Category Archives: Wednesday Woodworks

Wednesday Woodworks – Kitchen Refinish

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Kitchen Before
Last month this wednesday-woodworks post discussed this clients options with their kitchen refinish.  This client decided to go with TC Millworks suggestion and build new shaker style doors and drawer fronts.  The cherry finish looked outdated and unharmonious with the newer nuetral countertops and tilework and had begun to flake and peel  in several areas.
The ivory lacquer brightened the entire space and created a larger, loftier looking kitchen.
 
This client also had a few minor issues that needed attention.  A foster puppy had chewed the edges and legs of the family coffee table so a little sanding and spraying brought it back to brand new.  There was also need for closet remodels, a vanity, and full length mirrors for two teenage daughters.  After touring the house and getting a few ideas, we decided to take a neglected dark finish desk sitting idly in a corner and transform it into the needed vanity.
After refinishing in white and creating a mild distress, adding a robin’s egg blue chair and antique style mirror (sourced from pbteen) the vanity was cute as a button complete.
The client also took TC Millworks suggestion to reorient the bedroom set to take better advantage of a great view of the pool area and create more practical traffic flow.  Full lenth mirrors added depth to the room and provided the best tool for the girls to take full advantage of their new closets.

Wednesday Woodworks – Shutters

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  Hurricane Irene is upon us in Turks and Caicos at this very moment (so I just may post this a little early in case we lose power).  Those living in her path who have spent the day boarding up their homes and/or businesses are most likely completely exhausted at this point in time, hoping and praying their plywood holds up to 100-150 mile per hour winds.  Those of us who have invested in shutters have spent minutes versus hours making certain our doors and windows are secure and will a sleep a little more at ease knowing at least that particular aspect is one less thing to worry about.  If you live in the Turks and Caicos and have had it with your first, or fiftieth, brutal boarding up, it’s time to call TC Millwork to custom build wood shutters that will make your residence or business more charming AND your life much easier come next hurricane season.  Those who are still preparing, please see this handy  checklist.  Those of you who have already had Irene pass, congrats, and those of us who are still in the middle of it, good night and good luck!


 

Wednesday Woodworks – custom interior doghouse

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Image from country home
What a brilliant way to keep Fido cozy without sacrificing style!  Do you have a big unsightly pet cage taking up unnecessary space in your home?  This could be your problem solver! I must have puppies on my mind as our recent foster is now happily settled in with her new family in Pennsylvania.  Congratulations to Susan with their new addition Caico!

Wednesday Woodworks – Glazed Kitchen Cabinetry Request

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  TC Millwork has a potential client who is looking to turn their dark cherry colored kitchen into a lighter and brighter look more appropriate for their oceanside location.  The couple was swayed after seeing a friends recently completed kitchen refinish. Realising the dramatic before and afters, they have had a hard time escaping the now seeded idea.  Luckily for us, their original cabinetry is of superior wood quality and craftsmanship so refinishing will be an easily warrantied work.  They know they would like a glazed look so here are a few samples and suggestions to help them decide which direction they may like to go.
Image from here
The process of glazing is summarized by the above photo.  The quantity and the color combination are the two variants that need to be decided when going with a glazed look.

Image from houseofturquoise
The above kitchen features a very light glaze over an off-white lacquer.
This image features a custom built TC Millwork kitchen with a moderate glaze over an ivory lacquer
The final image demonstrates a heavy glaze.  Clients must keep in mind the more ornamental details a kitchen has such as brackets, mouldings, columns, corbels, spindles, onlays, scrolls, or rosettes, the heavier the glaze will appear. 
Once a light, moderate, or heavy glaze has been decided upon, the second factor to consider is the color combination of the glaze with the color of the cabinetry lacquer.  Both can be customized.  Commonly colors in the brown glaze family are paired with ivory finishes.  A new popular trend has been a charcoal glaze over a white finish. 

Wednesday Woodworks

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 Another way in which I will be focusing the blog will be to highlight TC Millworks craftsmanship.  Every Wednesday will be dedicated to a post about a current project, a completed work, a before and after, or simply a woodworking inspiration to help our clientele get ideas.  I’ll start today with a kitchen refinish we just signed on for.  The client has a dark, cherry finish kitchen and, although it was just refinished by a competitor a mere three years ago, the finish has already begun to chip and peel.  The client desires an ivory lacquer finish that will be easy to care for and maintain.
Image from DeCesare Design Group

  The first option presented to the client was to keep all of the existing cabinetry and again refinish  despite the unfortunate longevity of the last attempt (this could have been due to unknown wood origin or poor quality of the original cabinetry doors or inadequate sanding before respraying).  The above image resembles what an ivory lacquer might look like with the clients existing style of panels, drawers, and doors.  We encouraged the addition of crown moulding should the client go with this option, as you can see above the simplicity of the style is made more interesting with that top detail.

The second option was to build all new doors, panels, and drawer fronts to be able to offer the typical TC Millwork warranty of work.  The client’s walnut media unit in the adjoining living room displayed shaker style doors and they wondered about coordinating the kitchen cabinetry.  They had also decided to keep the existing black hardware for the refinish.  The above image was a great reference to preview the look that this option could achieve.  The client decided per our suggestion on this second style. Although slightly more expensive, it was a far more practical decision given the circumstances.  Stay posted for a before and after post on this project!