Ideas

two chestnut cabinets

we finished one up yesterday that weve been working on for a while. it was good to wrap it up since we first started with our design work back in april. there were delays along the way while the stone was changed on the fireplace, which added to my work and required some additional site visits, but all in all, they look about the way i imagined them in my photoshop paste up below ... click the photos to enlarge them ...
heres the before shot. the clients purchased this house last winter and remodeling started in earnest in the early spring ... sam made about 65 feet of new steel and wood railings for the stairs and the balcony; we made an expanding pedestal table in chestnut, and this pair of cabinets. nice job ....
heres my photoshopped mockup using a picture of a cabinet we built back in 2002 ...
the cad drawing showing the interiors of the cabinetsone of our first design issues was accommodating a tv that was wider than the space between the retracting doors. we made a couple of mockups using our standard sanus bracket, with different ways of mounting the bracket and decided on the sidewall approach, which worked fine ...
we also had some fitting issues as the client requested that both cabinets be identical in width. after they changed the stone on the fireplace, that increased the width of the space and thus the cabinets, and brought a twisted spruce beam into play that was previously not an issue.
the tops and molding backer boards actually slid into a slot created in the masonry
we also had to revise our installation plan from a grouted board against the existing stone to a slot created by the masons when they reset the facing. that made me define my spaces pretty exactly and while it was fussier to install made for an elegant look of the cabinets integrating into the whole fireplace surround ... looks greatwhile we were checking the twisted post, we also mocked up a paneled end, which is what you see when you come down the stairs.
tight fit; twisted beam; all ok in the end ...
we also had a kickspace heater on the job and had to integrate a design for the grill into our finished cabinets, as well as make the heater accessible from the top for later repairs.
so, a removable floor was installed,
and the drawers in the lower case are in a separate cabinet that slides in and out of the main cabinet.lots of door parts, something like 85 or 90 pieces, plus the panels.we finished and assembled everything in the shop before loading it up for the jobsite.
below you can see the way we accommodated the 46" tv in the 44" cabinet opening with the retractable doors....
and yesterday, we installed the turnstyle hardware that arrived last week from england.
the finished interior of the left cabinet ... its a wrap ....
with the big windows to the right, this was a hard project to photograph so i have included these two other images. the sunlight sort of emphasizes the orange in the finish that is much more subdued in person. a challenging project, all in all .. below are a couple pictures of the original cabinets that inspired them, and here is a link to my website listing on them ...