The Hall Part 3 - Building the mirror and coat rack

When we first moved into the house, we found a dismantled dining room table in the attic. It was made of veneered wood but the wood under the veneer looked pretty nice. I am not sure but it might even be oak. I saved not only because I save everything but because I knew I wanted to use it in a project some day. Another thing that the house came with was an assortment of mirrors.

I thought that this was the perfect project: to build a sort of built-in mirror / hall tree for the front hall. I began by sanding down the wood, removing most of the rough spots and all of the finish.

I made a very simple frame and then stained and finished it in much the same way that I finished the rest of the wood in the house. For the mirror frame finish, I used tung oil instead of the typical varnish though.

What is nice is that the finish allows the character of the wood to come through but there is also quite a bit of distress visible from its former use as a table top.

I mounted the mirror in the frame and then mounted it to the wall with butterfly anchors. Two screws are also installed, top and bottom, through a stud in the middle of the wall. It is very sturdy and isn't going anywhere.

I used brash washers and screws for mounting so it has a simple yet classic detail.

I was originally fretting over getting expensive fancy hooks from one of the restoration companies but couldn't choose so I ended up at Home Depot and bought something inexpensive instead. I installed two hooks on either side of the mirror for coats and two double-hooks at the bottom for keys and umbrellas.

I am ultimately happy with the hook choice. Hopefully this will keep stray jackets off of the furniture as well!

I finished out the room by hanging one of the prints that I made last summer. It is great to have this room finished!

So where do I put my mojito?

This is the question I got from my wife just about every time she sat in the Adirondack chairs I made last summer. I had meant to build a small table last year but didn't want to have to go buy some more wood so I put it off.

Today, since I was home and have been in the "make crap out of scrap wood" mode, I decided to tackle this project. I used the final pieces of wood from the packing crate for my windows and made a simple table. Since this is all pine, unlike the cedar I used on the chairs, and since it will be outdoors, I decided to paint it. I let me daughter pick out the color. She chose "mango". It is pretty bright but not quite as bad as the photos make it seem.

Its a pretty simple piece and I knocked it out in just about an hour but it has to be the most solid and plumb thing I've made so far. It also fits nicely on the porch, where we can enjoy sitting in the afternoon sun until it is warm enough to move the furniture outside.

Now all we need is a mojito to put on it.

Trellis is almost done

Today there was no good reason to be outside, The snow returned, hopefully for the last time this season. It is already almost gone and the sun is out right now. Since it was so bad earlier, I spent a little time finishing up the trellis project I started yesterday. I asked my wife to choose the final design and this is the one we went with. I think it came out nice and once it has a couple coats of paint on it and the vines start growing, I bet it will look good. Maybe I'll paint it a nice white? ha ha ha.
Sadly, my list of spring projects is starting to pile up. Hopefully I can make a dent on or finish the following next week: staining my ladder book case, paint and install the trellis, strip more of the closet door, finish cleaning up the yard and if the weather is nice, continue transplanting, painting my Cubs/Sox cornhole boards, and start working on my stereo cabinet made from recycled wood. For now, I'll rest.

Trellis project: even the simple stuff can turn into a time-waster

Last year, I planted some morning glories in front of a column to my porch. I liked how they ended up by the end of the season but I quickly grew tired of my make-shift "Blair Witch" trellis.I thought that a new trellis was warranted and would be a simple enough job to do in a couple days. I threw a sketch in my book and was ready to go.As is typical these days, I decided to use some existing material around the house for the trellis. The packing platform for the storm windows that came last summer seemed perfect. I spent a little time dismantling it and started cutting up the recycled material to the sizes I wanted for the trellis. This is where it got tricky. Now that I had the kit of parts, what was stopping me from assembling them in any configuration I desired? I went on to blow about an hour "playing with Lincoln Logs". At least, that's what it felt like. I rearranged the sticks into a series of patterns. Now I don't have the energy to put the thing together. I think I'll sleep on it and tackle this project tomorrow. I hear snow is on the way so I won't be able to install it tomorrow anyway.

