my own interpretation~ round 2

Do you ever look at those fun and cool items offered for sale on varying sites and think to yourself,

“I could make that—why would I BUY it?!?”

—and it’s not always about cost—

I think this to myself a lot—but I’m lucky enough to have some pretty good carpentry skills and the tools to make things happen!

Last June I shared a few of my own interpretive projects—like this shelf offered several times now by Decor Steals.

This was MY interpretation—made from the APRON off a curbie sofa.

Yesterday I just felt like taking another stab at the idea.  I grabbed a leftover 5/4″ board, a pine board, some appliques and played around till I had something I liked!

I cut the 5/4 board in half, centered the halves on my pine board and started riffling through my applique-stash.

I tried out some pretty aMAZing appliques—but I just couldn’t give them up to REsale.  AND I actually liked how these were going to work out!  Once things were settled on, I ripped the pine board on the table saw.

I didn’t just want to cut a board and stick appliques on it, I wanted to add the details that make a difference.  So I cut the contour of the applique and used a jigsaw to painstakingly

cut around all those applique details!

I gave my 5/4″ board -the top shelf- a little contouring too, then ran it through the router table with a large 1″ round over bit set a little high to get that added edge detail.   And a ¼” round over to soften the bottom edge.

Then it was just a matter of connecting the 2 parts together!

Glued, nailed, screwed, puttied, and sanded—

I’m off to paint them now!

Catherine

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Braeden’s lockers–

If you remember, I bought these lockers for $10 at the ReStore last April/May.  I thought they could be cool in my g-nephew’s bedroom and provide some very needed, extra storage!

Since there were soooo many interruptions trying to work on Braeden’s dresser/bench, I made a shift to the locker-wall project.

• The lockers needed to be separated for this project–enter daddy.  I didn’t like all those burning little sparks from the grinder, so I made Brian do it! (I know–bAby!)
• Then I built a “box” to seat them on BECause–1. the locker face-frames hang down lower than the locker boxes, and 2. the whole unit needed to be lifted off the floor.
• Next, I used a rabbeting bit in the router table to create the void for the locker to rest in.  *The tape you see in the picture was to give me a good visual stop and start point.

At last, I could take the lockers apart to clean and paint easier.

I decided to paint the interiors this rich shade of aqua to play with the room color—Braeden loves the color of his room and made me promise not to change it!

I sure do hope these folks get paid well— what a job!

Painting the lockers became the biggest pain in the B-U-T-T.  It really was soooo much easier to paint everything in individual parts & then put back together, but NEXT TIME I will mark the outsides before disassembling–!  I painted the wrong sides but didn’t know it until AFTER I put one back together and realized it was “inside-out.”  I took everything bAck apart, repainted, and put together correctly–yAy.

So–I thought I learned my lesson for the 2nd locker–uh, huh.  Somehow I mixed up the panels–again–and painted the parts all wrong.  And–again–didn’t realize it until I was putting it back together.  ArGHHHHH.

I placed the lockers back on their “box,” and began installing the box shelves I made earlier on for this “unit.”  It was a loooong day–and pitch dark before I finally quit.

With that task sorted out—time to begin making a drawer box.  Without benefit of having a pocket screw jig–YET. STILL on my wish list–dang it.

I wanted to add the two drawers I eliminated from his (6 drawer) dresser/bench to the locker wall.  More storage–little bedroom.  An open cubby fills the end space the drawers didn’t take up.

I’ve been trying out different base moldings to wrap the bottom, but haven’t found the right piece yet.  Oh, well.  Tomorrow I’ll begin puttying and sanding, and then I can finally paint!

I can’t wait for this INCREDIBLY TEDIOUS project TO BE FINISHED!  I really can’t say I’ve ever felt like that on any other, but man-oh-man, this one has been a bear!

~Me and my bright ideas.

Catherine

I’m sharing this project with some of my favorite blogs!

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