richmond hill project - basement wall unit
A built-in wall unit to serve as a focal point when entering the basement hallway space. The family stores the many volumes of adult law and medical reference books as well as the kid’s books, games and other recreational items. A decorative, but also very functional wall unit with the focal point being a large square made up of 4 doors finished with diagonal oak veneer, mitered to create a diamond - surrounded by a wide back-beveled frame. A change in grain direction for the rest of the unit to horizontal, distinguishes this focal point. Below this are equally sized wide as well as deep drawers to store games and things at a level easily accessible to the children. Above the deep drawers are shallower cabinets (again, 3 square doors) with a shelf in each for more storage. Encompassing everything is a wide flat frame, with a shelf suspending across, creating an area to display books, artwork and trinkets collected on the family’s travels. A duct projecting down from the ceiling on the left hand side of the unit was an eye sore, so it was hidden by adding a wood back panel up to the ceiling. The unit as a whole was made to aesthetically compliment the existing adjacent oak staircase, which we had recently updated with a dark stain. Keeping this in mind, the unit was constructed of quarter sawn oak, and the deepest elements of the unit were stained dark matching the staircase, while the shallower elements were stained 20% lighter to juxtapose the various details. Finally, polished chrome hardware was added to act like jewelry and add sparkle to make this something more than just a storage unit.
Donna Griffith Photography
Interesting!