Entertainment Cabinet, Bed Ladder and Kitchen Shelves...Woohoo!

We have been suffering from some seriously wet days here in Georgia.  Seems like it's rainy all the time.  We have managed to get some stuff done.  We have been making Tiny more comfortable to stay in.  Running water and a coffee pot was a huge step, but what about when it's time to relax?  So, we decided it was time to move the sofa in.  Once we had that in place, we needed to get our new tv and get our entertainment cabinet built.

We bought a 32 inch flat screen.  It looked normal size in the store but in the tiny house, it looks HUGE!  When you're sitting only 7 feet away roughly...small is much bigger than you would think.  We got a new small blu-ray player as well...move time!!! :D

We wanted to house the tv in a cabinet that had a small storage area and had a fold down table attached as well.  Two in one kinda deal.  So, the Hubby got busy!  We used poplar and left over plywood.  Poplar because it really does look great stained.

We built the cabinet to fit perfectly around the tv.  There's enough room on the sides to put a standard 32inch in, in case we have to replace the one we have at any time.  There's enough room under it for the remotes.  Then we added a second shelf to hold a few boxes for odds and ends.  

Side view. 

 
We wanted the front of the cabinet to match with our other doors in the house.  Since the front is really a solid piece of plywood that folds down into our table, we decided to make fake doors on the front, Shaker Style. 

We cut the pieces to make the fake door.  We wanted to cover the ugly edge of the plywood so we beveled the edges of the trim pieces.

Laying the pieces out on the plywood to make sure they all match up smoothly.

You can see here how the pieces go past the edge of the plywood. The side ones will butt up flush to this beveled edge.

Better shot of the beveled edge.

Adding the edge band.

Gluing the table/fake door together and letting it dry.  Hubby learned a great trick to keep the glue from oozing out the cracks and showing in the stain.  Painters tape, that way you wipe it off the tape and it never touches the wood.  Genius, no??  :)

Front side.  

We added a wider shelf on the top to hold the blu-ray player and antenna. We drilled a hole in the back of the shelf to allow cords to go behind the tv.  We wired in a outlet strip directly to our on/off switch.  This allows us to kill the power completely to the devices so they don't pull a phantom load.  Even when off, your tv and such pulls power.  This is called a phantom load.  The outlet strip is mounted behind the tv so all the devices can be plugged in out of sight. 

We also added some slide catches to hold it up when we want to cover the tv.  We inlaid the catch plates into the bottom of the shelf.  The two pieces that stick down from the bottom of the cabinet are to keep it from swinging further back and hitting the wall or breaking the pins.  This is where the swing out legs will be to support the table in the upright position, once we get them made, that is. 

The table folded down.  It actually lays down flat but the stack of wood is holding it out at an angle.  

We made some hinge plates out of old steel and set them into the wood.  The are held in place by a bolt that allows for the table to hinge up and down.  The Hubby even rounded the edges so it's all nice and smooth.  There is a slight lip on the edge of the table.  Hubby added this for me when I am beading and such to keep things from rolling off...how considerate! 

So there's our entertainment cabinet!  I love how well it turned out.  The tv is a great size for the space.  We are enjoying being able to relax at night after a hard days work and watch movies..sitting on the sofa, not on lawn chairs!

Next up...our ladder to our bed.  We've been using a step stool...which is kinda tricky for me. It's not quite tall enough for me so I have to do this weird heave motion to get into bed.  It's funny to watch, so says the Hubby.  Also, at night, it's tricky to locate in the dark and I've come close to falling and busting my bum a few times.  I guess that would be amusing for the Hubby as well.  :)

Here's our ladder.  I don't have a lot of construction pics but I'll try to explain it well.  We used framing 2X4s that we planned down to size. The ladder was made on a slant and we added rubber tread on the bottom to keep it from sliding when you step on it.  The steps are inset into the side supports for extra support, other than just matching flush to them.  We glued and screwed the ladder together, using our beloved Kreg's Jig.

We used pipe as the attachment support.  We made some metal U shaped hooks that screw to the back of the ladder.  You can remove it and put it out of the way if you need to.  This keeps it firmly in place when in use also.  The reason one side rail is higher than the other is simple...it's to allow me to find the ladder in the dark and not break my bum!  Another considerate move on the Hubby's part.  I can find it with my foot in the dark with no issues!  :)

So, there you have it..our ladder.  It will be stained the same cabernet color the bed is...just not gotten that done yet.  And you can see my red wooden flying dragon matches the bedroom colors perfectly!


Now...kitchen shelving!  I wanted some of those metal bar shelves they sell on Ikea's website but none where the right size!  Frustrating, until my wonderful Hubby said he could make me some out of wood and conduit!  Yay!  Again, no construction pics.

Here's the one over the sink counter.  It spans the whole length and is solid!  The conduit runs through holes drilled into each of the wooden supports.  They are screwed directly into studs in the wall.  Very sturdy.  And they match the electrical piping already in place!  :D  We will be painting the wooden supports the same green as the cabinet trim. 

The nice thing is, I don't need curtain rods now either.  The conduit is close to the wall so I can hand my curtains from the one closest to the wall with some cafe curtain clips.  I'm currently looking for some neat tea towels or vintage looking hand towels to use as curtains.

The shelf over the other counter.  We also extended this one over the fridge and added a second shelf.  Its all one piece so it's very sturdy as well.  Made just like the other one and fastened to studs.

Again, same idea for curtains on this side as well.  The binders house our extensive movie collection.  We are about ready for a fifth binder!

The one over the fridge will house our dishes and glasses.  I plan to have some plexi-glass cut to size, so the they have a solid surface to sit on.  It will still give the appearance of being an open space.

So, that's what we have been up to lately.  We were glad to get a few smaller projects done during the rainy season here.  Next up....PROPANE!!!  Yes!!  I'm very excited to finally have gas!! Hehe... ;)