My last post ended with this picture of my family room looking quite empty and ready for the built-in installation.
Ha, it took me quite some time to remove everything I had on the shelves here. Then, the picture frame moldings were also removed. Those were the first picture frame moldings I ever installed in this house. I used glue, which is a big mistake for this small molding. Thanks to that glue, parts of the Sheetrock were pulled up. :/ Anyway, it's not a big problem since everything's going to be covered with the new shelves.
The picture below is the drawing of the built-in unit that I also showed you in my last post. I didn't tell you that the entire wall of shelves will not be flat.
The entire set-up consists of five shelves—a chunky one in the middle where the TV will be positioned and two shelves to each side. In between each shelf, I'm using a box that will add interest. I didn't want this massive wall to be too boring, and I guess the boxes and the different shelf depths will make it more interesting.
The chunky line at the bottom of the drawing is the top view of how they will look. Shelves 1, 3, and 5 will pop out a couple of inches.
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In this next picture, you can see the measurements I'm working with. I know, it's old style, but that's the way I work. I guess it would be way easier with Sketch-up, but it would take me longer.
I headed to Home Depot with measurements in hand to get the material, mainly plywood, to build the carcasses for the base cabinets. I hate to deal with full sheets of plywood; I usually ask them to cut them to whatever measurement I need.
My minivan rocks carrying this type of load! :D
At home, I followed my cut list to cut all the material to start the building process.
At home, I followed my cut list to cut all the material to start the building process.
I like to use the Kreg Rip-cut and Circular Saw when making repeatable cuts without measuring every single time. If you have a table saw, that would make things even easier, but I'm still scared of those.
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| Kreg Rip-cut | Circular Saw |
ASSEMBLING THE CARCASSES
Once the material was cut, it was time to draw the lines for the bottom shelves. I drew that line at the 7" mark. The type of baseboard you're using determines that line, and the type of door you use might also need to be taken into account.
At the end of the day, this is how they all looked. Ready to be secured to the studs on the wall.
Here are the links to all the work done for this built-in project:
I used the pocket hole system to put the cabinets together. The pocket holes were drilled on the bottom of the shelf, and 1¼" screws were used.
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| DeWalt Cordless Drill/Driver | Kreg Jig |
1 x 4 pine was used at the top front and back; one more of those 1 x 4 pine pieces was installed at the top back of each cabinet.
THE BOXES
The six boxes between the shelves/cabinets were assembled with glue and 1½" brad nails. They consist of 1 X 5 pine and plywood.
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| Ryobi Cordless Brad Nailer |
THE BIG CABINET
I built that big base cabinet, there, inside the family room, otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to bring it inside from the garage!
It was built with its front facing down with glue and 1¼" screws. I added two extra supports below the shelf to prevent sagging since it is a long cabinet.
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| DeWalt Cordless Drill/Driver | Small DeWalt 10-Compartment Organizer |
By this time, it looked like all day long I'd only been drilling and drilling screws! And yeah, it was like that, one day I did all the cutting, the other was for building and driving screws! :D
The great thing was using my DeWalt COMPACT cordless brushless drill/driver!
My hand was happy with this drill's small size and how powerful it is. It has a great battery, too. Only one small battery was enough to drive all those screws.
At the end of the day, this is how they all looked. Ready to be secured to the studs on the wall.
Here is a close-up of those boxes. I didn't build them all the way to the back; that would've been a waste of material.
And here is a look at the entire space.
The next step is to secure them to each other and to the wall and then to build and install the countertop.
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What kind of clamp did you use to get all of those boxes so perfectly aligned? Looks great!
ReplyDeleteThanks! At this point they were simply standing there against the wall. Still missing the boxes on both ends.
DeleteYou absolutely amaze me. This is going to be so beautiful and wow, such fabulous storage.
ReplyDeleteYour mad skills amaze me, Cristina. You say you're afraid of a table saw but even a circular saw scares me. I'd be so OCD about not having floor protection! I could see myself losing control and drilling a hole right through the floor, lol. I know it's going to be a great finished project, and I can't wait to see your vision completed.
ReplyDeleteI am so excited for this project! Can't wait for the next installment! You are amazing!
ReplyDeleteI can not wait to see what you come up with.
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ReplyDelete