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Kitchen cabinetry

12K views 34 replies 13 participants last post by  j1212t 
#1 ·
Stumped on a double-blind corner, out of ideas

Hey everyone. I am fairly new to woodworking - only done a few serious projects but I have been lurking around LJ for a few months and you guys have been awesome, given me a lot of courage to try out new things. I have set up shop in our 300sqft ground floor and I plan to tackle my woodworking as a business, rather than a hobby. I won't be selling anything any time soon - but for me looking at it as a business first really pushes to look at the best possible options. Because every project I make for my lovely wife and our home, is a project that in my mind has to also serve as an example of my craft and a possible showcase piece.

So after we bought our first home half a year ago I have been slowly doing small projects like a bar top, wardrobe, TV cabinet, A king size bed and a computer centre. But these have all been a piece of cake in comparison to what I am now trying to do.

I now need to tackle a full size kitchen cabinetry, but instead of a regualr dreaded blind corner I have what I have affectionally called a double-blind corner. Basically our kitchen is an L shape which turns back in the end. See pic for reference:
Furniture Rectangle Wood Slope Parallel


So here's the thing, in the wood colours are the cabinets I am designing, in regular SU colours are the items that are placed, in the corner - standing proud at 50" is our refigertaor. It is the best place in our mind because we need to maximize our counter space. On the wall the in the corner the large box and smaller ones is our gas heating unit - this is the worst part, can't move it due to regulations, so this has to stay put, there are a lot of tubes running along the wall as well, but these are not important at the moment. The gas heater stands 57" off the floor. Extending from the wall is also our bar tabletop which I made, it is movable, but there is no other place for it in our house, so only place to move it would be a fireplace..

So essentially what I have in the corner is a double whammy, a very narrow space to move into and not much I can even put in the cabinet from the front - at best i would be looking at 10" from the front. So my plan was to actually finish the cabinets as you can see in the drawing, then make the end blind cabinet higher by a thickness of the tabletop.

Then I would make that last part slideable on rails onto the lower tabletop, which would allow me to reach in the counter from the top, because I still will have about 20" from the tabletop to the gas heating unit. In that way I could use the blind corner as a trash can/storage for things I use onyl a few times in a year.

But now that I have had time to think about it I am not so sure, maybe I should let go of the idea of putting the refigerator in the corner, and leave it on the left side of the cabinets - which means I won't be able to hide it and I will lose some counter top there. So I am truly stumped.

In short here are my options:
1. Make a sliding (or fold up of some kind) table top for the 2xblind corner, so I could still use the space form the top. (the blind cabinet would be 27" width)
2. Move my refigerator out of that blind corner into the beginning of the cabinets, lose some counter space, but compensate with being able to extend the cabinets to the end and making a pull-out table top into the blind corner, so I would still have room to work with, but culd reach the cabinet form the front.
3. Just frame the gas heater corner off and forget about it. (our kitchen is quite small, cabinet widths on pic are standard 24")

You guys have seen a lot has anyone dealt with something like this? Because I have searched high and low and I have not found anything yet. Any suggestions would be highly appreciated, I really need a fresh look on this thing, because I have been staring at it, drawing and redrawing designs for 3 weeks now and I have all my materials ready as of last weekend. I would really like to make a new year present fro my lovely wife with a finished kitchen.

If you need any more info let me know, I would be glad to supply it.
 

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#2 ·
Stumped on a double-blind corner, out of ideas

Hey everyone. I am fairly new to woodworking - only done a few serious projects but I have been lurking around LJ for a few months and you guys have been awesome, given me a lot of courage to try out new things. I have set up shop in our 300sqft ground floor and I plan to tackle my woodworking as a business, rather than a hobby. I won't be selling anything any time soon - but for me looking at it as a business first really pushes to look at the best possible options. Because every project I make for my lovely wife and our home, is a project that in my mind has to also serve as an example of my craft and a possible showcase piece.

So after we bought our first home half a year ago I have been slowly doing small projects like a bar top, wardrobe, TV cabinet, A king size bed and a computer centre. But these have all been a piece of cake in comparison to what I am now trying to do.

