Vinyl is in!
Well, we use to call them “records”. As a young girl my sister and I would dance to Helen Ready singing “I Am Woman Hear Me Roar” into our hairbrushes and in college there were plenty of dance parties to Wham! and Boy George. Okay, I’ll admit it, calling the record “vinyl” is much cooler.
My clients are avid vinyl collectors and when I started on the project, they were stacked up all over the Dining Room with more in storage. As we were in the Discovery Phase of design, my clients expressed that they wanted the traditional New Englander home opened up as much as possible. We can open up walls wherever people want but it usually involves adding a beam with vertical point loads carry down to the footings in the foundation. The way that this old house was framed meant that we really wanted at least one-point load in the middle of the wall to distribute the weight from the roof valley above.
So, my suggestion was to tackle two design needs in one – create a structural vinyl wall. Why not!
I decided to divide the space in three equal parts in order to create two-point load posts. This width then determined the height of the shelves in order to create equally spaced open cubes for a functional modern look.
The walnut is a carry through from the kitchen and adds a warm richness to the concept. The beam and posts are all walnut veneer.
Instead of adding outlets to the wall, there is a grommet hole behind the record player and the outlet is in the cabinet behind it which is covered by a door.
As a side note, these clients inspired me to buy a record player for my Rocky Bay Home project. For Valentine’s Day I surprised my sweetheart with a Frank Sinatra record (his favorite). And you bet…I bought my Helen Ready record months ago! So excited!