I recently finished a project in a modern-style Asheville house: a built-in daybed and entertainment center which matches the industrial look of the home.

As always, I'll start with the glamour shot. The customer requested black pipe and painted wood. This isn't our first project made with black pipe, and I really enjoy working with it.

Now let's press "rewind" and see how it came together.

​It all started with a little niche next to the fireplace:

The customer needed a place to put her electronics, including a good old-fashioned turntable. She also wanted a daybed so people could sit next to the window and watch the world go by.

I started by building a simple frame from 2x4 lumber. This was the easy part!

Meanwhile, back at my workshop, I cut and painted plywood for the shelving. I often use plywood, with facing around the edges, instead of solid wood. The plywood is more stable and less likely to shrink or warp.

While I was at my workshop, ​I also cut black pipe to length and added flanges.

Putting it all together was trickier than it looks, because I wanted the pipe flange supports to show when you looked at the shelves. If I just used one thickness of plywood, the facing of the shelf would hide the ends of the pipes.

​I decided to use a double thickness of plywood, which took a lot more work but preserved the interesting detail of the flange.

I also installed a barn wood fireplace mantel while I was there. The whole thing looked great even when it was empty...

...and it's a really striking feature of the room now that they've got all their stuff on it. A great place to soak up some sunshine and listen to some tunes on a chilly Spring afternoon.

If your fireplace needs a little pizzazz, give me a call. I love to do built-in shelving and entertainment centers, and I'll be glad to help you find a beautiful solution that fits the style of your home.

I had a tricky railing repair recently. This is what it looked like...

...but this is what it felt like:

My customer called me because she was remodeling a house and had an interior stair railing that was installed with very little support. It had just one bracket holding it up, and every time she grabbed it, it threatened to give way.

The trick on this job was to secure the railing while still making the repair attractive. I decided to surround it on all sides with steel brackets, then cover the brackets with trim.

That wasn't the only problem with this railing. The lower posts were also held up with cheesy and ineffective brackets. It had already given way on one side!

I attached the posts much more firmly and notched them to add strength.

If you've got a scary stair railing, give us a call. We'll fix it for you!