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Tuesday, December 21, 2010

New Hardware Products

Here at the Lone Wolf we don't just work on software.

Over the last nine months or so I have been working on some ideas for some "old barn" inspired cabinetry.  I have been debating about what to do with this and I have decided to offer for sale a line of custom cabinets, counter and sink tops.

On our property we had an old barn.  It was built in the 1850's and was a "Dutch" style.  There are a lot of these in the neighborhood where we live.   It was getting a bit weathered and there seemed no point in doing a lot of work on it since we did not plan to continue using it as a barn.  So in 2006 we knocked it down.

We decided to use the parts of it in an addition we planned to build to our home.  The goal was to preserve the design and "nature" of the barn while at the same time bringing it into a modern home.  (We had looking into making the barn a house but decided there were too many problems.)

Here is an example of what the counter and sink tops look like.  The counter top is joined, hand-matched oak splits.  Each is about 1" and matched with its neighbor.  The top is basically a custom marine-style finish of tung oil and spar varnish.  The hardware was selected to resemble the colors you would find in vintage 1850's metal.  (The rest of the powder room is not complete as can be seen from the missing trim.)



The base is made from the siding from the old barn we took down on our property.  The wood here is untreated siding that has been exposed to the elements for the last 150 or so years.  The flooring here is tile matched to the style of the base.


Here is another view of the sink top.  I was a bit worried about joining the top and sink but it worked out okay.


There is still a "skirt" that fits between the underside of the top and the base.  I will post a picture of this when my wife completes it.  It will be woven wood strips.  There is also a back splash that is not yet complete. 

The goal in creating this was two fold - create something that would work at its intended purpose as well as be a pleasing art work that brought the old barn into a modern house.

The goal here is to sell something that people would be proud and pleased to have in their homes.  Most of my life involves building things of one sort or another targeted to specific, one time uses and this is really no different.

Ideally potential customers will have hardware (like the Kohler commercial were the wife plops down a faucet and asks the architect to build a house around it) and I will create the rest.

Though this is inspired by the barn I have no compunction about creating other types of cabinetry.  My dad, an architect, was an actual student of Frank Lloyd Wright so I am well versed in all sorts of other types of design.

More on this to come over the next couple of weeks...

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