The house owners are proud of their cottage, which dates from before 1880. In the living room is a stone fireplace that occupies one wall and a window seat that also has the stone exposed.

The alcove was completely lined, including the back, with wood which was painted white. They felt that this did not make the most of the feature.

I removed the old shelves and cleaned and stained the beautiful beam that was revealed.

I obtained oak in 1 and 1.5 inch thicknesses and fitted it together with a tongue and groove joint to achieve the width required. Alas, with modern seasoned wood such a width would be unlikely to remain flat. I made rounded support brackets for the shelf ends.  

I stained and wax polished the shelves. The owners asked for the beam to be left as found, not polished, in order to match the beam over the fireplace.   

When a visitor enters their living room, the passage way points directly towards this alcove. Therefore the change from the old painted white shelves, within the white wallpaper, was very worthwhile. Also, they have a good place for their favourite ornaments.

Made and sold in February, 2005.