I now need to tackle a full size kitchen cabinetry, but instead of a regualr dreaded blind corner I have what I have affectionally called a double-blind corner. Basically our kitchen is an L shape which turns back in the end. See pic for reference:
Furniture Rectangle Wood Slope Parallel


So here's the thing, in the wood colours are the cabinets I am designing, in regular SU colours are the items that are placed, in the corner - standing proud at 50" is our refigertaor. It is the best place in our mind because we need to maximize our counter space. On the wall the in the corner the large box and smaller ones is our gas heating unit - this is the worst part, can't move it due to regulations, so this has to stay put, there are a lot of tubes running along the wall as well, but these are not important at the moment. The gas heater stands 57" off the floor. Extending from the wall is also our bar tabletop which I made, it is movable, but there is no other place for it in our house, so only place to move it would be a fireplace..

So essentially what I have in the corner is a double whammy, a very narrow space to move into and not much I can even put in the cabinet from the front - at best i would be looking at 10" from the front. So my plan was to actually finish the cabinets as you can see in the drawing, then make the end blind cabinet higher by a thickness of the tabletop.

Then I would make that last part slideable on rails onto the lower tabletop, which would allow me to reach in the counter from the top, because I still will have about 20" from the tabletop to the gas heating unit. In that way I could use the blind corner as a trash can/storage for things I use onyl a few times in a year.

But now that I have had time to think about it I am not so sure, maybe I should let go of the idea of putting the refigerator in the corner, and leave it on the left side of the cabinets - which means I won't be able to hide it and I will lose some counter top there. So I am truly stumped.

In short here are my options:
1. Make a sliding (or fold up of some kind) table top for the 2xblind corner, so I could still use the space form the top. (the blind cabinet would be 27" width)
2. Move my refigerator out of that blind corner into the beginning of the cabinets, lose some counter space, but compensate with being able to extend the cabinets to the end and making a pull-out table top into the blind corner, so I would still have room to work with, but culd reach the cabinet form the front.
3. Just frame the gas heater corner off and forget about it. (our kitchen is quite small, cabinet widths on pic are standard 24")

You guys have seen a lot has anyone dealt with something like this? Because I have searched high and low and I have not found anything yet. Any suggestions would be highly appreciated, I really need a fresh look on this thing, because I have been staring at it, drawing and redrawing designs for 3 weeks now and I have all my materials ready as of last weekend. I would really like to make a new year present fro my lovely wife with a finished kitchen.

If you need any more info let me know, I would be glad to supply it.
Hmm its a bit diffcult to geat an idear of the problem from your drawing. Is it perhaps possible to ad some pictures? Then ill be happy to help!
 

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#3 ·
Stumped on a double-blind corner, out of ideas

Hey everyone. I am fairly new to woodworking - only done a few serious projects but I have been lurking around LJ for a few months and you guys have been awesome, given me a lot of courage to try out new things. I have set up shop in our 300sqft ground floor and I plan to tackle my woodworking as a business, rather than a hobby. I won't be selling anything any time soon - but for me looking at it as a business first really pushes to look at the best possible options. Because every project I make for my lovely wife and our home, is a project that in my mind has to also serve as an example of my craft and a possible showcase piece.

So after we bought our first home half a year ago I have been slowly doing small projects like a bar top, wardrobe, TV cabinet, A king size bed and a computer centre. But these have all been a piece of cake in comparison to what I am now trying to do.

I now need to tackle a full size kitchen cabinetry, but instead of a regualr dreaded blind corner I have what I have affectionally called a double-blind corner. Basically our kitchen is an L shape which turns back in the end. See pic for reference:
Furniture Rectangle Wood Slope Parallel


So here's the thing, in the wood colours are the cabinets I am designing, in regular SU colours are the items that are placed, in the corner - standing proud at 50" is our refigertaor. It is the best place in our mind because we need to maximize our counter space. On the wall the in the corner the large box and smaller ones is our gas heating unit - this is the worst part, can't move it due to regulations, so this has to stay put, there are a lot of tubes running along the wall as well, but these are not important at the moment. The gas heater stands 57" off the floor. Extending from the wall is also our bar tabletop which I made, it is movable, but there is no other place for it in our house, so only place to move it would be a fireplace..

