Another recent job had us travelling to Fairfield, CT to transform an older built-in desk and bookcase to meet the clients’ 21st century needs.

The client had oak bookcases that ran 2/3rds of the desk, which were adequate but fairly simply constructed, and they wanted to spruce up this work station, provide for more storage, and lighten the room by painting the upper and lower cases. The client also wanted to keep their existing oak lower cabinets but they were going to paint them. I also created a solid counter top out of 5/4 cherry to replace the particle board counter that was there previously.

The bookcases are built using our usual methods; 3/4″ plywood for the sides, tops, and shelves and 1/2″ plywood for the backs to give the cases strength, rigidity and to ensure that they remain square, and maple for the face frames because it looks better painted. Some idiosyncrasies of this particular job are that I made beaded face frames and double beaded maple edging for the shelves.

We also arched the top of the bookcases and arched the top panel on the end. In order to maintain the 2″ reveal between the stepped out center bookcase and the two sides, I dado-ed the center cabinet sides 1/2″ deep, made the inner stiles of the two side cases’ face frames 1/2″ wider than they needed to be, and glued the cases together on site to lock the three separate cases together.

Here are some shots after the lower cabinets have been painted and the recessed lighting has been moved.

Careful planning and preparation made for an easy install and finished product that the client loved and will enjoy for generations.

-CB-

One of the jobs that has gone through the shop over the last few months was a bookcase job for a client in Weymouth, MA. While the construction of the bookcases was straightforward, the site provided some challenges for the install.

The install ran the entire length of a staircase that leads to an office upstairs in the client’s barn. Unfortunately I left my go-go gadget arms at the shop, but luckily I had my trusty Little Giant ladder to help access the different levels that the bookcases were located on. Also dealing with the different pitches of the roof and the fact that it was horribly out of square in places, as this was a typical New England barn that has gone through many transformations, helped add to the install excitement.

I used 3/4″ plywood for the bookcase sides, tops and bottoms and 1/2″ for the backs. This gives the cases extra strength and ensures they remain square, even if the barn doesn’t. The client was not sure if he wanted to paint the bookcases or finish them natural so I used a simple face frame construction out of maple, which costs a little more than poplar but looks much nicer painted, if the client decided to go that route in the end.

Overall, the install job went quickly over the course of two days, and, most importantly, the customer was extremely pleased with the transformation of his space.

-CB-