Brent Hull video goes live time to grab a mug of tea and enjoy. Now I realize my free time over the next few weeks just got reduced as I am going to be upgrading my 2 year old self built walk through bookcase. At least I got the odd numbers right.
Twenty years ago, when I remodeled my house the first time, I turned the wall between our living and dining spaces into a bookshelf with a doorway in the middle. But something about it has never looked quite right to me. Now I get it. It's all so uniform that the eyes don't know where to go. So, I guess I've got another project to add to my woodworking list. :)
At the end of the video, you perfectly defined the cabinet making niche I am trying to carve out. I will actually share this video with contractors to explain what I can offer!
Hope this helps?? Are you kidding!! This is pure gold, love the details you dig into, really appreciate you breaking out these details and showing where to put the focus, those were all beautiful examples, thanks again!
Could you please do a video on the why of mouldings? I understand the proportioning of the larger elements, and I think these rules apply well to simpler, more modern designs. But where did these decorative shapes come from and can they be separated from the larger proportioning rules and still produce a good design?
I absolutely love this video! I have been building cabinets and furniture for years. This is pretty much what I think about when designing my work. You articulated what is in my head better than I could.
Thank you so much for this - a great guide about what to pay attention to. I’d love to hear about how to handle cabinetry when the house has ‘central’ focal point like a window or fireplace that is off center. Especially when the ratio isn’t a pleasing one - ex. one side isn’t 2/3 or half the width of the other, and when there’s both too much and too little difference to address it with adjusting trim work or adding a door/visual alternate to open shelving to explain that ‘extra’ space.
Thank you for showing the last example, which brings the relevance of these concepts to situations where the space is more modest in sizing (ie 95% of the homes in the wild.) The challenge doesn't seem to be finding or being a good cabinet maker, but finding or being a good designer. Too many people are motivated by driving the lowest cost at the sacrifice of quality, without realizing the quality that they are forgoing.
Perfect timing! Great explanation on hierarchy and using the chair rail to define space. You’ve changed the way I think about pretty much everything I build.
Thanks for sharing this! I have been dreaming of building a custom library with built-ins. Academia style! Lots of research and planning and these tips are very helpful. 💯❣️
I love the idea of "elevating with punctuation". Though the exclamation points on the shown cabinet may be a little too on the nose. 😉 I definitely picked up a couple of things, though, thank you.
Brent, I love your videos not only for the knowledge they give to me but also I often find proof in them of what I have already made .👍 Believe me or not but I have bult almost a similar library! And now you are telling me that I built it correctly🤘 Many thanks 🤝
We live in a 1930's Lutyens designed block of flats in Westminster. Built to replace slums after a major flood of the Thames, they sadly didn't have bookcases but ours had several original features such as a large kitchen bench which had a full sized cast iron bathtub underneath (there was no separate bathroom and the separate indoor toilet was seen as 'insanitary' by of the original tenants in the 1930s!)
Wish you were in my neighborhood so I could persuade you to look at where I want to put custom cabinets. A recent guest suggested IKEA. No physical harm came to him but he’s off my Go To list for home improvement advice. I’ll rewatch this and consider my options anew. Very timely that it was in my feed.
I want to see how you would address building bookcases with lower base cabinets projected from a wall that contains a centered fireplace surround with mantle and pilasters.
I just stumbled onto your video while looking for bookshelf ideas. I like the first one and the last one. I will incorporate some of those ideas in my bookcase. Moldings, pilasters... cabinet on the bottom with heavier moldings for visual interest. Thanks for the ideas.
I'm glad I clicked on your video. I've seen this design in many Federalist houses and similar things in Monticello. This design goes beyond just bookshelves. I've seen it on the more interesting fireplaces/TV areas with built-ins on the side. Your video helped explain why this concept works and how to implement it in the future.
