Cabin Fireplace Part 2- Built Ins

Initially, when we planned the cabin fireplace project the idea was to flank our new fire with ready made shelving. We considered bookshelves from Ikea for their affordability- something like this design from The Letter Cottage which used Ikea Billy Bookcases.

After checking them out in person though, we chose to go with real wood instead of particle board, so that they would feel more apart of the home, like they had been here all along.  ("If you're going to do it, do it right," my father always says.)  

Then we looked into pre-made cabinets from big box hardware stores, something like this: 

 

But I didn't like the styles that I had to choose from in the pre-made cabinets, and even these featured a lot of particle board.  At the end of the day I just couldn't justify the high cost for something that I knew I could make myself with a higher quality wood at a lower price.  We knew we'd have some customization to do with these pieces anyway to make them fit perfectly floor-to-ceiling, so why not just make the whole thing?  (Famous last words.)

Since this was my first attempt at designing a piece of furniture all by myself without the help of any plans, I spent an evening after the kiddos went to bed teaching myself how to use Google SketchUp.  (This tutorial from Ana White makes learning how to use the program easy.) Once I got the hang of it, it was actually a snap to use and it made designing furniture much easier as I could use the dimensions tool to quickly see what the size of my pieces needed to be.  Once I had a custom design I felt good about, we had Grandma come over on a Saturday afternoon to watch the boys while the Hubs and I built the cabinets together.  We had a lot to do in a short time, so we didn't stop to take photos along the way, but the plans can lead the way.

We started by building a box for the base cabinet.

Then placed a 1x4 in the back for support and mounting.

Then used 1x4s to create a face frame, and attached it to our box.

Next we tacked on a back panel made of 1/4 plywood.



And then placed a shelf in the inside.  I used this amazing tool from Rockler to create adjustable shelf pegs.

Once the base cabinet was built, we worked on the open shelving above it.  We built these all as separate pieces so that they can transport up to the cabin more easily.

We decided to use a paneled piece of wood for the back of the open shelves to give them more depth and texture.  At the end of day one we had two of these:

 

The next day I got to the more tricky and precise business of the cabinet doors.  I made this way harder than it had to be, as I really wanted to do an inset door instead of an overlap door, so the piece had a high quality, craftsman style.  It took awhile to get the math down to the 16th, and every cut had to be exact.  Why do I do this to myself?

 Luckily I had a little helper out in the garage with me for moral support.

 

He must have been good luck, because somehow, magically, on the first try I got this:

Those cabinet doors are just roughly sitting in there until this piece is painted so I can attach the hinges, but when they are installed there should be a perfect 1/8" gap on all sides of each cabinet door.  Cue uncontrollable, Carlton-esk party dance.

In a weekend we took this plan:

 And made two of these:

I can't wait to get them Up North and in place!  But first to fill and sand, and then fill and sand some more.  And then prime and paint and paint again... we're just getting started. 


Pst- Want to follow along on the big cabin fireplace wall project from the beginning?  Or jump straight to the end?  Here you go:

Removing the Window
Part 1- Framing The Fireplace
Part 2- Building the Built-Ins
Part 3- Finishing the Built-Ins
Part 4- Installing the Built-Ins & Building Barn Wood TV Wall
Part 5- Triming Out the Built-Ins (to make them look "built in.")
Part 6- Creating a Stacked Stone Fireplace Surround 
Part 7- Building the Fireplace Mantel 
The Big Cabin Fireplace Wall Reveal