Film Friday – Corner Cabinet Up-Cycle/Rebuild

Way back in November of 2015, just after our return from living abroad for two years, I bought a set of hard used, little loved corner cabinets from a local salvage place. I have spent an hour and there installing, building trim, sanding, de-gunking, stripping old paint, priming, painting, and more painting. It has only taken 18 months, but they are now installed and look like they have been in our living room since the very first day.

Here is a slideshow/video tale of the steps taken in the project: What it was to what it became.

Working on my day off

The house remodel seems to never end…  I will be so glad to just be and live in our space at some point.  We are close, but there are still details left undone – enough that I am trying to concentrate on one room at a time.  My plan is to get each done in turn and then move on to the next.  I wasn’t as successful at that as I wanted to be this weekend as I bounced back and forth between the living room and our bedroom closet, but I did get a ton done.

I installed the upper shelves and corner shelf in the walk-in closet, laminating two layers of 3/4″ plywood for really strong support over a 54″ span and in the unsupported corner.  In addition to using copious amount of glue and screws, I attached the butted plywood edges together with wood biscuits – it is always a fine day when I get to crank up the biscuit joiner.

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Almost a year ago, I sourced some corner shelves at one of the local architectural salvage places for less than $200 – far cheaper than what it would have taken me to build them.  They came out of a 1930-40’s house and were painted Christmas colors, but I knew that they would be perfect for our living room, which was stripped of its built-ins at some point in the last 88 years.  They have sat in storage and until this past week when I pulled them out and got some material together to permanently mount them.  Stamps-With-Foot helped me set them in place after I built sturdy bases.  Each of them cover a wall plug, so I am in the process of re-routing the receptacle using armored cable.  I also have to build in an air-return duct under one and that has taken some serious brain power to get right.  I will add trim this week and my wife and Mother-in-law will paint them cabinet white this weekend.

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While I was at it, I punched out a rubber washer for a pot lid knob.  I made the knob a couple years ago out of some scrap cherry firewood after the original plastic one broke.  The original washer had corroded, so I made a new one and installed it.

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I also took a couple minutes to mount the red glass post topper on the back fence.  It was ordered (along with a spare) months ago and have meant to put it on every weekend since.  There is always an excuse for why I didn’t, so I marched right out first thing Saturday with a tube of clear silicone and finally just got it done.  It is the little victories that keep me going.

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Apartment Therapy didn’t want what we got…

We sort of have a Wood-Craft/Bohemian/Bookworm thing going for our living room, den, and dining room decor at our place in France.  Stamps-With-Foot just sort of let me go and only said no to the anvil for a sofa table idea.  She hasn’t just sat on the chaise lounge and popping bon-bons in her mouth – all the curtains in the whole house are here doing and the flowers that seem to be magically refreshed every few days is all her as well. Everyone that we have had over loves it and one guest said: “It is so lovely that your company provides you with a professionally decorated home…”  I was a little taken aback; embarrassed and proud at the same time.

The wooden extension ladder bookshelf was my first project after we moved here and I have sort of built around that, adding a few pieces: a workbench turned into a buffet/TV table, the lathe book shelf, an assortment of Moroccan and Turkish rugs, an antique or two, a few unique bits & bobbles, some paintings, a chest or two, a small bench, etc…

The rest of the place isn’t too shabby either with a dedicated sewing room for my wife, a 1000+ lending library that we house and run, a great shop space, my office that is plywood-modern, a guest room out of the 1930’s with all sorts of girly pretty things (also my wife’s touch). Our bedroom is all dark wood, yellow curtains with sage green accents, and my son’s room/other guest room is bright and happy. The quiet and secluded backyard has an outdoor dining area and grill, fluffy green grass, lots of flowers, and a shady spot for my hammock – the puppies are in heaven out there!

My ego got the best of me and I snapped off a couple of shots and sent them into Apartment Therapy, knowing that the site admin would go nuts for our place…  nope, no response.  Fine, I get it.  I don’t NEED their validation, but I wouldn’t have kicked it out of bed either…  Instead, I will post my non-professional, non-posed (except the one of us and the puppies), snapshots of our house near Toulouse here as a tincture for my ego.   In the end, my wife loves it, which matters the most and one needs a happy wife if one wants a happy life.

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French House 2014-2015 (4)

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French House 2014-2015 (1)

French house 2014-15 (1)

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Matt Talley _ Messy Shop in France _ 2015