Walnut Blanket Chest
millerseth Jul 10, 2019
I built this blanket chest for my own living room and the surprising number of blankets that have made their way into our house. It was definitely time to organize them! The chest is made from walnut and features a couple sets of book matched panels with a ton of figure on the front of the chest. The frames of the front and sides have a slight curve on the top, as well as along the base of the chest. The top features a curved front giving the lid a good hand hold to open it up, as well as a couple of sliding dovetail supports to keep the lid flat over time.
You can find me on Instagram @eastoakww
The videos of the build can be seen below:
#blanketchest #walnut #toybox
This was the start of the project. The four legs all received a simple taper on their inner two sides
Assembly of the base
Dry fit of the front and rear frames
The two book-matched front panels before finish. I initially debated if I should use these two panels. I'm so glad I did!
Dry fit of the front
Assembly of the case
The two lid supports here actually turned out to be a challenge of their own. They come as a set, but both opened in the same way, instead of mirrored to work for each side. Luckily after taking them apart I saw that it was possible to reverse the internals and make them work the way I intended. Also here you can see the under-lid supports. These are just to make sure that the lid stays flat over time.
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Beautiful work, Seth! I love everything about the blanket chest. The color of that walnut and the finish made it pop! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Sean! I was pretty happy with the way that grain popped once I got the finish on it. Funny, because I tried something new this time, hated it, and redid the finish. Whatever works I guess.
@Sean said:Beautiful! Have you considered cedar lining the chest? I have an issue with closet moths and have lost a lot of nice wool suits so I am particularly fond of the cedar. Also do those supports have "soft shut"?
Thanks! I considered cedar lining, but decided against it. This piece sits right in the living room and gets a lot of use, so we'd see any critter or bug that made it in there. We also don't have a moth problem in this area, so I decided to go with a zero VOC finish that wouldn't make any of the blankets smell (Rubio) and left it as it.
The supports don't have a soft shut, just a support feature. I would have preferred soft shut, but I didn't find any I like.
@WoodGate said: