Cherry, garnet shellac, topcoat,...

[mark mcfarlane]

Thanks everyone with the help on this project. This is what I ended up doing:

1) Sand up to 320
2) Light Seal-a-Cell (shellac) coat on drawer fronts only - large flat-sawn pieces
3) 2 coats of 1lb Garnett shellac a) sprayed on underside 'soffit' plywood and drawer fronts, b) hand applied everywhere else.
4) Scuff sand 320
5) Satin Arm-R-Seal, sanding to 320 between coats: in general 2 coats on vertical surfaces and 3 coats on horizontal wear surfaces, i.e. the shelves
5) Scuff sand 320 and apply a final 'almost dry' coat of arm-r-seal to get a dust-free finish.

I tried hand applying the garnet shellac on the drawer fronts but it came out way too blotchy. Sanded everything down and started again. I had a few restarts like this on the project. It's really nice to be retired and have time to redo things that just aren't quite right.

Below is what the completed project looks like. It fairly closely matches my 3D model in the original post of this thread. I built mock-ups as the build went and adjusted heights and thicknesses of various components.


Living Room Remodel.jpgLiving Room Remodel-2.jpgLiving Room Remodel-3.jpgLiving Room Remodel-4.jpg

Took about 4 months to complete including demo, installing a couple large beams where walls and a door were knocked out, electrical, gas, low voltage. lighting, ceiling speakers,...

I contracted out the heavy parts of the remodel but this wall was 'all mine' except I contracted the stone work and fireplace install.

I'm loving the cherry as it is and hope it darkens very slowly .

[Scott Holmes]

Spray dye to color it. Don't worry about raising the grain...after the 1st coat of shellac the raised grain will be locked in place and easily removed with 220 or higher sandpaper.

[Paul F Franklin]

That is stunning Mark, beautiful work!

[Jim Becker]

Stunningly well organized and beautiful, Mark!!!

[Prashun Patel]

It looks really great. Tasteful design and the wood looks perfect imho even new. Any darkening will be icing.

[mark mcfarlane]

Thanks gentlemen for the gracious support.

As my skills improve I tend to spend more of each project's time on design and finishing. I didn't used to enjoy those parts of a build as much, now I do.

I've found huge benefit, both in my mental state and the project result, by going more slowly and enjoying the journey.

[David Utterback]

Finely balanced and immensely appealing. Love the combination of textures and lines. Thanks for sharing.

[mark mcfarlane]

Finely balanced and immensely appealing. Love the combination of textures and lines. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks David, that is very kind.

The original purpose of this remodel was to bring our back porch into the home without losing the great experience we had on the back porch, and improving the porch experience when it is Texas-hot-and-humid outside.

The solution was too fold: A huge window and a stereo feed of ambient bird song. I have the sound going through ceiling speakers now, but later this week I'm adding two more speakers along the windows so that the sound is localized at the glass. It is kind of weird now to walk toward the glass and have the sound move behind you. The only thing left to figure out is how to effectively filter out lawnmower noise.

Living Room Remodel - window.jpg