Dressing table/Vanity for my grand daughter

Bob Gibson

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Merrimack, New Hampshire
If you folks haven't figured it out by now, Abby is my favorite grand kid. We are best buddies. She has lived with us for almost all of her 8 years.

She has moved a few miles away with her Mom Dad and sister and asked me to make her something special for her new room.


The wood is all beech. I've never worked with it before. It machines nicely but has soft spots and random sticky spots. It presented some challenges but came out OK. I bought most of the beech from a frame shop that had about 30bf of rough stock sitting around for a long time for real cheap $. I had to buy a few ectra pieces from a lumber mill for $1.80bf.

The inlay heart is curly maple. I tried to use rosewood but it was so hard and dense I ruined 3 pieces trying to route out the pattern.

The finish is Rustolem Traditional cherry stain (best stain I've ever used) and 3 coats of minwax polyuretane.

I made "secret" compartments in the drawers and seat to hold all the special treasures that 8 year old girls have.

As usual, comments and suggestions to make the next one better are appreciated.

I know, A terrible upholstery job. My next one will be better.

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Bob there is only one thing i think......that piece spells Abby granpa loves you very much.
Well done Bob, i am sure she will treasure it. Too many nice touchs to comment on them all.

sent from s4
 
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great looking piece, on the few bench seats Ive made, I make the bench seat hard and buy a nice bench cushion. I figure this way they can match it up to any color paint or linens they want too.
 
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I can see why Abby was speechless. Fantastic work Bob! What a treasure that she will be thankful for the rest of her life. Nice job on the inlay! I trust you saved the template as I wouldn't be surprised that you'll have a "call" for it again in the future, by guess who?
 
Nice job. You might want to let her know how much time and effort went into making it (she has no idea at all),

and advise her to take real good care of, and not for instance paint it light purple with housepaint or something like that. <--(seen this happeen before)

Or not to set wet drinks on it, etc...
 
Thanks guys :)

Allen, I made the bench with just a plain wood seat then saw some pictures of upholstered ones. I've never attempted upholstery before so I thought I'd give it a try.

Scott, she is a pretty conscientious little kid but she is a little kid. I make all sorts of stuff for the grand kids and expect some wear and tear and have repaired or replaced more than one gift. I know if something happened to it she would be heart broken. So I'm sure she will treat it with respect. Now you got me thinking about all the stupid stuff I did to furniture when I was a kid :rofl:
 
it wasn't meant as a negative comment.
I made 2 similar benches and decided to leave them hard and kept the size close to seat size so the women can change cushions if they decide to repaint a room, or have a change of heart of color, or pass the peace on to another family member, they could have their choice of color.
 
it wasn't meant as a negative comment.
I made 2 similar benches and decided to leave them hard and kept the size close to seat size so the women can change cushions if they decide to repaint a room, or have a change of heart of color, or pass the peace on to another family member, they could have their choice of color.

I didn't think it was Allen :)
I looked at a few chair pads but couldn't find the right size. I stopped by a fabric store and saw the foam and stuff and figured I'd give it a try. I still have the wood seat I made so when this one gets worn out I can replace it with that if she wants.

Got this cell phone picture emailed to me last night (sorry, I don't know how to make the picture bigger :huh:)
abbys smile.jpg
 
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