Projects in Order

It was a bit of a struggle, but I think I have a handle on my home improvement projects and the order in which they'll be accomplished.

1. Oak base cabinets
2. Woodworking bench
3. Small table
4. Headboard
5. Cherry bathroom vanity
6. Matching medicine cabinet and wall cabinet
7. Refinish master bathroom

The oak base cabinets are just to learn how to make base cabinets. Oak plywood from the BORG (Big Orange Retail Giant) wasn't much more expensive than any other finish-grade plywood, although its show layer is paper thin. For finish wood, I'll probably shop Cleveland Plywood.

My woodworking bench won't be much more than a double-thickness of plywood set atop those two base cabinets. I plan to top it with a sacrificial layer of hardboard, edge it with 1x3 oak, install a wood vise on it, add a pegboard and simple shelves to the back, etc. Already improved my lighting.

The small table is for my front parlor, to hold the record player. If I can find a suitable antique, instead, that would probably be better.

My daughter's bed really needs a headboard. I plan to make something simple from Ana White's site. If I get really ambitious, I guess I could make a footer and side rails to match. Also thinking about adding crown molding to her room, if only to practice coping cuts.

Most of all that, though, is because I want/need to remodel our master bathroom. I love our kitchen, so I want to carry the same look there. I couldn't find anything other than junk in the $200-300 range. Good vanities are more like $1000. Granted, I have a wonderful carpenter who could bang out a vanity for me but, dammit, I'd like to take a crack at it.

And, of course, if you're changing the vanity why not make a matching medicine cabinet? Since there's never enough local storage in a small bathroom (the toilet tank invariably becomes a shelf) why not also make a matching wall cabinet?

So there's a bit of prerequisite case work to do. Besides the demo, painting, fixture replacement, plumbing (toilet & sink), floor tile, wall tile to 48 inches topped with a cherry strip, etc. If I get really excited, I might try to add a programmable heater under the tile to keep my wife's tootsies warm in the morning.

At least now I have some sort of plan.