avoid fumigating myself and get to work. However, much to my surprise, instead of leading me to a can of paint on a shelf, Kelly guided me to the fridge… yes the refrigerator. She asked if I had ever worked with milk paint before. Puzzled, I declined and asked what is it and why is it in the refrigerator?!

The inside of our refrigerator in the shop.

First of all, if you are like me and never heard of milk paint, you may be surprised to know that milk paint is nothing new, in fact, quite the contrary; it’s the oldest form of paint known to man. I never learned that in my Art History classes! Milk paint is a completely natural product that has been used for tens of thousands of years. Cave drawings and paintings made 8,000 years ago, even as old as 20,000 years ago, were made with a simple composition of milk, lime, and earth pigments. When King Tutankhamen's tomb was opened in 1924, artifacts including models of boats, people, and furniture found inside the burial chamber had been painted with milk paint. (www.realmilkpaint.com)

Milk paint comes in a powder form and before use must be mixed with warm water.

Considering milk paint is a completely natural product and actually made from whole milk, once mixed, it must stay in the refrigerator or it will spoil! One of the reasons we love using milk paint is because it is a natural product that is totally green and environmentally friendly. Milk paint is so natural, you can even drink it… not that I suggest you do that, but in a survival situation, if all you had to drink was milk paint… well, I’m sure you get the idea.

Besides being eco-friendly, milk paint provides a gorgeous, matte finish that allows the natural grain of the wood to show through.

 It is perfect for raw wood because it penetrates the wood much like a stain, so you need not worry about it chipping and the finished product is incredibly durable.

Milk paint also behaves differently in comparison to other more modern paints that you may be used to. The paint tends to be watery and sometimes a bit clumpy. The first time I used it, I definitely thought I was doing it all wrong, which was without a doubt a blow to my art school ego. As the paint starts to dry, you will notice that it has a chalky or powdery finish. Don’t worry… it’s supposed to look like this. Once the paint is dry, you will need to grab a sanding sponge and lightly sand the top layer of the paint. Here you can use your creative license and distress your furniture as little or as much as you want.

     

After my first experience with milk paint, I was instantly a fan. The finished product is always beautiful and different. It will no doubt provide you with an interesting piece of furniture that will not only be a conversation starter but a family heirloom.

Furniture From The Barn is a distributer of Real Milk Paint products so if you are interested in giving it a try, just give us a call!

Country Living Magazine Photo Shoot

Last Friday, November 30, Country Living Magazine came to our farm for a photo shoot of an armoire that they asked us to custom build for the magazine. Our armoire will be in a feature article in their April 2013 issue. We are excited and feel blessed to be able to share our work with CL Mag subscribers. What an amazing opportunity.

This photo shoot has been a long time in the making and it’s amazing to see it come to fruition.

There has been a lot of planning and collaborating with CL in regards to the custom armoire. We discussed sizes, paint colors, hardware, interior shelves… everything down to the last centimeter. Thankfully CL loved the finished product and we are very proud of our hard work.

Preparing for the photo shoot was a bit of a daunting task. I’m not sure if you are aware, but our home is also our shop, show room and office. As you can imagine, we are a bit tight on space. Currently, Michael is working on an addition that will house our showroom. We are very excited about this because our showroom is presently in the living room! Not a lot of family living happing in there.

When we spoke with CL about where to hold the photo shoot, we collectively decided that it should be in our showroom/living room. This dual purposed space boasts hardwood floors and wood beamed ceilings… a beautiful room for an armoire and photo-shoot. This sounds fabulous, right?  … well, if you’ve visited the shop lately, you will know that the showroom is jam packed with furniture and is a tight squeeze from one area to the next. The first step preparing this space was to empty it! Now… I am all for men's and women’s equality… but this was a job for the big, strong, men of the house! Michael and Casey got to work and within an afternoon, the furniture was removed which was exciting because we hadn’t seen our living room look like a living room in years! But…. We could also see that we had a lot of cleaning to do! (The men did the heavy lifting so it was up to us ladies to do the cleaning.L)

We got out our mops, rags and Pine Sol and went to work. The room shined liked the top of the Chrysler building once we finished.

Call time for Friday morning was 8:30 am. We started our day early to make sure everything was ready for CL’s arrival. The horses, dogs and cats were fed and happy and we were ready to greet the photographer and style crew.

After our photographer arrived, and making a quick trip to Pottery Barn to pick up a forgotten rug, the styling and shooting began. And continued…. We took a nice lunch break (that CL catered for us, THANK YOU!) and then the photographer and stylists got back to work. The armoire looked fabulous after the stylists had their way with it. I wish the inside of my closets and cabinets were that organized and beautiful. The photo shoot lasted well into the evening. Every shot had to be just right… The modeling world is tough… even for furniture.

All in all, we had a fabulous day. We reveled in the short lived glamour of the situation and told all of our friends that Country Living Magazine was here. I was hoping they’d ask me to make a cameo in one of the pictures… it must’ve slipped their minds. OH well, next time I’m sure.

We will post some behind the scenes shots just as soon as the magazine hits the racks! :)

A Few Updates at Furniture From the Barn

A lot has been happening around here these past few months, and it has been quite some time since we’ve given our bloggers any updates. Here are some of the highlights:

In August we had to take a few personal days to move our daughter, Caitlyn, to North Dakota where she is attending college. This was a long drive, but a great chance to see areas of our country that we wouldn’t normally visit.

September was a busy month as we attended the Country Living fair in Columbus, Ohio. We love going to furniture shows and Country Living has always been our favorite, but this may be our last show for a while… We feel as though traveling from show to show keeps us away from our customers for too long. Considering we are custom builders, we need to spend a lot of time and attention with our customers.

In October, we received the amazing news that we were one of the “Pitch Your Product” winners. Pitch Your Product is a contest conducted by Country Living Magazine. This contest asks small business owners and artisans to showcase their American made products. We also found out that we are featured in the December/January issue of Country Living Magazine (page 129.)

November was a crazy month, not only were we inundated with Christmas orders, we were working hard to finish our farmhouse tables that were due to our customers by Thanksgiving. We are so blessed for all of our business, especially in tough economic times. Not only were we working hard in the shop, but the office was a buzz chatting with Country Living Magazine about the details of the photo shoot that would take place here on our farm.

It has been a whirlwind around here these past few months, but we wouldn’t have it any other way!

This pretty much brings us up to date. Please check back for more blog posts… and leave comments; we love to know your thoughts!!

This Blogging Stuff Can Be Rough (Like Wood)

Dearest Blogging Friends,

We would like to sincerely apologize for letting our blog go to the wayside these past few months. But rest easy my friends... our blog is back! Many amazing things have happened and we can't wait to update you. Get comfortable wherever you are and enjoy.

Much Love,
Furniture From The Barn