One of the best gifts I ever received was a piece of artwork from my boyfriend on our anniversary. The framed piece was painstakingly hand-crafted out of dark and light shades of paper cutouts, put together to create a beautiful scene from one of my favorite books.
Anytime someone comes over to visit, I always get questions about this particular picture. It's one of those conversation pieces that I'll always love retelling the backstory of how it came into my possession.
In my opinion, the best home decor has a story behind it, a reason its owner chose one particularly unique piece over many others.
John Whitmarsh, a sculptor from San Francisco, specializes in crafting minimal, but edgy conversation pieces for a living. Whitmarsh has put his woodworking skills to incredible use and has produced beautiful pieces.
Scroll down to see one of Whitmarsh's unbelievable creations and let us know what you think of this incredible piece of functional art in the comments!
John Whitmarsh, a sculptor from San Francisco, was experiencing a phase in his career.
He enjoyed working with salvaged wood and was suddenly inspired during a visit to wine country.
He decided to create something a little bit different than the chunky wine barrel furniture you'd typically come across.
He wanted to build something sleek and functional.
After removing the wine barrel's hoops, he allowed the individual staves, or wooden pieces, to dry out.
The staves were then cut down to a thinner size.
Next, he carefully pieced the staves together on their sides.
This wavy shape would eventually turn into the tabletop.
About five pieces at a time, he carefully glued the wooden strips together.
He made sure to use a urethane glue to fill in any gaps between the wood.
After the glue dried and the clamps were removed, he began to plane and fit the curves together.
Sanding the pieces removed any excess glue but preserved the natural irregularities of the wood that make this piece so unique.
Each of the remaining pieces were carefully glued together.
Next, he took a Skilsaw and cut length-wise to create a square, table shape.
After sanding the top flat with a belt sander, he used a thin pick to rake out any foam left over in the cracks between the cut wood.
With a sufficiently smooth surface, Whitmarsh varnished the tabletop with two coats of satin urethane.
The semi-shiny finish gave the wood a finished look, but kept it from looking artificial.
With the tabletop done, it was time to build a sturdy steel table for the base.
The base looks thin and crisp, but it's definitely got some weight to it!
After wiping the steel base down with acetone, Whitmarsh sprayed a quick coat of shellac and it was done!
After about 25 hours of hard work, the wine barrel table was complete and looking absolutely flawless.
The irregular details truly give this piece so much character.
Would you want a table like this in your living room? Do you have any unique pieces in your home that you're especially proud of?
Let us know in the comments and don't forget to SHARE with anyone who might need a little bit of interior decorating inspiration!