Thank you for providing examples! I really like that full wall with just the bottom part sticking out. I am fixing up a slightly modern house so I have to be more subtle with my classical touches or they wont fit with the spirit of the house haha
This is great stuff, for this of us in an area with very few historical homes this is solid gold. Any recommendations for books that really get deep into this subject?
As I sit in my 25 year old production track house I see a lot of missed opportunity in the cabinet department...😊... I guess I know what I'm going to be doing in retirement besides gardening....
Love the video, clicked on it as soon as I saw it. Could this be applied to a wall with a fireplace with bookshelves on either side? How would the pedestal/chair guard work?
Have the fireplace and mantle be the bump out in the middle. If there’s a design similarity (same routed edge, etc) carried through the pedestals and the mantle, that helps give a sense of connectedness to the horizontal pieces, even if they are not directly connected.
You didn’t mention the two considerations I wrestle with most often: shelf depth and vertical spacing. Tricky planning for current collection and what might be added. Once upon a time (in the world of paper manuals) my US company was sold to a UK company. Edict came down: all manuals will be A4 - not 8.5 by 11. We shot that down by pointing out our customers would need new book cases and we couldn’t afford A4 binders and paper.
When I built my bookcases with lower cabinets, I looked for my widest and tallest books. This coupled with sliding door track hardware determined my bookcase depth of 12-3/4 from the backside of the faceframe.
I'm curious about the painting on that last one - the way the top of the lower portion is stained, but the rest is painted. Is mixing painted and stained parts something that was done much historically? My dining room table is like that, but I thought that was just a trend from the last 15 years or so. I've been kicking around the idea of doing something like that with the built-in in my living room, too.
Im under the impression that stain grade vs paint grade wood is also there to depict the hierarchy of the room. Painted is a cheaper wood & often in areas for “the help”. Maybe for the middle class that could afford only hardwood benchtops🤷🏼♂️
On Webb's Stanton house (5.55), if I'm not mistaken both 'A' and 'B' sections are subdivided into even segments (2 for A section, 4 for B section) which is counter to one of your guiding principles to having an odd number of sections. Does this not carry through to the subdivisions too?
You’re right, but the overall number of sections is odd. 7 total, with 3 in the middle. His point was that there should not be a column on the centerline.
You point out exactly what i have been trying to elevate my workmanship towards, and that is individuality. I belive it is the cornerstone of being a cabinetmaker. There is no place in quality for MDF, you don't equate "highend" cabinets with inferior products, and there is no white, green, or blue paint to be found in such work ( unless its a hand painted artist scene). I blame the advent of assembly line, ready to assemble, Ikea style flat packed merchandising, as the culprit, because ease, and convenience, and above all, cost. Image Chipindale employing a CNC...his work was not about production, it was about style. Quick rant
@BrentHull Really appreciate you taking the time to share the vastness of your personal tuturage, and hours of dedication to what is undoubtedly a river of passion running through your veins. Must give thanks to @FinishCarpentryTV for sharing his secret weapon. 😀
Did you notice that each of your three points act along a different axis? Odd numbers goes horizontally, the classical sections go vertically, and bump outs happen in depth.
@@BrentHull oh! Good for you! Have a great time: you deserve it after all your labors in the service of beauty. Can't begin to tell you how grateful I am.
A lot of cabinet makers today are kitchen fitters. Any real cabinet makers that exist today are probably working on studio furniture projects that cost a fortune.
It is in the sense, that it forces makers to be reliant on the CNC machine for speed, which reinforces design conformity. Cabinet vision software and the CNC means all production cabinets are the same.
I am in Ohio and prefer to do traditional cabinet details with modern features in my cabinetry. If there ever would be a need please feel free to reach out. www.perioddesignscompany.com Thank you.
Every inch of my cabinets are hand made and I am slower than a dead car in a race! If I give you cabinets they are my cabinets ! I am having a hard time letting someone build my drawers ? I wake up thinking on it ! Now a cabinet maker is really a computer button pusher ! In flip flops ?
