The simple Mediterranean look

When Susan Newell, a custom home builder who does it all, called us to match the existing railing on a lovely Mediterranean home by architect Frank Ryburn; we were thrilled.  Susan added to the home and needed some exterior balconies and stair railings.  We, of course, love a challenge, and matched the railings exactly!  Here's a photo of the railings which we matched to on Susan's Houzz page.

Mediterranean Exterior by Dallas Design-build Susan Newell Custom Home Builder, Inc.

Beautiful exterior railing by the pool

I found this photo by Sutton Suzuki Architects on Houzz.com; they were working on a pool at the same San Francisco home we worked on as well and happened to get a great shot of our custom designed and forged wrought iron railing.

Traditional Pool by Mill Valley Architect Sutton Suzuki Architects. Metalwork by Potter Art Metal Studios in Dallas, TX.

written by Izabela Wojcik
Your personal ornamental metalwork and lighting designer at Potter Art Metal Studios in Dallas, TX.

We have the best looking clients, don't we?

If the names sound familiar, it's probably because you have sat in one of their fabulous restaurants (Steel, Cru, Ferre, or Victory Tavern) while enjoying a delicious meal and a glass of wine.  And now they're doing it again!  Patrick and Catherine Colombo are about to open a new Italian Restaurant in Preston Royal!

The former Popolos space is currently getting a total makeover, and from what I can see on the plans, it's going to be awesome!  A modern twist on a Tuscan farmhouse-style restaurant is just what the doctor ordered.  I am especially excited about the European style outside patio; Dallas soo needs to get in gear about that!  There is nothing better then sitting outside, under an old oak tree and enjoying a cup of what ever is your thing... and that's exactly the feel of (the name is still a secret; I can't spill it for a little bit longer), as it will be called.

By the way, you remember chef Kevin Ascolese from Salve, Mi Piaci, and Ferre in the West Village, don't you?  Well, he'll be the official chef of the new restaurant!  Exciting!  I certainly hope to be one of the first to taste something fabulous from the menu as soon as the doors open toward the end of August!

Above: Catherine and Patrick Colombo posing beautifully on their main stair.  The wrought iron railing, seen in the photograph above, was such a pleasure to build for them, and Catherine wrote me the most adorable little note on Facebook: "Izabela, it was amazing watching you, Richard the metal workers take this concept and materialize it so beautifully. I'll never forget the day you all installed it, I thought for sure someone was going to get crushed! You all ROCK!"  Her main railing was so graceful, with its beautiful flowing lines, and at the same time just huuuge, to say the least.  It certainly was a spectacle to see the guys installing it all; I don't know if anyone out there has a better crew of metal artisans who can also turn into He-Men the very next day!

written by: Izabela Wojcik

Front Entrance Step Rails

Yet another happy couple!  We custom designed and hand forged these little entry rails for one of our recent clients.  They loved the velvety feel of our brass hand rail, which we ended up putting on top of their railing, as opposed to sticking with wrought iron all around... brass just feels so nice to the touch.  We didn't want to leave the brass bright however, so we created that lived in feel by adding an antique finish with our dark patinas.  We also gave the railings other little brass details throughout.  The new pieces will provide extra safety and a warm welcome to this home for generations to come.

written by: Izabela Wojcik

Pine Cone Tree Stair Rail: I have the photos

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One of our clients lives amongst the piney woods and wanted to bring the outside into her home.  I designed this pine cone tree railing especially for her.  

The newell post looks like a tree trunk with the tree roots "growing" around the bottom stair tread.  Each pine cone, needle, and tree branch texture is wrought iron; hand forged of course.

The detail in this design is impecable; to the left is a photo of a section of the railing about two third's way finished.  As you can see, every single layer is made piece by piece and then welded together to make a pine cone or needle.  Each pine cone has its own personality; some are closed, some open, some are larger, some smaller.  This section was made so that we could show the client all the little details we were proposing; we ended up not using almost all of them in the actual railing.

I  love it when we get a client who is thinking outside of the norm; it's so much fun to come up with unusual metalwork designs.  Based on this design, we also ended up making a tree-like chandelier, as well as a three-tiered, 10' tall fandelier.  It's amazing how one thing inspires you to push the design further and dream up a brand new concept which is then fulfilled in wrought iron, brass, copper or aluminum.

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written by: Izabela Wojcik

Gold Leaf Your Stair Rail to Fabulous

Add a little panache to your wrought iron sair railing.  We custom built this one for one of our clients who had the details gold leafed.  It's a simple way to give your metalwork an extra bit of style.

written by: Izabela Wojcik

Pine Tree Stair Rail

We are super excited about a new project we are starting; it's going to be an extremely cool stair rail. The newel post at the bottom will look like a trunk of a pine tree; wrapping its roots around the 1st tread... then the branches will start flowing up the entire stair rail. This is just a small piece of it; we are trying to work out the textures and so on. We are hand forging all of the pine cones and the pine needle bunches (with little baby pine cones inside them.)

I will take pictures of the project as it moves along and post them on here... can't wait!

written by: Izabela Wojcik