So essentially what I have in the corner is a double whammy, a very narrow space to move into and not much I can even put in the cabinet from the front - at best i would be looking at 10" from the front. So my plan was to actually finish the cabinets as you can see in the drawing, then make the end blind cabinet higher by a thickness of the tabletop.

Then I would make that last part slideable on rails onto the lower tabletop, which would allow me to reach in the counter from the top, because I still will have about 20" from the tabletop to the gas heating unit. In that way I could use the blind corner as a trash can/storage for things I use onyl a few times in a year.

But now that I have had time to think about it I am not so sure, maybe I should let go of the idea of putting the refigerator in the corner, and leave it on the left side of the cabinets - which means I won't be able to hide it and I will lose some counter top there. So I am truly stumped.

In short here are my options:
1. Make a sliding (or fold up of some kind) table top for the 2xblind corner, so I could still use the space form the top. (the blind cabinet would be 27" width)
2. Move my refigerator out of that blind corner into the beginning of the cabinets, lose some counter space, but compensate with being able to extend the cabinets to the end and making a pull-out table top into the blind corner, so I would still have room to work with, but culd reach the cabinet form the front.
3. Just frame the gas heater corner off and forget about it. (our kitchen is quite small, cabinet widths on pic are standard 24")

You guys have seen a lot has anyone dealt with something like this? Because I have searched high and low and I have not found anything yet. Any suggestions would be highly appreciated, I really need a fresh look on this thing, because I have been staring at it, drawing and redrawing designs for 3 weeks now and I have all my materials ready as of last weekend. I would really like to make a new year present fro my lovely wife with a finished kitchen.

If you need any more info let me know, I would be glad to supply it.
I agree, I'm having a little trouble trying to get a visual of what it is that you are looking for. A floor plan would be great!
 

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#4 ·
Stumped on a double-blind corner, out of ideas

Hey everyone. I am fairly new to woodworking - only done a few serious projects but I have been lurking around LJ for a few months and you guys have been awesome, given me a lot of courage to try out new things. I have set up shop in our 300sqft ground floor and I plan to tackle my woodworking as a business, rather than a hobby. I won't be selling anything any time soon - but for me looking at it as a business first really pushes to look at the best possible options. Because every project I make for my lovely wife and our home, is a project that in my mind has to also serve as an example of my craft and a possible showcase piece.

So after we bought our first home half a year ago I have been slowly doing small projects like a bar top, wardrobe, TV cabinet, A king size bed and a computer centre. But these have all been a piece of cake in comparison to what I am now trying to do.

I now need to tackle a full size kitchen cabinetry, but instead of a regualr dreaded blind corner I have what I have affectionally called a double-blind corner. Basically our kitchen is an L shape which turns back in the end. See pic for reference:
Furniture Rectangle Wood Slope Parallel


So here's the thing, in the wood colours are the cabinets I am designing, in regular SU colours are the items that are placed, in the corner - standing proud at 50" is our refigertaor. It is the best place in our mind because we need to maximize our counter space. On the wall the in the corner the large box and smaller ones is our gas heating unit - this is the worst part, can't move it due to regulations, so this has to stay put, there are a lot of tubes running along the wall as well, but these are not important at the moment. The gas heater stands 57" off the floor. Extending from the wall is also our bar tabletop which I made, it is movable, but there is no other place for it in our house, so only place to move it would be a fireplace..

So essentially what I have in the corner is a double whammy, a very narrow space to move into and not much I can even put in the cabinet from the front - at best i would be looking at 10" from the front. So my plan was to actually finish the cabinets as you can see in the drawing, then make the end blind cabinet higher by a thickness of the tabletop.

