Bathroom Remodel

Catching up a little bit....this bathroom remodel occurred in our home almost a year ago now...well, a little less than that, but I have been lax in keeping this blog up to date.  The bathroom remodel was scheduled to be done after our kitchen remodel was complete.  The kitchen was done two summers ago and last spring...the bathroom remodel commenced.  The transformation was incredible.  The former bathroom....in a word.....was UGLY.  It was outdated....worn out and just plain a disgrace!  It totally gutted the room down to the studs and cieling joists and started over.  New drywall, new floor and cieling...new tub, toilet and sink.....tiled the bath surround, fabricated the rooms trim...moved some plumbing to better be protected from the piping freezing and built the vanity, mirror, a radio shelf and the cabinet in my shop.  In total, the entire job took approximately three weeks from start to finish and was definitely well worth the effort and temporary inconvenience!  That all being said....here are a few pictures of the stuff I built for the bathroom remodel:

Pair of night stands

A friend that has commissioned me a handful of times approached me to ask if I would like to build him and his future wife a pair of nightstands for their new home they had just recently purchased.  I was in the middle of the hall table project down below, but as soon as I was done with that, I could start on his needs.  They wanted me to match the tables up with a piece of furniture that was already being used in their bedroom to sit a television on.  It looked like either maple or cherry and since I was already in "maple mode" from the hall table project just before it.....I chose to go with the maple....to be exact...more ambrosia maple.  I always hate to stain wood, but one has to go with the needs and desires of the customer and they wanted a dark finish.  This finish is Verathane "Carrington".  The clearcoat is Deft satin brushing lacquer which was diluted 20% with thinner and sprayed from my Wagner HVLP spray gun.  I have fallen in love with Deft's finishes as they are very forgiving as to the expertise level of the sprayer and it dries quickly....needs minimal sanding between coats and often just one sanding.  I usually go with three coats and then a light sanding and however many more I want to build up.  And it provides a silky, satiny feel to its finish once it is done.  I just love it.......and that is across the whole spectrum of glosses from the satin through the semi gloss to the high gloss....all the same results.  One last thing....for the drawers, I used, once again, those plastic drywall corner guards.  I hot glue them to the bottom/sides of the drawers and they provide a super smooth gliding action that will last an awfully long time.  I have this same system on furniture in our home that I built many, many years ago and I have had no breakdown.  It's a very cost effective and trustworthy way of providing a smooth sliding drawer.

Hallway Console

A work associate of our son asked him to contact me to ask if I would be interested in building this console table for her new home.  A few months ago...she also wanted me to build her a coffee table..but at the time, I was tied up with other projects in the shop and the time frame just didn't jive with her schedule and she had to go ahead an purchase one.  However, when this request came in....I did see some open time to build this.  First because there simply was time for it, but also because it would be a quick turnaround and also, the scale of the project intrigued me.  I rarely get to make a table seven feet long.  It adds just a touch of difference to the norm in the shop.

  I was supplied with this picture to go off of in duplicating it.

  At first, it was requested that the top be stained dark to match an existing dining table that would be in close proximity of the console and the rest of the table would be painted by the customer.  Then, I was told to go ahead and stain the complete thing.  And right before I began to mill the parts, particularly the legs, it was requested to make the table taller.  A day later with the request would have been to long as I would have cut the leg blanks about four or five inches shorter than needed.  But, time was a nice person and we raised the table height.  I picked up some very beautiful "ambrosia" maple from my supplier and I wanted so badly to finish the tabletop naturally clear, as ambrosia maple is so beautiful when done so...but the customer could not be swayed.  Hey, the customer is always right and it was all stained.  Had a bit of a problem with some blotching, as will happen with maple, but some corrections and an application of wood conditioner to even out the stain absorption corrected the problem and I really loved the reddish brown hue that resulted.  This stain used was Verathane Cogniac.  Clear coat was Deft high gloss brushing lacquer...diluted 20% and sprayed on.