Know your food, know your farmers, and know your kitchen. -Joel Salatin
Since my last blog we've been up to everything under the sun! We moved out of our temporary mobile home. We've been to Kansas and back. We've been to Washington and back and we've moved into our side of the duplex. No, it's not finished. Things are still in boxes in the garage, the flooring in my kitchen isn't done, our disaster laundry room is gutted down to the crawl space, my kitchen cabinet doors and drawers are in my living room, my stove in the garage... I'm sure you get the picture.
Since living in a construction zone isn't the most wonderful thing ever I've been working a million projects in every room all at once, but my favorite room right now is my kitchen.
This week I've split my built in cabinets, built a bar, painted the cabinets on that side of my galley kitchen, cut and installed butcher block on that side and built a rolling pull out pantry. Then I dislocated my collarbone. Yup. So my pantry isn't 100% complete, but here's what I did so far. The idea I got off Pinterest and I used Erin’s tutorial from her blog post here is hers
..I made some minor changes.This is my material list:
- 5 1x8x8 foot boards
- 2 2x2x8 foot boards
- 2 1x2x8 foot furring strips
- 1 1x3x8 foot furring strip
- 1 4x8 melamine board
- 2 8 foot long trim pieces
- 4 110lb rigid rubber casters
- 16 short #10 metal screws for casters
- 2" wood screws
- 1 1/4" dry wall screws (just what i had on hand to fix shelves to support beams)
- 5/8" long staples and staple gun or nails and hammer or nail gun
- Drill with drill bit for predrilling
- Drill with Phillips bit
- Level
- Tape measure
- Pencil
- Miter saw for trim
- 5" drawer pull
I wanted my rolling cabinet to reach up to the soffet, not sure how that will look yet sticking out, I guess we'll see when it's all done. So I measured my side boards 78 1/4" long, the top and bottom piece 25" long ( so it will be as deep at my countertops) the shelves measured 23 1/2" inches long.
I cut my 2x2s just shy of the depth of my shelves, but they can be the same as the shelves if you prefer.
I cut enough 1x2s and 1x3 for the fronts of my shelves, I used 1x2s for the shelves that were spaced closer together and 1x3s fit the shelves spaced farther apart, I.e. the large item shelves that will hold juice bottles etc.
I cut the melamine with my 3 1/2" skill saw 25"x78 1/4" to fit the back of the pantry.
I laid all the pieces out in the floor, screwed a board the length of the shelves to the bottom board for stability, leaving room on each side for the side walls.
I then added 2x2s on each side of the bottom piece and then affixed the sides to the 2x2s. Next I did the same for the top board and affixed it to the sides. I then had a large rectangle on my floor.
I measured how high up I wanted the next shelf, added 2x2 on each side wall and then screwed in the shelf to the 2x2s. I repeated that step until i had all 7 shelves secured.
I then secured the front ledge pieces with a nail gun, this can also be done with screws if you don't have a nail gun. I towed them in from the outsides of the cabinet and added a couple of nails from the buttons of each ledge.
I added the casters on the bottom of the cabinet with short metal screws I had in a bin.
I flipped the cabinet over onto its front, laid the melamine panel on the back and stapled it along all four edges.
The side that would face out with a handle got a coat of primer and all the screws and knot holes were bondoed and sanded so that it would look smooth.
I then cut my trim pieces and nailed them in...actually at this point I had already dislocated my collarbone, so my husband cut my trim pieces fit me after work and my oldest son nailed them in place with the nail gun and caulked them nicely so that it can get it's final coat of paint and it's handle.
When I get better I plan on building a cabinet box to go around it and over the fridge, and I will install drawer rails on the sides of the pantry to keep it rolling straight.