Cutting Cabinets

 I spent most of this weekend with my Cricut. (Please ignore the missing doorknob, that's what happens in an old house when the foundation shifts with the seasons and the cat's food is in the closet.)

Funny story, when I first put the WQRC on the table there with the cats' water under it, Helo was suspicious and wouldn't drink from there for weeks. There are other water dishes so he was all right but he does not like change. He's the quintessential Taurus.

That meant I had to set up my table and take it down again twice.  I am so grateful that I have a laptop.

I bought Cherry veneer when it was on sale and cut cabinet faces out of it.

With the scraps of veneer I played with stains. I need something with a grey to blue undertone so the cabinets would go well with the backsplash.  

So I played with Rust-Oleum's Weathered Grey over some streaks of Minwax's Ebony. And I added some Minwax Early American over the top.

I liked it but I wanted a little more grey, so I added more Rust-Oleum Weathered Grey on the top of it.

I'm going to play with it a little more, maybe a little more ebony or grey.  But the plan is to layer the veneer over chipboard.

I'm debating the countertop. I have something that looks like white and grey granite but I'm worried it'll look too busy with the backsplash.

For my appliances I want to do black, that'll also pick up the darker tones of the backsplash.  I cut out scrapbook paper and I'll cover the chipboard with it.  

I had to figure out a way to keep all the pieces separate.

Jack didn't like the noise of the Cricut but he didn't want to leave the room. So of course, he found a box.

My sweetheart.  I spent a lot of time waiting for the Cricut to make the cuts which was nice because I got to use that time writing.  So I didn't feel like I had to choose one hobby over the other.

But we've barely begun and I'm already thinking of lists.

Walls

Roof

Windows (and frames)

Sliding doors

Modern barn doors

Kitchen cabinets

Kitchen appliances

Backsplash

Bathroom cabinets

bathroom shower tile

Flooring

Stairs

Furniture

Lighting

And the list goes on and on...

I hope you're all having a good weekend!

Refining Details

This Friday we got our first round of the Covid Vaccine.  Since my husband works with the public and we both have underlying conditions that put us at risk we got on our County Health Department's wait list.  They gave us a list of possible side effects.  

We got lucky, no real bad flu-like symptoms.  Just fatigue and sore arms.  So we've both slept a lot.

But I did get the base measured and cut. And I refined the kitchen design.

Cargo containers are usually eight by eight by twenty. So I used some of the kit to make the base of the first floor.  While the glue was drying on that I continued to work on the kitchen drawings.  

I liked these cabinets as my inspiration.

So I did some erasing and then redrew the cabinets. First the front wall:

And then the side wall:

I like the look of these a lot better. And I think I'll be able to make them with my Cricut.

The other thing that I'm rethinking are the windows.  I really want to do some windows that open in the kitchen. So I'm playing around with some of the windows I have.

 

I think I might have to make some windows from scratch, though I really like the idea of a big long window like this with windows opening above it.

Maybe something similar on the other side of the door?  I'm still thinking about it.

I hope you all had a good weekend!

The Kit Has Arrived!

 I'll admit to being a little unfocussed this weekend.  I didn't do much on Saturday.  Then we had the Spring Forward time change which I absolutely hate because I always feel incredibly tired for a couple weeks afterward.

I'll admit that it is nice my phone and computer change their own times.  I remember when they didn't.

But on Sunday the 2021 Creatin' Contest Kit arrived!  A surprise to get it on a Sunday but it was good to have it.  

Before it got here I'd taped out an eight by twenty rectangle on some of the wood I have.  

And I was checking how I could use my stairs.  I hadn't ruled out the stairs that came with the windows, though they'd require a slight adjustment to my floorplans.

I'll need to change a few things around if I go with the straight stairs.  The spiral stairs I bought have a wider footprint than I anticipated so they could still work but again, I'd need to change a few things.

I'm also happy that the other teardrop jewelry findings I ordered came in.  They're slightly smaller and I think they work better with the earring backs as burner switches.

I think they work better.

The one on the left is from the package I got last week.  The two on the right are from the new pack.  I still like the smaller back in the middle for the controls.  The one on the far right could be nice for an oven dial.  Maybe a little more thought on that.  

But the little ones fit nicely on the panel I cut for the controls.

My only other accomplishment for the weekend was sanding down the stove top and getting it ready for paint.  

I'm excited though, the kit is here and I hopefully will start to make some real progress with the build!

I hope you're all having a good weekend!

Stovetop & Oven

 I haven't posted the last couple weeks, mostly because I've been messing around with my Cricut.  I've had some problems... my chipboard kept shifting and I finally got it taped down so it wouldn't move.  I also needed to replace my knife blade.

I've been working on the oven and stovetop for the Container House.  The biggest problem has been the stovetop.  As seen here:

Not quite what I was going for.  I think the little prongs are just slightly too narrow.  So I went to Kris's site and took a look at her modern range tutorial.  

Luckily I tend to hoard scrap wood.  So I got out my saw and started to work on the stovetop today.

I looked at several different methods of making the burner and oven switches.  I'm not entirely sold on either of these but I'm getting there.

I like silver a lot but there's something very striking about the bronze too.

If I go with the bronze I'll need to get some headpins to match.  I'm still not sure though. I figure I can wait until I decide on the cabinet colors.

But I did get the stovetop glued together.

I was able to use some of the pieces I'd cut with the Cricut which is nice.

So I've made something of a start.  

I did also decide to move the range over to the island.  It'll give me a little more room for the refrigerator and a slightly bigger stove.

Once I draw up the cabinets I'll be able to use the Cricut to cut them.  That'll be nice.

I hope all of you are having a good weekend!  Stay safe and healthy and happy.