This was built in the spring of 2016. I rarely stain my projects and paint them even less, but this was built to fit in our front hall at the request of my wife. I have to say, while somewhat unsure about the concept, we are really happy with the result!
The stained pieces are from local cherry boards that were given to me. They were rough cut and ended up just over 1/2 inch thick after running them through the planer until I had a smooth surface. So I doubled up the thickness on all exposed edges.
The casework is hemlock.
I had to improvise to get enough long clamps.
The USB charging capability was an added feature after we got into the design. The legs are built up from 3 layers of hemlock and are hollow. I was able to fit an extension cord through the leg with just an angled hole at the top and bottom parts of the leg.
Cord entering the bottom.
Here is the top of the leg. The plug connection allows me to remove the drawer if needed.
The charger is wired into a box in the middle drawer.
When it came time to add color, I was a bit curious how the color combination of purple, pink, orange & yellow was going to work out.
The colors were added with the use of a stencil.
A dark stain was added as a way to age the look.
I was even more uncertain when a "coral" stain (that's a fancy word for pink) was requested to go on top of the cherry. But - I had agreed to build and my wife and DIL were in charge of colors. For the hemlock drawer fronts, I put a base coat of tan stain and then added the "coral" on top of that.
BUT THEN - we added an antiquing layer of black stain over everything - paint, stencils & stain. That really made it all work out.
We chose antique bronze hardware and gave everything a few coats of water based polyurethane to finish it off.
You know it fits in well when we point it out to friends and they think it has always been there.
While I am not likely to paint many of my projects I have to admit it was the right choice for this piece.
A nice hall table, and the little feature of the charging station is great. I would be in the same boat, paint? You nailed it and it looks a little antique, well done.
Looks great Steve! Nice workmanship and the stencils work really well. It reminds me of a couple of pieces we have where my wife covered the panels with fabric. …. BTW I haven’t seen a Paymaster machine in years. I used to have one back in the day. The salesman that sold it to me was a (reformed?) forger and was quite convincing.
The early bird gets the worm but its the second mouse that gets the cheese.
Thanks Paul - as I was writing this one up I thought to myself "I bet Shipwright would have done this pattern with his chevalet"
The Paymaster was at a garage sale. My DIL asked about it and the seller said it was never going to sell and gave it to her. The ribbon is dry but it still embosses well.
My first look said what a great looking variation on the hall table. Then so surprised it was painted and yet still looked really good!!! As others have said, I also wouldn't contemplate painting something so traditional. Suppose I have fixed ideas. Perhaps I should try think outside my box!
