November 30, 2014
Mudroom
The last piece of the kitchen remodel plan was to add a "mudroom" bench and cubby shelf between the kitchen pantries and the door to the garage. I measured, drew out plans, and went to the lumber store for red oak boards.
I did what cutting I could on the miter saw but had Rick rip a couple of the boards down long ways on the table saw. I'm still not brave enough to handle the table saw solo. Above are the boards cut up and laid out.
I sanded everything and routed the edges that would be exposed in the front. I glued and clamped two boards together to make the bench seat and stained all the wood before assembly. I assembled the bench shelfs and the upper shelf part before adding the protective top coats to everything. We put the bench supports in before installing the bench top in place.
The bottom cubbies are designed to fit different height boots and shoes, for example, snow boots on the bottom left, and rain boots on the bottom right, with other shoes and sandals in the shorter cubbies.
Wood supports were connected to the side of the pantry, with reinforcement attached on the inside as well, to hold up the bench and the upper shelf. I wanted a strong bench that didn't feel like it moved or creaked when being sat upon.
One of the most difficult parts to the project was getting the upper shelf to fit in the space which was not square and was narrower at the opening. Even with taking off the garage door molding it was a tricky fit. Rick ended up trimming the ends to get it to fit, which left it too narrow once installed. I think building that part in place would have made it a better fit.
The coat hooks were given to me by my sister who recently moved. I removed the hooks from one side of one, filled the holes where they had been, repainted, and it doubles as the support that holds up the left side of the upper shelves. I included a top board which is connected to the ceiling with spacers and served as a way to continue the crown molding from the pantry all the way around to give it a finished look.
Tags
degree (22), design (2), diy (12), furniture (4), garage (2), kitchen (3), mudroom (1), remodel (4), storage (4), wood-working (10)
Arianna Helen