Have an old piece of furniture you want to restore, but don't know how to get started?

Bring it into Community Forklift during this interactive, hands-on workshop.  Bergamin Fortunati will show you how to repair and restore old furniture, without great costs.  Bergamin will guide you through decisions on what kind of finish to use, how to decide whether or not to strip the wood, replace broken parts or remove water stains and marks. Trim, knobs, handles and other useful materials are available here at Community Forklift.  Bring your questions and let's get started!

Bergamin is a master tradesman with electrical, plumbing and carpentry expertise.  He started life and work in the mountains of Montana and his company, Southern Cross, continued for many years in Seattle where his work included design and build of sunrooms, specialty home remodels, and wood furniture creations. Bergamin's expertise combines a sense of artistry with engineering savvy and a commitment to reuse and recycle to create space and furniture that is pleasing to the eye, practical in use, and reflects the sensibility of the builder or owner.

Bergamin now lives and works at City Arts Studio at Union Market  in Washington DC.  Check out his work at http://bergamin.WebStarts.com/index.html 

At Shabadaba Chic, we are all about Reducing, Reusing and Recycling! There are many varieties of chalk style paints available today which make it easy for painting novices to tackle their own furniture facelifts, but the price tag can be daunting. The beauty of chalk based paint is its ability to adhere to almost any surface and to create customized weathered looks.

We will show you how to take any latex paint you find, either in your own basement or on the shelves at Community Forklift and mix up your own chalk based paint. 

We'll show you how to measure it, mix it, paint it, layer it and weather it too.
Bring some paint and a small furniture item such as a stool, side table, chair, or any other metal or wood item that you would like to transform.
 

When asked by a client to describe her style, Sue replied "Not really Shabby Chic, more like ShaBADABA Chic!" The name stuck and a business was born.  

 Sue and her team find old furniture and vintage treasures and then work with local artisans by using the furniture as a canvas. Each piece becomes its own work of art. Susan's experience as a designer landed her on HGTV's Generation Renovation where her fearless color schemes left even the crew with dropped jaws.

To enter, read all of the offical TRP Reuse Contest Rules and send your submissions* to Aderyn(at)CommunityForklift.org by midnight on October 31st, 2014. You'll be entered into one of two categories:

Construction and remodeling
Art and furniture

* Participation is free and there is no limit to the number of entries per person.