It would be nice to get the jobs you want, but unfortunately it’s usually quite the the opposite! When you work for yourself, you have to take what you get, and at the end of the day, it helps pay the bills.
Clients sometimes expect you to have everything in stock. I was once asked by a man if I could restore an old sewing machine in three days, because he wanted to surprise his wife for her Birthday! However, doing a proper furniture restoration is not a fast process.
Altering furniture has also become quite popular. Reducing furniture size when downsizing a home, is often something required by retirees. I altered an extension dinning table, to a reduce its size. The client wanted me to reduce the size of the top, and remove the extension. Although altering an existing piece of furniture almost always possible, in some cases, designing and making a new one is easier and thus is less expensive.
This was the extension table I was asked to reduce in size.
The finished table before polishing.
One of my younger clients asked if I could decorate her robe doors. She had purchased a plaster carving, and ask me to design mouldings and carvings to match, and to finish the doors similar to a picture she provided.
These are the robe doors before they were painted. You can clearly see the supplied crowns (plaster) , the other decorations, which I designed and carved to match. In my opinion this young client had exceptional taste for fine furniture, something I find quite rare these days.
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