mini grand server

I hit this sweet spot of too much time on my hands and rediscovering modeling. The modeling thing was triggered by my daughter's new dollhouse and the need for some random furniture (like a coffee table, dining table/chairs). All that time spent in the architectural studio as an undergrad shouldn't go to complete waste, right? Then I was shown a picture of this thing:

It's called the Grand Server, a mid-century kidney-shaped coffee table with a hidden bar inside. Are you kidding me? The gauntlet was thrown down.

Going to the hobby store was fraught with mild PTSD: standing in front of a wall of Zap glue options, fingering sheets and sticks of basswood and walnut, trying to remember which tools I kept and which ones I purged after abandoning design as a career. But, dear reader, I persevered and went to work to recreate the thing in approximately 1:12 scale. 

Behold, the rough draft basswood version.

I got lucky with soaking, bending, and clamping a strip of 1/64" birch plywood into the right shape. It looked anemic, though, in all basswood, but I didn't want to paint or stain it because I'm lazy. But apparently I'm more dumb than lazy. To avoid staining or painting, I remade the flat pieces in walnut. That ended up being way more work.

There are more pieces to come, but I'm starting a new job, boards are quickly approaching, blahblahblah. But mark my word: a full mid-century modern style dollhouse will be built by my OCD hands. 

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