The Ultimate Upcycle
In my last post, I talked about this piece being a family heirloom I wanted to preserve amidst a full-scale makeover. With the family’s love of music and their desire for a piece of statement furniture for their brand new stereo system, I knew this old friend had an important future in the new room. First, we had to locate all of the pieces and then I had to call in one of my favorite local woodworkers to turn my vision into reality. This story is as much his as it is mine.
Arthur, of Possible Words Carpentry and Remodeling, has a knack for translating my big ideas into impressive outcomes whether structural, mechanical, or visual. A passionate furniture builder who isn’t afraid to experiment with color and shape to create function AND flow in a space, I had seen a number of pieces he’d built from scratch with inspiration from other designers he tailored to his own needs. (This dining room table being one!) He also happens to be a fellow music-lover so I knew he’d appreciate the purpose of redesigning this cabinet.
I had a basic concept of how to use the space and the dimensions each compartment needed to be, as well as how to accommodate cables and components to create an elegant display when the unit was open, but there were some finer points that needed to be worked out.
Over the next few weeks, Arthur researched and tested hardware, let me butt in whenever I had a new idea or was being particularly “particular” about aesthetic, and spent hours testing stains and finishes in order to get the EXACT shade we needed to match the smoothly sanded exterior to the weathered drawer faces that were ultimately soft-close doors that secretly held the family’s amplifier and record collection.
I lost track of how many different hardware options we experimented with to get the PERFECT tension and smoothness for the top portion of the cabinet to flip open and closed. Or how many tweaks Arthur made to the hinges so they would all align perfectly as their mechanical joints pulled the doors gently closed. But he got everything aligned perfectly AND ensured my insistence that all internal hardware match the original drawer pulls on the exterior was satisfied. All while seeing to it the entire unit was safe for use in the presence of curious children.
As the final, luxurious touch that separates this piece from ALLLLLL the others, a thin layer of velvet was installed inside the upper compartment where the turntable lives. It wasn’t the easiest to install and it required a lot of holding one’s breath while cutting with incredible precision around perfect circular openings, but it was finally complete and truly breathtaking. Just when I thought it couldn’t possibly be any more jaw-droppingly amazing, Arthur pulled out the pièce de résistance: a tiny external sensor that connects to the components inside so their remote will operate the unit even if the doors are closed. WHO THINKS OF THIS STUFF?!?! Arthur does.
I couldn’t be more thrilled with this piece if it were in my own home. I also can’t wait for the next unique project to work on together, and I am so thankful for his amazing talent and attention to detail that managed to exceed my own. I’m also grateful for his photojournalism skills as he beautifully captured the entire transformation on his own Instagram account while I was onto my next makeover. Check out his posts linked to the gallery above as well as his video below of the functioning of the new brass hardware.
The following four images are courtesy of the homeowner once the unit was filled with their new system and cherished records.
This is the grid presentation of the cabinet in Possible Worlds Carpentry and Remodeling’s Instagram feed. Click anywhere on the image to view on Instagram.
