Day Six-seventy-two

We didn't make a lot of progress during the week but have tried to pick up the pace this weekend. Like the little ant, we have high hopes on finishing the kitchen soon.

The big step, naturally, was getting this cabinet all sanded and finished and back in place. Well technically it's shifted over about 2 inches so that it's now in the corner, but that's a technicality. It feels good to have all the structural pieces in order.

We also finished putting sealer on the second tranche of cabinet doors. Now we need to attach the hinges and install them everywhere.

To show that we can walk and chew gum at the same time, we also made the pieces for a new bookshelf that will go in studio 2. Obviously this is the 2-dimension version. The shelves will be at 90-degree angles from the long vertical hanging strips and the four little trapezoidal pieces on the left side will be the supports for the shelves. Should be fun. Oak is always such a pleasure to work with.

Day Six-sixty-four: drawers done

Today we finally finished the drawers. We previously outlined how to adjust the drawer slides to switch from overlay to inset. Here's how we did the other parts. First, we laid the new drawer front in the position we wanted (centered left-to-right, not too low, etc.) and clamped it firmly in place like so.

Then we drilled the hole for the knob (the one in the middle, above the sawdust).

Then we attached the front to the rest of the drawer with four screws in the corners to keep everything firmly in place.

And voila! Our country kitchen is really taking shape.

As a reminder, here's what the first attempt at the kitchen looked like.

Not to rest on our laurels, we've got the upper cabinet that we took down a couple weeks ago all painted. It'll need a couple coats of the Bona Mega sealer, but we should be able to install it this week or this weekend.

Finally, with one set of doors all sealed and ready to install (once we figure out where to place the hinges and attach them), we set up the second round for sealing. No rest for the weary.

Day Six-sixty: yet more kitchen fun

Picking up where we left off, we managed to sand off the remaining paint on the long row of cabinets. Completing that part of the job felt good. We also took all the drawer slides off in preparation for the next phase on that part of the project.

Staying with this set of cabinets, we got a coat of flat white on to act as a primer. Along with filling some holes and leveling all the surfaces we were ready to apply the real color.

Today we got the second and final coat on, so tomorrow we'll start applying the sealer to protect the paint from daily wear and tear.

Meanwhile on the other side of the kitchen...we got the first of the new drawer fronts on and are happy with our decision to transition from an overlay style to inset. Here's what drawers look like without any fronts.

And here's what they look like now.

If you need a reminder of what we had before (overlay), here are the same drawers and doors.

We also made a little progress on a new work table in the garage that will come in handy, especially as we shift from projects of necessity to projects of choice. First, start with some heavy-duty plastic legs.

Add some standard 2x4s and plywood.

And we're almost there. Just need another 2x4 across the diagonal to provide some extra support for the top. Sounds like it's time for another trip to Home Depot.