Basement bookcase, pretty much complete for now.

I'll have to finish trimming the pegs that hold the shelves later this week. I also want to cut grooves into the bottom of each shelf so the dowels rest into the shelf and hold it steadier. It is a pretty solid piece though. I have been told that I can't do any more woodwork right now as my daughter is watching some very important television. I am happy with the project and I think that once I get the finish on it (later this spring), it is going to look nice.The dowels work well for holding up the shelves. I made room for four shelves with shallower storage area if I choose to assemble the shelves differently in the future. If I have need for a CD holder in the future, they seem to work well for that also.
After stacking some books on it, I realized that I can easily throw some of these into attic storage. I think that once I have this project finished, it might be time to start on that turntable and LP cabinet I designed some time ago.

Project for books in the basement

There are several piles of books in the basement that have been driving me a little crazy. The old table that we used to have them on doesn't seem to be holding up well and I have been trying to find something to put in its place. This week, I got intrigued by the idea of building my own ladder-style bookcase. I have a bunch of scrap wood so I can pretty much do it for "free". Typically, I like to come up with a very clear image of what I want to do and then sketch the hell out of it and then build it. For this project, I have a general idea of what I wanted but decided to wing it. I know I want a fairly light frame and then pins holding big fat shelves. I wanted to cur angles or curves in the wood to make it more interesting but any more than that I am not sure. I started by cutting the wood almost to size, cutting more, and then placing pieces together in the general configuration I wanted. I wanted the shelf to be close to the wall (there are often children running around the basement and I figure its best not to invite too much destruction. I have the frame assembled so far and it is pretty much as I was anticipating. I am not quite sure what to do with the shelves now. I originally wanted to use dowels, permanently installed, in pairs, at equal intervals, so the shelves could be adjusted to various heights.
Now that I look at the thing, I am having second thoughts on the dowels. They seem a little small and idiosyncratic. Hmm, maybe I can use blocks of wood, cut at slightly odd angles (similar to the legs) to support the shelves or maybe I can use some of the brass rods or even conduit I have left over to support the shelves. I think I'll sleep on it and finish it up tomorrow. I likely will end up "finishing" the wood to match the rest of the wood in the basement. Unfortunately, that will likely have to wait until spring.

Adirondack Chairs - Part 5 (you didn't think there would be a part 5, did you)

Butterflies are everywhere around the Tiny Bungalow. It was an awesome day today so I took my usual position in the back yard, turned wood shop, and spent a couple hours making some foot rests for the Adirondack chairs I made a few weeks ago. They are really incomplete without them. There wasn't a kit for these so I downloaded a photo, drew up an idea and made templates.
And went through the same procedure as the chairs: cutting, sanding, assembling, except that this was much easier and took much less time. I think it took a total of 2 hours for everything.


I just hope that the weather continues to stay this awesome so that we can enjoy the chairs outdoors for a few more weeks... ...at least.

Trim complete, table still progressing

I finished the toe molding in the bedroom yesterday. It is odd. The photos suggest that there is a radical difference between the color of the molding and the baseboard. In actuality it's not that different. We used 3/4" quarter round for the molding. This is the size that was there. No, I did not strip the original and replace it - too much of it got ruined in the demo and there were still about a thousand staples per foot in that stuff - it looked like crap.

It is amazing how "finished" this makes the room seem. It also brings attention to all the little things I need to do - like touching up the paint at the edge of the plaster and cleaning the floors and baseboards (there is still some residue from when I washed down the plaster). There is also a splotch where I spilled some stripper and I need to fix that somehow. I figure I can hold off the cleaning and touch-up until the very end.

I put a coat of Cabot's "cherry" stain on the table. It is looking nice. I am going to finish it with a few coats of wipe-on poly and I'll then put on the top. The little gap is still bothering me - I may take it apart once more and try to re-align it but my smarter side is saying leave well enough alone. Hmmmm.