Part 3.5 of a Kitchen Unit for my Mum

Only 3.5 as the only work I got done this week was gluing together the pieces I already cut and jointed! Since I only have so many clamps (and we were in Montreal for most of the weekend) I clamped a piece, left it for an hour, clamped the next, and so on.

The top is looking good; all the edges are in place except the angled piece along the front.

And now we know: I’m definitely going to need another of those large orange clamps for when I install the unit

Part 3 of a Kitchen Unit for my Mum

Progress on the kitchen unit continues and this weekend was all about preparing the pieces for assembly. My Mum wants a natural pine look, which means no stain or paint and no visible fasteners. I find even wood filler can be noticeable in a natural finish. To that end, I decided to use dowel joints for all the visible areas. The backs and bottom I took the easy route using screws and pocket joints.

First thing, I drilled all the dowels for the face frames and the trim around the top. Since the face frames overhang each side of the gables by ¼” it took some creativity with the dowel jig to get the holes in the right locations. I ended up forgoing the attached clamps for my own and measuring all the locations. This was time consuming but effective and 95% of my holes lined up on the first try. 

Once all the vertical pieces of the trim were jointed, I cut the horizontals to trim out the bottom shelf. Everything is cut to size and in place but I now have to go back and glue it all piece by piece. 

For the top I’ve been having some issues getting the 2 pieces of pine to fit together nicely while fitting onto the piece. It took much more adjusting than I though it would. I finally got it almost right, drilled the dowels and glued the joints. I guess we’ll see next weekend if it still fits nicely on the unit.

The pieces to trim out the top are 1” pine by 1 ¼” and I wanted it to be consistently wide all the way around. In order to achieve this on the ends, I rountered out a groove so it sits properly on the gable yet is still the right width at the ends.

I also ran into some frustration with my table saw; it only cuts up to 24” width. Usually I can work around it, cutting the negative side between the guide and blade, but this time the wood wasn't straight at both ends. I ended up building a little extension piece for the saw, this was not super effective or as accurate as I would have liked.

And now we know: I need to either find extensions for my table saw or invest in a new circular saw. Mine is old and heavy, leading me to not be very comfortable using it, so I don’t!

Part 2 of a Kitchen Unit for my Mum

Much like the kitchen cabinets, I plan on building a base of 2x4’s for the pine unit to sit on. I like this method of construction as it is easier to level the base then install the rest and it also creates a nice toe kick area. Unfortunately the 2x4’s were none too straight, leaving me to cut strategically and waste a lot of wood. I hate that! 

For trimming out the front, I cut 1” thick pine boards into 1 ¼” strips. From there I cut them to size for the vertical stiles along the front. These will also be cut to trim out the top surface. The top pieces are just resting on top for now, as are the stiles, everything still needs to be jointed and glued.

And now we know: triple check 2x4’s I guess, I thought they were all straight when I examined them in the store.

Triming Out the Kitchen Shelves

The kitchen shelves have been sitting with the particle board exposed since October and it’s pretty ugly.

I had lofty goals of creating custom trim with my router table…but the realities of time and the relative unimportance of this trim made me realize this was not my best idea. So I bought trim, 1.5” thick to cover the edge and the supports. It took a couple of hours to cut it down, glue it and nail it in place. 

The biggest difference (to me at least) is the pantry, where all those shelves are all together.

And now we know: I should focus my time on the important stuff, instead of trying to create something you can buy cheaply! 

Part 1 of a Kitchen Unit for my Mum

For years my mum has wanted a unit to clean up the corner of her kitchen, with cubbies for baskets and shoes. I've been refining the plans for over a year, I just couldn't get them to a point I was happy with. After reducing the number of baskets it would hold, the plans are finalized.

It’s a corner unit with 3 towers for cubbies, angled corner section and a bench next to the door. 

Recently laminated pine sheets were on special, so we bought enough for the unit. This weekend I cut them down and drilled the pocket holes.

For the cubbies, I decided to do adjustable shelves and bought little shelf supports that fit into ¼” holes. This meant drilling lots and lots of holes. I used pegboard clamped to the pine to align the holes, then drilled each with a bit marked for depth with tape. 

Once everything was cut and the holes were drilled, I began the assembly of the boxes. This is the 2 cubbies on the right side of the unit, they will each have 2 shelves and the bench will be on the right of these.

This is the corner section and the left hand cubby. The unit will stay in 2 pieces like this until I get it to my parents house, otherwise it will not fit in the car or through doorways.  Next to do is cut the top to fit, create a base for it to sit on and get some nice wood to trim out the front.

And now we know: after I rolled sandpaper into tubes and painstakingly sanded each hole for the shelf supports, I realized that this would have been a great use for my Dremel. So next time I have a hundred holes to sand I have a plan.

Our New Barstools

We got our new barstools for the kitchen peninsula.

They are super comfortable and just the right size. I’m really happy with them. 

And now we know: It’s great having somewhere to sit in the kitchen; I want that in all future kitchens

Putting on the Sofa Back

Another of those things I never got around to was putting the back back on the front room sofa. I took it off back in July when I modified the top rail. Since it sits against a wall, no one notices so it was never that important.

I re-used the fabric and added some cardboard along the top and both side to reinforce it a little. Easy enough to do.

And now we know: another thing off the list! I think I might be nearing the start of a new project…