Repurposing old built-ins

10 years ago

We put a room addition onto our 1920 worker's cottage that will house a laundry room, office and powder room. We'll have a couple stained pieces in there, so the cabinets that we put over the washer and dryer as well as the desk should also be stained and period-appropriate.

I've been scouring CL for a while, and just bought a pair of cabinets that used to be bookcases with colonnades. We've got ~6' of width, and they're 33"x48", so they're the perfect size.

So here's a photo:

OK, here's the main problem. They are HEAVY as all get-out. I don't think the wall will support them. There's a whole lot of extra structure in them used to build the bookcase plus put the finished back and sides (1 side each). All that extra bulk makes the inside shelf depth only 8", which detracts from the utility as well.

Here's a close-up of the finish. No, it's not real oak, it's faux-finished pine.

So I don't think it's advisable to try a refinish/cleanup.

Can I/should I just remove the face frames and build new cabinet boxes that are deeper and way lighter? I might be able to re-use the wood paneling from the sides and backs in another built-in of some kind too.

I'll post this in woodworking if needed, but I know that a lot of you old house lovers have dealt with this as well.

Thoughts/advice?

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Comments (5)

User
10 years ago
Using just the face frames(fronts) and building new boxes would be the best way to utilize those. However, you will be hard pressed to match the finish or extend it to the edges on the front.

Seems to me building all new cabinets/shelves with period correct wood(same variety as the rest of the house and getting the stain/finish close would be better, easier, and safer.

The only gotcha will be the grain of the new wood will probably be different(old growth versus new growth). And, if the present wood is chestnut, I doubt you will find any, much less enough. It very well may be mahogany, walnut, white oak, or a variety of pine.

And the finish is probably shellac. Which is good, because there are still easily found colors of shellac, which means approximating the finish color will be easier.
PRO
Sombreuil
10 years ago
Read it again handymac, that "oak" is paint over pine. That is awesome graining, BTW. Totally fooled me.

I don't know what the answer is, short of learning how to do oak graining. Any alteration is going to be for the worse in terms of making the finish match.
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User
10 years ago
I saw that(first paragraph). The advice was concerning matching the wood in the rest of the house. Guess I should have been more specific.
weedyacres
Original Author
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago
No worries about wood in the rest of the house. All the trim is painted white, and the kitchen cabinets are white shaker.

It's just this room. Door to outside, sideboard and armoire/linen closet are wood, so the desk and wall cabinets need to be too.

Casey: it fooled me too, from the CL photos. It was a bit of an impulse buy ("these are perfect, call the guy, drive down today before someone else takes them") and it wasn't until we got them in the house that I looked more closely at what we had bought.
User
10 years ago
That looks a lot like the veneer on a hope chest I am going to rehab. There is a chip on the right top corner of the door in the second picture. I've started trying to remove the veneer, not having much success.