Author: Keith Larrett

If you’ve been following my stories, you would have seen that the project I’m working on is built from sycamore with accents of walnut. Outside of woodturning, this is the first opportunity I’ve had to work with sycamore. I’m hoping it won’t be the last! There are certain woods that are just a joy to work with. They machine well and are beautiful once finished. For me, cherry, maple, walnut, and alder are all domestic woods that fall into this category. I’m going to add sycamore to the list now.

The panels are book-matched figured sycamore veneer and the solid wood is quarter sawn sycamore. The rendering shows the wall media unit I’m working on. About 12′ wide by 9 1/2′ high.

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Renderings have always been an integral part of my process. It’s important to show my client that I understand what they are looking for and to show them what the finished product will look like when built.

I’ve mainly used my cabinet software, eCabinets, to do this and it has served me well. After installing a project I’ve often been told that it looks just like the rendering.

However, it has limitations. The vanity shown here is a good example as it has custom doors and feet that I can’t show in Cabinets. In cases like this I often turn to SketchUp.
I’ve dabbled with SketchUp over the years, using the free version. A couple of years ago they switched the free version to an online model and I found it slow and cumbersome. As I’m finding myself using SketchUp more frequently I purchased a subscription to the Pro version, a desktop model.

Along with this came Layout which allows me to import the SketchUp model and prepare a presentation for my client. I’m far from being a guru with either program, but I’m getting to a place where I feel I can communicate to my client what the project will look like and how it will reflect their vision of the project.

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The sloped ceiling in this attic space made for a challenging project. Enough math to make my head hurt. By making sloped tops for the upper cabinets I was able to maximize the storage space.

The entire room along with an adjacent bathroom was remodeled, my part was just the cabinetry. The vanity cabinet I built had an interesting design specified, a reverse frame, with the drawer at the bottom of the cabinet.

The area was originally intended as a study space in a kid’s room, however, it has been temporarily taken over by the homeowner as he is working from home due to the lockdown.

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I got a branding iron with my logo. This is the first project I’ve used it on I still need to fine-tune using it, but I’m pleased with the results so far.

A pair of corner cabinets built from solid alder. A challenging project as I am more accustomed to cabinetry compared to furniture, but I was very pleased with how they came out.
These were built for a client who I have done a number of jobs over the last couple of years.

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A countertop for a window bench seat and an open shelf wall end cabinet.  Two small jobs I picked up while providing an estimate for a TV/fireplace surround.  Both replacement pieces from a recent kitchen remodel by another company that my client was not happy with.

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Work in progress shots of a pair of hutch style corner cabinets I am working on. Although these have been considerably more work than I was anticipating, I’m thrilled with how they are coming along.

They are built from alder, a beautiful wood which I really enjoy working with. I just have to make the crown molding and baseboard, and then I will dismantle the cabinets to stain and finish them.

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While working on a TV/Fireplace Surround for some clients they asked if I could do another small project for them. Design and build a support shelf for a large model sailboat.

This is what I came up with. More of a hanger than a shelf, it is pretty discreet and allows the model sailboat to appear as if it is floating across the wall. It is made from teak and I turned the dowel supports on my lathe. It looks fantastic as a backdrop to their dining room.

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I installed this TV and fireplace surround at the end of last week. I was very pleased with how well it worked the overall theme and decor of the surrounding rooms.

The unit was color-matched to the existing trim work and the mantle, made from alder, was stained to complement the wood floor. The expanded metal door panels and beadboard cover panel for the fireplace insert complimented some of the existing furniture.

This unit replaced an old piece of furniture and was a great upgrade for the room. The space was pretty tight and it was a design challenge to fit everything needed in this space but we managed to pull it off.

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I installed this TV Built-in yesterday for some wonderful clients. They have a number of other built-ins in the adjacent room so we tried to complement those as much as possible. Looking at the unit after it was installed, it really felt like we had achieved that. The room looked great and although brand new, the built-in looked like it had always been there.

I’ve included a “before” shot to illustrate how much nicer the room looks now.

The unit features raised panel inset doors with push to open hinges, hence the clean look with no hardware.

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