Sunday, September 16, 2007

We have a winner

After extensive googling by both me and Steve, it has come down to spending $20 each bracket, which comes to a whopping $320.00 for pantry brackets.

These are Eastlake style brackets, which are more plain and austere in design than more ornate Victorians. Its closer to the period in which our home was built and we like the style too.

We just can't seem to do things on the cheap can we? I was telling my Dad about the predicament and I said, "Probably no one would notice if we used more Victorian styled brackets..." He said, "Yes, except for two people." He knows us well.

We always console ourselves by citing the fact that we do all the labor and so that saves us alot of expense enabling us to buy what we really want.

I had to laugh because when we bought all the oak for the shelves, one of the employees at Owl Lumber suggested we use veneer plywood for the shelving, which is alot cheaper and does not involve gluing up boards etc... He had no idea who he was talking to. We, who build to last 100 years. The truth is that real wood is much more repairable than plywood, which is one major plus to us. Plus, we are wood nuts. Anyone who has read this blog at all can see that is true.

From the photo, it looks like a pretty good quality casting-cleaner and better than many I've seen. In my searching for brackets, I've seen some really nice ones that cost hundreds of dollars a piece-real antiques and quite lovely. Don't worry, I won't go there. That's a bit much for a pantry after all.

So, while I appreciate your suggestion Gary, Steve has other woodworking projects to do and we are just going to have to bust the budget this time. Sparky, if you have any ideas now is the time to speak up because we need to get these ordered.

8 comments:

sparky said...

i was thinking of straight-line, non-decorative

and i'm guessing that you'll use biscuits for gluing up your shelves

Steve said...

Good-looking bracket - I like the design. We also have trouble doing things on-the-cheap. Doing things "properly" sure does snow-ball!

I could have written these words too: "We always console ourselves by citing the fact that we do all the labor and so that saves us alot of expense enabling us to buy what we really want."

Our (external verandah) brackets (Victorian) are in the spare bedroom, waiting to go up.

Steve (Australia)

Steve said...

Good-looking bracket - I like the design. We also have trouble doing things on-the-cheap. Doing things "properly" sure does snow-ball!

I could have written these words too: "We always console ourselves by citing the fact that we do all the labor and so that saves us alot of expense enabling us to buy what we really want."

Our (external verandah) brackets (Victorian) are in the spare bedroom, waiting to go up.

Steve (Australia)

merideth said...

beautiful! i confess to a love of the Eastlake style (which is far more ornate than my usual taste)and these are lovely...nice price point too...you'll have the most beautiful pantry of anyone we know for certain!

Jocelyn said...

yes, biscuits and the shelves are ready-just need to be sanded and stained :o)

sparky said...

what stain?

my place is pine, cedar and oak. and all of the oak, recycled from barns, dining room table, kitchen counters and other misc pieces are lindseed oil/turp. initially very smelly but..........

Jocelyn said...

We first sand it with 80 grit (not fine furniture) and then wipe down with denatured alcohol and then instead of stain preconditioner we use boiled linseed oil to make the stain be more even. Then we use our own mix of minwax combo of golden oak, red oak and dark walnut stain. All trim in ouse is oak. To finish furniture Steve has built, we used the fuming process and linseed oil... You're right- it is stinky.

sparky said...

minwax combo of golden oak, red oak and dark walnut stain?
damn, you guys are really into it!

mine ends up the color of whatever the 75%/25%, oil/turp leaves it

fuming process? i don't think i've ever heard of it.
teach me something?