Tom and I have handcrafted all of the following projects for our home. (Most, I only helped with) Many of these items we hope to be able to offer here at our website for purchase soon. Obviously, the extremely large pieces of furniture (the top three shown below as well as Toms table which I created for him,) will not be offered for sale, as they would be impossible to ship. Their photos have been added simply because they turned out so lovely. Enjoy taking a sneak peek at what we hope we'll be able to offer you soon! Note* a left click of your mouse on any, and most, of the thumb-nail pictures in our website will enlarge them for better viewing.
Toms Projects : 
Our Entertainment Center has a cherry
countertop with yellow pine shelves and cabinets, which includes routed and
crown molding trims. The backing of the shelves is cherry luan ply. The
countertop is 15 feet long and has 3 coats of a high gloss polyurethane finish
for ultimate protection and beauty. The shelves and cabinet faces have 3 coats
of matte finish. The shelves hold our collection of books and knick knacks, and
the cabinets hold treasures of their own such as: the TV, stereo
equipment, file cabinet, printer, tower, and other storage most of which
thankfully is situated on slide out shelves.
The raised panel ceiling
Tom made from scratch, as well as the ceiling medallion which encircles the
light. Both have 3 coats of matte finish. The area just below the ceiling is not
quite finished at this time as it is still missing the crown molding which will
need to be custom made as well. Maybe some day...
Our bedroom Armoire was much needed. Being such an
old house, closets are next to nil. It had to be big because we need the storage
space. (Even though it looks finished, the crown molding to be located at the
top of the armoire connecting the ceiling still needs to
be created as well. I imagine one weekend Tom's going to have to use all
his spare time just making crown moldings.) This piece is floor to ceiling as you can
see. The left side is six feet wide, 2 feet deep, has three doors in the center with
matching drawers on the bottom and cabinet doors on the top for added storage. The right side is
four feet wide, 2 feet deep, and has two center doors, 2 drawers and 2 cabinets. One of my favorite
things about this piece is the left-most side door since when opened, holds three hand
made slide out drawers for storage and a large shelf for extra blankets and
such. The armoire was made with yellow pine and luan ply. All of the raised
panel doors, drawers, and cabinets were custom made by Tom. It has three coats of
gloss varnish. My house being of a roses and ivy theme, our armoire includes a
few of my stencils of choice, as well. (I did the stenciling
after the second coat of varnish, but before the third.) The pulls, handles and knobs I
purchased online as I wanted something nobody else here had. They also
contain a leaf pattern.
This raised panel
Cherry Door is one of
... one, thus far, that Tom has created for our home. We had come across an old doorknob and
latch plate on an old door someone was tossing out for garbage, so we promptly resurrected it for this gorgeous
"piece of furniture" in our house. With 3 layers of gloss varnish it
stands out and says "touch me!"
The
Medicine Cabinet and Towel Rack are both small
enough to be shipped most anywhere, for when I can talk Tom into making more of them.
Staying with the raised panel theme of our home, the medicine cabinet measures 16x23 inches
and this one is set into the wall making the depth 6 inches. When more are
created to be sold, they will most likely be made to sit flush with the wall.
The cabinet was made with cherry and has 3 coats
of varnish. It has one shelf inside that sits high up, so larger items
can fit on the bottom. It also has crown molding along the top, and a beautiful
arched door. The
towel rack is 24 inches wide. The backing was made from cherry, though
oak. was used for the rack . The rack itself was
constructed by fusing seven thin layers of hand bent oak, then glued together to
make one solid piece. The toilet tissue holder, shown further down on the page,
was made the same way but used two different types of wood for the rack.
The Shelf/Open Cabinet was created the
same way as the medicine cabinet only without the door. The height and width
dimensions are identical although the depth is not. It, like the medicine cabinet, is recessed into the
wall a little bit having a depth of less than 3 inches. It stands out from
the wall approximately 1 1/2 inches. The idea to recess this piece was
simply for maintenance reasons. The shelf shares the same wall with the
shower stall, and you never know when a pipe may start leaking. Who would want
to rip out a wall to fix it?
