Greene and Greene Inspired Entertainment Center

Hey Brian
This is a way cool entertainment center ,fantastic design G & G and features from the Gamble house. Well done

-- W James Brokenbourgh Custom furniture maker http://artisticwoodstudio.com/

Cool. I love the doors. Nice piece.

-- ~ Inspiring those who inspire me ~

Very nice. What is the finish?

-- Cody Crisp

Wow this is a great piece. Well done.

-- Duane, Ohio

Very nice design.

-- masrol, kuala lumpur, MY.

I had not thought much about G and G prior to joining this site but the more I see the more I admire the style.
You have brought that style to your piece perfectly. Double Wow!

-- Drink twice... and don't bother to cut... @ larrysworkshop.wordpress.com For lovers of all things timber...

Beautiful piece my friend…VERY nice. You nailed the G&G style perfectly….all can say is WOW !!! And I have to agree with degoose...never really even thought much of the G&G style untill I joined L/J’s…..now my mind is clicking with ideas.

-- Don S.E. OK

nice design, really like the G&G…looks great…very well done

-- Todd, Oak Ridge, TN, Hello my name is Todd and I'm a Toolholic, I bought my last tool 10 days, no 4 days, oh heck I bought a tool on the way here! †

Beautiful piece and design! Thanks for posting.

God Bless
tom

-- Mc Bridge Cabinets, Iowa

Beautiful reproduction and adaptation of the original design!

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

Wow! really nice. I like how you designed the doors.

-- Mike ...Success is often the result of taking a misstep in the right direction

Thanks everyone for your comments and support.

For those who haven’t seen much of the Gamble house. The website has a good set of pictures. I happened to stumble across it when in was in California for work a few years ago. If you ever happen to Pasadena, I recommend taking the tour. They also have a nice walking tour of other Greene and Greene houses and some designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. I am hoping I can coordinate one of my trips to CA to catch one of the “Details and Joinery” tours.

http://www.gamblehouse.org/index.html

As far as the finish – I use an combination of things I have found over the years. I typically gravitate to a flat finish that protects the wood, makes the grain pop, and doesn’t look like a thick film on top of the work. Since I really haven’t found a product that provides that perfect combination of those attributes, I have derived this method.

—Sand the piece to 600 grit until the wood starts to shine on its own and all of the fine swirls disappear.
—Apply a sanding sealer used on commercial floors Bona Drifast. This provides the closest thing I have found to a flat finish, and since it is a polyurethane based product it really brings out the grain. This product is designed to dry in ~ 2 hours (I always give it 24 hours just to be sure).
—Lightly sand again with 600 grit. This is just to knock off any grain that raised with the finish or to remove any dust that may have found its way onto the finish while drying. If I sand light enough this will not put any noticeable scratches in the finish, but that is not always the way it works out.
—On pieces like this one I add a couple of coats of bowling alley wax and buff to a light sheen.

The Sealer alone provides a good level of protection, and that is all that I have on all of the wood trim, posts, beams, and wainscoting in my current house. It has survived multiple parties with people setting (and spilling) drinks on the wood. We have been in the house for 4 years, and I haven’t needed to touch up or re-finish any of the wood work in the house.

Bona DriFast Sealer

For a piece like the toy box that 2 deep in the project list, I will finish with Bona Traffic which is a waterborne floor finish. I tested this stuff on the floors in my house in Idaho. We lived there for two years, and I played a lot of fetch inside with one of my dogs. When we were moving out of the house and really started cleaning the house getting it ready to sell, we noticed the floors still looked brand new. However, the wood HVAC vents that came pre-finished had most of their finish scratched off from the dog’s claws sliding across the floor chasing the ball. On either side of the vent you couldn’t even notice that there was a scratch, and the vents were in low fetch traffic zone. The rest of the floor was getting much more abuse than the vents. One coat of the Traffic is plenty of protection for most furniture pieces, but it does add a slightly noticeable film on top of the wood.

Bona Traffic

Thanks again for all the encouraging comments.

-- Brian - Virginia

I wonder what you will design to get the high def projector and cinema room ;)

The cloud design looks very fluid. I like it.

mtkate – I think I would have to design a new house to pull that one off….

Thanks for the comments.

-- Brian - Virginia

really nice piece. You did a great job.
I also like to put my spin on established furniture styles.
Thanks for posting.

-- ''Carry on my wayward son''