Hall Tree #3 - Complete

The final thing I needed to do on the hall tree was put on the hardware - hangers and shelf brackets:

The oak-leaf hangers are what inspired us to do the hall tree in the first place. They are cast iron and painted flat black. We bought them at a local building materials reuse place, which I am happy to promote. They have wide variety of stuff, prices are great, and they are very friendly.

For you Oregonians (or those visiting), here is the list of reuse and recycling centers. I try to build as much as I can from materials these centers provide. It's good for the environment, my wallet and the local economy.

Hall Tree #2

I was able to get the hall tree stained, sealed and installed over the weekend. It fit nicely into the alcove...

I  made it in four pieces: the bottom cabinet, the seat, the middle section, and the top shelf. I kept the bench a bottom cabinet in two pieces, so I could fit the bench in snugly.

Here is alcove before installation. My DW pained the side walls and ceiling the day before installation. I glued and nailed a few 1/2" x 4" OSB strips across the back wall to give a good surface for mounting with 18 gage finish nails.

Once the four main pieces were in place I shimmed them to an exact fit and nailed them off. This made the hall tree look like one single unit. Here are the trim pieces...

I made the seat with the best boards I had - a couple of them had knots which I wanted to show for a more rustic look. I sanded the corners along the edges of the boards before assembling them, again to make the bench look more rustic.

The middle section took the most work. The 1/4" cherry plywood makes the base, with the battens and trim attached. I put 1/2" OSB on the sides to give them rigidity.

Building the base cabinet for shoes was pretty straightforward, holding two pair of shoes on each shelf.. 

I need to let the finish cure for a day or so, then mount the hardware.

New Living Room Windows #2

My DW was able to get the textured paint on the remodeled window wall this week, which I think looks great. I am looking forward to getting these trimmed out, so they look like a single large unit.

Why did we pick these size windows, as opposed to 4 slightly smaller ones?

• If we chose 4 windows, they would have been very close to the end windows, which would have made nice pattern. 
• We could have done two long windows with a single center post, which would have maximized the glass and cost less. 
• We chose three because windows are traditionally grouped in odd numbers, so you get a clear center view as a focal point. Five windows would have had too many posts and a broken-up view.