I took a tour of Kraftmaid Cabinets for a job interview. I was not at all impressed, everything was fastened with Staples and Hot Snot. The assembly department was a real sweatshop.
@@petemclinc yes; your better off just working in a small space and handcrafting your Cabinets ! Bespoke Cabinetry is great! I support myself doing finish carpentry and cabinets ! I am not (or hv a large enough space to do full kitchens) so I do lots of vanities, one offs, built ins, things like that ! It’s a passion I am not rich but I live a rich life , my faith and my carpentry ! I can do it !
Wondering what you think of the cabinets in this farmhouse where General Lee’s horse Traveler was bred: ruclips.net/video/YyTe092RXXQ/видео.htmlsi=r3JXNMp8Vi0nB2xT
In this day and age, there is no reason small to mid sized shops can't make quality custom cabinetry and built-ins. It seems most shops have CNC machines and use them to cut crap MDF. It is up to customers to demand quality materials and hardware and negotiate a fair price. A good designer with some mad software skills can cut the costs down with less material waste and decreased production times. I know I would much rather build with solid wood or hi-ply, low void (aka Baltic birch) plywood! MDF just sucks on so many levels!
First project is absolutely hideous. Love Brent, but I wouldn’t sell that to a client. Been making custom cabinets and bookshelves for historic homes in NYC for 20 years.
The first time I've seen a video address these issues.Some really interesting material here & coming from the States you've been able to look @ the subject with fresh eyes.Your excitement is contagious.Well done!
These classical tropes were the products of the methods, tools and materials of their time. Recreating them now is no different from painting wood grain on a piece of plastic. That’s why they look so forced and fake in modern households. Don’t listen to hacks with systems that only venerate the achievements of others-achieve something yourself. This video is full of terrible advice for people who want to live their own life.
Another great job pointing out the simple, but profound design elements.
Yes sir!
Brent Hull video goes live time to grab a mug of tea and enjoy. Now I realize my free time over the next few weeks just got reduced as I am going to be upgrading my 2 year old self built walk through bookcase. At least I got the odd numbers right.
Nice! Have fun.
Cabinet maker in bismarck ND ever since I've seen the first video i watched of yours i have "longed to build better"
Nice. So glad to hear it.
Twenty years ago, when I remodeled my house the first time, I turned the wall between our living and dining spaces into a bookshelf with a doorway in the middle. But something about it has never looked quite right to me. Now I get it. It's all so uniform that the eyes don't know where to go. So, I guess I've got another project to add to my woodworking list. :)
Nice. Good luck.
At the end of the video, you perfectly defined the cabinet making niche I am trying to carve out. I will actually share this video with contractors to explain what I can offer!
Please do! Thx.
somebody who constructs things and also appreciates beauty is a very nice combo
Nice. THx.
Great tips with breaking it up into odd sections, and bumping out the middle to see the molding profiles mitered around the corners to stand out!
YES! Thx
Hope this helps?? Are you kidding!! This is pure gold, love the details you dig into, really appreciate you breaking out these details and showing where to put the focus, those were all beautiful examples, thanks again!
Awesome, thank you!
Great video. Which goes to show that the principles of great design stand the test of time.
So true. THx.
Could you please do a video on the why of mouldings? I understand the proportioning of the larger elements, and I think these rules apply well to simpler, more modern designs. But where did these decorative shapes come from and can they be separated from the larger proportioning rules and still produce a good design?
Ok, I think I've covered that, but can review again.
I absolutely love this video! I have been building cabinets and furniture for years. This is pretty much what I think about when designing my work. You articulated what is in my head better than I could.
Glad it was helpful! Thx
Thank you so much for this - a great guide about what to pay attention to. I’d love to hear about how to handle cabinetry when the house has ‘central’ focal point like a window or fireplace that is off center. Especially when the ratio isn’t a pleasing one - ex. one side isn’t 2/3 or half the width of the other, and when there’s both too much and too little difference to address it with adjusting trim work or adding a door/visual alternate to open shelving to explain that ‘extra’ space.
