...and if you don't look too closely, it is SPECTACULAR.
The kitchen of my 1950s kit house is a bit small, and even though the last owner did a lovely reno—it's not what I would have done (very masculine, lots of dark colors. It even had black curtains when we moved in). But until I can afford to do my own renovation (which I'm pretty sure would include pushing out the front wall and tearing out the interior walls & the floor, + relocating all of the plumbing), I'll just have to make the current slightly awkward layout work for us.
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In that vein, I made a worktable to fit in our not-a-breakfast nook. It's a little, not-quite 7' x 7' space with one tiny window a bit high up on the wall. It is, currently, where the cat litter resides (because in the 1950s cats clearly did not live inside). It is also where I built an extra counter and cabinet space to make up for the lack of adequate cabinet storage in the kitchen. (God forbid you have any large baking sheets or, you know, small appliances.)
So here is the 'in-process' pic of the cabinets and countertop being installed last year. The counter was recycled from an old kitchen island my dad and I made a few years back (from 1 inch edge-glued pine boards that were stained and HEAVILY polyurethaned). It wasn't quite long enough to fill the space so I inserted the darker wood pieces. (Initially, the darker wood framed the space for the counter-top microwave we were using.) The cabinets were bought at Habitat for Humanity's ReStore for $80. A little glue, a little paint, some new hardware, & voila!
See the litter box there? Yeah. Until we can get the laundry room (on the other side of that wall) redone, it'll live there.
The work table I made matches the counter and cabinets & will go along the left wall of the nook, matching the counter height (fingers and toes crossed):
Right, back to the thing I made. Originally I'd hoped to buy a work table that was either ready-made or something I could put together, but the cheapest thing I could find that fit the bill was $200 and it was questionable as to whether my microwave would actually fit on one of the shelves. Instead, I did a little Pinterest surfing and found this lovely thing:
It was a bit deeper than I wanted, and while I like the slatted shelves, it would've cost a bit more and been a lot more work. And because I like easy & cheap, I opted for solid pine shelves instead. I also didn't want it to weigh a ton and a half, so opted for 1x2s rather than 2x4s. If I was redoing it, I'd probably go for 1x4s because I like the more substantial look it gives the piece. Even with the lower profile wood, the 4x4s make this thing quite heavy.
Total amount spent: $65 (I already had the screws, paint, and polyurethane).
I really love those black hammered shelf brackets that are so popular right now on Pinterest. What I'm not so in love with is the cost (between $12-$24 EACH on Etsy, no thanks). So I bought 6" zinc corner braces from Lowe's ($3.78 each) and spray painted them black (Rust-Oleum Hammered Black spray paint, $6.88). I also had to spray paint the screw heads, because there weren't very many options for large-headed screws in black. Total cost for all 6 braces was about $34, including screws. Yeah, it's not hammered iron, but the only person who will notice is me... and now you, should you ever come over.
And that espresso machine there? A hand-me-down from my parents. It was their foray into home brewed espresso, circa 1996. The original Starbucks Barista machine. The thing is a work horse.
The kitchen of my 1950s kit house is a bit small, and even though the last owner did a lovely reno—it's not what I would have done (very masculine, lots of dark colors. It even had black curtains when we moved in). But until I can afford to do my own renovation (which I'm pretty sure would include pushing out the front wall and tearing out the interior walls & the floor, + relocating all of the plumbing), I'll just have to make the current slightly awkward layout work for us.
--
 |
| The somewhat awkward layout of our kitchen. |
In that vein, I made a worktable to fit in our not-a-breakfast nook. It's a little, not-quite 7' x 7' space with one tiny window a bit high up on the wall. It is, currently, where the cat litter resides (because in the 1950s cats clearly did not live inside). It is also where I built an extra counter and cabinet space to make up for the lack of adequate cabinet storage in the kitchen. (God forbid you have any large baking sheets or, you know, small appliances.)
