While we have been farming, my friend the cabinet maker has been building the shelves/ cabinets for the Coupe. The Coupe is a Tiny House being built adjoining our Home. Our Johns Mother will live there when she is ready to retire. Until then it will be a divine little guest house. 
Everything is finished except for the dividing wall between the bedroom area and the kitchenette. This is to be a handmade wall unit. The ceiling is 16 foot high at the peak and it will reach right up there. So it is a very high value piece of work.W This floor-to-ceiling wall unit turns the Coupe from a room into a home. Once it is in place my whole design makes sense. It is central to the whole idea. The cabinet fits from the pole ( screen right) straight across to the line (left) where the blue meets the red, and reaches right up past the loft floor to the pitched ceiling.
Next time you see this point of View, it will be a wall of shelves and cubby holes and little doors, creating a bedroom on one side and a small kitchenette on the other There will be access to the cabinet from both side. And the little kitchen bench, which will be right there below the window, runs across and around and joins the wall unit creating the kitchenette.
I visited the cabinet maker in his workshop yesterday. We have broken as many rules as we could think of, using deliciously knotted gnarly wood, seconds, live edges. Off cuts. Combining four different woods in one space. Making stuff up as we go along. The Walnut and Ash timber was found in the yard of a man who is paid by people, who do not know any better, to chop down their trees. He mills the trees, seasons the planks and sells them. Which is wonderful. Most companies who chop down trees just chip them.
Tiger Wood and Walnut for the shelves and cabinets, Blue Ash for the counters in the kitchenette and second grade White Oak on the floor.
This wall unit will create a lot of storage space in The Coupe. The honey will find a home. The curing soap. The Linen and the books. Oh The Books! And then all the bits and pieces that The Matriarch brings with her when she finally moves in. Though that will not be for a few years yet. She says. Her nephew says “What are you waiting for!”
It is impossible to see in its entirety, so you will just have to come and visit. Jeff (the cabinet maker) has added his own voice to my designs, introducing beautiful features and allowing the timber to develop a life and voice of its own. He is a craftsman.
Yesterday was so warm thatI sent the afternoon working in the barn re-organising the waters and a few walls (to stop drafts). Scooping. Cleaning. Getting ready for the next cold snap. It was just wonderful.
Plus we have started work on the little glass house. More on that tomorrow. For now I am so happy to show you more of the lovely wood-work in the workshop.
And as well as that Jeff is part of the Fellowship of the Farmy. (One of the silent ones!) Have a lovely day.
your friend on the farmy
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
69 responses to “Breaking all the Rules of Carpentry”
Wow, Celi, an inspiring project! I have ply ever seen your design from the outside, and that looked exciting enough, but this is amazing. I love it! All the best as it takes shape before your eyes!
Apologies – I have only
I love how resourceful you were, especially about leaving the knots in the wood. It adds so much natural beauty. 🙂
What a marvelous little spot that will be!
This project reminds me so much of the cabin my husband, FD, and his friend Hoot built. They used a an old wooden river bridge washed up in a flood, for the main beams. Most everything else has been fashioned from discarded cedar trees, weathered corrugated metal, and old barn wood (from a tornado-ravaged barn in Nebraska). FD built the doors, windows and screens by hand. Deer antlers make handles and hat hangars… old wildlife paintings from antique stores have found a new place to dwell. Isn’t it lovely to use what nature provides or some item that needs a new home? Lovely post, Celi. I am always learning something new about you!
Celi, if you let guests stay in the coupe, they may never leave! I know I would not want to. I love timber and the warmth of colour and texture should age beautifully. The icing on the cake will be the light chain with a history all of its own! Like everyone else, I look forward to seeing the finished work!
That is developing wonderfully. I love the concept and the way it is all coming together.
Spectacular. Splendid. And very Special indeed. Jeff is a true artist, and your collaboration is clearly going to lead to a beautiful, useful and joyful end product. Hurray!
xo
Beautiful wood brings life to the Coupe, that man is an artisan! How blessed you are to find someone to bring your vision to reality.