Sueism1's Myth of Value #1

Myth of Value #1, a photo by sueism1 on Flickr.

While her job at Trader Joe's dictates that Sue creates art regularly, there is a difference in the art she does for work, and that of pure fun. Sue has created a number of pieces that are from her pure joy and desire that she has for art.

As I showed in her interview, she has multiple talents, and now you get to see here vintage influence Fine Art side. Hope you like it. If you do, stop by her Flickr and let her know.

Douglas Fir's 52 Plywood Home Storage Plans Book

All photos are from www.populuxebooks.com

With all that's going on right now, there's no better time then now to get that Mid-Century mindset. Why...you may ask. Well, here's a few reasons. 1) The economy is tight, and this is cheap 2) You can entertain yourself and get something mid-century all in the same time at little expense 3) you can better your coordination while decorating your home and save money

Facts of the matter are, many times we think that it's more cost effective to buy something instead of building it ourselves. In some cases that is very true. To buy a car is much more practical than to try and build your own. Sometimes it's also the way with Mid-Century furniture. If you find a great deal or know how to repair it yourself, there you go, more efficient to buy than build. However, that's not always so.

I think another misconception is that of:"I don't know how to build furniture, so I won't do a good job." This too is a valid thought. However, have you thought about the fact that a lot of the furniture in your home, or homes of the past are, in reality very simple shapes, with very simple assembly processes.

That's why I'm telling you about this book. It starts with one of the most basic of materials...Plywood. See I don't just like the way plywood looks (I really love plywood). I think that it is one of the best beginners materials on the market. Here's a few reasons why.
   1)Plywood comes pre-planed
   2)It has fairly straight factory edges
   3)It can easy be cut, molded, sanded, and formed
   4)Generally holds screws, nails, glues, epoxy's, and other fasteners well.
   5)Comes in multiple wood types
   6)With detailed drawings many home improvement stores can cut your pieces to size if needed.
   7)Easy to find large pieces for most furniture surface areas.
   8)Can be stained, or have fine wood laminates applied.
   9)Very strong with a fine line. Very sleek looking.

All photos are from www.populuxebooks.com

So, as you can see plywood can provide a lot of benefits for those who are either beginner woodworkers, or those who are experienced.

As I tried to show with my first Simplified Woodworking episode, today, you can be retro and original. How so? If you follow vintage methods and use vintage materials you can build a brand new Mid-Century piece. That's why I suggest you check out the 52 plywood home storage plans book by Douglas Fir, because it's a great book to start with. It's not the only one though. This book is hard to find. So, it usually begs a higher price. However, there are reasons why.

All photos are from www.populuxebooks.com

Back in the day, Douglas Fir was the plywood industry. Not just the leader, but for some time, they basically were the only player in the game. That didn't stop them from pushing the uses of plywood to it's limits. Being an enthusiast of vintage woodworking, I can tell you that I have looked at, and read about a bunch of the old woodworking books. However, by far, the Douglas Fir books are recognized as being some of the best mcm woodworking books out there. Plus, these books are collectors items.

You can get this book here from Populuxebooks.com
 

Lomo-Mo

Lomo-Mo, a photo by sueism1 on Flickr.

Here's another one of Sueism1's great vintage sign photos. I really like the warm tone to it. It's just so California Mid-Century feeling.