goodbye to the kitchen

The deconstruction.  Considering the lack of quality of this manufactured home cabinetry, I was very surprised how DIFFICULT it was to tear apart.  On top of the difficulty, I was trying quite hard to keep the dust down.  I didn't plastic it off from the rest of the living room.   BIG MISTAKE.

good bye disgusting fan hood & un-useable corner cabinets

 good bye strange pantry

The stripe is where I repainted with the uppers still intact.  It was kinda funky for a few weeks.  I don't miss that "brown".  Now the hunt for ingredients continues.  Below is my first find.....

Actual wood uppers and lowers.  They were on Craigslist for $60.  I can't believe the guy tore these out to put in "new" from Home Depot. 
I also couldn't believe that we fit them all in my short bed Ford. 

King sized continued....

If you have the desire to build things for your home you must invest in a nail gun and air compressor.  In this day of carpel tunnel and joint issues you might save yourself alot of pain and physical therapy charges.   I have gone through 2 - 18 gauge guns in my building lifetime (17 years ). My latest and favorite are these made by Porter Cable.  I got a great deal from Overstock.com on a Refurbished set.  The set had a 16 & 18 gauge nailers and a stapler.  I worked with a 18 gauge for years.  The 16 is the best for the actual building and the 18 is good for the final more delicate trim & etc.  This would be a good one......

Well, let finish up this project!  The above tongue and groove wood is what I came up with as ingredients. I wanted to use it because it would give interest in texture and pattern.  it's kinda special.  The bead board stuff came out of a family home that was de-constructed.  I've used it for a wall, and wainscotting.  This is the last of it. Although I don't have enough of either to just use one kind so I came up with this pattern. You could use any wood.  Mix it up.  Use wood that already has paint and make it colorful. Clear coat it with something.  I almost did that myself, but I didn't have time to "dilly dally".  It's freezing out and its time to get a headboard!  
It's easier to show you the photo of the tongue and groove wood laid out and then I can explain your best route of completion. I started by cutting the right and left sides with a random 1x4 that I had.  Cut to be flush with the top and bottom.  Glue and Nail ONE end only.  Then cut a board for the top edge.  When you get those 2 established (nailed) then you have a solid edge to butt up to get the decorative parts settled.  I needed to stretch out my tongue and groove boards so I created "spacers" with leftovers from the top and bottom boards.  I bought cheap pine 1x3's.....the rougher less pretty stuff from Lowe's.  The spacers then now are my template for "height" for the rest of the vertical boards.  Once you get your boards all cut - test them out.  I was in a hurry and didn't change my nail gun.  So I had some go through, but I figured the back side of the HB won't over be exposed so I just clipped them off.  Not always a good option.
You'll see in this close-up photo the small nail hole and some gaps that occurred.  All this type of thing can be filled with nail fill. ( Keep an eye out for an upcoming blog for "Hints and Tips" that I've learned and types of things I use. )

Get your ingredients all laid out before nailing.  This is spoken from experience.  I put the bottom on last to make sure all are forced up.  What I figured was that if there are any flaws I wanted them hidden behind pillows......so if you have a short board, make it short on the bottom side. 

Lastly I added the top ledge.  Below is a photo from above. From left to right : trim, plywood backing and then the top of the 2x4 leg.  All the boards are flush (even) on the top it was easy to cut a 1x4 to top it all off.  I added 1' hangover to each end.

top view showing layers of wood

Gluing that top board is important.

primer coat on the finished headboard

Most likely it will be lifted by that board so it needs to be strong!  Fill your holes and cracks.  I had one piece of bead board I put a line of caulk between as the gap was a little bigger and obvious.  I often will put one coat of paint on my creation before filling holes because you can see what fills up with paint and what can be ignored. Tomorrow's the final painting day.  I'll show you the results then.

King Size!

Recently we upgraded from a full to a king size mattress.  One thing I didn't take into consideration when I chose a "king" was that everything associated with king sized beds are king sized in price.  I ordered a bargain priced "hollywood" frame on with our Amazon Prime account.  Got my moneys worth on that free delivery!   Having a frame made the bed useable, but we really need a headboard I've scoured Craigslist....nothing.  I'm a little picky and broke.....since I'm handy with wood....I'll make one.  I've got interesting wood, but I did have to buy a nice 2x4 and some 1x3's.  So far I've spent $11.   I chose my desired height and cut the 2x4 legs to that length. I had scraps of plywood that was purchased for the hollywood frame. I used that as the main base for the wood that I will add so it doesn't need to be pretty. Attach with screws (they'll be hidden.)

I got this far and still didn't really know what I was going to create.  I contemplated using 4 cabinet doors I had stashed away but it wasn't quite the look I wanted.  I had built Ana White's Farmhouse headboard a while back so I knew I want a 1x4 flat on top so I made sure the plywood is flush with the top of the 2x4 leg. Always use wood glue at every joint.  My rule is you can never have too much glue.  Next I cut a 1x4 for each end.  Glue, square and clamp.....then nail with whatever you choose to use.  I have a 16 gauge Porter Cable Nail Gun.

Don't slack when it come to square-ing EVERYTHING! Make sure you have legs line up with the frame.  You should measure your frame but also do research about standard sizes. I found out you should add 3" to the width of a frame.  That was one websites theory. Sounds good to me....  continued tomorrow.