Building Boxes

The Library is still in full swing, but I think my hopes of it being done by Christmas are long dashed – but we are making GREAT progress lately!

So, the feet are on, but it is HILARIOUS how uneven the floor is. We’ve had to invest in a shim factory and take ALL OF THE INVENTORY to make this cabinet work (okay not really. But it feels like that). I have a plan for hiding the gap.

Square, Plumb, or Level : Pick Two. Once the lower cabinets are level, this is the middle post. It’s like it’s filled with an evil spirit and levitating. Or maybe it’s REALLY polite and doesn’t want to touch the new floors. Either way, we have some work to do to get everything level, attached to the wall, and shimmed to the floor.

I have a little bit of painting left to do to the bases, so that was my next project.

This red is so bold, but I am not even a little bit sick of it. I love it so much.

Meanwhile, Doug has turned into a one-man IKEA Factory, and he’s just cutting all the pieces for the upper cabinet boxes, so we can assemble them.

Who needs a workshop when your front porch view is THIS STUNNING. (Doug would say, “Me. I totally need a workshop. I don’t care about the foliage. Please, make me a workshop.”) Porch Workshop Pro-Tip : Use a leaf blower to get the sawdust off your porch at the end of the day. Our flooring guys did that, and so we started doing that, and it’s AMAZING.

Bookshelf sides!

I was minimally helpful – I held the ends of the boards so they didn’t come crashing down after they were cut.

 

Inside, we used biscuits to join the cabinet boxes together.

I was once worried about whether the Library would feel like a Library with only one corner of bookshelves. But now that one box (out of 4) is made, THEY ARE SO BIG AND I DON’T HAVE ENOUGH BOOKS.

These cool little corner pieces help you to make sure everything is square as it’s drying.

ALL THE CLAMPS. I posted this on Instagram, and someone said, “For a minute I thought you were building a Foosball Table,” and now I wonder about all the other ways that we are failing at our lives. Because that would’ve been cool.

We’re using beadboard for the backs of the bookshelves. We glued it, and stapled it into place.

Ta Da!

Amy for scale (I am 5’6″). The piece that juts out at the top will help connect the bookshelves on the side to the crown moulding. The face frame will connect the front.

 

Two boxes! There will be four total.

I wanted to make the doors more fun, so we’re adding some REALLY small trim to them.

Which I spray painted gold. Because this room needs even MORE gilding!

This beading is just going along the inside of the frame.

I think this really fancies up the Off-The-Shelf-Big-Box-Store cabinets!

Teamwork makes the dream work. Doug cut all the moulding pieces……

……and I installed them all.

Gah! So fun.

Six doors, all done!

One step closer!