So here is the 'in-process' pic of the cabinets and countertop being installed last year. The counter was recycled from an old kitchen island my dad and I made a few years back (from 1 inch edge-glued pine boards that were stained and HEAVILY polyurethaned). It wasn't quite long enough to fill the space so I inserted the darker wood pieces. (Initially, the darker wood framed the space for the counter-top microwave we were using.) The cabinets were bought at Habitat for Humanity's ReStore for $80. A little glue, a little paint, some new hardware, & voila!
See the litter box there? Yeah. Until we can get the laundry room (on the other side of that wall) redone, it'll live there.
The work table I made matches the counter and cabinets & will go along the left wall of the nook, matching the counter height (fingers and toes crossed):
Above that, I'll put up a couple of wall shelves for my ferments, dry goods storage, and so my cats will have something else to climb on. Oh, and that bottom shelf? Totally not attached thanks to my stellar planning skills. Also? There's no way in hell to get it out without taking the whole thing apart. Yeah, I probably wouldn't make a very good engineer. I'm hoping it won't be an issue.
Originally the nook was an enclosed room with just one electrical outlet. The last owner tore down the wall to open up the space, but it was still rather awkward and poorly lit (and did I mention it only has one electrical outlet?). I considered building a breakfast nook with a bench, but then where would the litter box go? Instead, we just balance bowls of cereal on our laps. Oh, and also, the cats have taken over the kitchen table for their food (because we had ants, and because cats are our overlords).
Right, back to the thing I made. Originally I'd hoped to buy a work table that was either ready-made or something I could put together, but the cheapest thing I could find that fit the bill was $200 and it was questionable as to whether my microwave would actually fit on one of the shelves. Instead, I did a little Pinterest surfing and found this lovely thing:
It was a bit deeper than I wanted, and while I like the slatted shelves, it would've cost a bit more and been a lot more work. And because I like easy & cheap, I opted for solid pine shelves instead. I also didn't want it to weigh a ton and a half, so opted for 1x2s rather than 2x4s. If I was redoing it, I'd probably go for 1x4s because I like the more substantial look it gives the piece. Even with the lower profile wood, the 4x4s make this thing quite heavy.
Total amount spent: $65 (I already had the screws, paint, and polyurethane).
- 4x4x6, cut in half x2 (legs): $11.04
- 1x2x8, cut to various sizes x3 (shelf supports): $8.46
- 1x18x48 edge glued pine x3 (shelves and top): $40.77
- Small can of stain: $4.67
If they'd had 3x3s I'd rather have used those for the legs, but I was limited to what they had in stock (that didn't cost $24 per leg). Also, I probably should have sanded the hell out of the legs, but was way too impatient (& didn't want to have to go buy a sander), so I did the once over with my sanding block, which did little else than make me feel like I gave it a try. Then I just slathered on the paint. So the legs are a little more roughly hewed than I'd like. (note to self: get an orbital sander.)
Did I mention that it's heavy? Yeah, two of us lifting it up stairs and around corners was comical. It's not moving. ever. again. We'll just have to build the new kitchen around it, should we actually re-do the kitchen which I'm now reconsidering purely based on the work it would take to move that thing.
So, here's the nook, taking shape (litter box included):
Did I mention that it's heavy? Yeah, two of us lifting it up stairs and around corners was comical. It's not moving. ever. again. We'll just have to build the new kitchen around it, should we actually re-do the kitchen which I'm now reconsidering purely based on the work it would take to move that thing.
So, here's the nook, taking shape (litter box included):
I really love those black hammered shelf brackets that are so popular right now on Pinterest. What I'm not so in love with is the cost (between $12-$24 EACH on Etsy, no thanks). So I bought 6" zinc corner braces from Lowe's ($3.78 each) and spray painted them black (Rust-Oleum Hammered Black spray paint, $6.88). I also had to spray paint the screw heads, because there weren't very many options for large-headed screws in black. Total cost for all 6 braces was about $34, including screws. Yeah, it's not hammered iron, but the only person who will notice is me... and now you, should you ever come over.
And that espresso machine there? A hand-me-down from my parents. It was their foray into home brewed espresso, circa 1996. The original Starbucks Barista machine. The thing is a work horse.
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