Floating Media Cabinets

One of Matt and my latest projects we had to get done before Greta arrived... 

I drew the cabinets on SketchUp first to make sure I had all the measurements and joint details figured out first.  Here is a front view of the linear floating media part and the vertical coffee station that sits on top of the left side by the kitchen:

Here's a back view that I used to figure out how we were attaching them to the wall.  I knew french cleats would be more stable for the weight than screwing through the cabinets into studs.  Plus this way- you don't see any screws or hardware.  It was trickier to figure out the boxes though and allow for the back details with all of our cuts.  The only thing that changed is the square holes shown on here- became round circles in slightly different spots for the chords to go through:

We designed and built these media cabinets for our living room since I couldn't find anything out there that was what I wanted for the price I wanted to pay.

 We started with cabinet-grade birch plywood sheets we cut to size, and bought a small router to cut each of the grooves and joints so each piece fit together perfectly.

I got 1/4" thick plexiglass from our local hardware store and did a paint test-patch to decide if I wanted the sliding doors to be back-painted white, grey, or sanded for a frosted look...

We decided on one sanded and one white:

The smaller media cabinet put together and dry-fit to make sure it all works the way we hoped!

I stained each piece and then we glued each joint together and used a nail gun with small nails just to hold the corners so the glue would dry where we wanted it.

Finished:

[after many months of weekends and nights used to work on this monster!]

 We also added hooks on the coffee station top shelf to hang mugs from and attached power strips below the cabinets for the chords to plug in and be more hidden:

Also shown against the stenciled wall I posted about a while back:

Manhattan Modern

If you remember about a year ago, I posted pictures of my brother and sister-in-law's Manhattan, KS Midcentury home they bought...

They've worked very hard on it for quite a while and still have more they'd like to do.  Here are some updates they've made so far:

They laid new white oak floors themselves, knocked down "jail cell" walls to the kitchen, and opened up the interior staircase to the basement.  Painted cement boards surround the central "shaft."  The floating wood shelf is also custom built by the two of them.

They are great at creating small, creative, architectural details such as this walnut-wrapped shelf:

The hallway to the kitchen from the entry way:

[It also houses a creative closet on the left you can't see the details of, new lighting solutions, and no doors or headers in the way of the view]

The dining area [without a table at the moment]:

The bedroom:

There are also other great things they've done to the home that I don't yet have photos of, including the bathroom, and the studio/office with a bright yellow sliding barn door!

Finished Laundry

We finally put the finishing touches on our laundry closet!

You might remember what the area looked like before we even started the project or since I last posted about it:

To flashback and see the process it took to create our laundry room- click here for the full post

To build the countertop:

First, we screwed 2" strips of MDF onto the walls to support the countertop- making sure to screw into the studs.  We put them at the height we wanted the bottom of the counter to be [machines required >1" space above them] and made sure the supports were level.  The side supports were cut 3" shorter than the depth of the countertop so they set back visually a little bit.

[In hind-sight, this step would have been much easier before the machines were here.  It was very tricky to get the drill at the right angle to screw them in without the machines being in the way, but we didn't have much choice since the washer/dryer were on special and had to be delivered by a certain date]

I also used this time without the countertop in to paint the supports the same color as the wall since you will see the front of them!

 We measured and cut a large piece of 3/4" MDF plywood for our countertop to lay on top of the supports (just did a dry-fit to make sure it was the right size)

 We also cut a notch into the countertop to allow for the hoses.  We had the plumber install the water valves above the machines so it was easier to reach them if we needed to turn them off.  It would have been very difficult to get to them if they were directly behind the washer and under the countertop! 

Next, we laminated the countertop with Formica.  I didn't think about taking any photos of the laminating process...whoops  :(

 To laminate: we took the top outside and layed it on two sawhorses.  We glued the gray stainless-steel-like formica onto our MDF countertop using DAP Weldwood non-flammable contact cement.  You roll/paint it onto the wood and the back of the formica then let it dry for 30-40 minutes.  Then we carefully laid our pre-cut formica [an inch bigger than the wood on every side] over it- making sure to roll out any air pockets from the center outward.  

After that, we borrowed a friends' router and used a laminate flush trim bit we bought to rout the excess formica off of the edges.  Then we did the same steps all over again for the front edge of the countertop and used wood glue to glue the whole top to the wall supports!

 

We used the old cabinet from our bathroom [pre-remodel], painted it white, added new hardware, and hung it for laundry detergent etc...  Then added thin pre-primed trim around the cabinet to finish the edges, caulked, and painted it.

I desperately needed a space to hang clothes to dry, so we added a pole from the cabinet to the wall

 I also created this sign for hanging "lost socks" by using a metal sign I found at World Market and gluing little wooden clothespin clips to it!

 Ahhhhh... Finally done!

Happy Closets

Matt & I just finished a small project I've been wanting to do for a long time.  We built chunky floating shelves for my studio closet out of mdf board from Home Depot, caulked the edges & seams, and primed and painted them white to pop against the orange background!

Before                                       After

 After we bought the house, we painted this room white with one orange accent wall and across from that, the inside of the open closet.  Previously, the closet had a curtain on a tension rod and everything was beige.  The clothes rod (above left) was already there.  We took advantage of that and built the shelves around the existing pieces.

We left the bottom of the lower shelf open so you can still use the rod for hanging clothes, but it's hidden behind the front panel. (I should probably paint the underside white, although you don't see it unless you're on the floor)

Here are a few other small closets that I find happy and inspiring:

 crafting closets                            kids play area

 vanity area in small closet        closet with patterned wallpaper

 office closet

 reading nooks

 kids retreats

tiny desk area

Let me know if you plan to do something cool with a closet of yours or send me pictures of finished projects!