update

I started this blog because I enjoy reading blogs and had this vision of building upon this as a way for customers to follow the progress of their custom furniture piece. What has happened, as usual, is that life has intervened. I really am not sure if anyone is reading this at all, so if you are out there and find this interesting, please click on comments and leave me a message.
As if the economy isn't enough, we had to put a transmission in the Jeep. Thanks to a really really good friend, we did have wheels, but Wow....transmissions are expensive!!!!
So i am going to post a few pictures of things that have been being built and delivered since my last post.
Thanks for reading

The Greek key finaled and decorated....


The famous sliding bookcases!!!!!

It can't be February!!!

Wow..I can't believe i let 2 weeks slip by without checking in... I made the decision to do this and now I have slipped already. We have been working hard and had some catching up to do on some pieces. so here is the after picture of the built in. this is not the final picture however, there was some tweaking that needed to be done, but the customer has promised to send me a really good picture after she dresses it up...i can't wait because she is an awesome interior designer...send it soon AT!! By the way, that configuration of moldings above the mantle is called a Greek key...new to us! the doors were designed by the customer and turned out quite nice. the color is Ben Moore Lady Finger and I glazed it with a provincial and coffee glaze...

Busy, Snowy, Tuesday...Icy Wednesday

Tuesday and Wednesday were busy on the road days for Steve. Wednesday was part one of the built ins that we have been following. So, here is a before and after for day one. There are always tweaks and changes on a built in of this scale and we strive to make sure that when we leave, the customer has everything they want.

Before









Step 2

Wednesday brought another day of traveling in the snow and ice to put in a mantle and do some touch up work at a job that I will post a picture of after it is complete.

Before
After


Thursday has been all about getting ready for Friday.
More on that later

I hope everyone had a Happy New Year...We certainly enjoyed having another day off!!! Not too many of those in the upcoming weeks.


All of the pieces of the built-ins are finished. As you can see, we do not assemble the pieces until they are completely finished. Often, customers think I have their pieces sitting here waiting for the finish, but that is not what happens. We cannot assemble if you have not chosen a color yet!

The pieces and parts of the bookcases and mantle have now had 3 coats of paint with a trip back out to the main room between each coat. Here they get lightly sanded and wiped down then brought in for another coat. After all of their paint is completely dry....I glaze them. You can see the glaze stuck in the nooks and crannies. (hmmm, sounds like an English muffin).

Tomorrow, Steve will begin assembling the pieces, then take them apart again for transporting to the customers house where they will be reassembled.

Until tomorrow.......








Door with nooks and crannies!

The Built In Continues

Once all the pieces have gotten their first coat of paint, they come back out into the main workroom where they get sanded and wiped down and sent back in for their next coat of paint....

The Birth of A Built In

I thought I would take this day before another day off, to show how exactly a piece begins....
The initial cabinets come in the form of raw material, both plywood and solid wood and must be cut, glued and shaped.



By this time, Steve has done the layout and gone over my drawing....
Then we all go to work on the pieces...

Assembling the pieces...

They go into the finish room where they start to look like real furniture...This one is going to have a painted finish of "Lady Finger" with a glaze of "Van Buran Brown" and a final finish of provincial.