Torn from the house wall!

 Here's a fun story. This little cabinet was pulled from the wall of his grandparents' 1880's home in Princeton, N.J....before it was demolished to make room for a parking lot. Our customer has several of these. This one is the smallest. Leaded glass lights and solid oak frame distinguish this little gem. You're seeing our nearly finished effort here (left, ...still oiling its top).


But it didn't look exactly like this when he brought it to the shop. It needed some work. A wall cabinet--one crafted to be built-in--is not completed as a stand alone cabinet. So there were some important parts that were missing when it was pulled away from the wall and carted off. 

Our job was to clean it up and make it "stand alone." So we needed to add some pieces to the top, re-align and glue the sides of the cabinet, re-configure the trim, and create internal structures in the base to accommodate a new drawer. Then, our goal was to try to  color-match the new pieces--as best we could given the cabinet is 134 years old! We want to "match" the seasoned pieces and genarally touch-up the entire case. That effort was completed with some stain and multiple coats of hard oil.The goal was about practicality and historical integrity, not necessarily contemporary perfection.

Well, it's quite handsome don't you think. It has turned out really good. A very attractive stand-alone oak cabinet from the 1800's. Listen to it quietly mumbling to itself; busting with pride at it's new lease on an old life promise.

OK, then. That's Wood Talkin for today. Keep listening.