FURNITURE

My blog is of my creations, My furniture, using wood I have collected from here and there, occasionally buying some to make up the difference.
My design is often based around what I have available.
Comments welcome, thanks for your visit.

My Trade Mark

My Trade Mark
I'm into diamonds

Monday, May 22, 2017

Trying to make it last longer

I kind of consider the bathroom development finished, well finished enough that it is usable, those two shelves need more varnish on them, directly in front of the toilet is an empty corner that lends itself to a cupboard for this and that, it is behind the door when the door is open, the door hits the wall heater when it opens (see block on the floor) so I figger the cupboard will in some way act as a door stop, so plans are afoot for that.
The mirror is too short and I want a frame for the mirror a fancy frame, I have lots of floor boards left over, how to make it fancy? when I built the dining table I had seen a pattern for some inlay banding and did use a simple version for the table well now I am looking for a challenge that will keep me occupied, I couldn't find what I had seen 6years ago so started to plan my own design, I like the round cutter I have so that had to be used, I drew a few ideas and was in a hurry to get started  but then for some reason had to walk away it was when I was away that this idea came to me, I also wanted to stay with NZ natives as that what the shelves and floor are but this pattern needs contrast.
I am thinking that what ever I use around the mirror will also be incorporated into the cupboard, I am seeing a banding around the flat top and also use some short pieces for handles to the draws and door.
As I write this I am hoping I will remember what the plan is as compared to the construction of the bathroom this is a whole different game of concentration and patience, the process is slow the steps taken are small and already I have taken the wrong steps and had to go back and machine more wood, I think I also made a wrong decision on direction of grain in that pattern I cannot be sure but if the contrast is not a great as I hope so be it, maybe I will start again but then maybe not, it is all a big experiment and if I have to do it again in theory it will be better.


Saturday, May 6, 2017

Then and now

Each time I see this picture I wonder if I should have looked further than Whakatane when I moved from Auckland, this is such a magical scene, as I was driving through Karetane I took a walk by the harbor and just so peaceful, we are so fortunate in this country to have such a choice.
That was back then in December.
Now we are May and I have been so busy for 11 weeks getting this bathroom and bedroom ready, I am now wondering how to keep busy to keep warm as our weather has cooled and at the same time take it easier than the past weeks have been as I am feeling some what worn out and could do with a few days laying on the beach above however it will be a bit cooler now than it was in December, if you look closely I still have some trim to put in place around the top of the walls, another coat of varnish on the floor and shelves then a cupboard to build to finish off the bathroom.
It has happened much faster than the first bathroom as we now have a long term boarder staying in the house and I wanted some sort of comfort in the house and not a building site atmosphere with a layer of dust settling through out the house each day even though I kept the doors closed.
This passage and the bathroom were once a small bedroom, now the bedroom that was created by by extensions to the house in 1984 feels very large with room for a settee in the corner on the right, the ceiling in this room is the only one in the whole house that was worth leaving in place I did replace the hall ceiling and in the process dropped it down to 2.4 meters high the result was I had to hide the discrepancy this I did by taking the ceiling cove across and butt the hall ceiling into the back of it, doing this reveled the ends of the ceiling cove in the hall this was made to look good with a bit of sand paper wrapped around a pipe, all that remains to be done is to re-carpet the whole house, its not the whole house as 2 bedrooms have exposed tawa wooden floors as do both bathrooms, someone has told me tawa used to be known as poor mans pine, I think the grain of tawa is far more interesting than pine and the colour has more depth and variety.