Trump Hollywood Project - New Photos!

In an earlier post I described a custom furniture project we delivered to the Trump Hollywood in Florida. Imagine my surprise this week to get hold of additional photos of the completed space.

It turns out that our client received a new camera over the holidays, and as you can see from the following images he's learning to master the art of photography and lighting.



The Dining Room wall unit and server were made of Koto wood, with back panels finished in bronze mirror. For the recessed door pulls we created a custom bronze finish to complement the light fixtures.



The Ellipse II dining table has a custom made boat shaped top with proportioned diamond matched grain pattern. The top is cantilevered over a tapered elliptical cone pedestal base, with everything finished in a satin Cerused Walnut.



This photo is a particular favorite of mine, especially considering how difficult it is to pick details such as wood grain when photographing in low light conditions. Don't you love the ambiance of this space in evening light?



In the Master Bedroom the panelling and cabinetry were crafted from a highly figured sampling of taupe anigre.



Wires for the custom made Night Stand lights were discretely routed through bronze grommets and into channels hidden behind the drawers.



As you can see in this photo the interior designer did a remarkable job of coordinating the various finishes, colors and textures into a coherent whole.

My Shop Needs a Drive Thru Window

There are days when I'm convinced my shop needs a deep fryer and a drive thru window. On that note maybe I should also consider rebranding my company with a new logo; one that looks something like this:



I say this because this week has seen requests for custom furniture lead times that were off-the-charts ridiculous.

In an earlier post I described a custom furniture delivery to Florida that was turned around in roughly 8 weeks time. There was considerable pressure to get this job done quickly because the client was intent on moving into the Trump Hollywood by Thanksgiving. With tremendous effort we pulled it off and even the design firm involved was highly impressed, stating that the 8 weeks we completed the job in was "record time".

Yes, 8 weeks is definitely record time for delivering high calibre custom furniture work.

But then I get a call from an old client out of New York who is in desperate need for custom furniture for the public area of a 5-star hotel. The lead time for this is 4 weeks.

4 weeks???

"Would you like fries with that?" I asked. He laughed because he too knew how ludicrous his request was.

If this was simply a one time event I could have chocked it up as an anomoly. But as it turns out, this was one of three rush order requests all coming in the same week. The second request came out of Florida, for a residential project in an upscale resort. The third was for a commercial project here in Canada, also with a firm deadline. All three projects had lead times of under 4 weeks.

I am well aware that in this tougher economic climate that clients are becoming more demanding and, in some cases, unreasonable. But c'mon folks...making and delivering high quality custom furniture is much more involved than serving up a burger and fries.

On an upnote we did receive some positive news this week. A reasonably large custom project quoted 4 months ago is apparently coming through. A request for a W-8 form from another client means that a project that's been hovering in the aether for 18 months is now, finally, moving forward.

And best of all there's one other potential project for an executive office that I'm REALLY excited about, but I'll save that discussion for another time.

Trump Hollywood Condominium - Completed Project Photos

We have just received photos of the recently completed project at the Trump Hollywood condominium. They are arranged as "before" and "after" images to help show the transformation of this remarkable space.



The following is a "before" image of the office area that gives a sense of the existing space before the custom desk and cubbie cabinet were set into place.



The custom furniture shown here was crafted out of flat cut smoked maple. In the niche space to the right a cubbie cabinet was set into place, consisting of a large door concealing adjustable shelves for storage and a pull-out shelf for a wireless printer.

The main desk has a glass door display space on the right hand side placed over cubbies for storing electronic components. Double file drawers on each side of the knee space were crafted out of dovetailed solid maple running on heavy duty Blumotion self closing linear ball bearing slides.



The large open area above the work surface was designed to hold three integrated monitor screens. The pull-out keyboard tray in the kneespace is Accu-Ride.



These are the "before" images of the dining area showing the drop ceiling that the GC (General Contractor) was in the process of adding at the time. Note the round cove that is being integrated into the ceiling. This cove will later house a custom chandelier that will end up being perfectly centered over the dining table.





The dining room wall unit was crafted out of satin finished Koto wood, and detailed with antique bronze recessed pulls, halogen lighting and bronze mirrors.





The dining table is a custom made version of the Ellipse II Table with a boat shaped top configured in a diamond matched grain pattern. The Cerused Walnut finish complemented the Koto wood on the wall unit perfectly.





This is the "before" picture of the right side of the Master Bedroom main wall.



The custom furniture in this area was crafted from a light taupe figured Anigre finished in low-VOC satin lacquer. The recessed valance area over the upholstered bed was later fitted with draped custom fabric.



This is the "before" photo of the left side of the Master Bedroom.



Note how the headers over the wall panels maintain a continuous line into the valances over the windows.



The window wall before....



...and after.

A Sudden Trip to Florida

I've just returned from an unexpected trip to Florida. It turns out that a satisfied customer from several years back is now furnishing a luxury condo at the Trump Hollywood.



Because of how happy this client was with our previous work he is now specifying that we make the custom furniture for this project too.

(I do love having happy customers!)

Yesterday ended up being an interesting day to say the least. The morning was spent on site going over details, measuring and taking photos. Speaking of photos, check out this incredible ocean view from the master bedroom.



After a late lunch at the DCOTA I had a few hours to myself, so I used the opportunity to take a mini roadtrip to Homestead to check out something I've long wanted to see. The place is called Coral Castle and it's sometimes referred to as America's Stonehenge because of the fact that massive blocks of coral (weighing as much as 29 tons each) were used in its construction. What's most amazing about this place is that these blocks were quarried, moved and set in place by one man working alone - and this guy was of slight build weighing no more than 100 lbs.

A subsequent post will elaborate further on what Edward Leedskalnin created here, but in the meantime I'll share these photos.













By the time I was done it was late afternoon, and it was also Friday.

Time to decompress and relax.

Given that my car rental was this Ford Mustang convertible, and what else was I to do but put the top down for the ride back to the city?



I enjoyed an extended moment of pure zen cruising up the Palmetto Highway watching a setting Sun, sipping a cold Snapple and listening to this retro tune blasting through the sound system.



What a great way to start the weekend!