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 .