Those are just hard examples to fix perfectly. Trial and error.
Thank you for showing the last example, which brings the relevance of these concepts to situations where the space is more modest in sizing (ie 95% of the homes in the wild.)
The challenge doesn't seem to be finding or being a good cabinet maker, but finding or being a good designer. Too many people are motivated by driving the lowest cost at the sacrifice of quality, without realizing the quality that they are forgoing.
Totally agree! Thx.
love that you take as much enjoyment and interest from out interior architecture as you do with the US styles.
Yes, indeed! Thx.
Perfect timing! Great explanation on hierarchy and using the chair rail to define space. You’ve changed the way I think about pretty much everything I build.
Glad it was helpful! Thx!
Fantastic, so simple yet the details make all the difference. Got me thinking about where I can create bookshelves.
Nice. Have fun.
Thanks for sharing this! I have been dreaming of building a custom library with built-ins. Academia style! Lots of research and planning and these tips are very helpful. 💯❣️
Glad it was helpful!
As always, fantastic.
Thank you! Cheers!
Great discussion. Really enjoyed this video and your presentation style. New sub.
Nice, thanks for following along.
Fabulous. Will add to my portfolio of bookshelf design principles.
Great! Thx.
I love the idea of "elevating with punctuation". Though the exclamation points on the shown cabinet may be a little too on the nose. 😉
I definitely picked up a couple of things, though, thank you.
Good luck!
Brent, I love your videos not only for the knowledge they give to me but also I often find proof in them of what I have already made .👍
Believe me or not but I have bult almost a similar library!
And now you are telling me that I built it correctly🤘
Many thanks 🤝
Excellent! Well done
Nothing has ever made more sense and I can’t believe I never put it together.
Glad to hear it. Thx.
Wonderful, I really enjoy your work. It's amazing how much thought, skill, and work can go into making something look simple.
So true! Thx.
We live in a 1930's Lutyens designed block of flats in Westminster. Built to replace slums after a major flood of the Thames, they sadly didn't have bookcases but ours had several original features such as a large kitchen bench which had a full sized cast iron bathtub underneath (there was no separate bathroom and the separate indoor toilet was seen as 'insanitary' by of the original tenants in the 1930s!)
Wow, so interesting. Thx.
outstanding as always --
Thank you!
Great video. Cool subject matter and extremely well put together. Nice job sir
Glad it was helpful! Cheers
Really good video, as always, thank you!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Fantastic video. Really appreciate you sharing the craft
My pleasure 😊
The fancy trim is impressive! Some of it, however, takes up so much room that fewer BOOKS can be stored, an important detail for book "stewards."
True! Thx.
This is quite an informative video.
Glad it was helpful!
@@BrentHull Thank you. I subscribed so I can see more of what you have available.
Wish you were in my neighborhood so I could persuade you to look at where I want to put custom cabinets. A recent guest suggested IKEA. No physical harm came to him but he’s off my Go To list for home improvement advice. I’ll rewatch this and consider my options anew. Very timely that it was in my feed.
haha, thx.
I want to see how you would address building bookcases with lower base cabinets projected from a wall that contains a centered fireplace surround with mantle and
pilasters.
There would be a lot of similarities. Thx.
Fantastic video of yours as always. Your knowledge and craftsmanship is amazing.
Thank you again for such great information. God bless 🙏
Thanks for watching.
I just stumbled onto your video while looking for bookshelf ideas. I like the first one and the last one. I will incorporate some of those ideas in my bookcase. Moldings, pilasters... cabinet on the bottom with heavier moldings for visual interest. Thanks for the ideas.
Glad it was helpful.
I'm glad I clicked on your video. I've seen this design in many Federalist houses and similar things in Monticello. This design goes beyond just bookshelves. I've seen it on the more interesting fireplaces/TV areas with built-ins on the side. Your video helped explain why this concept works and how to implement it in the future.
