There's something about alcoves that just screams 90s to me. Add in the rounded corners and it's obvious the space was designed decades ago.
In my last entry, I created a new mantle to span the length of the wall of alcoves that's in our living room. I was so happy with the results that I just couldn't wait to work on the rest of the wall.
All I could see whenever I looked at the alcoves was all of that storage space! If I do nothing to them, they will always just look very cluttered or minimalist. I love to have a space to put everything away so turning them into cabinets with shelves inside was the only answer for me. I mean, look at all of that stuff that just needs to be hidden away! This space needs to be cleaned up!
When we moved in, I attempted to add floating shelves but found that there are barely any studs in the spaces so my plan fell short. Instead, I did what I could and put this project on hold for 8 months. My new plan was to attach adjustable shelf boards to the walls on the two reliable studs on each side that I knew were in there.
These boards worked really well in the alcove in the front room. However, they're only 12" deep and the alcoves in the living room are 24" deep. My first thought was to use two of them side by side to equal 24" but I wouldn't have any way to attach the inside of each board because there's no stud behind the wall there. Also, it would have ended up costing a lot more money. Instead, I bought a 4 x 8 melamine sheet and cut it up into the sizes I needed.
Next, I used my new Kreg Shelf Pin Jig to put holes in the boards.
One thing that's tricky about cutting up a 4 x 8 sheet of melamine is that there are lots of raw edges. Thankfully, there's an iron on edging that was simple to apply and makes a great finish.
Once each board was ready, I just screwed it into place inside the alcove.
I bought doors that match the ones on the cabinets above the coffee bar that I put together months ago but I couldn't find ones that fit the spaces exactly. The doors for the top alcoves are too tall. The doors for the bottom alcoves are too short. The upper doors will just be taller than the opening. For the lowers, I put a shelf in on the lowest position and then added a sort of kick plate underneath it.
Once it was in place, I didn't like how it looked so I added hardboard and trim to match the mantle up above it.
The trim will be painted black.
The only thing left was to add the doors. However, the delivery date for the hinges was delayed so I had to wait. It was Thanksgiving week so it was kind of a mixed blessing. I was able to pause on this project and concentrate on other things.
Hooray! Hinges!
I have a compulsive need to save money as often as I can and these hinges were an amazing price compared to IKEA hinges. Also, it's always nice to avoid another trip to a store right now. I did end up with a problem though. IKEA cabinet doors are made for their hinges, which pop into place with very little effort. The hinges include anchors that are much thicker than regular screws. I didn't have any screws or anchors to match the existing holes so I had to buy a new tool. I have no problem spending my money on new tools that I will use over and over again so I was pretty happy.
After I attached all of the hinges to the doors, I attached the doors to the new cabinet sides.
Then I added handles before dealing with a few more finishing touches.
Once all of the doors were up, I realized they need trim around them. I had hoped to avoid that but it didn't work out the way I wanted. For now, I am just happy to have the cabinets complete. I still need to finish off the other end of the mantle too so I will slowly work on this until I get it perfect. That's the best part about working on my own home. I can work on the finishing touches as I have time.
Next up, built-in dog kennel! It's a pretty involved plan so this one might take a bit of time. Now where's my speed square?
Comments