Then I would make that last part slideable on rails onto the lower tabletop, which would allow me to reach in the counter from the top, because I still will have about 20" from the tabletop to the gas heating unit. In that way I could use the blind corner as a trash can/storage for things I use onyl a few times in a year.

But now that I have had time to think about it I am not so sure, maybe I should let go of the idea of putting the refigerator in the corner, and leave it on the left side of the cabinets - which means I won't be able to hide it and I will lose some counter top there. So I am truly stumped.

In short here are my options:
1. Make a sliding (or fold up of some kind) table top for the 2xblind corner, so I could still use the space form the top. (the blind cabinet would be 27" width)
2. Move my refigerator out of that blind corner into the beginning of the cabinets, lose some counter space, but compensate with being able to extend the cabinets to the end and making a pull-out table top into the blind corner, so I would still have room to work with, but culd reach the cabinet form the front.
3. Just frame the gas heater corner off and forget about it. (our kitchen is quite small, cabinet widths on pic are standard 24")

You guys have seen a lot has anyone dealt with something like this? Because I have searched high and low and I have not found anything yet. Any suggestions would be highly appreciated, I really need a fresh look on this thing, because I have been staring at it, drawing and redrawing designs for 3 weeks now and I have all my materials ready as of last weekend. I would really like to make a new year present fro my lovely wife with a finished kitchen.

If you need any more info let me know, I would be glad to supply it.
You're losing me too. Keep working on your thinking
and get a Hafele catalog. There are some whacky things
in there for confined kitchens.
 

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#5 ·
Stumped on a double-blind corner, out of ideas

Hey everyone. I am fairly new to woodworking - only done a few serious projects but I have been lurking around LJ for a few months and you guys have been awesome, given me a lot of courage to try out new things. I have set up shop in our 300sqft ground floor and I plan to tackle my woodworking as a business, rather than a hobby. I won't be selling anything any time soon - but for me looking at it as a business first really pushes to look at the best possible options. Because every project I make for my lovely wife and our home, is a project that in my mind has to also serve as an example of my craft and a possible showcase piece.

So after we bought our first home half a year ago I have been slowly doing small projects like a bar top, wardrobe, TV cabinet, A king size bed and a computer centre. But these have all been a piece of cake in comparison to what I am now trying to do.

I now need to tackle a full size kitchen cabinetry, but instead of a regualr dreaded blind corner I have what I have affectionally called a double-blind corner. Basically our kitchen is an L shape which turns back in the end. See pic for reference:
Furniture Rectangle Wood Slope Parallel


So here's the thing, in the wood colours are the cabinets I am designing, in regular SU colours are the items that are placed, in the corner - standing proud at 50" is our refigertaor. It is the best place in our mind because we need to maximize our counter space. On the wall the in the corner the large box and smaller ones is our gas heating unit - this is the worst part, can't move it due to regulations, so this has to stay put, there are a lot of tubes running along the wall as well, but these are not important at the moment. The gas heater stands 57" off the floor. Extending from the wall is also our bar tabletop which I made, it is movable, but there is no other place for it in our house, so only place to move it would be a fireplace..

So essentially what I have in the corner is a double whammy, a very narrow space to move into and not much I can even put in the cabinet from the front - at best i would be looking at 10" from the front. So my plan was to actually finish the cabinets as you can see in the drawing, then make the end blind cabinet higher by a thickness of the tabletop.

Then I would make that last part slideable on rails onto the lower tabletop, which would allow me to reach in the counter from the top, because I still will have about 20" from the tabletop to the gas heating unit. In that way I could use the blind corner as a trash can/storage for things I use onyl a few times in a year.

But now that I have had time to think about it I am not so sure, maybe I should let go of the idea of putting the refigerator in the corner, and leave it on the left side of the cabinets - which means I won't be able to hide it and I will lose some counter top there. So I am truly stumped.

