Thursday, March 12, 2015

Bedroom Cabinet Doors

This past weekend we were able to get the cabinet doors finished and put in place.  We seem to always have a few small things left to finish on areas we consider done for the most part.  I'm sure a lot of builds are like this.  You are eager to move on to the next step and think, "Oh, that can be done later".  When you finally do finally finish the little things, it feels amazing!  Getting the doors done was like that for me. 



Grooves cut into the trim boards to accept the plywood panels and to join the ends together.  All this was done with the table saw. 






 




Checking the joint fit.  So far so good.











Gluing the sections together. 











Clamping the doors together to let the glue set and keep all the joints nice and tight. 









We used the same stain we used on the bed and the cabinets.  We also used the same wood, poplar on the trim boards so the stain would match.  Ronnie applying the polyurethane sealant.








Sitting out in the little sun we got to dry.  Looking good! 
















We attached the doors to the clothing cabinets with hinges.  They close well and we used some little rubber bumper dots to keep them from slamming against the wood.  Allows them to shut pretty quiet as well. 










For the bigger doors that cover the utility closet, we did something a little different.  We wanted to be able to completely remove the doors to do maintenance and work in the small cabinet, so we created some metal brackets that slide into place and hold the doors on. 



Here is a drawing of the brackets we made. 












We bought some flat steel pieces.  Ronnie measuring a bracket.












Cutting the piece to size.









Bending the bracket.  We clamped it off at the edge of where the bend needs to be then hammered it over.










Only 7 more to go!  Once we got them all bent we used grinder to smooth the edges.  We then drilled out the screw holes needed.










And here's the brackets in place. 














You slide the top brackets in place and then pull downward to fit the bottom ones over the bottom lip of the cabinet. 














There they are, in place.  They fit nice and snug.  No rattle! 











And there we have it.  Cabinet doors are done and the bedroom area woodwork is done!  Finally!  And I love it!  I think the Hubby did a fantastic job building the doors.  I love the 3 panel door design so much better than typical cabinet doors.  :) 









 We have started sleeping in the tiny house when we work on it.  Since the bedroom area is done and we have our new mattress in place, why not?  We had been staying in the guest quarters at our friends place, where Tiny is parked but they have a guest for a few months staying there.  We don't have the plumbing done just yet so we have to make the walk up to the main house to shower and such.  I spent my first night in the house Saturday after we worked all day and boy did that bed sleep good! 



Good morning!
Looking out the window while sitting in bed. 










Our bedroom fans.  They are pretty quiet and we can control the speeds which is nice.  They cover the bed area really well.  Should work wonderfully in the summer. 









Now all we need is a coffee pot in here so I can roll out of bed and grab a cup! 









So, that's what we have been up to.  We will be moving on to the rest of the kitchen build soon.  Getting our plan together.  We ordered our stove and small washing machine and are waiting on them to come in.  It seems that everything is falling into place slowly and I love how things are turning out.  We have some neat ideas for things to come and are eager to see how they work out.  Thanks for reading and please leave us some comments, let us know what you think!  :)








Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Kitchen Cabinet Work Has Begun!

I am so excited to say that we have started work on the kitchen!  I have been looking forward to this part for a while now!  To see how the kitchen would come together.  Looking at it on paper and imagining it in your head just doesn't give you a true feel of the space.  I can't wait to see it completely finished!

The weather has been rather mental here.  Rain several days then freezing temps and the threat of ice.  Then up in the low 60's the next day!  We were able to get the sink cabinet build, minus the doors but it seems like a huge accomplishment. 

We built our cabinets a bit narrower and taller than normal.  They are 38 inches tall and 21 inches wide. We both hate how short normal counters are so we made ours to fit us. :-)

Here's what the space looked like before we built the cabinet.  
  Lining everything up.  Trying to get it all square.

We used cabinet grade plywood 1/2inch thick.  We used the Kreg Jig to hide all the screw holes we could.  The main ones are inside the center cabinet under the sink.  


Cabinet in place and screwed down.  We also used wood glue on all the pieces.  As we say, it's glued and screwed!


Me painting the inside.  Went with a hi-gloss white for easy cleaning and reflecting light. 

This color scheme is one of my favorites.  I fell in love with these vintage kitchen utensils as a child and the colors have been my favorite choice for a kitchen since.  I was just glad that the Hubby liked the colors as much as I did. The cabinets will be done in the creamy yellow color with the door trim in the green. 


Me painting the outside. 
 
 Laying the tiles out to get them evenly spaced.  We used tile board underneath and for the backsplash.  We are using 4 inch white tiles for a classic look.  The edge pieces are slightly raised to keep water from running off the edge of the counter. 

Setting the tiles in mastic.  


Tiles grouted.

And there she is.  Sink and faucet in place!  We got our sink from Ikea for $80.00 and the faucet was $88.00 from Home Depot.  It's made by Glacier Bay.  It has the pull down sprayer and is really nice. Most of the faucets we looked at ran from $150 and up.  I was extremely happy to find one I liked under $100! 

So, there you have it.  One side built.  We will be making the doors very soon.  Then, on to building the other counter that will go between the fridge and the stove.