Had a customer ask for a 'rustic' finish on a new steel gate last week

He brought in a picture of a 200 year old barn door and said 'Can you make it look exactly like this, but without any actual rust?' Took me a good ten minutes to explain patina versus corrosion. Anyone else get requests that make you scratch your head?

4 comments

4 Comments

jennifer8331mo ago

That line about mapping out a "backstory" for each scratch killed me. My friend builds custom shelves and had a guy who wanted them to look "salvaged from an old shipwreck." He brought in a whole mood board with photos of barnacles and weathered wood. So my buddy spends two days distressing them with chains and sand and salt, makes them look legit like they've been underwater for decades. Customer shows up, takes one look, and says "That's too much, I wanted them to look gently used." My friend just stared at him and said, "You showed me a picture of the Titanic." I don't know how some people can have such a specific vision but zero clue how to communicate it.

vera_lewis22mo ago

Actually that customer had a pretty clear vision for his gate.

the_linda2mo ago

Wish my clients were that decisive. I once spent an hour picking out a mailbox.

angela_harris2mo ago

My buddy in custom furniture had a client who wanted a "distressed" dining table but insisted every scratch and dent be placed "with intention." He had to map out a whole backstory for each mark, like this one was from a kid's toy truck in 1972. Sometimes a clear vision is the most complicated brief to follow.