January Furniture Restore-athon... in Rhythm...

January is considered the slowest month here in the Valley of the Two Wallas… it is on average the coldest month, there are fewer tourists, many wineries and tasting rooms are closed or have reduced hours and antique sales are the lowest of the year.

We closed the Antique Shop during January and have dedicated the month to cleaning, repairing and refinishing antiques, thus the January Furniture Restore-athon.  In the seventeen years that Shady Lawn Antiques has been in business, it has never been totally closed for more than one week.  So when we decided to close the antique shop and just work on fixing up antiques for a month – it was a big deal.  I felt that I needed to get alot done.

The first few days I cleaned and reorganized my work shop.  Then I got started with the first few projects.

Initially I felt frustrated by what I had to show for my labors.  It didn’t feel like I was accomplishing much.  It seemed like I was thinking and planning more than I was actually working on things – my work was not flowing along.

About the fourth day I got into a great rhythm and it was mid-afternoon before I realized it.  Each restoration step was flowing logically into the next and obvious progress was being made.  When I was faced with a problem, the solution came quickly and easily…

This whole restoration rhythm came as a surprise to me because I didn’t know that it existed.  Perhaps the rhythm came as a result of total uninterrupted focus or even the number of continuous hours spent…

It is hard to describe what being in a woodworking rhythm (or being in a ‘zone’) is but the result is that I am having a great time reclaiming and restoring antiques!

Come into Shady Lawn Antiques when we reopen in February to see the results of my efforts!

Tall Oak Dresser that was refinished this month

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