Back In The Saddle Again

After taking a wonderful day off to attend the high school graduation of my great-nephew and great-niece (way to go, Class of 2012!), it's kick-it-into-high-gear time at Chateau Relaxo Design.

My studio is packed with new treasures acquired over the weekend, all ready to be re-imagined and re-painted for Irvington's farmers market.  Sawdust flying to the rafters, sweet hubby even added his woodworking talents to this artsy endeavor.  After collaborating on design ideas, he routed edge after edge on a truly diverse series of quarterboards, wooden signs and raised panel architectural pieces.

 

Funny thing... treasure hunting
for reclaimed wood has become a fun, new way to spend time as a couple.

Over the years we've learned that shared interests and taking uncharted paths together can help keep married life fresh and adventuresome, especially when you've seen each other with bedhead for more than a couple of decades.
To not lose our 'Ozzie and Harriet' sweetness when working together, we've also discovered it's best to:
(1) work on our projects in different spaces,
(2) to trust and apply our own unique methods and skills
(3) and to do it all without any  
unsolicited advice from one another.
Keeps the peace and cultivates creativity.

Maddie agrees that these 'upcycling' projects
 may be our best yet.  (Hope the good folks who stop by
the farmers market will think so, too!)

Beautiful At Any Age

I felt an unexpected kinship with those weathered and worn boards.  Haphazardly stacked and looking a bit disheveled, it would have been easy to pass by the cart of scrap wood in front of Habitat's Restore shop.  The handwritten sign noted just one defining word scrawled in red Sharpie maker: FREE.  Free indeed.  Free to be re-imagined, re-designed, re-worked, re-born.

Tabb and I poured through that cart like hungry racoons, scavenging planks as treasured morsels.  Distressed finishes were seen as beautiful, aged patina.  Blemishes and marks became known as 'character.'

Money did change hands, once inside.  A long, narrow barn board with a lovely routed design will soon have 'Corrotoman' painted on it, for the river we love so much.  The scalloped cabinet piece will be renewed in a similar quarterboard fashion with inspiring words like, "wag more, bark less."  Perhaps they'll one day hang over the transom windows or fireplace of a Northern Neck river home.  Maybe, just maybe, it will be treasured in our own 'someday' home on the Corrotoman River, aptly named
"Chateau Relaxo."

I look forward to this process of re-creating... both the beauty of those aged boards and my life ahead.