Thursday, December 22, 2022

Furniture in Process



After we had bought a round table from Floyd and a matching round side table, we decided to custom make some matching pieces.  One is a set of wall cabinets that will sit on the floor (we wanted a narrow depth, that's why we used wall cabinets) and a rectangle side table.  Our good friend Alan kindly painted the maple cabinets (Shaker style doors) and fabricated/finished the tops to match the profile of the tables we bought from Floyd (using Baltic Birch just like them).  

^--- New furniture in Alan's workshop




^--- This is the side table from Floyd




 

Sunday, November 20, 2022

 


Our son moved into the second largest bedroom, so we are converting his old bedroom into a den.  We're playing around with what furniture/bookcases we can fit in it given the existing geometry of the room.  Software is a great help in visualizing/arranging furniture with given constraints.




Sunday, November 6, 2022

Basement Update November 2022

For the basement, I'm working on prototype for a rectangular side table to match the other tables we purchased for the room...since the manufacture does not offer one in that shape. It has to be of Baltic Birch plywood and exposed plies on the edge to match. The purchased tables look like they took 12mm and 18mm sheets and glued them together. Then put a 45-degree bevel on the bottom 18mm sheet. I put together a *very* simple prototype (without the bevels) to get an idea of how it has to fit the space. I'm currently working on proper dimensions, getting a beveled edge without plywood rip-out, and legs (color and their orientation). Here's some pics...


^--- This is the table shape I'm trying to mimic. 
 Notice the 12mm and 18mm (top/bottom) sheets of 
plywood and then the 45-degree bevel on the bottom 18mm.


^----- This is my simple prototype to see how it fits the space. 
I have 12mm and 19mm Baltic Birch plywood sheets together, 
but I have not attempted doing a 45-degree bevel.
 I will first try and find the proper size top to fit the space 
(probably 15"x30"). The current legs are Ash.

^----Playing around with some leg shapes. 
On the far left is my prototype. 
Moving to the right I have the beveled lower top (18mm/45-degree).
 On the far right are metal legs that I have ordered to see how they look.

^--- Every DiCarlo endeavor needs a fictitious company behind it.








Thursday, October 27, 2022

Basement Update October 2022

 Our basement is not fully completed, but we have made progress.  We still have to paint/stain the cupboards we will place below the TV.  And we still have work to do on the stairs.  And we need to get a lounge chair to replace two old leather chairs.  But here are some pics of where things are now...










Thursday, October 13, 2022

Basement Remodel 2022: New Furniture

We were looking for a simple table for the basement to use for card playing, puzzle assembly, etc. We didn't see much of what we liked, so we opted to try a domestically made table. We also got a matching round side table for it... I plan on making a rectangular table in the same style (using Russian/Baltic Birch Plywood...something a bit scarce these days due to international relations). Next thing is to get chairs to go with it.


















Saturday, October 8, 2022

If we lived on a cartoon show...

 

I found a service where they create a stylized graphic image of your house from a photo.  They send you images for approval, so you can fine tune them before they send you a print.  Originally they had our house as a cream yellow (bottom image).  Which we quite like.   Maybe a future change.

^-- The real thing (no CGI here)

^-- I think they draw geographic shapes over the photo.

^--- Maybe a future color of our house?  We like it.






Sunday, September 4, 2022

Basement Scope Creep

 The scope of our basement remodel keeps increasing.  Unhappy with TV consoles to put under our rather-large TV, we decided to put built-in wall cabinets underneath it.  So they should come out about 14" from the wall vs 20 or so with most TV consoles, buffets, credenza's etc.  

I bought an unfinished maple cabinet from Menards that is Shaker style like our kitchen.  I'm painting it as a test to see if I can get an acceptable finish (to keep costs down).  My hope is I can avoid (at this point in my life) learning to spray paint cabinets (including getting all the equipment, space, etc.)


^--- A 12" wide unfinished maple cabinet as a test case

^--  Using quality primer and paint

^-- Seeing how it looks under the TV.  
We'd put in two 36" wide cabinets centered below the TV

^-- The maple cabinets have maple veneer ply sides