Entertainment Center for Big Screen TV

This entertainment center was built for a big screen TV to mount in the center upon the back wall and wires to run inside a chase down to lower section where wire access is located. The doors below the center section have a decorative grating for both ventilation and guaranteed remote functioning if used. The following photo shows the cabinets freshly painted without the shelves or door knobs installed.

© Florida Craftwood

The opening for the big screen TV is big enough for a 60". The base is built similarly to furniture with a decorative leg and toe kick since the floor here was fairly level to begin with.

The top has a solid piece so that the view of the top is more finished looking a seen from upstairs . (See photo below.)

© Florida Craftwood

The shelf above the opening for the TV is fixed and another adjustable shelf is made for above this.
All the doors are inset with self-closing hardware and adjustable shelves.

© Florida Craftwood

The base cabinet is 20 inches deep and 18 inches on the sides deep. The section above is 12 inches deep. The hole seen in the center section is the access to the vertical chase for wiring which is behind the TV.

Sunroom Office Cabinets

Here are some recent photos of a set of office cabinets built in a sunroom with French doors leading out the south side of a historical home in Lakeland Florida. The shelves and knobs are not yet installed in photos as the paint was still wet. The base cabinets are 16 inches thick to allow more space in the room for a desk which has access to an outlet in the floor.

© Florida Craftwood

The cabinets run around an inside corner continously with a corner cabinet that has a pullout below in the base for a printer. Each base section has a grommet access for electrical amenities.  A matching baseboard is applied and crown moulding at top engaging ceiling.

© Florida Craftwood

The base cabinet doors are inset with flat drop panels and an adjustable shelf inside. Each cabinet has access to the next inside for wiring and access to outlets inside bases.

© Florida Craftwood

The paint color is Sherwin Williams Extra White in a semi-gloss finish.

© Florida Craftwood

© Florida Craftwood

Custom Cypress Table From the Bottom of the Withlacoochee River

In this recent project, a client had obtained a large quantity of cypress that was pulled out of the Withlacoochee river about 40 years ago located in northern Polk county, Florida. The river runs north then west into the Gulf of Mexico. Old wood such as cypress and pitch pine are often obtained from these sources, wood that did not make it to its original destination, and sank to the bottom of the rivers or bodies of water that saturated it.

© Florida Craftwood

 Cypress is a Florida tree common to this area, much of the wood had been milled into planks some about 1 inch thick and some 2 inches thick of various widths. These rough lumber pieces were cut and planed further to obtain nicer pieces to glue up into larger pieces to make the parts of the table.

© Florida Craftwood

The table is approximately 40 inches wide and 30 inches tall, and has a beam under the center running lengthwise about 8 inches wide and 1 1/2 inches thick with a flat piece about this rabbited into the two end legs which are approximately 24 inches wide by 1 1/2 inches thick.

© Florida Craftwood

The table length is 14 feet divided into two sections joined together at 7 feet long. A lacquer finish has been applied without any stain to reveal the true colors of the cypress wood which has much character and grain patterns to enjoy.

© Florida Craftwood

The top section is planed to 7/8 inches thick and the outside edge is rounded slightly to make the table more user friendly. L brackets are added to the ends just inside the legs at the outside edge to add stability.

© Florida Craftwood

Custom Cabinets Over AC Return with Mantel Effect

The following cabinets were designed for an old house in South Tampa which had an air conditioning return vent off center in the wall. The photo below, taken with my phone (will be updated later with finished pictures) shows the cabinets in place with a coat of primer, sanded, and some caulking done. The air conditioner return is in the middle section right behind the double doors which have a decorative grating panel that is also painted, which allows the air to return through the doors back to the air conditioner unit which is behind the wall in a storage room.

© Florida Craftwood

The base cabinets are about 16 and 18 inches deep center section extended. Adjustable shelves in all cabinets except air return. A TV will be mounted above the mantel shelf center. Once cabinet is finished painted, additional photos will be posted here.

© Florida Craftwood

Cabinet doors are inset to reflect an older style that is actually a higher quality looking design than overlay doors today. Unfortunately, the photos are not as good as my other camera, so looking forward to taking better pics.

© Florida Craftwood

The center section is extended with a pilaster effect at corners as a method to create the mantel effect while adding decorative vertical pieces under shelf, and making shelf thicker with a moulding on the face as similarly at the top of upper cabinets. The baseboard was milled to match existing.

More pictures will be posted when ready.

Custom Made Interior Barn Doors from Florida Craftwood

We've added a new product we're offering customers in the Tampa/Lakeland Florida area. Local suppliers have started offering hardware that is available for use and can easily be purchased for quick jobs in the area. We've had a shop for nearly 30 years and can design and build barn doors for interior use of your liking. The standard size hardware is 72 inches in length which allows coverage for an opening slightly smaller than 36 inches or the door can be sticking out slightly into the opening if necessary. The next size larger is 79 inches which allows for the doors to swing back out of the opening and also be made slightly larger than 36 inches wide.

