Lincoln Myers
12-23-2004, 12:46 PM
Apologies in advance for the wordiness of this post...
This does not in any way qualify for 'fine woodworking' but, it was a fun project that turned out well and gives us a lot more storage space in the kitchen.
The 'project' started when my wife decided that we didn't have enough storage space in the kitchen... she decided that about 3 years ago. The 'actual project' started just after this Thanksgiving.
In the existing space, there was a lower cabinet a small counter piece on top, and an upper cabinet.
I tore these out and framed in a small room for the pantry. The door is an 18" prehung door from Menards. I had to call around a lot before finding this size, most places didn't stock it. Cost all of $28 for the door. I decided to use full extension slides (from Rocker $17 each) and built the drawer boxes from poplar from Home Depot. I designed the drawers to be as wide as possible and still slide through the door frame and as deep as possible still allowing the door to close.
I forget the exact dimensions, but they are about 26" deep and 15" wide. I used 1/2" birch ply for the bottom floating in dadoes all around, the poplar for the sides/back is 1/2" as well. I stapled the fronts and backs to the sides with my Accuset stapler that was discontinued and cheap a while back at Woodcraft. It has come in handy a lot.
I rounded over the front of each drawer for a nice feel when pulling out and pushing them closed. I almost cut out a small curved section on each front for the 'handle' but chose not to and I like the look without.
I painted the interior walls of the pantry flat white and my wife then "white-washed" the drawers themselves. I had to trim the cabinet above the fridge just a bit to allow for the new wall.
One of the main challenges of this project was keeping the drawer slides parallel along their entire length with walls that aren't square and 2x4's that aren't straight. I accomplished this with some creative shimming on the wall closest to the fridge.
Luckily, I passed 'The Inspection' as you'll see in the pics and the pantry will stay. So far we both are loving the extra space.
Pics are here:
http://www.themyersfam.com/personal/gallery/Pantry
This does not in any way qualify for 'fine woodworking' but, it was a fun project that turned out well and gives us a lot more storage space in the kitchen.
The 'project' started when my wife decided that we didn't have enough storage space in the kitchen... she decided that about 3 years ago. The 'actual project' started just after this Thanksgiving.
In the existing space, there was a lower cabinet a small counter piece on top, and an upper cabinet.
I tore these out and framed in a small room for the pantry. The door is an 18" prehung door from Menards. I had to call around a lot before finding this size, most places didn't stock it. Cost all of $28 for the door. I decided to use full extension slides (from Rocker $17 each) and built the drawer boxes from poplar from Home Depot. I designed the drawers to be as wide as possible and still slide through the door frame and as deep as possible still allowing the door to close.
I forget the exact dimensions, but they are about 26" deep and 15" wide. I used 1/2" birch ply for the bottom floating in dadoes all around, the poplar for the sides/back is 1/2" as well. I stapled the fronts and backs to the sides with my Accuset stapler that was discontinued and cheap a while back at Woodcraft. It has come in handy a lot.
I rounded over the front of each drawer for a nice feel when pulling out and pushing them closed. I almost cut out a small curved section on each front for the 'handle' but chose not to and I like the look without.
I painted the interior walls of the pantry flat white and my wife then "white-washed" the drawers themselves. I had to trim the cabinet above the fridge just a bit to allow for the new wall.
One of the main challenges of this project was keeping the drawer slides parallel along their entire length with walls that aren't square and 2x4's that aren't straight. I accomplished this with some creative shimming on the wall closest to the fridge.
Luckily, I passed 'The Inspection' as you'll see in the pics and the pantry will stay. So far we both are loving the extra space.
Pics are here:
http://www.themyersfam.com/personal/gallery/Pantry