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10/29/2026

Nested 🌿

Three nested door panels, oval pulls and an arched base. A Broyhill Sculptra lowboy dresser, stripped back to the grain.

When this listing came up, there was almost no information. I knew it was a Broyhill the second I saw it. Three years ago in Singapore, I knew Crate & Barrel, Castlery and IKEA, and nothing about power tools. Recognizing a piece by its lines was a quiet moment of realizing how far I’ve come. There’s a long way still to go.
The pickup was better than the listing. The seller turned out to be from Kerala, my hometown. He’d seen my work, had refinished furniture himself, and had kept this piece because he loved it. He made the best tea, so close to home.

Then the work. Paint was stuck deep in the grain, with a green wash on the top, every wood surface and the inside. I stripped and scrubbed for days. And then saw that the whole surface had pigtails 😩. I couldn’t paint it. The wood had to shine through, so this wasn’t a restoration so much as an uncovering.

I didn’t take a before photo. I wish I had. The doors are the proof: every nested frame is bare wood now.
A note to whoever refinishes it next: a good finish saves the next person days of work.

Found a piece of your own? I refinish client pieces too. DM me.

10/26/2026

Quiet Curve 🌿

A 1930s–40s bowfront chest of drawers, stained deep walnut with black green accents.

I wasn’t looking for this one. I was hunting for a single nightstand for the client who bought The Leading Lady, and found a listing for a tall dresser and a nightstand together. I took both. The nightstand, The Co-Star, went to her.

The dresser was the mystery. I usually see a piece and know what I want to try. This one I couldn’t picture. It felt too simple, with plain bowed fronts and recessed pulls. Then it started coming together as I worked.

I deepened the wood to a warm walnut and painted the top, sides, base and pulls in a black green, so the curve of the fronts does all the talking.

Status - Sold

Looking for something like this? DM me about custom work or sourcing.

10/25/2026

Second Look ✨

An Eastlake mirror, from worn dark cherry to rich walnut.
A returning client. She bought The Pewter Gallery from me in November 2024, then had me build a matching pair of nightstands in January 2025. This time she sourced the piece herself on Marketplace and asked if I’d refinish it.

I said yes right away. The mirror was just too beautiful to say no to.

The finish was reddish and worn out. I took it to a brown walnut, and the burl panels, incised fleur-de-lis and stepped crest did the rest.

Found a piece of your own? I refinish client pieces too. DM me.

10/24/2026

The Persuasion 🖤

She came back.

After the chest and the dresser were delivered, she asked for something for her entryway. What I found was a Mission-style hall tree that looked more like a throne for coats than a place to hang them.

I took it from raw red-brown to deep espresso, then added texture art across every panel: damask medallions and fleur sprigs in ch*****ne gold, on the back, the seat front and the arms. The hooks are antique bronze, and the seat still lifts for storage.

It’s my most unique transformation yet.

Part 3 of 3. Cedar & Sensibility and Pride & Pewter are on the grid.

Custom work or sourcing: DM me.

10/23/2026

Pride & Pewter 🌿

A Pennsylvania House reproduction chest in pewter green, with a break in the middle.

Second piece for the same client. She didn’t want a standard tall dresser. She wanted a break, and she wanted asymmetry.

When this one came up on Marketplace, I knew right away and went to get it. It didn’t fit in my car, and I was almost ready to leave it behind. The seller, a genuinely kind person, said it was his mother’s piece and he wanted it to go to someone who would value it. So he drove it to my garage himself.

That’s the pride. The pewter came after.

To play up the break, I stained the main top and the step of the riser in walnut. Two dark planes, and the green sits between them.

One of those rare pieces where even the dated batwing pulls added to the charm once they got a brass gilded finish.

The label inside says Lewisburg Chair and Furniture Co., Lewisburg, Penna. The drawers are dovetailed, and the FurniTales stamp is inside the drawer.

Part 2 of 3. The third piece is the one I’m proudest of.

10/22/2026

Cedar & Sensibility 🌿

A vintage Ed Roos cedar chest from Forest Park, Illinois, now a coffee table.

After she bought her new house, a client who had been following along reached out for a pewter green set. First piece: a cedar chest for her living room.

The plan was to paint all of it. Then we found this chest, and before I could ask whether she wanted the top and legs stained, she said it herself. She also asked if the legs could echo her patina lamp. A gentle glaze did exactly that.

Once the pewter was on, the carved florals needed something. A touch of gilding on the florals and the trim band, and everything started talking to each other.
The maker’s stamp is inside the lid, with mine next to it.

Part 1 of 3. Next up: the dresser.

10/21/2026

The Squire 🎩
Some pieces need a full transformation. This one needed almost nothing.

When a client’s budget is tight, the smartest design decision is knowing where not to spend it. For her parlour, I sourced a round pedestal table already in great shape, with a turned baluster base and stepped feet, and made one small color correction. That’s it.

The rest of her budget went into her nightstands, Sage Advice, in my last post.

It was in her home by July 20, and her cats had inspected the flowers before I could. 🐈

Her kind words are on the last slide. 🤍

Have something with good bones? DM me about custom work or sourcing.

10/20/2026

The Sage Advice 🌿
French provincial, in sage green, for her bedroom.

Back in July, a client reached out about a nightstand pair that had already sold. She had a clear vision, and she was upfront that she wasn’t sure about the budget. Sometimes a client is just too sweet. She didn’t want to undervalue my work, but she had a number to work with for the space she was curating.

I told her to take the weekend and be 100% sure.

She came back, and I was so glad to be a part of it. It worked out well for both of us.

These got the full treatment: a sage green body, gilt rococo pulls, a walnut-stained top, and my stamp inside the drawer.

Same sage, three lights: olive in my garage, slate in her daylight, deep green by lamplight. The last slides show them in her home.

The table I found for her parlour is in my next post.

Want a piece made to your vision? DM me about custom work.

10/16/2026

The Co-Star 🎭
Every Leading Lady needs one.

The client who fell for The Leading Lady over a video call came back with a new ask: a single nightstand to sit beside her in the bedroom.

I took it to a deep espresso, kept the sculpted pulls recessed in a dark green that echoes her partner, and saved the surprise for inside. Open the drawer and it’s lined in gold florals and a hummingbird.

Quiet on the outside. A little glamour for the one who opens it.

Now the two share a room.

Want a piece with a story? DM me about custom work.

10/16/2026

The Leading Lady

She arrived as one of three tall dressers from a fellow refinisher, in rough shape. But those sleek lines and sculpted pulls were too good to ignore.

At the Alameda fair, she was a star. So much interest, yet she waited for the right person to make her the lead story.

That person found her over a video call. She fell in love on the spot, and somewhere between talking about the pieces she loves, we realized we’d both moved here from Singapore. Some furniture finds its people.

Deep green body, terracotta pulls, top and base, and that rounded door with the woven grille that looks like a

Want a piece with a story? DM me about custom work or watch for the next Garage Tale.

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San Jose, CA
95131

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