Eco Industrial

This is a very cool project done by my great, and clearly crafty, friends, Matt and Erin.  I love the mix of industrial materials and wood. I am a huge fan of contrast, you just can't go wrong with it. Black and white, yes and no, hot and cold. Classic examples.  Kind of sounding like Katy Perry there.

Matt send me this picture below, asking what to do with all these pipes, and immediately, I thought of shelves, which is exactly what they were planning. Great minds definitely think alike.

Since this was a project done by Matt and Erin, I had some very serious questions for them.

Jena: So all in, about how much do you think this cost you? (Approx?)
 
Matt: $557.56

Jena: Breaking it down, what was the cost of the plumbing supplies?
 
Matt: ~$320.
 ¾” T’s, 90’s, Flanges, and of course.….6” and 12” nipples.
 Jena: Big nipples.  

A quick spray paint job turns these industrial plumbing pipes into something a little more.

Jena: What was the cost of the wood? 

Matt: ~$125
 Pine, pre-sanded, tongue and groove veneered.
 After much searching I selected veneered wood as it seems the most stable and least amount of prep time. It also provides an interesting look with all the random grain structures.

Jena: Well, it looks awesome, that searching paid off!

Lovely grains in the wood

Jena: What about paint & other stuff?

Matt: ~$110

Jena: What paint (and other stuff) did you use?

Matt:
 1 Coat - Minwax
Water Based Stain, White base with 7 shots of black.
 3 Coats - Varathane
Semi-Gloss Polyurathane
 2 Coats - Tremclad Gloss Black Spray Paint
(pipe)
 220 Grit Sandpaper
 Tack clothes
 Foam Brushes
 Staining 
     Sponges

Jena: Good to know, that lays it out well. Copy and paste. Shopping list done! So, where do I pick up the supplies? I mean, where did you pick up the supplies?

Matt:
 Plumbing -  Emco Supply
 Wood – Windsor Plywwod
 Paint & Others – Your local hardware store

Coming together nicely

Jena: How long did it take you? This includes beer drinking and breaks...

Matt: Probably about 40 man and lovely wife hours!

Jena: Any challenges?

Matt: Get yourself 4 hands and 2 less beers for assembly. 
 Years ago I swore I would never buy plastic anchors again. Purchase good wall anchors preferably made with metal components.  My first ones were plastic junk and blew apart….again.

Jena: Are there things you might do differently the next time?

Matt: Lights are always fun.  It would have been nice to run some wiring through the piping
and have overhung accent lighting on the books. It can still be done ;) 
Because it is 9 feet high, with all the arms are cantilevered, it could have been anchored to
the wall somewhere in mid-shelf.  A good engineer would have done a free-body diagram and figured this out first!

Jena: Any Tips? 
Matt:  Make sub-assemblies like in the photo. Final assembly will be much easier with less
chance of wrecking walls and floors.

Make sub-assemblies. Great tip!

Jena: That's a great tip, I probably would have thought of doing that after I finished putting it all together and my walls needed patching.  Any other tips?

Matt: Purchase all the gas fittings from one supplier to keep the  assembly consistent (they are all NPT thread but the length varies) On a smaller shelf, to save some $, you could use ½ piping. Measure,  measure, measure…….measure! I have about a hundred more tips but I don’t want to ruin the excitement of your own build.

Jena: So after it was all finished, what was your favourite part about it all? It obviously looks really great!

Matt:  I love learning how to do stuff. This was my first wood working attempt and it turned out as envisioned.

Jena: Your first?! I'm impressed. Clearly, it comes pretty natural to you. Is there anything else for next time?

Matt:  If it was a center piece, display shelf, or focal point of a room, I would introduce different shelf spacing. This would provide a home for the mixture of art, televisions, flowers, and storage boxes we all have.

Jena: That would be really cool, I just might have to either try it out or just get you to make me one! What was your inspiration for this project?

Matt: I finally remembered what my inspiration was…..the always overpriced ($1928.69 USD) and often under constructed Crate and Barrel shelf (pictured below). I almost knocked it over
checking the price tag so how could I ever put books on it?

Beckett Shelving Unit by Crate and Barrel

Jena: Sorry, Crate and Barrel! Looks like handcrafted wins out! This has definitely given me an idea for a piece I'd love to have in my living room! You guys did a great job, and I can't wait to see it in person!

The masterpiece!

Huge thanks to Matt and Erin for sharing this project with me, and
I look forward to seeing more! Stay tuned....

Any projects you have that you'd like to share on my blog? Let me know!
And thanks again for reading!

Jena xo