The Kitchen: Prep Work

I’ve decided that my project for while Tom is in Miami is the kitchen. I can’t live with exposed ceiling drywall and holes in the wall for much longer, never mind the dented and scratched cabinet doors. Usually I do something to surprise him but this was too big a job and I had to start prepping before he left.

There was prep for the cabinets; filling wood, cracks and nail holes

Prep of the walls and ceiling; patching the drywall

Prep of the cabinet doors; filler and sanding

Picking new paint colours

Buying new hardware

And know we know: prep takes a while, but makes a major difference

The Table Progresses, The Mirror Frame Progresses

Well the damn mirror broke as I was trying to get the frame off. Sucks.

But the new frame is progressing well; I worked on sanding the pieces this weekend. I guess I need to buy a frameless round mirror…hopefully a cheap one is out there waiting to be found by me (although I am not the type to go to multiple stores, so likely a trip to Ikea will be in my near future)

The end table is assembled and ready to be sanded.

And know we know: it is not as easy as it looks to remove a frame from a mirror when it is glued in place.

Building a Table For My Parents: Part 2, Drawer Problems

First attempt at drawers: drawer slides: 1, me: 0. I was unsure of how tightly the box should fit inside the cavity, so assembled all of the table except the top and then measured with the slides in place for the drawer box. After attaching the slides to the box and cavity, the drawer was sliding really poorly, you had to really put some muscle into opening and closing it. Thinking it was too tight, I shaved 1/8” off each side, put the slides back on and tried again. It still didn’t run smoothly.

I did some research on the net, downloaded the CAD file for the slides and poked underneath various drawers in peoples houses. Finally after a lot of thought, I realized the piece of the slides attached to the inside of the table were on upside down and should be switched with the other side. I reversed them and the drawer runs perfectly.

And now we know: drawer slides should come with instructions, apparently it is not self-evident which way is up.

Building a Table For My Parents (& a Mirror Frame)

My mum has been hinting that she would like an end table for a narrow spot at the end of the sofa. After all the support my parents have given us in the past 2 years, I thought building her one would be a nice thank you surprise. Also it would be a good way to try building my first drawer!

The plans are simple to match the existing Teak mid-century furniture in the space:

At the same time I started cutting wood for a new mirror frame. I got a mirror for $5 at a garage sale, but the frame is broken and a little traditional for my taste.

The new design is a variation on a sunburst mirror, with radials of alternate thickness of wood; 1/2” and 1”.

And now we know: mirror frames are an easy project to sneak into the lineup as they require minimal amounts of wood. Also the cat wants to be in every photo taken in the house.