At Long Last!
Done. Finally. Here we are, Super Bowl Sunday...February 4th, and the built-in is finally done! Theoretically, this project started (in my mind) many years ago because I always wanted something like this in the dining room.
But in reality, on October 25th the dining room looked like this:
Here's a few of my favorite progress pictures during the course of the project. Even before the old bookcases were down, I was already experimenting with stain colors. Throughout the course of the project I was concerned about being able to match the woodwork that's so beautiful here at 173.
Of course, one of the really fun parts of a project like this is getting to use my tools. Well, this was one of those projects that I used almost every tool I owned, with the exception of plumbing tools I suppose!
I learned a lot of lessons throughout this project too. I had to watch videos, read articles, and practice on scrap pieces to get things as precise as I could. This picture is one of those. Even after all that, it wasn't perfect but I was really happy with this little, tiny piece of wood:
Then, 173 had its first Christmas mantel!
The caps to the bookcases were troublesome. Several layers, angles, mitering...
And there were some good ideas, like access to the outlet through the mantel, and recessing it into the top of the mantel:
And I was tickled when the sanding, softening the edges and caulking were all done!
Then came the priming, painting and antiquing. Never my favorite part of a project, but it was really coming together!
Finally, it came down to the baseboards. Like I said earlier, I stressed throughout this project on trying to match the color of the woodwork at 173, and tested dozens of color combinations. At long last I came to a formula that is a relatively close match!
Hard to tell in that picture but, close! So now, without further ado...
And there we have it! At long last...almost four months later...but I'm quite tickled with how it turned out! Thank you all for bearing with me, post after post! No idea what the next project is but...see you soon!