Work in progress...

Hi Everyone!  Happy Saturday!  I thought I'd share with you one of the projects I'm currently working on.  I live in an old farmhouse that has very limited storage.  The kitchen cabinets (I'll show you the entire kitchen when I'm done) are on the south wall and go all the way to the ceiling.  And they aren't your normal kitchen cabinets.  They are totally built in and open inside from one cabinet to the next.  My grandfather and his brother made the cabinets.  I think they put up shelves and then faced them and made doors because the back of the cabinet is the plaster wall which in some places was crumbling when I moved it, so I had to address that first.  But the biggest problem is lack of drawers, there is only one drawer in the entire kitchen!  I've made attempts to correct this with rolling carts that had drawers, but I've never been completely satisfied. 

So I am starting over.  I have removed the kitchen table and am going to install a center island made from a base cabinet that currently has two drawers in it.  And the best part is that it was totally free!  One of my co-workers was on a job site where they were remodeling a break room last year and saved this cabinet from the dumpster, called and asked if I wanted it and delivered it to my shop for me.  He was thinking I could use it for storage and a work surface in the wood shop.  Thank goodness I've been too busy to set it up in the shop because now I think with a little work it will be great in my kitchen!

So here are my before pictures.  I think I need to build a base for it to sit on because it seems a little low.  And it needs a new back to it, I'm thinking homemade bead board.  I'm going to paint it a dark color so it won't show scuff marks because I'm making it so you can sit at it.  The top is going to be 2"x6" boards that I'm going to stain and give it that farm table look.  I'm going to make corbels or brackets of some sort for the top to rest on where it will overhang.  I see it finished in my minds eye, so now I just need to get started.  And I'm going to add a drawer where the sink used to be so I'll have 3 drawers.

As far as the inside of the cabinet, the double doors on the left have two shelves and the door on the right has none.  So my idea is to build pull out drawers so everything is easy to access despite the overhang of the top.  Then all I need to buy are the drawer glides and hardware and bar stools.  Or maybe all make a high bench for the back side out of old barn wood...?  I'll keep you updated on the progress.  I better get to work!  Thanks for stopping by.