The Finish Shop

Caren and I got enough work done in the kitchen and living room this past weekend that the place is actually starting to feel like a home. We are close to moving furniture in... but what furniture?

We spent a lot of time thinking about the kitchen layout. It is a small space, but we wanted it to feel open... not overwhelmed by cabinetry and furniture. After a lot of discussion, sketching, and placing blue painter's tape on the floor to outline potential layouts we decided to go with a free standing kitchen.

Caren found a hoosier cabinet on Craigslist that was crafted in England in the 19th century. It is absolutely beautiful and in incredible shape for something as old as it is. I'll have to create a post dedicated to it to fully describe it.

I've mentioned several times the other great Craigslist find... the 1921 Detroit Jewel gas range. We should have it in place next weekend. I'll post some pics then.

The rest of the furniture we purchased from a dealer in Sacramento, Homewood Furnishings. The three pieces that we bought, a pie safe, a jelly cabinet, and an island (sans countertop) made by Woodcraft Industries were unfinished... which means we had to find a place and time to finish them.

As luck would have it, Caren's tenants in her rental space moved out at the end of September and the new tenant has yet to move in. Not wanting to let the space go to waste, we moved our unfinished furniture in and began picking away at it as time would allot...

The disaster that the place once was... pie safe on the left, primed for paint with doors removed for oiling; island on the right serving as a makeshift counter top; drawers and doors on a makeshift workbench in the background after receiving their first coat of oil.

We ordered the island without a counter top on it because we had plans for some of the barnwood we bought from Jesse after he took down the Colussa county barn. I spent two evenings planing, sanding and jointing eight 2x6's that we bought from him, forming a rough top that measures 64"x48". It will serve as our dining table as well as a food prep surface in the kitchen. A third evening was spent trimming the top out. Now all that is left to do is a ton of sanding and finishing.

The pie safe currently has three coats of hunter green on the body and three coats of Watco oil on the top, drawer, and doors. We wanted to match the finish of the flooring and fireplace work as best we could so ended up mixing a cherry colored oil with a dark walnut colored oil to give a dark red tint to the wood. All that is left to do now is antique the edges of the cabinet and finish coat it with either wax of varnish.

The island, most likely, will be a mix of antique white and the red tinted oil, while we are leaning toward a dark stain for the top.

The jelly cabinet with the door and drawer removed for finishing... this piece currently has three coats of brick red on the body, the door and drawer are stained to match the pie safe. This cabinet will serve as our pantry.

In the background on the left is the refrigeration unit for the 1930s GE refrigerator. It too needs finishing. Just heard from the powder coater today that the body of the fridge is finished and ready to be picked up. Should have at least some of the wood furniture out of the space by this weekend. Then I'll turn the rental unit into a refrigerator restoration shop. But, for now the furniture finishing goes on... an hour or two at a time.

Let's see... Hoosier Cabinet, Gas Range, Free-Standing Cabinetry, Island... what else? what else? Oh... the sink and its accompanying counter top... Caren found a brand new apron front sink on, you guessed it, Craigslist from a dealer that was going out of business. She recruited Zach to help her pick it up because it weighs about 180 pounds--cast iron and porcelain. My job is to design and build a sink base for it that will match the pieces we purchased from Homewood Furnishings. Hopefully I can get that done before next Spring! The rest of the kitchen will be made up of shelving crafted out of barnwood from the Corning tear down and an old window that we took out of the Davis house a few years ago. It will be incorporated into the only piece of cabinetry that we will have hanging on the wall. If I can get the sink base built by next Spring, I just might get the cabinet done by the late Summer... My job is really eating into my hobby time.