Adding Cabinet Knobs

 I finally did it!
I took a drill to my kitchen cabinets.

The thought of making a mistake on something so visible paralyzed me from doing anything.

So there my cabinets sat; crying out for hardware but I was unable to give them what the needed.

Until winter hit and I found myself stuck in the house - all weekend - for the second weekend in a row.
ANYTHING can happen.  And it did.
My cabinets met Mr. Drill.

Taking our kitchen from boring oak to a more modern feel with white,
I opted for a simple brushed nickle knob.

What I used:

Drill

9/16" drill bit

Screwdriver

Pencil
My son's ruler from his backpack

A look at our cabinets before I started.

 

 Looking at the cabinets I decided the best spot for the knob would be 

2 mm in from the sides and from the bottom of the cabinet door. 

They make great handy - dandy templates that you can use that require no measuring.
Clever!
But I was stuck in the house in the middle of a winter storm and I didn't have one.
Bummer.

Using my son's ruler I marked 2 mm in from the side like this:

 Then I marked 2 mm from the bottom of the door like this:

I faced my fears and fired up that drill.

With the door closed I drilled through front the door.
Do not drill from the backside because you would then have to have the door open for this step.

Applying pressure to the door is much easier with door closed.

 Look at me using the drill!
Applause, applause, applause.
Ah, shucks - thank you!

 Using a screwdriver, I began screwing in the bolts into the backside of the cabinet door.
Continue screwing in the bolts until the bolt head is flush with the door.

The final step is twisting on the knob to the section of the bolt 

peaking out on the front of the cabinet door.

That's it!

Why was I so scared?
I have no idea.
Isn't that how it usually works though?

The improved cabinet door - ta da!

I love them!

Next on my list - finding the perfect drawer pulls.

Were You Raised In A Barn?!

Summer is in full swing at the Fiorucci house and with it is lots of outdoor fun.

Our sliding door receives much use as it is the main entrance into the backyard

and all the neighborhood fun that awaits.
We have more people knocking at our sliding door than we do our front door in the summer months!

Spending the winter laying down new wood floors, I often thought about how to protect them from the summer's sun.

Do I go back to curtains and cover up the big, new and beautiful trim I just put up?

When indecision plagues me like this I don't do a thing.

I have learned if I don't love it as an idea, I won't when it's done.

Then an opportunity came-a-knockin'.  

While sitting at my desk at work, a man came in to take care of an order he wanted.
As he leaves he asks me if I have horses.

I must admit, this is the strangest question I've heard at my work.
Telling him no, I asked him why.
Seems he had been working on a horse barn that day and salvaged 

a cedar and steel horse stall barn door with it's track and thought if I had horses I might want it.

I may have squealed.

Ok, I did.

I leapt out of my chair and followed him to his truck and bought it on the spot.

For fifty bucks.  FIFTY BUCKS.

What a bargain - which totally appealed to my Dutch heritage.

This bad boy is going to be my new "curtains" for my slider.

Pardon the fact the door is laying on it's side.

This is the backside which will be visible in the family room.
The possibilities are endless what I can do with this blank slate.

The rustic look of this door makes me swoon.

My boys run in and out of the slider door several times a day and as with most kids, quite often forget to close the door.

When staring at a wide open slider door, I will admit I often ask my kids

"What?  Were you born in a barn?!?!"

Now they will be able to answer, "Well, kinda Mom. And it's your fault."

Until then, this is what I have to get working on.
Cleaning up thirty plus years of barn life.

I can hardly wait until this project is complete!

New Doorways Say HELLO!

 

Our doorways said nothing.

Not even hello.  Or goodbye.

 

We wanted them to say something, anything really.

 

So when changing out the trim in our home, we decided

the doorways also needed a little change.

The doorways in our home were sheet rock only.
No pretty wood.
No pretty molding.
Nothing that spoke of originality.

They were painted, and that was about it.

 

 

To bring more character into our house,

we added big molding around the doors.

What we used:

4 - 1x4x7 MDF

2 - 1x4x5 MDF

2 - 1x6x7 MDF

4 - 1x2x5 Primed Pine

Nails

Tools you need:

Miter Saw (or chop saw)

Tape Measure

Pencils - preferably a dozen; you'll use one, 

set it down, forget where you put it,

look for another one, use it, set that one down, 

forget there is one behind your ear,

forget one near the saw,

forget the one by the door,

...you are starting to get the idea.

First we measured the top of the inside of the doorway.

I then cut a 1x6 to fit the top.

Once the top was nalied in place, I measured 

and cut 1x6s for the sides of the door frame. 

The outside frame of the door was framed with 1x4.
Each piece was measured even with the top height of the 1x6.
Confusing right?
I circled below what I mean.

The top of the door way was framed by a 1x4 and 2 - 1x2s.
The 1x4 is cut to align with the far side of the 

1x4s framing the sides of the doorway.

Each 1x2 is 1 inch longer than the 1x4 on both sides.
The bottom 1x2 is nailed into place,

followed with the 1x4 and capped with the last 1x2.  

Each lining up with the other.

 

Here is a visual to give you an idea of what was done.

My next steps were filling in the nail holes and using caulk to fill in the gaps.

 

Caulk is a miracle worker and covers a multitude of imperfections.

Caulk will not, however, cover up the imperfection

of dirty clothes you notice your kids are wearing

as you head out the door to go to church.

Caulk can't do that.

The final step is one last coat of paint.

TA DA!

 

 

 A touch of character to a previously boring doorway!

 

 

Seeing them side by side shows what a big difference a little trim can do

to the look of a room. 

Wow.