Design question for yuseall

**BobL** · 27th February 2006, 11:17 PM

Good woodworking folk of this forum, we have a spare skerrick of space in our hallway entrance that we would like to fill with a lowish (1.2m high), 1.5 m long, 250 mm narrow bookcase. (My wife is a librarian and we are both book nuts). The dimensions are determined largely by the space and so that it doesn't get too far into the traffic space

As you can see in the photo, the very dominant extising timber is jarrah, 135 mm floorboards, 100mm splayed skirting, doorway leadlight frame, and hall table - yes we have had a full-on jarrah fetish. The only non-jarrah wood is the door itself which is dark aged oregon.

The challenge is what sort of timber should I use? Errr . . . not jarrah. I was thinking something lightish coloured. The design was going to be very basic and once stocked with books one would probably not see that much of the actual timber, maybe just the top.

Any ideas much appreciated

**Skew ChiDAMN!!** · 27th February 2006, 11:19 PM

Is that a mirror/picture frame just barely visible on the right of the pic? What timber is it... looks like a pine?

Would you consider matching that?

**BobL** · 27th February 2006, 11:23 PM

Originally Posted by Skew ChiDAMN!!

Is that a mirror/picture frame just barely visible on the right of the pic? What timber is it... looks like a pine?

Would you consider matching that?

"That" is a temporarily located picture frame made from WRC (see Photo) that I made for my brother as a birthday present - he's picking it up next weel. It's a photo of his cottage in Boulder CO which is itself clad in WRC. The bits of WRC came from offcuts to our our upstairs addition and were pre-triple-coated in acrylic paint (don't ask why!!!) I stripped off the paint using paint stripped and a 40 grit belt sander. I think it worked out quite well in the end. Actually the WRC looks great in that area but how durable would it be for a bookcase? Humm . . . starting to gel, we won't really be using the bookcase all that much, probably just storing books and dust.

Cheers

**RufflyRustic** · 28th February 2006, 09:29 AM

Silver Ash? - White
Silky Oak? - reddy gold
Pine - the better sorts not crapiata

Cheers
Wendy

**AlexS** · 28th February 2006, 01:44 PM

Perhaps Hoop pine - Auricaria. Plantation grown, much better than crapiata and less expensive than either of those mentioned by Ruffly (but they would look great).

**Lignum** · 28th February 2006, 01:57 PM

Bob, being in the West, how bout some nice Curly Marri or some Black Butt with some quilting, or if you dont want to go that light the perfect complimenting timber for Jarrah is She Oak

**BobL** · 2nd March 2006, 12:08 AM

Originally Posted by Lignum

Bob, being in the West, how bout some nice Curly Marri or some Black Butt with some quilting, or if you dont want to go that light the perfect complimenting timber for Jarrah is She Oak

Yeah, good ideas, I might drag some bits of these into that area and see how they look. Thanks

**fletty** · 2nd March 2006, 10:15 AM

Sorry guys, as much as I love timber I think this job needs painted (say) MDF to match the wall. Let the books be the feature and not have the bookshelf detract from the glorious jarrah already there. Fletty
PS love the frame AND cottage

basorrells · 24th March 2006, 12:47 AM

Pine with a white milk paint finish would be nice or I might even consider a heavy fumed white oak, which will be considerable darker than the floors and door, which if you have good light would be a nice contrast.

Disclaimer: I have not produced a single thing which Laura Lea has not moved to another location because she didn't like the color or style for the area it was designed.

Brian

**TassieKiwi** · 24th March 2006, 07:19 AM

Pale myrtle. Celerytop. Baltic. Birdseye Huon?

**Iain** · 24th March 2006, 08:07 AM

Recycled Baltic floorboards come up nicely, and are still fairly cheap.
The little knots look absolutely fantastic when polished and almost jump out at you.

**BobL** · 24th March 2006, 10:33 AM

Thanks for all the good ideas.

**Different** · 24th March 2006, 11:22 PM

QLD Bolly Silkwood

Ross

**CanFly** · 25th March 2006, 06:15 AM

Ah, some fine solid eastern Canadian maple would look very good there and a fine contrast for the jarrah.

R

**j.stevens** · 29th March 2006, 08:56 PM

[See my recently presented Entertainment unit on this site. All made with Canadian Western Red Cedar and finished with Danish Oil. I am about to make a book case myself using WRC for the face and end framing around veneer 18mm ply. I reckon it'll work for books just fine. I know WRC isn't popular in Australia for furniture - I know its a bit soft, so I wouldn't use it for the top of coffee tables and the such like, but its a dream to work with and very stable. And I think for drawers its hard to beat. But I am only a beginner and bow to more experienced folk.

quote=BobL]"That" is a temporarily located picture frame made from WRC (see Photo) that I made for my brother as a birthday present - he's picking it up next weel. It's a photo of his cottage in Boulder CO which is itself clad in WRC. The bits of WRC came from offcuts to our our upstairs addition and were pre-triple-coated in acrylic paint (don't ask why!!!) I stripped off the paint using paint stripped and a 40 grit belt sander. I think it worked out quite well in the end. Actually the WRC looks great in that area but how durable would it be for a bookcase? Humm . . . starting to gel, we won't really be using the bookcase all that much, probably just storing books and dust.

Cheers[/quote]

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