In short here are my options:
1. Make a sliding (or fold up of some kind) table top for the 2xblind corner, so I could still use the space form the top. (the blind cabinet would be 27" width)
2. Move my refigerator out of that blind corner into the beginning of the cabinets, lose some counter space, but compensate with being able to extend the cabinets to the end and making a pull-out table top into the blind corner, so I would still have room to work with, but culd reach the cabinet form the front.
3. Just frame the gas heater corner off and forget about it. (our kitchen is quite small, cabinet widths on pic are standard 24")

You guys have seen a lot has anyone dealt with something like this? Because I have searched high and low and I have not found anything yet. Any suggestions would be highly appreciated, I really need a fresh look on this thing, because I have been staring at it, drawing and redrawing designs for 3 weeks now and I have all my materials ready as of last weekend. I would really like to make a new year present fro my lovely wife with a finished kitchen.

If you need any more info let me know, I would be glad to supply it.
Glad I'm not the only one struggling with the picture. It needs more context, like the whole kitchen floorplan. Also I'm not sure what those rectangles are in the cubby… you mentioned a refrigerator and gas heater but the sizes seem to be off. And why is there a stove vent in the corner?
 

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#6 ·
Stumped on a double-blind corner, out of ideas

Hey everyone. I am fairly new to woodworking - only done a few serious projects but I have been lurking around LJ for a few months and you guys have been awesome, given me a lot of courage to try out new things. I have set up shop in our 300sqft ground floor and I plan to tackle my woodworking as a business, rather than a hobby. I won't be selling anything any time soon - but for me looking at it as a business first really pushes to look at the best possible options. Because every project I make for my lovely wife and our home, is a project that in my mind has to also serve as an example of my craft and a possible showcase piece.

So after we bought our first home half a year ago I have been slowly doing small projects like a bar top, wardrobe, TV cabinet, A king size bed and a computer centre. But these have all been a piece of cake in comparison to what I am now trying to do.

I now need to tackle a full size kitchen cabinetry, but instead of a regualr dreaded blind corner I have what I have affectionally called a double-blind corner. Basically our kitchen is an L shape which turns back in the end. See pic for reference:
Furniture Rectangle Wood Slope Parallel


So here's the thing, in the wood colours are the cabinets I am designing, in regular SU colours are the items that are placed, in the corner - standing proud at 50" is our refigertaor. It is the best place in our mind because we need to maximize our counter space. On the wall the in the corner the large box and smaller ones is our gas heating unit - this is the worst part, can't move it due to regulations, so this has to stay put, there are a lot of tubes running along the wall as well, but these are not important at the moment. The gas heater stands 57" off the floor. Extending from the wall is also our bar tabletop which I made, it is movable, but there is no other place for it in our house, so only place to move it would be a fireplace..

So essentially what I have in the corner is a double whammy, a very narrow space to move into and not much I can even put in the cabinet from the front - at best i would be looking at 10" from the front. So my plan was to actually finish the cabinets as you can see in the drawing, then make the end blind cabinet higher by a thickness of the tabletop.

Then I would make that last part slideable on rails onto the lower tabletop, which would allow me to reach in the counter from the top, because I still will have about 20" from the tabletop to the gas heating unit. In that way I could use the blind corner as a trash can/storage for things I use onyl a few times in a year.

But now that I have had time to think about it I am not so sure, maybe I should let go of the idea of putting the refigerator in the corner, and leave it on the left side of the cabinets - which means I won't be able to hide it and I will lose some counter top there. So I am truly stumped.

In short here are my options:
1. Make a sliding (or fold up of some kind) table top for the 2xblind corner, so I could still use the space form the top. (the blind cabinet would be 27" width)
2. Move my refigerator out of that blind corner into the beginning of the cabinets, lose some counter space, but compensate with being able to extend the cabinets to the end and making a pull-out table top into the blind corner, so I would still have room to work with, but culd reach the cabinet form the front.
3. Just frame the gas heater corner off and forget about it. (our kitchen is quite small, cabinet widths on pic are standard 24")

You guys have seen a lot has anyone dealt with something like this? Because I have searched high and low and I have not found anything yet. Any suggestions would be highly appreciated, I really need a fresh look on this thing, because I have been staring at it, drawing and redrawing designs for 3 weeks now and I have all my materials ready as of last weekend. I would really like to make a new year present fro my lovely wife with a finished kitchen.

