Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Any custom cabinet makers/carpenters here?

So if you had this area, would you leave as is? Or separate it off as a library/office?

Thinking that adding some glass display cases to the "windows", and door(s) to the middle would turn it into a nice area where you could leave some guns out for display, but lock it up when kids/guests come over.

But it's really nice being "open" to the larger room also.

Thoughts? What would be ballpark cost for doing that?

Just a discussion with the wife..

There are constructions workers, --carpenters, --and cabinet makers. They are all in separate classes of building. 1/8 inch---1/16 inch-- and the 1/32 inch or smaller. That looks great Calhoun. It's not hard to see which class your in.

I'm not in any class of woodworker.. My dad and grandfather were great, but those genes missed me totally.

If we got something like that, I'd just like to be able to block it off when kids/certain relatives were over (*cough* *cough*).

Least destructive idea would be pull down shades and folding door. But that wouldn't look good.

Seems like a pretty large room to simply block off- unless you plan on turning it into an office or hobby room. IMO, putting shelves and a door so you can lock it off to "curious people" just makes it more attractive to nosy relatives and guests and creates more problems than it solves. Everyone will want to see what you've done, how it looks, and "gee, can I touch this, or handle this, or...."

If you were going to do it to keep it private, the best way would be to put a wall behind the cabinets as though the cabinets were up against an exterior wall and put a regular door in the archway as though it leads to the garage or outside. Or, remove the cabinets and build a complete wall across the area but it would be a real shame to lose so much nice cabinet space.

If you need some visual ideas, look at what this family does:

https://julianandsons.com/fine-gun-rooms/

I have no problem in telling guests it's off limits.. I don't care if they're curious. That's their problem.

Had thought about that. Just tell people it has unfinished storage area behind it. It's basically the look I'd get by adding display cases to the "windows" and a door in the middle.

Holy cow... Bit more intense than what I'm aiming for, and I'd probably have to sell all my guns to finance it. But gorgeous!

This one..

Not a look I’d be big on but that’s a taste issue. I like open, if I left it as is the pockets left and right I would put in glass shelves. It would still feel open but separate the rooms. For me my fossils and indian artifacts would be on those glass shelves.

Osky

I'd change all the decor (paintings, chairs, chandelier, etc). Like the room layout.

Instead of windows perhaps solid panel separating inside and out and then shelving for books. Solid doors that can be closed and locked to prying eyes.

Put up a bookcase that pivots and make a speakeasy man cave.

Calhoun;
Good morning to you sir, I hope the day in your section of Nebraska is as bright, still and warm for the season as ours is and that you're all well.

With the understanding that I've been out of the cabinet business for 10 years now, if it was me and since you asked.

I'd ask around locally for recommendations of cabinet makers who do that sort of work.

Not all cabinet shops can do custom work like you need done and emphatically not all who think they can should be doing that work.

If possible go look at the work they've done - that's a tough one, but it doesn't hurt to ask.

If they have a show room and she doesn't mind going with you, take your wife and look at the little things.

That includes the inner profile of the doors, how the tongue and groove joints fit on the door, are they smooth or rough like little baby porcupines.

Is the finish color even and then is the top coat gloss or sheen even?

Does it "look right" to you and your wife or does it look off in some way. Some shops just can't get a nice flow to their work I found - it can be well done but looks "off".

What brand of hinges and door slides to they use?

Blum used to be the best in the industry, but we had pretty good results with Hettich as well. We had very poor results with Salice, Ferrari and off shore stuff was universally terrible for hinges. Full extension slides were Accuride by a long shot.

These things matter because if the shop uses quality parts, usually they have a different outlook on the type of work they're doing.

Anyways sir, that's a start - find a shop that does the kind of work you want done.

Then get a quote from them and decide from there.

Hope that helped, all the best and Merry Christmas to you all.

Dwayne

What of that photo is structural? What is in that ceiling other than lights? Is the floor of the room below grade?

Even if I were going to turn it into a gun room I'd get rid of all the paneling the carpet and the dropped ceiling and light cans.

Murphy door.

https://murphydoor.com/

Lots of great ideas.. the bookshelf/hidden door is interesting. Lots of folks doing that nowadays, and it could blend in very well.

Thanks Dwayne for ideas on what to look for as to who is doing the work. Need that info badly.

Stickfight.. all below grade, back and right wall are foundation, electrical comes in on the right hand side so there's surely a bunch of wiring through the ceiling.
Water might go through that room also.. hmm.. have to check on that, really wouldn't want water lines above it. Drop ceiling is only front part of room, it rises back up for the back half or so. I would prefer hardwood floors, but that can wait.

Calhoun;
Thanks for the reply sir, glad you found it useful.

If you're inclined, by all means shoot me a PM with questions as they come up and I'd be happy to help if I'm able.

I'm also not afraid to say "Sorry I have no clue about that".

There were a few times people would have me come over to look at a job they'd had done - after it was installed and they'd paid in full of course - and then question me as to what I thought about the quality.

Far, far better to ask up front and do the research then too.

As a final thought on it, there might be some shops who look at what you've got and won't want to put their work up against what is there for a variety of reasons.

Honestly that'd be the case if I'd been asked about it when I was in the business.

There's a whole bunch of reasons for that, but matching the color, finish, wood grain and existing flow is always tough even when we'd do additions onto work that we'd done previously.

You'll be spending a not inconsiderable amount of money to get what you want, rightfully for sure, and if it was my shop I'd only do the job if I could pull out what was there and start from scratch.

Based upon 27 odd years in the business, I'm going to make an educated guess that neither party would be happy with the results otherwise.

Sorry about that, but that's the truth.

Still it's a great room with a ton of potential and you might be surprised how little the difference would be starting from scratch as opposed to trying to match someone else's work.

Good luck with a worthy project and Merry Christmas once more.

Dwayne

I hear you, and fully understand about matching perfectly. But can't pull out this woodwork and start from scratch because there is matching woodwork throughout the basement.

I think adding the glass display cases into the "windows" could be done without having to adding or matching much woodwork. Backing doesn't have to be matching woodwork.
The door is the tricky part for matching the wood. I love the idea of a hidden/murphy door, but that's the toughest for matching.

Calhoun;
Thanks again for the reply.

Okay sir, gotcha on the matching existing stuff.

I showed the brains of the outfit - my good wife of more than 4 decades - your photo and she suggested frosted glass and/or something that doesn't have to match the existing woodwork.

That could be a combination of glass, metal or contrasting wood work that makes no attempt to match.

That'd be the most doable perhaps?

Certainly again if it was the shop I was running, that'd be something we would have been okay submitting a quote for.

Additional thoughts -
If you're okay with contrasting additions - glass, metal, different wood - then the contrasts could be added in a couple other places so it'd look like it was always that way? Hope that thought makes sense.

Again it's finding the right shop who can think outside the box a bit and will do the quality of work you're looking for.

Hope that helped again.

Dwayne

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If you want the space to be private and separate :

1) Build cabinet storage into the two open spaces.
Show panels on the outside to match existing lower panels.

2) You could center a 3'-6" door aligned with the inboard line.
That way the depth of the existing structure creates an entry.
And you show off the depth of the original structure.
Sidelights or solid panels could be used on each side of the door.

3) Across the rear of the space, a walk-in gun safe could be built utilizing a commercially available safe door.
Create casework could be fashioned to hide the presence of the safe door.