|
Projects Journal
Page 1
This page updated:
Saturday, March 08, 2008
Projects
Journal Index:
Page 1 (Bedside
Table; Kitchen Cabinets)
Page
2 (Trivet; Writing
Desk; Trad. End Table; Lamp)
Page 3 (A&C
Coffee Table; TV Cabinet; Walnut Coffee Table; A&C End Table)
Page
4
(Walnut Hall Table; Granite
Top Mission Table; Mission Hall Table)
Page
5 (708 Style Writing Table) (Mission Trestle Table)
Page
6 (Arts and Crafts
Bench)
Page 7
(New Construction-2005
Kitchen)
Page 8
(Tool
Drawers; Stacked Tansu)
Page 9 (Plan
Rack; Door Restoration; Spice Rack; A&C House# Frame)
Page 10 (Craftsman
Chair Reproduction)
Page 11 (A&C
Kitchen Dining Set)
Page 12 (Cherry/Walnut
Hope Chest)
Page 13 (Mission
Sideboard)
Page 14 (Kitchen
Drawers; Calendar Frames)
Page 15 (Corner
Cabinet)
Page 16 (2008
Kitchen Project)
|
 Bedside Table
(Prototype)
My youngest
daughter and I did this one together in her sophomore year in high
school. It was her first design
attempt and is her own bedside table. We decided to do it in pine first
to see how she liked it before Dad sprung for the planned hardwood
version. A simple finish of one coat of Wood Conditioner, one coat
of MinWax oil based natural stain, and two coats of MinWax PolyCrylic
made the cheap pine look pretty good, so she decided to leave well
enough alone and keep the prototype.
|
Kitchen
Cabinets
September 2002 - Mostly finished and moved
to storage awaiting installation, I've spent the last couple of months designing and
building kitchen cabinets, drawers, doors and island for
our new house, to the exclusion of any new
projects. As that major endeavor draws to a close, it will be nice to have some room to move around in the shop
... at the moment, with too many cabinets for the size of the shop in various
stages of construction, there is not room enough to swing a push stick cat.
Front and back shots of the
two base cabinets that will make up the kitchen island. 42" X 41" X 34
1/2" each (yep, they should fit through the 35 1/2" back door), they
will be joined sided by side and hold two large slabs of granite we picked up at
an auction. Each cabinet has six drawers on one side and a 2 door cabinet on the
opposite side. SWMBO will decide before installation which size drawers she
wants side by side. For those who say you can't make it for what you can buy it,
total cost of the materials for these two cabinets, sans drawers, drawer fronts,
and doors, was less than $200 ... versus about $2400 for the sub-contractor bid island,
without the granite.
I will have considerably less than $1000 in the island by the time it is
installed, including the granite top.
The "wall"
cabinet, sans trim, that will sit on top of the dishwasher base cabinet. The
dishwasher base cabinet's bottom shelf is elevated 1 foot above finished floor
and has a drawer underneath. You can see the top plate of the dishwasher cabinet
in the photo. This combination is closest to the informal dining area and SWMBO wanted it
more "furniture like", so I made the doors to accept frosted glass
panes and the combination has more of a "hutch" appearance than the usual base and
wall cabinet look. The oak drawer front in the photo is a test piece for SWMBO's use in
decisions about the rest of the drawer fronts. I built the cabinet and doors
last Saturday (10/12) and have not figured its cost yet because it was made out of
leftovers from the rest of the kitchen project ... known as
"lagniappe" in South Louisiana where I come from.
The floors are finally in and all cabinets moved to the construction site
yesterday. I started installation today, 10/18/02, working by myself. The island
cabinets fit through the back door without problems, and the dimensions all
worked out to within 1/8" over a run of 26' ... I'll take that any
day. The long wall is out of level about 5/8" from floor to 84",
and there is a 1/4" drop from the high to lowest spot, all in all, should
be a piece of cake ... new constructions can be so much easier than a remodel.
Above are some shots with most of the cabinets roughed in ... my youngest
daughter dropped by after school to check on the progress.
Zeroing in on the finished kitchen. Finish applied (wood conditioner, oil
based Golden Oak stain, sanding sealer, lacquer top coat), doors, drawer fronts
and hardware installed. Some touch-up stain, glass in the doors of the
dishwasher cabinet top, and moving in the appliances is about all that's left.
Now, to get on with life...
20/20
Hindsight Department: On reflection, making the upper cabinets taller, and
varying the height (higher over the stove) of the top line of the long run of
cabinets, would have presented a more pleasing picture to my eye ... and I would
personally have preferred a bit darker finish, but was out voted.
Page 1
(Bedside Table; Kitchen
Cabinets)
Page
2 (Trivet; Writing
Desk; Trad. End Table; Lamp)
Page 3 (A&C
Coffee Table; TV Cabinet; Walnut Coffee Table; A&C End Table)
Page
4
(Walnut Hall Table; Granite
Top Mission Table; Mission Hall Table)
Page
5 (708 Style Writing Table) (Mission Trestle Table)
Page
6 (Arts and Crafts
Bench)
Page
7 (New
Construction-2005 Kitchen)
Page
8 (Tool
Drawers; Stacked Tansu)
Page 9 (Plan
Rack; Door Restoration; Spice Rack; A&C House# Frame)
Page 10 (Craftsman
Chair Reproduction)
Page 11 (A&C
Kitchen Dining Set)
Page 12 (Cherry/Walnut
Hope Chest)
Page 13 (Mission
Sideboard)
Page 14 (Kitchen
Drawers; Calendar Frames)
Page 15 (Corner
Cabinet)
Page 16 (2008
Kitchen Project)
Back
to home page
|
