bookshelf finishing.

So now I'm up to putting on the stain and varnish. Definitely learned some things from J's bed (like have a plan on how much to assemble before staining - too little would make assembly tough if not impossible - but too much makes staining more difficult and potentially sloppy-looking). I ended up trading in the rosewood stain for a slightly-less-red-slightly-more-orange black cherry.

It is beautiful. And just about matches the coffee table.

And another thing different this go around ... I felt it when I botched up the top piece by over belt-sanding it ... but no worries - it added character and made it look a little beat up (uhh, the in-vogue term would of course be 'distressed'). But the point that hit me so instead of getting upset made me smile a little to myself - this bookshelf is not mass-produced somewhere by machines. It is hand-made. By me. And so all the little imperfections - in the assembly - in the finishing - I have already begun to cherish. That's character.

And I'm cherishing the whole hand process - like not rushing through it but enjoying the moments. The delicate hand sanding to the edges. Putting on the stain by hand of course and then rubbing it off with old torn t-shirts of mine.

And the best part I've found ... rubbing on the Minwax poly.

On J's bed I used General Finishes (the same brand stain I've used on both now) poly acrylic that I applied - like the stain - with a foam brush. It did the trick and - while nothing really wrong with it - there is something special about soaking an old t-shirt and hand-rubbing in the poly. How it brings out the beautiful orange tones and warmth of the stain while the satin finish gives the piece just a hint of a subtle gloss -

So the shelves are already done (3 coats of the poly) and the two sides and back are drying out in the garage while today it pours rain after probably two weeks of unseasonably sunny-for-Springtime-in-the-northwest.

But one thing I forgot to mention - last weekend at Mclendon's after Katie pieced together an adorable planter of ground cover for her mum's day I went to pick out some hemlock lattice on a whim. The idea ending up being this -

Adding a touch of arts and crafts-slash-mission styling to the shelf for about twenty bucks. I ended up staining and varnishing the lattice trim separately and will glue it on once the sides have three coats of varnish themselves - part of that balance of how much to assemble before finishing. The only catch will be making sure the glue doesn't eek out ... but that'll be part of the whole assembly gig that I should be up to doing within the week.

Overall - I am having a grand time building this shelf and am really starting to enjoy woodworking. Maybe I'll build a dresser afterall ...