I've done quite a lot more on this to the point where you could almost consider it finished. If you squint that is. Stuff that's been finished:
1 - All the drawers
2 - Tiling, fitting the cabs and installing the ducting in the cooker alcove
3 - Re-tiling part of the floor
4 - Making a shelf and plate rack for the other alcove
5 - A couple of pine shelf units
Still to do:
1 - Small cab for under the sink
2 - Splashback tiling
3 - Painting the above pine shelf units
It's been like that for at least a year or so now. It was all mostly done by christmas last year. So here's a few photos:
The cooker alcove after the floor had been retiled but before the back had been done:
Two shots of the fully tiled and finished alcove. I had a socket moved so that the plug from the extractor fan was in the side of the alcove. I could have moved the socket so that it was totally hidden, but the chimney is a manky place and I was worried that it would get covered in rubbish and damaged. I spent a lot of time removing as much of the chimney liner as possible so that there's less chance of buildup. The extractor fan is held in by some studwork and then there's a piece of aquapanel (concrete tile board) around the rest of it. Higher up the chimney I made a baffle to stop stuff from coming further down the chimney. I plan on removing the aquapanel every year or two to check on the state of the chimney to make sure there's no excess grease build up. But the ducting vents into the utility room at the moment, so I'm fairly happy that won't be an issue.
Speaking of the ducting here is a shot of it. Nothing fancy, just 6" round ducting. But it will vent externally, so I'm happy I've done it.
Then in the alcove where the sink is there's a cabinet which has a plate rack in it. The cabinet is sweet chestnut and it's finished with Osmo oil. The sweet chestnut was a pain to work, very prone to little chips on the corners and ends. But it looks ok. The lack of doors on the bottom is down to the preference of my wife. It's not her kitchen, but she said I didn't need to bother, so I didn't. Less work for me. It's also very convenient.
My awful attempt at dovetailing. Thankfully it's at the top of the cabinets where you can't see it. The rest is just dados/rebates. The doors have euro hinges on them, they don't really fit how I wanted them to, but due to the positioning of the pipe cover on the left, I didn't have much choice.
The partly finished cabinet in place.
At night with my wife's collection of Orchids in the window.
The full thing completed:
Finally, some general shots of the finished areas. This is the main run of two cupboards and one drawer unit. As you can see the drawers don't line up at all. Which is a pity, but I'd never made any before, so it's not the end of the world. Also they're pretty stiff, so I might need to fettle them again.
The 'upper' view of the main run of cupboard with the unpainted pine units. They also need some kind of 'cornice' put on. I either have to make that or buy that. It'll probably be the latter.
All in I'm fairly happy with how it's turned out. Hopefully it'll all be finished, finished for this coming Christmas.
1 - All the drawers
2 - Tiling, fitting the cabs and installing the ducting in the cooker alcove
3 - Re-tiling part of the floor
4 - Making a shelf and plate rack for the other alcove
5 - A couple of pine shelf units
Still to do:
1 - Small cab for under the sink
2 - Splashback tiling
3 - Painting the above pine shelf units
It's been like that for at least a year or so now. It was all mostly done by christmas last year. So here's a few photos:
The cooker alcove after the floor had been retiled but before the back had been done:
Two shots of the fully tiled and finished alcove. I had a socket moved so that the plug from the extractor fan was in the side of the alcove. I could have moved the socket so that it was totally hidden, but the chimney is a manky place and I was worried that it would get covered in rubbish and damaged. I spent a lot of time removing as much of the chimney liner as possible so that there's less chance of buildup. The extractor fan is held in by some studwork and then there's a piece of aquapanel (concrete tile board) around the rest of it. Higher up the chimney I made a baffle to stop stuff from coming further down the chimney. I plan on removing the aquapanel every year or two to check on the state of the chimney to make sure there's no excess grease build up. But the ducting vents into the utility room at the moment, so I'm fairly happy that won't be an issue.
Speaking of the ducting here is a shot of it. Nothing fancy, just 6" round ducting. But it will vent externally, so I'm happy I've done it.
Then in the alcove where the sink is there's a cabinet which has a plate rack in it. The cabinet is sweet chestnut and it's finished with Osmo oil. The sweet chestnut was a pain to work, very prone to little chips on the corners and ends. But it looks ok. The lack of doors on the bottom is down to the preference of my wife. It's not her kitchen, but she said I didn't need to bother, so I didn't. Less work for me. It's also very convenient.
My awful attempt at dovetailing. Thankfully it's at the top of the cabinets where you can't see it. The rest is just dados/rebates. The doors have euro hinges on them, they don't really fit how I wanted them to, but due to the positioning of the pipe cover on the left, I didn't have much choice.
The partly finished cabinet in place.
At night with my wife's collection of Orchids in the window.
The full thing completed:
Finally, some general shots of the finished areas. This is the main run of two cupboards and one drawer unit. As you can see the drawers don't line up at all. Which is a pity, but I'd never made any before, so it's not the end of the world. Also they're pretty stiff, so I might need to fettle them again.
The 'upper' view of the main run of cupboard with the unpainted pine units. They also need some kind of 'cornice' put on. I either have to make that or buy that. It'll probably be the latter.
All in I'm fairly happy with how it's turned out. Hopefully it'll all be finished, finished for this coming Christmas.
