BRIAN MILLER entered the finishing business in 1975 with All West Paint in Reseda, CA, and eventually started his own contracting company specializing in wood finishing and custom painting. In the early 1990’s, after reading Adventures in Wood Finishing: 88 Rue de Charonne, Brian was hooked coloring wood and taught himself all about chemicals and dyes while spending countless hours in his garage experimenting with recipes. After a tour of the legendary Gamble House in Pasadena, Brian was inspired to expand into historical preservation work. Among the many architectural treasures he has restored are several Greene & Greene homes, including the interior and exterior of the famed Blacker House as well as Charles Greene's personal home and the woodwork on several homes of Frank Lloyd Wright and his son, Lloyd. Since 2002, Brian has been an adjunct faculty member in the Woodworking Technology department at Cerritos College in Norwalk, CA, where he teaches a wood finishing course he designed. In 2016, Brian was honored for his historic wood preservation work by the California state legislature and the Pasadena Historical Society.
MARCI CRESTANI is a former lifestyle columnist for the Los Angeles Times and the Los Angeles Daily News. As a freelance journalist, she wrote for Family Circle, Brides, and Popular Woodworking, among many others. She has served as executive editor of FLOWERS - a magazine for the floral trade industry - and as an editor for numerous medical trade magazines. She is also the author of a book of essays called Halfway to Dead: After 50, You Just Have to Laugh.