For the past couple of weeks I've discussed the custom alder storage armoire we built based on two inspiration photos from interior designer Suzie Hall of Cornerstone Interior Design.

Construction started on the armoire by tackling the upper cabinet first. Then with the upper cabinet built and finished, it was time to turn our attention to the armoire base. We began by building the platform that the upper cabinet sits upon and then after the top was trimmed out, we began laying out the leg and stringer assembly.

With the stringer glued and sized, it was time to bring the legs, stringer, and top of the base together. We accomplished this by using a 1.25″ diameter oak closet rod as a dowel and drilling holes in the pieces to accept the dowel. The dowel that connects the feet, stringer, and legs actually passes completely through the stringer, thus making the lower connection as rock solid as possible.

With the final sanding completed, we stained the entire base almost pitch black. We used a thinned-out black stain concentrate and just brushed it on and wiped it off.

The beauty of using a thinned-out black stain, as opposed to a black paint, is that the stain, while darkening the wood, still allows the wood grain to show through, and gives the color some variety by staining darker or lighter, depending on the wood surface.

The final armoire was installed in the clients house, complete with handles and strap hinges!