The Toilet Tissue Roll Holder and
Wastepaper Basket were made from strips of oak and walnut. The toilet paper holder has a cherry
backing. As with the towel rack shown above, the toilet tissue rack was
made from seven thin layers of hand bent strips of wood which were then blended and glued
together to
form one solid piece. The fused wood, oak and walnut, makes the toilet tissue
holder look
striped when seen up close. Truly one of a kind! The wastepaper basket was made
very much
the same way as the vases shown in our gallery. Octagon in shape
it was made using thin walnut strips glued between the oak sections. The base is
octagon shaped oak and just a touch larger in diameter than the sides. It stands 13 inches high and
the top has a diameter of 7 1/2 inches.
The Dictionary Stand was one of the first pieces
Tom constructed for our home as we had come across an old 2nd edition of
Webster's unabridged dictionary that someone was tossing out for garbage. It
being unique in its own way demanded a stand to highlight its presence. When Tom
was contracted to make wood columns for one of his customers porches, the
octagon shape of future projects was born! From this, to vases, to wastepaper
baskets, the octagon shape lives on. This stand is 37 inches tall. The column
was made from 8 strips of oak cut and glued together to form the unique shape.
The column, feet and tabletop were finished with 3 coats high gloss varnish.
Ginnies Projects
:
A Fathers Day gift to Tom from me, the Bar-b-q
table was my very first undertaking. He always makes me stuff, I wanted to
make something for him! I used a combination of old willow limbs
and branches for the legs and braces, yellow pine for the tabletop, and
Virginia
creeper for decoration. I gave this piece three coats of high gloss varnish as a
sealant. Old willow is actually a very pretty and fairly easy wood to work with.
The limbs
and branches are a wide array of yellows, browns and tans. The photos do not do this piece justice.
I constructed it without using any directions, other than the ones in my head.
I must admit, I did get some ideas from other furniture building books on how to brace the legs so they
could hold the weight of large platters of meat. When using old willow, no two legs
or braces are the same.
Natural mars, imperfections and various different curvatures of the branches add
to its beauty and uniqueness. This table stands 27 inches tall, (not including the branches that
were attached to arch above the tabletop itself.) It is 28 inches wide and 24
inches deep.
The Little Table I designed to be a lawn chair side table. It's light enough to carry in one hand along with a
refreshing drink in the other. It stands just over 1 foot high. Dimensions of the top are 15 1/2" x 11".
The legs are wider than the top for added sturdiness. Distance
from the tip of one leg to another varies, but is at most, 20 1/2". This table,
as with the other, was finished with 3 coats of high gloss
varnish. The table could be left outside to withstand and (most likely) survive
the elements, although, I choose to keep them both inside, and just carry the
smaller one out as needed. Using old
willow for the legs and braces, yellow pine for the tabletop
and horseshoe shaped arches of Virginia creeper for decoration. I did not add
the arches of willow branches to the tabletop of this piece, because the
distance between the braces, arches of creeper, and the table top itself were
already quite close in proximity to the tabletop, and I felt they would only take away
from the overall look if I had.
The Bookends were created from branches
of willow, arches of Virginia creeper and scrap pieces of ash. As with my other projects, the
only blueprints I had were the ones in my head. There is no actual width of the
bookends as they are two separate "L" pieces. Each end has a branch of willow
attached to it so depending on how many books you plan to contain, the overall design
would most likely change a bit. On a personal note I now feel the ash gives the appearance of
being too new and perfect, which takes away from the "rustic look" I
intended the bookends to have. In the future, I think I would choose to use more rough edged
lumber, perhaps with the bark still attached. Then I think they would look more natural.
Also, instead of using a
high gloss varnish, I think perhaps a matte finish would add to its appeal
as well. The "L" shaped ends are each 6 " in height and depth, my width (with books) is 22".
The height of the uppermost branch is 27". I made
this piece to sit on a painted table so I applied a large square of felt to the bottom
of each "L" so as not to scratch the paint.
You might like to read a little more about our woodware, or head on over to the Gallery to see what else we have to offer.
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Last modified
Oct. 24, 2005