Very cool! Thx
I agree! I want to be better. Please keep teaching.
Will do! THx.
Inspiring video. Thanks for the info
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you for providing examples! I really like that full wall with just the bottom part sticking out.
I am fixing up a slightly modern house so I have to be more subtle with my classical touches or they wont fit with the spirit of the house haha
Got it. Good luck.
This is great stuff, for this of us in an area with very few historical homes this is solid gold. Any recommendations for books that really get deep into this subject?
Sadly, I don't know of any books that treat this subject. Maybe Jim Tolpin's book on cabinetry. Good luck.
As I sit in my 25 year old production track house I see a lot of missed opportunity in the cabinet department...😊... I guess I know what I'm going to be doing in retirement besides gardening....
YES! Have fun.
Love the video, clicked on it as soon as I saw it. Could this be applied to a wall with a fireplace with bookshelves on either side? How would the pedestal/chair guard work?
I’d also like to know this, that would help me a lot with my living room…
Absolutely, it works throughout the house. Thx.
Have the fireplace and mantle be the bump out in the middle. If there’s a design similarity (same routed edge, etc) carried through the pedestals and the mantle, that helps give a sense of connectedness to the horizontal pieces, even if they are not directly connected.
Nice 👍
Thank you! Cheers!
You didn’t mention the two considerations I wrestle with most often: shelf depth and vertical spacing. Tricky planning for current collection and what might be added. Once upon a time (in the world of paper manuals) my US company was sold to a UK company. Edict came down: all manuals will be A4 - not 8.5 by 11. We shot that down by pointing out our customers would need new book cases and we couldn’t afford A4 binders and paper.
Interesting. Thx.
When I built my bookcases with lower cabinets, I looked for my widest and
tallest books. This coupled with sliding door track hardware determined
my bookcase depth of 12-3/4 from the backside of the faceframe.
As a cabinet maker in Australia. This is the type of work I want to get into. I do FAR to much cheap work. Even on commercial retail work.
Do it! Please. We need better cabinets.
I hope everyone here realizes this man is doing the lord’s work. He is passing down invaluable knowledge that is being lost by the second.
Nice. Thanks.
I'm curious about the painting on that last one - the way the top of the lower portion is stained, but the rest is painted. Is mixing painted and stained parts something that was done much historically? My dining room table is like that, but I thought that was just a trend from the last 15 years or so. I've been kicking around the idea of doing something like that with the built-in in my living room, too.
Im under the impression that stain grade vs paint grade wood is also there to depict the hierarchy of the room. Painted is a cheaper wood & often in areas for “the help”.
Maybe for the middle class that could afford only hardwood benchtops🤷🏼♂️
Until 1900, there was no stain grade wood. It was all painted.
Well, it is all for inspiration, so have fun with it. At the same time, it is just the counter top that is stained, which I like. Good luck.
@@thetubekid Look at late Victorian houses. Almost all of the woodwork is stained.
@@marvinhaines9297 Thats roughly 1900. I guess late 1800s but I was rounding my years.
On Webb's Stanton house (5.55), if I'm not mistaken both 'A' and 'B' sections are subdivided into even segments (2 for A section, 4 for B section) which is counter to one of your guiding principles to having an odd number of sections. Does this not carry through to the subdivisions too?
No, look again. Thx.
You’re right, but the overall number of sections is odd. 7 total, with 3 in the middle. His point was that there should not be a column on the centerline.
You point out exactly what i have been trying to elevate my workmanship towards, and that is individuality. I belive it is the cornerstone of being a cabinetmaker. There is no place in quality for MDF, you don't equate "highend" cabinets with inferior products, and there is no white, green, or blue paint to be found in such work ( unless its a hand painted artist scene). I blame the advent of assembly line, ready to assemble, Ikea style flat packed merchandising, as the culprit, because ease, and convenience, and above all, cost. Image Chipindale employing a CNC...his work was not about production, it was about style. Quick rant
I love it! Keep reaching!
