Entry Details

Wall Cabinet Contest
March 1, 2005

Entry Details

# 70

Carl Haushalter

Huntington Beach, CA

Dimensions (inches):
	Width:	22
	Height:	45
	Depth:	5
Materials:		Case, Shelves and Door Frames and Drawer Fronts-Cherry (Western New York) Door Panels and Finger Pulls-Curly Maple (Vermont) Back Dust Panel-Luan

Got tired of hunting through many kitchen cabinets and drawers to find spices and seasonings.
Decided to use insertable, sliding dovetail shelves for flexibility to accommodate Vinegar and Oil bottles as well as more or less standard height (4"-4 1/2") commercial spice jars.
Dovetailed Case is Cherry with Luan back panel.
Door is Frame (Cherry) and Panel (Curly Maple) mounted with Brusso knife hinges.
All Case, Door Frame and Shelves milled from single Cherry plank
Both Door Panels from single 13 1/2" wide Curly Maple plank.
Top and Bottom cherry friction grips for each door
Finish is Superblonde Shellac French Polish

For this photo, the 2nd from bottom Shelf removed to accommodate taller bottles.
Left door has inside dust ledge, Right door has mating ledge.

Wood Provenance:
Cherry is from Western New York family farm woodlot. Harvested with my Dad on Navy Christmas leave, 1943. Milled to5/4 stock, stickered and stored at farm until brought to California in 1997.
Curly Maple is from rural sawmill, (John Carpenter) in Tunbridge Vermont. Originally milled at 12/4 as potential custom Gunstock stock. Since 1961, stored at farm with the Cherry.

Stocked with typical spice jars and "designer" Oil and Vinegar bottles
Would place thin clear plastic panel on bottle shelf to protect finish from drip reaction.
Three box joint drawers at bottom for Cinnamon Sticks, Vanilla Beans etc.

Door Finger Pulls are hand carved Curly Maple

Judges Comments

AJH : As I mentioned in a comment on another piece, using wood with a history is a particularly pleasant experience. Hopefully, you've handwritten the wood's history on the back for future generations. The removable shelf at the bottom is a good idea. This design works nicely, but the dark supports underneath look a bit out of place.
EW : I loved the subtlety of this cabinet. The three black brackets are somewhat off-putting, though. I don't have a problem with the idea of brackets, but I think that two brackets, wider than these, would have complemented the composition better.
RJ : Tall, slender and elegant. I find the the black corbels underneath visually disconcerting and the cabinet would benefit from them being dispensed with altogether so the piece makes an aesthetic statement all its own. It's quite rare to see (door) frames where the top and bottom rail extend to the outside edges, but it's effective as this creates a strong horizontal visual band top and bottom.