IN A VERY literal sense, Eric Wilken and Sucheta Bhide—owners of The Resplendent Crow—specialize in putting a fresh face onto old things. The vast majority of their business, which they transact through Etsy, involves tricking-out vintage furniture with cool amenities, custom paint jobs, and a strong lacquer. Here’s how they do it—and why people like it.
HOW DID YOU GET INTERESTED IN FURNITURE-MAKING, ERIC? EW: My family had a cabinet shop in Corvallis, Oregon. Everyone else was playing with G.I. Joes; I got a router and chisels and started helping the family make office furniture. I think that by the time I was 18, I was making libraries. I didn’t plan on continuing with it. I planned to join the military, but I’d torn my ACL and couldn’t duck-walk, so they told me I couldn’t make it through basic training. Which is funny, because now I do ultramarathons and obstacle-course racing. In any case, I then got into aviation cabinetry.
This story is from the September/October 2020 edition of DesignSTL.
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This story is from the September/October 2020 edition of DesignSTL.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Cut from the Same Cloth
“Turkey Tracks” is a 19th-century quiltmaking pattern that has the appearance of little wandering feet. Patterns like the tracks, and their traditions and myths, have been passed down through the generations, from their frontier beginnings to today, where a generation of makers has embraced the material as a means of creating something new. Olivia Jondle is one such designer. Here, she’s taken an early turkey track-pattern quilt, cut it into various shapes, and stitched the pieces together, adding calico and other fabric remnants as needed. The result is a trench coat she calls the Pale Calico Coat. Her designs are for sale at The Rusty Bolt, Jondle’s small-batch fashion company based in St. Louis. —SAMANTHA STEVENSON
Color Block
A background in sculpture trained artist Aly Ytterberg to see objects more fully.
A Modern Story
How a little log cabin went from being a home to a guest house
IN GOOD TIME
With the help of interior designer Robert Idol, a Kirkwood couple creates a home that pays homage to the past, yet feels just right for their modern young family.
Let's Dish
"Food Raconteur” Ashok Nageshwaran wants to tell you a story.
The Right Move
New shops and showrooms bring exciting opportunities for local designers, makers, and arts organizations to sell their wares to home enthusiasts here and everywhere.
Green Dreams
Painter and gardener Lauren Knight branches out.
Cultivating Kokedama
Chris Mower of White Stable Farms discovered the Japanese style of gardening in Italy. Now, he’s bringing it to St. Louis.
Graphic Mood
Letters, icons, and illustrations that speak in a hand-drawn language
AUDRA's New Digs
Audra Noyes, of the Saint Louis Fashion Fund Incubator’s first class, opens an atelier in Ladue.