@BrentHull Really appreciate you taking the time to share the vastness of your personal tuturage, and hours of dedication to what is undoubtedly a river of passion running through your veins. Must give thanks to @FinishCarpentryTV for sharing his secret weapon. 😀
What I wouldn’t give to be this man’s apprentice. He’s a Demi-God.
hahah
Did you notice that each of your three points act along a different axis? Odd numbers goes horizontally, the classical sections go vertically, and bump outs happen in depth.
Thx for sharing.
What happened to Wednesday's design video? I'm jonesing Brent!
Haha, coming soon. Vacation gap.
@@BrentHull oh! Good for you! Have a great time: you deserve it after all your labors in the service of beauty. Can't begin to tell you how grateful I am.
😊 👍🏻
THx!
A lot of cabinet makers today are kitchen fitters. Any real cabinet makers that exist today are probably working on studio furniture projects that cost a fortune.
Noted. Thx.
The CNC machine not responsible for bad cabinets
It is in the sense, that it forces makers to be reliant on the CNC machine for speed, which reinforces design conformity. Cabinet vision software and the CNC means all production cabinets are the same.
lol- any cabinet makers in the dfw area that could work like Brent mentions, feel free to reply to this comment
Word! Thx
I am in Ohio and prefer to do traditional cabinet details with modern features in my cabinetry. If there ever would be a need please feel free to reach out. www.perioddesignscompany.com Thank you.
Every inch of my cabinets are hand made and I am slower than a dead car in a race! If I give you cabinets they are my cabinets ! I am having a hard time letting someone build my drawers ? I wake up thinking on it ! Now a cabinet maker is really a computer button pusher ! In flip flops ?
So True. Keep up the great work.
@@BrentHull thanks Brett that means a lot coming from you!
I took a tour of Kraftmaid Cabinets for a job interview. I was not at all impressed,
everything was fastened with Staples and Hot Snot. The assembly department
was a real sweatshop.
@@petemclinc yes; your better off just working in a small space and handcrafting your Cabinets ! Bespoke Cabinetry is great!
I support myself doing finish carpentry and cabinets ! I am not (or hv a large enough space to do full kitchens) so I do lots of vanities, one offs, built ins, things like that !
It’s a passion I am not rich but I live a rich life , my faith and my carpentry ! I can do it !
may we all find customers that will commission us to produce casework like this.
Amen. Thx.
Wondering what you think of the cabinets in this farmhouse where General Lee’s horse Traveler was bred:
ruclips.net/video/YyTe092RXXQ/видео.htmlsi=r3JXNMp8Vi0nB2xT
I'll check it out. Thx.
In this day and age, there is no reason small to mid sized shops can't make quality custom cabinetry and built-ins. It seems most shops have CNC machines and use them to cut crap MDF. It is up to customers to demand quality materials and hardware and negotiate a fair price. A good designer with some mad software skills can cut the costs down with less material waste and decreased production times. I know I would much rather build with solid wood or hi-ply, low void (aka Baltic birch) plywood! MDF just sucks on so many levels!
So true. Thx for sharing.
It was moving and beautiful for its time. It’s time to take what’s timeless and move on. Today, it looks like shit
ok
First project is absolutely hideous. Love Brent, but I wouldn’t sell that to a client. Been making custom cabinets and bookshelves for historic homes in NYC for 20 years.
ok thx.
The first time I've seen a video address these issues.Some really interesting material here & coming from the States you've been able to look @ the subject with fresh eyes.Your excitement is contagious.Well done!
Lutyens definitely did some idiosyncratic designs.
These classical tropes were the products of the methods, tools and materials of their time. Recreating them now is no different from painting wood grain on a piece of plastic. That’s why they look so forced and fake in modern households.
Don’t listen to hacks with systems that only venerate the achievements of others-achieve something yourself. This video is full of terrible advice for people who want to live their own life.
ok, thx for sharing.
This is an ugly example lol
Haha.