Update: My dad, Herb O’Brien, passed away in late January, 2014, peacefully and at home, right where he wanted to go. He was a wonderful dad, and I’ve missed him every day since.
His last year was quite difficult, and so helps explain my lack of publishing new posts since July. But now with life settling down to a new normal, I’ll resume creating new molding patterns for you to enjoy.
A model of the HMS Beagle my dad built for me, and one of my most used architectural books. Both sit just above my computer as I write DIY molding post for you.
Everywhere my dad lived he would eventually upgrade some of the moldings. Usually just the baseboards, but sometimes the door trim too.
This came to mind as I stood in the great room of my newly purchased home, the one that started my love of moldings. “I’m a homeowner now,” I thought to myself, “I can do anything I want to this house. So what should I do first? Paint the walls, of course, but what else? Dad always upgrades the moldings where he lives, maybe I should look into changing the moldings.”
My dad building one of his sailing ships.
Dad has no particular love for historic architecture, and his upgraded moldings were never more than slightly larger than the old ones, but he loved tinkering with the house on the weekends — a vastly different activity from his day job as an automotive draftsman, sitting at a drafting table all day designing functional parts for Cadillacs.
But as his mobility declined, and with it his ability to take on big home diy projects, he focused more on tending his flower gardens and building model sailing ships, some from kits, and later, as his skills improved, from scratch.
Mention that you served on a particular ship during WWII and next thing you know dad would take a year off from whatever sailing ship he was building at the time and build you a replica of your old ship — configured exactly how it was during the years you served on it.
That’s my dad: Cadillacs, gardens, home improvement and ship builder. He was an all-around detail guy.
Me? Same same: Jet engines, wildlife biology and architectural details. I am my father’s son.
