Family Room Wall Unit

James Melvin · Post by **James Melvin** » Thu, Sep 14 2006, 7:35PM

Finished this last spring but just got around to taking photos. Good thing I am a better cabinet maker than I am a photographer. In the \"before\" pic you can see the huge ugly back of the fireplace that had to be worked around. Thanks to eCab it was possible to size every thing perfectly and double check that all units would fit before I began cutting. The large raised panel that forms the central arch was designed in the Part Editor and made like a 5 piece (7-piece, actually) door using MDF stiles and rails and mdf lite for the central panel.

Brian Shannon · Post by **Brian Shannon** » Thu, Sep 14 2006, 7:54PM

Very nice work, James. What a difference! Where's the dog?

Mike Seisser · Post by **Mike Seisser** » Thu, Sep 14 2006, 8:11PM

Amazing transformation! The homeowners must be singing your praises, hope it leads to more work.

DanEpps · Post by **DanEpps** » Fri, Sep 15 2006, 5:21AM

Man you're trickin' us...that's two different houses!!! That is a great transformation!

Mitch Cain · Post by **Mitch Cain** » Fri, Sep 15 2006, 6:45AM

See? Now THAT's what I'm talkin' 'bout! Really nice vision on the design - excellent execution - You just added some serious value to that home - you should be proud!

James Melvin · Post by **James Melvin** » Fri, Sep 15 2006, 6:48AM

Thanks for the praise, guys. Now I feel like fessin' up that I might be stealing someone else's thunder. The aspect of custom one-off projects that I find the most challanging is D-E-S-I-G-N. I had a LOT of help with this design from my good friend in Florida who is fine-artist/designer/architect. Without his 2d AutoCad drawings this project would not have come out anywhere near this good. There were some almost insurmountable problems with this room that I could not have solved as elegantly. And, yes, the client is very happy. I find that becoming proficient with the software is very important (just like paint and putty, the carpenter's buddy) but without good design, it the work is usually mediocre. This is a big reason that I am very excited about the Furniture and Design Sharing potential of our Co-operative efforts.

BTW, this project came in at $17,100 for a 21 foot wall. How does that seem to you?

Should anyone be interested in using my friend for custom design work, his email is art@nkavoukles.com. We did the whole process by phone and email.

DanEpps · Post by **DanEpps** » Fri, Sep 15 2006, 7:05AM

I would have to say the homeowners got a bargain at that price.

There is nothing at all wrong with tapping into the talents of someone that has skills that you need and don't possess. That is one of the finer and frequently overlooked points of the cooperative. Members do it every day without realizing it. By posting questions on the forum they are tapping into a huge skillset and using the bits and pieces that are relavent to them in their operations.

You may have had some help in design but you still produced a great product that the homeowner is happy with.

Another way of looking at it is like this: some shops don't do finishing and others don't do installation. Does that make them any less skilled at creating great cabinetry? I don't think so.

Keep up the good work and when you need the extra help on complex designs, call on someone like you did for this project.

Kerry Fullington · Post by **Kerry Fullington** » Fri, Sep 15 2006, 7:09PM

James,
Wow. Talk about home improvement. Great design and work.
Kerry

Mike Bowers · Post by **Mike Bowers** » Fri, Sep 15 2006, 9:59PM

Mike Seisser wrote:
Amazing transformation
! The homeowners must be singing your praises, hope it leads to more work.

WOW! DITTO! What a change. Very nice James!

Michael Rice · Post by **Michael Rice** » Sun, Sep 17 2006, 8:39AM

James, that is exceptional work. I really like the corner doors on each side of the opening. Am I right in assumng that the fireplace was torn out, or is it somehow hidden in behind the cabinetry.......?

Mike

David Norton · Post by **David Norton** » Sun, Sep 17 2006, 8:51AM

Truly impressive James. Don't be embarrassed about calling in some help.
We all do it at times, great job!

Michael Rice · Post by **Michael Rice** » Sun, Sep 17 2006, 8:57AM

Am I right in assumng that the fireplace was torn out, or is it somehow hidden in behind the cabinetry.......?

I have my glasses on now and see the depth.....

Michael Rice · Post by **Michael Rice** » Sun, Sep 17 2006, 8:57AM

Am I right in assumng that the fireplace was torn out, or is it somehow hidden in behind the cabinetry.......?

I have my glasses on now and see the depth.....

James Melvin · Post by **James Melvin** » Sun, Sep 17 2006, 10:22AM

I guess it would have been more instructive to post a Line Drawing Editor Plan view of the layout because it is not readily noticable how the chimney was made to \"disappear\"from the room. This was a major AH-HA! during the design process, like they say in the Guiness commercials \"Brilliant, Brilliant!\"

On the left side the sheetrock above the unit is tight to the chimney and on the right side it was positioned about a foot back from the front of the cabinets, helping to create the illusion of the two sides having equal depth.

Whoops. Just realized tht the LDE view doesn't show exactly how the project was assembled. It shows the right side uppers set back. In the actual install they were drawn closer to the front of the base cabs as per customers wishes.

Rick Palechuk · Post by **Rick Palechuk** » Sun, Sep 17 2006, 11:36AM

Hey, are those angled corners functional?

Thermwood / eCabinet Systems

Family Room Wall Unit

Family Room Wall Unit

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