Round up of recent custom coat racks

It's been a few months since we shared some of our custom coat racks, so we thought it was about time to post a few of our recent favorites!

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The mosaics for the coat racks are often a single color, or we fade from one color to another. Lately, we've been really liking how gray works so well with a lot of colors. White is also good, and lends itself to a bright, saturated look. Gray is a little more understated and sophisticated.

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This was our first mosaic coat rack in brown, and we love how it came out. The reclaimed brown bottle glass with the letters "ART" was an especially fun find to include.

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This client requested double hooks to increase the number of items the coat rack can hold. We increased the size of the frame and mosaic to accomadate the extra weight.

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This fun project was for a six-hook coat rack with a special request for a purple car. To adjust for the weight of more items on more hooks on our larger coat rack, we increase the profile of the frame as well as the overall dimensions. This makes for a mosaic that is quite a bit more substantial!

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Poppies and more poppies

This client reached out to us about creating a long, narrow mosaic incorporating memorabilia they had collected over the years. As we discussed the piece, three words took central place for this composition: poppies, Klimt, and dreamy.

The poppies themselves were created from a beautiful cinnabar-colored porcelain plate with gold-leaf decoration. The background was stained glass along with beads, bits of jewelry, travel mementos, glass marbles, and polished stones.

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Once completed, the mosaic was fit in a reclaimed wood frame with a steel edge and grouted. This piece was such a fun to make, and it was especially gratifying to know we were creating a new work of art incorporating so many special mementos.

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Later in the fall, we received another commission for a coat rack with a mosaic inspired by the colors of the poppy piece. We decided an abstract field of poppies fit the bill. It's such a fascinating process to see one piece leading to another in ways we couldn't have predicted!

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Local Love: Umanoff Design

We love collaborations. It all began for us with the collaboration of Kyle's metal & wood with Johannah's mosaics, and we often find our most satisfying work is collaborative in nature. Whether working with a client to create a custom piece, or working on a project with another maker, we love the process of bringing two unique perspectives together to create something altogether new. Lately we've been working on some great projects with awesome local companies, and we want to share these talented makers with you!

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Photo by Umanoff Design

Kyle worked with Wendy Umanoff of Umanoff Design to create a gorgeous chandelier that now hangs in the lobby of the Valentine Richmond History Center. With a background in fine arts, Wendy specializes in lighting design, and creates one-of-a-kind accessories and furniture as well. She works with vintage and reclaimed findings, often combining them in surprising ways to create unique textures in her creations.

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Photos by Umanoff Design

For the Valentine chandelier, Wendy designed a large-scale, delightfully whimsical piece created from reclaimed vintage fixtures as well as hand-forged elements made by Kyle and wire & crystal embellishments handmade by local jewelry designer Karyn Shonk. Check out the great piece on Wendy's blog for lots more process and installation photos and stop by the Valentine to see it in person!

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Photos 1 & 3 by Umanoff Design

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Photo by Umanoff Design