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SPECIALIZING IN LATE 19TH- AND EARLY 20TH-CENTURY INTERIORS, CUSTOM FURNITURE & CABINETRY

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Done. This morning I installed the trim on this pa

Done. This morning I installed the trim on this pantry insert. It’s the first time I can recall working with roughsawn cedar for interior trim on a built-in. I’m sure some people will think this looks like crude work, but zoom in on some of the details and you’ll see that it required considerable care. The client designed it to go with the rest of his kitchen cabinets in this forest cabin home, and he is thrilled to have it.

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#hippiestyle #custombuiltins #woodenhardware #lovemyclients #customhardware #blumhardware #frankmillerlumber

And this is how we create spoiled pets. Scrambled

And this is how we create spoiled pets. Scrambled eggs from our friends Aaron and MeChelle with chanterelles from our friend John. “Dad! You said I could have some!” 🤷🏻‍♀️
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#spoilpetsnotchildren #sundaymornings #dogsandcats

We will get there. The progress on this kitchen ha

We will get there. The progress on this kitchen has been the slowest of any I can remember, ever. We have had all kinds of pandemic related delays, most recently concerning the stone counters, which are going to take 5 weeks instead of the usual 2. Fortunately we are all pacing ourselves and grateful to be staying healthy, as well as employed. Here is a progress shot from this morning showing the same view as the second image, from March, before the demolition. The last shot shows a detail of how beautifully the white oak hanging shelves relate to the gray our clients chose for the stairway wall. I am so eager to see our vision for this transformation realized.

The cabinets in the main part of the kitchen are White Oak. The two upper cabinets on that wall have aluminum-framed glass doors made by Element Design. We installed the shallow cabinets on the south wall (not visible here) this morning—those are the ones finished with milk paint. I cannot wait to see the colors come together!
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#kitchenrenovation #kitchenthink #wip #womanownedbusiness #2020reality #slowlybutsurely

Where’s Tony? He had to watch me finishing this

Where’s Tony? He had to watch me finishing this afternoon.
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#shopwork #customcabinetry #shopcat

When my client told me he wanted inlaid waves for

When my client told me he wanted inlaid waves for this pair of handles, I thought it was overkill. He had shown me a chest of drawers made by local furniture maker Michael Cain some years ago with a similar pull design in cherry with brass inlay. (That chest of drawers is stunning.) I put these off until last, because I didn’t know quite how I would make them. When the time came I made a wavy pattern to act as a guide (the client approved it), then put a collar on the router and used a 1/16” cutter. Because I was using narrow stock, there wasn’t enough room to clamp the pattern onto the work piece, so I screwed it at the end two little portions that would be waste. I made the inlays out of maple; having tried the method with an 1/8” cutter, I had ascertained that it was too wide to follow the curves. Client and maker are happy with the result. (And maker is very relieved to have this part done.)
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#workwithyourhands #inlaytechnique #hippiestyle #woodworkingtips #procrastmanshipguild #wavygravy #customfurnituredesign #routertechniques

A few months ago the good people at @finewoodworki

A few months ago the good people at @finewoodworkingmagazine asked if I would review a tool, the True Position TP-1935 cabinet hardware jig. I have to install a lot of cabinet hardware, as well as hardware on freestanding furniture, and I spend a lot of time measuring and marking, then hoping everything will work out square and straight. You can read the review in the magazine (@bnmd_ig is it in the new issue?) but for now, I am happy to say that I find this jig extremely useful.

This morning I installed the pulls for one of my current jobs. These are custom made to match the original hardware in my client’s kitchen. They are very labor-intensive, not only because of their shape (an L with a subtle angle on one leg), but because each one has a strip of cherry inlaid, per my client’s request that I match the original hardware. I really didn’t want to mess things up. The jig is adjustable in so many directions and reversible so that you can reference from the left or right side. Every hole is lined with a metal sleeve for accuracy when using the drill bit that comes with the set. And the jig can be configured in all kinds of ways to suit whatever type of hardware you are using. It’s a big investment, but for anyone who installs a lot of hardware and for whom accuracy is important, it’s definitely worth considering. I’m tagging this as sponsored because they let me have the jig that I reviewed, but you can be assured that had I not been impressed, I would have been honest and said so. (I have used plenty of subpar tools in my time.)

And in case you are wondering, I did use the jig in a different configuration from the one shown on the square door to pre-drill for the long handles on the drawer faces. But after drilling, because these handles are shop made, I had to drill into their backs. In order to locate those holes, I used a block of wood clamped to the drawer face and a combination square to set the height. Then I drilled those holes at the drill press.
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#sponsored #woodworking #cabinetmaking #hardwareinstallation #goodtools #truepositiontools #custommade #accuracymatters #dontscrewitup #finewoodworking

Place making. A few friends of mine, in addition t

Place making. A few friends of mine, in addition to our neighbors across the road, are building houses and shops right now. I thought it would be fun to look back at the place I bought in late 2003, a one-acre lot outside of Bloomington.

I couldn’t afford what people were charging for shop rent in town, and this single acre, which I could afford to buy, thanks to help from my grandparents decades earlier, was just perfect. My former partner, Dick, built me a 1200 square-foot shop first; I paid for that with a loan. Then I got a building loan to put up a two-bedroom house with an 864-s.f. footprint. Dick built that, too. As soon as it was finished I rolled all the loans into a mortgage; because I was single and self-employed, I didn’t qualify for a regular commercial mortgage with a low interest rate. I was lucky that my client and friend Elizabeth Cox-Ash, who had been my mortgage broker in the past, was willing to work with me on an in-house loan at the bank where she was employed at the time. A few years later I was able to refinance with a lower interest mortgage.

The house was a shell when I moved in. Over the next two years I spent my spare time installing hardwood floors over the OSB subflooring, made trim and cabinets, painted everything, installed salvaged doors, and so on. I was lucky to have paid help (and comradeship) from @ogradycustom in some of the evenings.

When Mark and I moved back here in 2016, he built a couple of small additions that have made it even nicer.

We are very fortunate in sooo many ways and are grateful every day for our home and garden. It’s amazing to look back and see how much living here has changed this place.
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#tbt♥️ #homemaking #home #builders #trades #tradies #homeandgarden #smallisbeautiful #smallhousedesign #smallhouse #smallhouseliving

Needs some adjusting. This pantry is nearly ready

Needs some adjusting. This pantry is nearly ready for finish; I still have to adjust the doors and drawers, finish making the pulls, and add one more concealed pull out. The situation with the current kitchen job is just about the same: needs adjustment. I know what’s in my short term future.
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#kitchendesign #customcabinetry #midcenturymodern #customhardware #hippiestyle #womanownedbusiness #craftswoman

Portrait of a day. Some scribing, some swearing, b

Portrait of a day. Some scribing, some swearing, but for the most part smooth sailing. Big thanks to John Dehner for his invaluable help with the leviathan cabinet that goes over the fridge. We’re so glad this part is done.
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#cabinetinstallation #cabinetinstall #customcabinetry #ittakesavillage #kitchenremodel #kitchenthink

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