If you need any more info let me know, I would be glad to supply it.
Here are some sketches, hopefully this clears things up. I will make a sketch kind of showing what I meant by the sliding top as well.
Top 2D view showing wall layout
Rectangle Font Parallel Slope Number


Top 2D view with planned cabinetry and placement you saw on the very first post 3D
Rectangle Font Parallel Slope Electric blue


2D sketch of the main wall with correct distances.
Colorfulness Rectangle Font Parallel Diagram


Front 3D view of planned cabinetry without the blind corner cabinet and without bar tabletop (the heater unit is a bit off, it actually extends ~1" below the top cabinetry)
Rectangle Table House Wood Material property
 

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#7 ·
Stumped on a double-blind corner, out of ideas

Hey everyone. I am fairly new to woodworking - only done a few serious projects but I have been lurking around LJ for a few months and you guys have been awesome, given me a lot of courage to try out new things. I have set up shop in our 300sqft ground floor and I plan to tackle my woodworking as a business, rather than a hobby. I won't be selling anything any time soon - but for me looking at it as a business first really pushes to look at the best possible options. Because every project I make for my lovely wife and our home, is a project that in my mind has to also serve as an example of my craft and a possible showcase piece.

So after we bought our first home half a year ago I have been slowly doing small projects like a bar top, wardrobe, TV cabinet, A king size bed and a computer centre. But these have all been a piece of cake in comparison to what I am now trying to do.

I now need to tackle a full size kitchen cabinetry, but instead of a regualr dreaded blind corner I have what I have affectionally called a double-blind corner. Basically our kitchen is an L shape which turns back in the end. See pic for reference:
Furniture Rectangle Wood Slope Parallel


So here's the thing, in the wood colours are the cabinets I am designing, in regular SU colours are the items that are placed, in the corner - standing proud at 50" is our refigertaor. It is the best place in our mind because we need to maximize our counter space. On the wall the in the corner the large box and smaller ones is our gas heating unit - this is the worst part, can't move it due to regulations, so this has to stay put, there are a lot of tubes running along the wall as well, but these are not important at the moment. The gas heater stands 57" off the floor. Extending from the wall is also our bar tabletop which I made, it is movable, but there is no other place for it in our house, so only place to move it would be a fireplace..

So essentially what I have in the corner is a double whammy, a very narrow space to move into and not much I can even put in the cabinet from the front - at best i would be looking at 10" from the front. So my plan was to actually finish the cabinets as you can see in the drawing, then make the end blind cabinet higher by a thickness of the tabletop.

Then I would make that last part slideable on rails onto the lower tabletop, which would allow me to reach in the counter from the top, because I still will have about 20" from the tabletop to the gas heating unit. In that way I could use the blind corner as a trash can/storage for things I use onyl a few times in a year.

But now that I have had time to think about it I am not so sure, maybe I should let go of the idea of putting the refigerator in the corner, and leave it on the left side of the cabinets - which means I won't be able to hide it and I will lose some counter top there. So I am truly stumped.

In short here are my options:
1. Make a sliding (or fold up of some kind) table top for the 2xblind corner, so I could still use the space form the top. (the blind cabinet would be 27" width)
2. Move my refigerator out of that blind corner into the beginning of the cabinets, lose some counter space, but compensate with being able to extend the cabinets to the end and making a pull-out table top into the blind corner, so I would still have room to work with, but culd reach the cabinet form the front.
3. Just frame the gas heater corner off and forget about it. (our kitchen is quite small, cabinet widths on pic are standard 24")

You guys have seen a lot has anyone dealt with something like this? Because I have searched high and low and I have not found anything yet. Any suggestions would be highly appreciated, I really need a fresh look on this thing, because I have been staring at it, drawing and redrawing designs for 3 weeks now and I have all my materials ready as of last weekend. I would really like to make a new year present fro my lovely wife with a finished kitchen.

If you need any more info let me know, I would be glad to supply it.
Thanks all for the questions, that's what happens when you've been flying solo - you forget that not everybody has seen it 300 times.. Anyhow, the vent can be changed, this is just how it is currently from the previous owners.