Below is a sample of a set of doors that were made previously.

These were made of pine using a product that was ordered from Home Depot requiring planning. The tongue and groove backing was also purchased from Home Depot locally. The door above is unfinished. We currently do not ship door, rather build and install locally.

Specialty Office Furniture: Custom Built Library Bookcases

In this recent work, I designed and built library bookcases as a specialty office furniture where a computer resides and file drawers are built into the cabinets, along with a place for a printer, and office desk area. The owner then adds some features, a glass top is being built for the desk area, and the design is surrounding a unique wall hanging photo that is framed with additional lighting.

© Florida Craftwood

The photo above is taken from outside the room which has two glass openings built into the wall, here one in the foyer, and above the desk area to the right.

© Florida Craftwood

The cabinets were built out of solid birch and utilizing birch plywood, then were stained with red mahogany mixed with ebony attempting to darken the color which matches the floor.

© Florida Craftwood

The room is rather small about 11 feet by 11 feet in diameter, so it was difficult to get the right lighting without additional lights to see the cabinets . The center section with the bookshelves has a section at the bottom where a shelf is built in that has a back and sides. The counter top is seamed in front of the pilaster in the center of the photo above.

© Florida Craftwood

All the shelves are adjustable and faced with a rounded top edge; the switch to the lights has a dimer behind the pilaster to the left. The doors and drawers are inset with soft-close Blum hinges, and the pilasters are fluted.

© Florida Craftwood

A two-part crown moulding is added to the top, while basebaord and shoe moulding is added at the base, both wrapping the pilasters. The finish is a sprayed on sealer which is sanded and satin lacquer.

The four drawers left are all file drawers and the desk has one file drawer at the bottom. The center cabinets has storage left, and a pull-out for the printer right. Special wire chutes are built into the upper part of the base cabinets to feed computer and electrical wires.

Florida Kitchen Color Designs Matching Granite Counter Tops

Here are some recent photos of a kitchen remodeling job I have completed after about 6 weeks work building and designing the cabinets from drawings which I completed. The original cabinet design was poorly thought out reducing the efficiency of the room where it was practically useless. The cabinets were factory built and as usual not very attractive and not in keeping with the old house in which they resided.

In this design, we went back to inset doors as in the old ways but with upgraded hardware where the doors are soft closing hinges which do not require funny rubber door stops. The drawers were also the upgraded self-closing soft close under-mount hardware. The lower cabinets have a pilaster with beads, as part of the facing at corners, and the style of doors are drop panels that are mortised rails and styles without any profile.

South wall with drawer cabinet left, lazy susan in corner, ducted hood over stove with pine trim
© Florida Craftwood

West wall, small sink cab right of refrigerator, extended cabinet above
© Florida Craftwood

North wall,  utility cabinet with pullout above drawers, microwave inside upper cabinet
© Florida Craftwood

East wall, under-mount sink with built-in drain pan, and dishwasher (note: this sink is built into the cabinet at shop)
© Florida Craftwood

The lower cabinets are a color called ebony field, upper cabinets a delicate white. Here are a few close ups to see a bit more detail.

© Florida Craftwood

© Florida Craftwood

© Florida Craftwood

© Florida Craftwood

Trump Proposed 20% Import Tax on Mexican Junk Products

RT | Jan 26, 2017

Editor's note: Good news for small business, and a good example is "Rooms to go", a big box store that peddles cheap wood-derived products and has put all furniture makers out of business by moving into your towns. It would be nice to see them lose their competitive advantage.

U.S. President Donald Trump © Jonathan Ernst / Reuters

After signing an executive order to build a wall on the US southern border, President Donald Trump has said that Mexico will pay for the costs of the construction "one way or another." The White House has hinted that would be with an import tax.

In the past, Trump has said that the initial funds for the wall would come from US taxpayers, and later be reimbursed by Mexico; however, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto says that Mexico will not pay for any wall. [...]

“The U.S. has a 60 billion dollar trade deficit with Mexico. It has been a one-sided deal from the beginning of NAFTA with massive numbers of jobs and companies lost,” the president tweeted. “If Mexico is unwilling to pay for the badly needed wall, then it would be better to cancel the upcoming meeting.”

Mexico will pay for the wall "one way or another," White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said during the Thursday briefing. He announced plans to impose a 20 percent border tax on Mexican imports into the US.

'We have the moral high ground': #Trump details how to make #Mexico to pay for border wall https://t.co/nh7o0gWP3lpic.twitter.com/V63KdoGwGn

— RT America (@RT_America) April 5, 2016

The 20 percent tax on annual Mexican imports would raise $10 billion a year to pay for the border wall, which is estimated to cost between $8 billion and $20 billion, Spicer said.

Read more..