Done 1: The wine rack*. This was a teeny bit of space behind the antique base cabinet we reclaimed. Apparently older cabinets were not as deep as newer ones, so we had ~4.5" of dead space behind the unit. Can't waste space now, can we? So we planned to put in a winerack thingy. Trouble was, we couldn't wait to do it and we installed the cabinets and countertops first, then had to engineer a way to cram a skinny thing into a skinnier spot. Solution: attach narrow cleats to 2 pieces of plywood, nail/screw to both sides, then jam a 1x3 (trimmed to correct width) in between them in back to hold them apart at the proper width. Screw through that too. Luckily the drawers of the cabinet come out & leave an OK work space. Then set shelves on the cleats and finish out from the front. Note to self: do things in order next time. Works great, though! Today we added the last 2 teeny-tiny bits of trim (top and bottom, to hide some cabinet bracing ugliness) and filled nail holes. Touch up paint and it's officially done!
Done 2: The microwave cabinet (all but the door). We built this handy-dandy cabinet/pipe chase for the ductwork above the microwave, to hold uglier or bigger cookbooks and tall skinny things. It's all painted, cased, and trimmed out, just waiting for the door (which we successfully cut the pebble glass for ourselves today). By the way, even though 3 different glass shops wouldn't cut it for us ("Old glass always shatters", they'd say), we did it our damn selves with no problem. Just had to use a lot of 1 bys for support and clamping. Ha-ha.
Done 3: The WINDOWS, yes, that's right, the windows. All 3 of them. The most difficult, tedious, and rewarding part of every project - the windows. They look mighty fine too. We saw a window in the "Bungalow Kitchens" book that had a wood sash and painted trim, and that was the inspiration. These are stripped, re-glazed, repaired, re-painted/stained/finished, and have the sills and storms all stripped & caulked. We also had rounded up the couple of bits of missing hardware (shade brackets, a couple of the brass stop adjusters, and locks) and cleaned those brass beauties up too. And a shout out to JC Penney, who still will let you order custom sized, old-fashioned roller shades for a decent price. Yes, they're vinyl, but it's a kitchen. Needs to be easy to clean! You can order them online & pick up in a store, which is awesome.
What's left: we have touch up painting, cap for wainscoting (all painted & ready to install), tile to set, and thresholds to sand & finish & re-install. Next spring I'll strip the cellar door and then the kitchen is 100% done. Excluding the door stripping, we will indeed be totally done by X-Mas. Yes, there's a little tear in my eye as I write this - only a few kitchen posts left. * we never have much wine, therefore it's a wine/saran wrap/water bottle rack. Anything long & skinny! It would look best with someone else's lovely wine collection in it, though.
3 comments:
Your wine rack looks great. We had a very similar setup in our old house, and it quickly became the ultimate holder for plastic wrap, aluminum foil, and rolling pins. Good luck with your lovely kitchen!
Wow! Looks awesome! The small touches (like the finish "molding") is what really makes it.
Very nice!
Looks great!
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