I'm floored by everyone's feedback on the mudroom. Thank you! I'm pretty darned thrilled with it...
Let me paste something that I'd emailed to Ana about this, that I think says all that I can say about it,
"What I love most about this project is that it's just 4 boxes. Four boxes from three sheets of plywood that add seating, storage, accessibility, function (and, of course, style) to my home. This project came in at just under $200 (yes, that includes hardware and paint!) and I spent probably between 10-12 hours putting it all together. "
I tend not to go into a lot of detail on my builds because I feel that the details are covered in the plans and that I'm just being redundant. With that said, I've noticed that a lot of you guys have had a lot of the same questions, so let's talk about it!
Paint Color
I wish I knew as much as you guys do! I found a Valspar Paint + Primer in the OOPS bin at Lowe's.
Door Grooves
The plans call for you to cut 1/8" deep grooves with a circular saw. I do not have steady hands. If I had cut those with a circular saw, we'd be seeing Dr. Seuss-like squiggles in the doors.
I removed all blade guards and the anti-kickback device from my table saw (not recommended!), set the blade to 1/8" and set my fence at 5 1/4". I made one pass on the table saw, rotated the door 180 degrees and made a second pass.
It's probably better if you use a circular saw...
Hardware
These are actually supposed to be for windows!
Umm... WHOOPS!
I got these from Lowe's for about $3.50/each. When I was looking for hardware for these doors, I wanted to have the option to not have shelves inside without the doors being pushed in, and also wanted a way to prevent the doors from swinging open into the side of the car. Sure, I could've gotten a door "catch", but that, plus a pretty knob, would've been more expensive (and not nearly as cool!).
Misc.
I used three sheets of plywood for this. There was enough lumber for the frame and one shelf with the three sheets. Luckily I have a on of scraps, so was able to put together a few more shelves, but keep that in mind if you don't have scraps and need to buy more lumber.
Cut Layout
All three sheets were cut into three 15 3/4" strips (referred to as 1x16s in the plans). I didn't figure out the 1x3 cuts because I had a ton of scraps so I used those. But I think for the whole system you'll need two 1x3s.
Well, I think that's it! How weird do you think it is that I used window hardware for my doors?
You know what? Don't answer that..!
Not weird. Actually a great idea. I used them for a closure on a drop down table. They are perfect for a nice tight closure. Those things are not going to accidentally come open. and for the record, I had no clue they were specifically designed for windows... I just loved how they worked and looked.
ReplyDelete