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One of the coolest Idea Houses I worked on is now toast. Lightning started a massive fire that burnt the River Dunes, NC home to the ground earlier this month. It is a such a waste of a gorgeous home.

Saddest thing to me is that the 4′ x 7′ red oak dining table that was custom built from old barn timbers was presumably also destroyed by the fire. It was a beautiful piece—pardon my prejudice—that I really enjoyed building. You can see more pictures of the table here and there is a shot of it in the news video above.

With the deadline looming, I have been working like crazy on the cabinet for the Birmingham Symphony Decorator Showhouse. This weekend I got everything assembled except the door. I even started to put on the finish before I remembered to take more pictures. I had already applied stain (Olde Maple) to the interior of the cabinet in this picture.

At first I wasn’t too sure about the final result, but after covering the entire piece with one coat, I am very pleased. The finish looks very natural but has an aged feeling to it that compliments the origin (barn timbers) and rustic character of the raw wood. I have not decided about a second coat. I am leaning toward a coat of paste wax.

What remains is to mount the door and, if possible, apply some fall peeled wood accents to the door. I had originally thought I would trim out the top with  the peeled wood, but it is very difficult to get straight cuts on naturally curved wood without a band saw. That may be my next purchase. Applying some accents may or may not work out. More on that later.

The compound miter saw came in handy on this project and I finally laid to rest my Porter Cable orbital sander. It died after a very useful and productive life. I replaced it with a Black and Decker Palm Grip Sander after trying out the newer model of the Porter Cable  sander. Did not care for it and returned it the same day. The B&D is very nice and feels great in the hands due some gel inserts in the multiple handles. Bonus: It was also on sale for only $34. The PC model I returned was $59. Gotta love that.

The cabinet for the Birmingham Symphony Decorator Showhouse is beginnning to take shape. This first picture is of the frame made of red oak barn timbers from northern Alabama. There are some really cool knots, nail holes, worm-wood, and rough sawn places that make this wood very interesting and rustic. The majority of the cabinet is going to be crafted from this stock. I plan to use fall peeled maple for accents.

I have been asked to build a piece for the Birmingham Symphony Decorator Showhouse. It is to be a storage piece for the forest-inspired children’s room. I plan to use rustic oak timbers and fall peeled maple. I have a concept in my head. More on this as the project moves along….

Mountain Brook manor committed to be Decorators’ ShowHouse this spring – al.com http://bit.ly/vvLjr

Kelly sent me pictures of the ‘Coastal Oak’ (that is what I am calling that style/design) table in her home with the chairs and rug. I love it and she is pleased. Here is what she said:

The table looks absolutely wonderful. As you will see in my pictures my dogs love to be in front of the camera. It turned out perfect and just like I had hoped. Thank you very much! The “S” household is extremely pleased.

I had not see the legs on these chairs before. They have a cool rustic character that adds to the whole look. I think the rug and the seagrass chairs are a cool contrast to the various colors/features of the salvaged oak timbers. I am not sure where the rug came from but I think the chairs are from Pier 1.

Update from Kelly: BTW…the chairs are from Pier 1 and the rug came from West Elm. I really tried to put some thought to the look and it all came together as I had hoped.

Time to plane more of the timbers. Reasons: 1) need some a bit thicker for the table supports and crosspiece, 2) need some more 1″ thick for the table top. Fitting the planks in the table top is an art and a science. Because of their age and exposure to the environment each timber has unique features. Often these include warps and twists in the lumber that make them less than straight. So when fitting these planks together lengthwise, it is often a matter of matching the slight curves. Not a horrible task, but I needed more options for the second half of the table top. Thus far it is about half the length it needs to be.

Notice the glue exuding from the butt joints. This is the glue I mentioned in my last posting. This one is Critical Bond from Moser’s. It is my favorite glue. I have tried a bunch of others, Gorilla Glue, Excel, even an Elmer’s take on it. The two best I have used are Critical Bond and Excel. Caution: If you get it on your skin and it dries there, it has to wear off. Before it is cured, it can be wiped off with mineral spirits.

Regarding sawdust, or in this case shavings, always plane outside. It makes a huge mess. (and this is nothing compared to the first batch of lumber I trimmed down for the table top)

Kelly S.’s dining table is slowly taking shape. Weather and a regular job have hampered progress, but half of the table top has now been assembled. The planks were joined with grooved dowels and a polyurethane glue. I love this glue because it fills spaces, sands well, and holds like, well glue, or at least like glue should. Here are a couple pictures of the first half of the table top–rough though it is. Trust me it will be just gorgeous when it is sanded and finished.

This next one is a close up of the greenish spalting in the end plank. Did not see this in the wood for the Coastal Living table. I think it is from metal leaching from nails or roofing. Notice the nail tracing. There are plenty of cool features like this in salvaged wood.

I have been commissioned to build another dining table like the one I built for the Coastal Living Idea House in River Dunes, NC. I am very excited about it and asked Kelly S. (the owner of the finished table) if I could blog about it. So, it begins.

Yesterday, in frigid weather uncharacteristic of the South, I drove to Cullman, AL to pick up salvaged oak timbers from Southern Accents Architectural Antiques (see my previous post). These are the same timbers I used for the CLv table. The timbers came from roof supports on an old barn. The guys at SAAA pulled the nails and sawed the timbers in half (roughly) lengthwise. The wood has some really neat features besides old nail holes. There are bug trails and knots and some have really great oak figuring. My next step is to plane it to the proper thickness for the table top. As rough as this is now, it is neat to see what it will become and how beautiful the finished wood is.