Going Craftsman

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Wood Storage Rack

When we bought the house, one of the selling points was a 30x20 foot garage/workshop space. The shop has been incredibly valuable for material storage. Material storage has been absolutely critical since we're doing much of the remodel using reusable building materials.

This has been a bit of a love/hate relationship, because more materials means more floor space in the workshop, which means less space to work. Organization is key to solve this issue.

I set out to build this lumber rack:

I completed the project in a weekend, and we've finally cleared enough floor space to do work again.

We both have an interest in doing more woodworking projects, and our long-term goal is to split the workshop in two: one 20x20 space for the woodshop (that you see pictured above), and another 10x20 studio space. More to come on that soon.

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Kitchen 2.0

I've been whining about this "kitchen" since we moved in.

After a year of planning and collecting I finally took the week of Xmas off and started to really tear into it.

There were major setbacks, a foot of snow, electrical decisions, my (well deserved) fear of drywall, a sudden need to re-lay 60 squares of the kitchen floor, another project wherein I drunkenly offered to build a wheelchair ramp for a friend (in the foot of snow), and some appliance mysteries to boot. But the first bank of new cabinets with a cooktop and built in oven are in place.

Soon I will install the face of the cabinets which I have already assembled and then put in cement board on the upper wall for tile. Then on to installing the prep sink and the copper vent hood, the oak butcher block counter and the grand finale, an in-counter grill.

Ill get into the specifics on further steps later, but just a few notes on this section. The oak raised panel cabinets were salvaged from a Seattle home remodel as were the cooktop, the built in oven, the faucet, the garbage disposal unit, and the copper vent hood. The prep sink was bought new to match the large farm sink that will go on the other side of the kitchen. It took 6 months to collect all the parts, and there were several changes to the plan based on availability of better material. The copper vent hood just voted the stainless hood off the island last week. Keeping my plan loose and taking my time to prepare has led me to a remodel at substantially less cost with little impact on the environment.

As for the environmental impact, I try every way possible to mitigate my consumptive nature. While pulling down the lath and plaster I separated the lath so it can be recycled as clean wood. My previous set of cabinets were donated to the salvage store so they can hopefully end up in someones garage or retro kitchen. There are three parts to the logo "Reduce, Re-use, Re-cycle" we've got to remember that re-cycle is the last of them.

Breaking Rocks in the hot sun

Way back in August we brought home a vintage cabinet so big that it required a dinner party to entice moving help to come by an carry it into the dining room.

My great appreciation for you all who helped.

What hasn't been mentioned is that it also required the removal of several layers of brick from the hideous planter box in front of our front door. While we had planned to remove the giant brick box eventually in favor of installing a real porch, there was no timetable set other than "next year sometime".

Since the box is in the front of the house I'm concerned that it looks like a@# with a large chunk missing so I've been slowly chipping away at it for the last few months.
With the current on again off again slush and snow its not any sort of priority. Ill revisit it as part of the wrap around front porch that is still scheduled for "next year sometime"

Thursday, December 25, 2008

What Santa Craigslist is bringing me for Xmas...

Nothing says craftsman like a settle. Since we purchased our craftsman home in 2007, I've dreamt of owning one of these beauties. Their simple lines and structure are complimentary to craftsman principles. I'm sure you can understand my excitement when I discovered one of these on Craigslist.

Thankfully, Santa was nice enough to secure the purchase of this item for me (he has yet to deliver it down the chimney). What makes this settle special is that it comes with a story. This particular settle has been in the same family for three generations. That's a bit of history that you don't always get when you purchase something at auction or at an antique store. Originally, this settle had a leather bottom cushion and pillows. Unfortunately, the brutal Tacoma weather has not allowed us to retrieve the it yet, but I'm happy knowing that it'll be mine soon! In time, I'll refinish the bottom cushion, and have back pillows made. I'm leaning towards leather upholstery just as it would have had originally (see photo below).

In Picasa, I keep a photo album containing pictures of furniture and design elements I like, so that I can refer to them at a later date. I like to think of it as the Sears catalog picture clipping of the future. I recommend doing this, because as you visit sites and look at books you'll gather a lot of ideas. This particular photo is of a settle I fell in love with. I present this to give you an idea of what the cushions will once again look like when complete.