I built this for my son and daughter in law. It was built to fit a particular location in a small house, but I took so long to finish it that they had moved before it was done.
The overall design is based on a Greene and Greene secretary, the center door carving is copied from a Byrdcliffe desk, and the side doors from a flower book. I used asters (Adam) and iris (Ildiko) to match their names, the carved panels are butternut. The color wash was a last minute choice, using watered down acrylic. The curly cherry for the drawers was a spur-of-the moment purchase, "curly cherry" was written on the 'specials' chalkboard at the hardwood dealer one day. Inside the left door is a duplex outlet: 2 outlets and 2 USB, wooden cover plate. Most often you will find it open with a bunch of cords sticking out. Handles were done on the bandsaw, with threaded inserts added.
I often try to do one new thing on each project, but with this one I overextended myself: carved doors, resawing thin stock for the interior and assembling it, knife hinges, recessed doors (1/8" a la Greene and Greene). But I eventually made it. I can see lots of imperfections (of course) but they are happy with it. (The drawers don't interchange left-right, for instance; I thought I had centered the stile but it's off 1/8). One neat detail: when I was ready to add the leather interior for the main door, I remembered a box of scraps from a deerskin jacket, sitting for years in a closet. One was just big enough, so the door interior is from a deer that Adam bagged when hunting with his grandfather, 20+ years ago.
Terry T
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