2010 July

I thought you would like to see some of the small miscellaneous projects I’ve worked on in recent months that were interesting but perhaps not big jobs that merit a whole post.

The first photo is a customized beverage/organizer for the console of a conversion van.  The second photo is a trophy/award cabinet made from parts of an old entertainment center.  The third photo is the family crest of our neighbor.  I researched her name, enlarged the design to make a pattern, then cut it out and painted it with acrylic paints.  The fourth photo is a cabinet that can be used for a variety of things..it is in the American Primitive style with a solid surface top.  It is perfect for any style of sink, but I think a top mount china bowl would look really nice.  The fifth photo is of a custom laundry cabinet that had to fit an odd size area alongside the washer and dryer.  It will get a granite top.  The sixth photo is a vanity I did for a close friend who often has small children visiting.  The bottom center drawer pulls out and becomes a step stool so the little ones can reach the sink.  When it’s no longer needed as a stool, it is easily converted to regular drawer. As you can see, I get asked to do a variety of different projects and am always looking for ways to build nice pieces from things that may usually be discarded.  I am also getting more and more requests for repair/refinishing of damaged antique furniture and am having a great time with this new venue.  Look for a future post on some of those type of projects.

Cypress is one of the woods that used to be used alot here in the South, but in more recent years not so much.   I recently had a job working with cypress as I had to match the existing wood work in a home that was completely trimmed out with this wood.  All the doors and cabinetry were cypress as well.  I love this wood as it has so much character and the patterns can vary from subtle to wild all in the same board.  The particulars of this project were to complete a large closet in the guest bedroom/office that had never been finished except for one shelf.  The opening was deep for a closet as well as tall.  Because the room is used for an office and guest space, the shelving, rods, and media compartments needed to be figured carefully to get the maximum usage.  Since cypress trim had been added (many years ago when the house was built) to the closet opening as well as the entry door and baseboards, matching the color was going to be tricky.  After a number of test runs, I finally came up with a perfect match in color.  Using the entry door style as a guide, I duplicated this style in the closet doors.  The doors over the top of the closet are hatch style, lifting up and locking into position, revealing deep storage bins for seasonal and bulky items.  The media doors are barrister style with tinted glass.

Friends of ours recently retired and moved to the family lake house south of Jacksonville.  The house had been in the family a long time and when our friends decided to move there, they decided a great deal of updating and improvement was needed.  For the past two years they have replaced windows, painted, cleaned, done extensive landscaping, and a whole variety of other necessary repairs and upgrades.  It is amazing what they have been able to accomplish working only part-time on the home as this was all done before they moved from the city and were still employed.  One of the drawbacks to this charming small lake house however is the lack of adequate storage for linens, clothing, books, seasonal house hold items, and a good place for the TV.  The room chosen for the storage cabinet is long and narrow with a window at one end. There was also the opening in the interior wall left by a window no longer installed that needed to be covered. They did not want anything real elaborate or to look like kitchen cabinets but it had to blend nicely with and not overpower the lovely antiques and other furniture in the room.  My solution was this multi-level curved cabinet which gave them tons of storage  and a very sturdy base for the TV.  A solid surface top was selected for the top on the lower section which also had a “knockout” to corral all the cords.  Beautiful hardware was chosen to complete the project and our friends couldn’t be happier with the outcome.  It’s always fun to leave your customers happy, but even more so when those customers are dear friends.