Carcass

The carcass lies in the corner of my bedroom. Once alive, it is now a lifeless beauty. The cherry surface you see may only be a veneer, but behind it all is a spine of solid cherry, keeping her back straight and firm to the wall.

The vanity carcass has been glued and screwed. I decided to build it here, rather than in my shop, to avoid lugging it up two flights of stairs.

The next step is to fashion a face frame to square up and strengthen the front face of the vanity. The plan is to be flush, or nearly so, to the exposed corner with about an eighth-inch overhang against the wall With 3/4-inch overlay hinges, that will leave a thin reveal between the doors.

Thus far, it has been one day of cutting wood, three days of finishing, one day of construction. It would go a lot faster if I didn't have a family to take care of, but that's just how it is. My goal for tonight is to make the face frame after the kids are in bed.

Getting Started

I am now, officially, started with my master bath renovation. I have the first set of materials - the wood for the vanity and shelves.

Like our kitchen, our bathrooms were not built with the best materials and they have started to deteriorate. So I am going to rebuild this room myself. I am going to start by making the wooden products, the vanity and a matching shelf box.

A few months ago, that would have been a daunting task. At this juncture, it is not the item that gives me the most pause. That I reserve for the demolition.

I am not going to change the shower at all, but everything else will be updated. For now, though, my task is to change a pile of wood into a couple pieces of furniture.

Closet Drawers

Finally. I got my daughter's closet drawer set done. I had half a sheet of oak plywood left over from my bench project, so I decided to make this. Drawers are still very difficult for me. Any and all adjustments are crude, at best. Doors are, for some reason, much easier for me.

My second drawer box came out nice, though. I learned to not leave as much slop in sizing the bottom and to cheat and use brad nails to square things up before pulling everything together with pocket screws.

One thing I know is that it is heavy. Three-quarter plywood all around. That seemed like it took me forever to build. I guess I'm just impatient and want things faster than they come to me.

At least now my daughter has more storage space for her clothes.

Almost Professional

My daughter's bed was merely a box spring and mattress atop a steel frame. With her newly painted walls and baseboards, I felt that her bed needed a simple headboard. I used some leftover pine plywood, made legs from a 1x2 sandwiched between 1x3s, and trimmed it out with 1x4s. I painted it with the same white Duration paint that her trim was painted with and, voila, a headboard.

Everything is held together with glue. Brad nails were used to, essentially, hold the pieces while the glue dried.

"It looks almost professional," my wife said. Almost.

Workbench

My workbench is done.

I built this workbench to learn how to build base cabinets.

I learned how to build base cabinets because I want to make new bathroom vanities.

I want to make new bathroom vanities because I can't find ones that I like for a reasonable price.

We need to remodel our bathrooms because they're old and falling apart. And that's why you should never give a mouse a cookie.

So there it is - my new workbench. It's kind of a show bench, really. A torsion box would have been a more functional design, but would not have exercised the skills I wanted to learn. My wife wants me to make our daughter a squat dresser to fit into her closet. Basically, a rectangular box with four drawers. Drawers are hard for me, so that piece will be more of a challenge than she may realize. First, I want to get her headboard made, which is what the lumber in front of my workbench is for.

One of the neat features of my bench is that the grain on the door and drawer fronts flow together. It's a little thing, but I like it.

Anyway, now I need to add a pegboard to the wall behind it, and install a front and end vise. Punch some dog holes through that beautiful top. All in due time.