Built in Bench and Cubby

[jteneyck]

I finished installing these two cabinets today.



They sit in a hallway that goes to the laundry room and garage.  There is a pass through in the wall to the kitchen.  Looking from the door to the garage:



The bench on the left has a large cubby below the seat.  Under the seat is more storage, a shallow shelf above the lower cubby and a deep compartment behind it.  The right cubby cabinet has adjustable shelves, supposedly for shoes.  



There was an outlet on the left wall where the bench was going to go.  I told the owner I could probably move it up higher on the wall, but when I pulled the receptacle out I saw wires going both up and down out of the box, so I told the owner I didn't feel qualified to deal with what it would take to move it.  I was hoping he would say "Fine, just leave it where it is.".  Instead, he said "How about moving it into the side of the cabinet.".  Yeah, good idea, I can do that.  



I used an old work (I think that's what they are called) blue plastic junction box.  I had to cut out a piece of the drywall for the box to protrude into, but it was an easy job.  I had to avoid a stud, too, which is why the box is not centered in the cubby.  

The cabinets are mostly Baltic birch ply with shop sawn walnut veneer, solid walnut for the face frames and frames around the bench and cubby top.  You might notice that the right side panel of the bench and left side panel of the cubby are veneered only on one side, typically a no-no.  I did this because I wanted all birch on the inside of the cabinets and all walnut outside.  To hopefully eliminate any warping problems I sanded off one layer of the birch ply and used epoxy to glue on the walnut veneer.  All seems fine so far, now at least 6 weeks after I made those panels  

The finish was dark walnut Transtint dye, BAC custom chestnut wiping stain, Sealcoat shellac, and GF Enduro Clear Poly satin.  Just Sealcoat and Enduro Clear Poly on the Baltic birch.  

As you can see I scuffed up the walls a little during installation.  In full disclosure the bench cabinet is an inch wider than it is supposed to be.  Somehow I added an inch to the width of the nook when I created the SketchUp model. I couldn't rework the bench cabinet and I sure didn't want to build another, but the cubby cabinet was much simpler so I brought it back to the shop and cut an inch of the right end.  The hardest part was dealing with the face frame.  With some careful router work I manage to cut the face frame rails, and then cut the bottom shorter on the table saw.  I used a single dowel to join the stiles and rails back together.  It took 2 or 3 hours all in all, but when it was done you wouldn't know it had been cut down.  Back to the jobsite today I still had to scribe the face frame stiles to the walls and I ended up with them being a wee bit tight.  The right cabinet had to be lowered down from the top in order to get past the doorway molding.  We scuffed the paint in a couple of places making that happen.  I spackled and sanded the boo boo's smooth again and left it at that.  I finished the job by cutting the stone baseboard moldings to fit using a diamond blade on my angle grinder, and glued them back in place.  The owner just has to replace the grout - and touch up the wall paint.   

Thanks for looking,

John

[Gary G™]

Nice work John
.....

[wood-chips]

Very nice work, the cabinets look great. Was that your design or the home owners?

I've done some projects for people that required electrical changes. Even though I've worked for two electrical contractors for 3 years and am qualified to make any changes, I don't do electrical work as part of the project. While I know I can make any electrical changes, I'm not electrical licensed, insured or bonded. God forbid there should be an electrical fire and the investigation show my work to be suspect, I would be on the hook for huge financial liability damages.

[jteneyck]

Very nice work, the cabinets look great. Was that your design or the home owners?

I've done some projects for people that required electrical changes. Even though I've worked for two electrical contractors for 3 years and am qualified to make any changes, I don't do electrical work as part of the project. While I know I can make any electrical changes, I'm not electrical licensed, insured or bonded. God forbid there should be an electrical fire and the investigation show my work to be suspect, I would be on the hook for huge financial liability damages.

Thanks.  Yes, my design based on hand waving by the home owner.  

John

[AgGEM]

I think they look great.

My only thought is a pinch point between the lid and the top on the cubby.
If one were to lift the lid on the right edge and catch the top, ouch.
Ag

[jteneyck]

I think they look great.

My only thought is a pinch point between the lid and the top on the cubby.
If one were to lift the lid on the right edge and catch the top, ouch.
Ag

You can only pick up the lid at the front, so you'd have to reposition your hand to the side to get pinched.  But you're right, it could be a pinch point if someone did that.  Likely never to be repeated.

John

[Stove M]

Your finished product is both functional and beautiful. Additionally, I appreciate the "trials and tribulations" that you faced along the way. Thanks for the post and story!
Stove

[Big Dave]

Well done, John!

[Stwood_]

Cabs look nice.
Apparently they don't use their kitchen pass-through much with the shoe cab there now.

[jteneyck]

Cabs look nice.
Apparently they don't use their kitchen pass-through much with the shoe cab there now.

Thanks.  My understanding is they have never used it.  But they still could, and might actually be more inclined to do so now, as you could stage something on the cubby top.  

John