2nd Bedroom Closet Re-Fit

A couple of months ago, when we had the second bedroom empty to work in the attic, I did some work on the closet. Before it had a weird pole running the wrong way, front to back instead of right to left, just like the master bedroom used to.

I took out the pole, added some bracing and hung a new rod right to left. 

Above the rod I added some supports for a shelf, the tricky part being the angled wall and cutting the piece to fit there. At the time I didn’t have a piece of wood for the shelf and so this was left unfinished.

Finally I got back to it and started by priming the entire closet. I added the shelf and trimmed it out at the front with a piece of pine. It turned out a little thicker than I would normally make a shelf, as I used thicker support pieces and wanted to cover the ends of those.

Then I put on a coat of white paint on everything; walls, shelf, trim and door to the attic. It’s a big improvement, both in functionality and appearance.

And now we know: what I wish I knew was why they installed the bars like that in the first place, it’s not in the least functional and entirely possible to orient them properly.

Kitchen Shelf and Face Frame

Along with my trim painting, I did some patching of the face frame on one of the kitchen cabinets. This area around the microwave has always bothered me, there was a small gap in the frame that I never got around to filling.

I finally cut the little piece of wood, patched and painted it. Big improvement...that no one else will notice, but still glad it’s done.

In the cupboard above I decided to add a partial shelf, all sorts of stuff was being put on the cutting boards making it hard to get them out and put them away.

Using ¾” particle board with a laminate finish and ¾” oak strips as support I built in a partial shelf. The edges and trimmed out in thin oak strips as well.

Now that it is patched and painted, it looks like it’s always been there. Functionally it’s made a big difference aswell.

Finally, I got a pretty new rug for the kitchen

And now we know: over a year later and I’m still finishing up those small things in the kitchen, there’s probably still more to come…

Door Frame Trim

When our house was built every room had a door. The doors on the main level are now gone, but the hinges holes and jambs remain as an unattractive reminder. Tom doesn’t even notice stuff like this, but it bothers me so I decided to patch them. 

I cut down some plywood and used it to fill in the jamb. Then I added strips of oak along the front to trim it out. 

Once it was patched, I covered the seams in wood filler, sanded and repeated this until it was smooth. 

Finally I put on a coat of primer and a couple of coats of paint.

I won’t bore you with photos of more white trim, but I did also finish painting the trim in the den, the powder room and the kitchen. Only 2 more doorways on the main floor and I am done painting all the trim...just in time for replacement of the back windows leading to more trim needing painting!

And now we know: for this door I used a layer of ¼” plywood with shims behind and nails through both. I think this might crack the wood filler over time, so for the next door I’m going to try using 2 layers of plywood, cut to the exact thickness so we’ll see how that method works.

Kitchen Drawer Organizer

Back in the summer I picked up some ¾”x3” beech shorts at the wood store with the intention of building a drawer organizer for the kitchen cutlery drawer, which always looks messy.

I ripped the beech down into 1/8”x3” strips and laid them out into the pattern I wanted. With some glue and very carefully placed nails, I built the new organizer.

I gave it a couple of coats of clear poly and put it into the drawer. Oh, and also installed this dark grey rubber matting stuff. 

It looks so sharp with the light wood and the dark grey. Also so organized! Now I want to do the other utensil drawer.

And now we know: It’s quite difficult to get a nail gun to shoot into 1/8” material, there is a lot of patience require to line it up perfectly every time cause there is no room for error.

Maple Cutting Board

For the past month, I’ve been working on making a cutting board for my Mum for Christmas. I started by cutting a bunch of rectangular maple blocks and gluing them together in a stepping pattern.

Once all the blocks were in place, I trimmed it down on the table saw so it was a nice rectangle shape.

After a good sanding, I routered 2 ¼” grooves around the edges.

Finally it got 3 coats of butcher block conditioner. That stuff really deepens the colour and makes it look rich. 

And now we know: the product for wood boards and counters is fun to use, it’s got the consistency of hair gel and you just rub it in

Webbing Part 2

First on the plan for this weekend was finishing the webbing on the seat. I ran 3 more strips on each, running side to side and woven with the previous 3 rows.

Then I cut out additional curved pieces for the lower back and screwed them in place. I left these to the end to allow space for the seat webbing install. The back of seat webbing will now be attached to this curved piece.

Next I started on the webbing for the back. Same as the seat, 3 strips in each direction, but because of the curve these were not woven. 

Finally I covered the chairs in fabric. This will help keep the foam in place and from falling through the gaps in the webbing. 

And now we know: leave a gap of at least 1” between the seat and the lower back piece. Some of them I installed with less of a gap, thinking it would look better when upholstered, but having webbing plus 2 layers of fabric going through there is very tight.

Webbing Part 1

As a little more reinforcement for the chairs, I added an angled piece to each corner of the seat. Easy enough to cut, make the pocket holes, glue and screw in place...until you realize that 8 chairs means doing it 32 times!

Next I got to start on the webbing. Earlier this year I ordered a huge roll online and had it shipped to my in-laws who brought it back for me.

I started with the seats and did 3 strips front to back on each chair. 

And now we know: the online place had great quality webbing, it’s really easy to work from the roll and just pull out a section as you go