That's why I started this blog, to get fresh perspective and feedback, and you guys are pretty much pros. Additional photos, that might clear things up, if it is still unclear, I can take a pic later when I get home tonight. Please excuse the mess.

Corner without the gas heater unit installed (We had it installed this november)
Building Wood Interior design Flooring Floor


Corner with the heater installed (currently the water heater on the right is gone, our gas heater does it, but at the time the pic was taken the system was not hooked up yet.)
Building Sink Kitchen sink Floor Fixture


By the way the cabinets you see on the pic are going out, we loved them in the beginning, but they are not built well (look at the table top eek!) also now they don't fit into our design. We are going for a shaker style with a solid 2" thick slab of Iroko Mahagony (poor mans Teak it is called I believe)
 

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#8 ·
Stumped on a double-blind corner, out of ideas

Hey everyone. I am fairly new to woodworking - only done a few serious projects but I have been lurking around LJ for a few months and you guys have been awesome, given me a lot of courage to try out new things. I have set up shop in our 300sqft ground floor and I plan to tackle my woodworking as a business, rather than a hobby. I won't be selling anything any time soon - but for me looking at it as a business first really pushes to look at the best possible options. Because every project I make for my lovely wife and our home, is a project that in my mind has to also serve as an example of my craft and a possible showcase piece.

So after we bought our first home half a year ago I have been slowly doing small projects like a bar top, wardrobe, TV cabinet, A king size bed and a computer centre. But these have all been a piece of cake in comparison to what I am now trying to do.

I now need to tackle a full size kitchen cabinetry, but instead of a regualr dreaded blind corner I have what I have affectionally called a double-blind corner. Basically our kitchen is an L shape which turns back in the end. See pic for reference:
Furniture Rectangle Wood Slope Parallel


So here's the thing, in the wood colours are the cabinets I am designing, in regular SU colours are the items that are placed, in the corner - standing proud at 50" is our refigertaor. It is the best place in our mind because we need to maximize our counter space. On the wall the in the corner the large box and smaller ones is our gas heating unit - this is the worst part, can't move it due to regulations, so this has to stay put, there are a lot of tubes running along the wall as well, but these are not important at the moment. The gas heater stands 57" off the floor. Extending from the wall is also our bar tabletop which I made, it is movable, but there is no other place for it in our house, so only place to move it would be a fireplace..

So essentially what I have in the corner is a double whammy, a very narrow space to move into and not much I can even put in the cabinet from the front - at best i would be looking at 10" from the front. So my plan was to actually finish the cabinets as you can see in the drawing, then make the end blind cabinet higher by a thickness of the tabletop.

Then I would make that last part slideable on rails onto the lower tabletop, which would allow me to reach in the counter from the top, because I still will have about 20" from the tabletop to the gas heating unit. In that way I could use the blind corner as a trash can/storage for things I use onyl a few times in a year.

But now that I have had time to think about it I am not so sure, maybe I should let go of the idea of putting the refigerator in the corner, and leave it on the left side of the cabinets - which means I won't be able to hide it and I will lose some counter top there. So I am truly stumped.

In short here are my options:
1. Make a sliding (or fold up of some kind) table top for the 2xblind corner, so I could still use the space form the top. (the blind cabinet would be 27" width)
2. Move my refigerator out of that blind corner into the beginning of the cabinets, lose some counter space, but compensate with being able to extend the cabinets to the end and making a pull-out table top into the blind corner, so I would still have room to work with, but culd reach the cabinet form the front.
3. Just frame the gas heater corner off and forget about it. (our kitchen is quite small, cabinet widths on pic are standard 24")

You guys have seen a lot has anyone dealt with something like this? Because I have searched high and low and I have not found anything yet. Any suggestions would be highly appreciated, I really need a fresh look on this thing, because I have been staring at it, drawing and redrawing designs for 3 weeks now and I have all my materials ready as of last weekend. I would really like to make a new year present fro my lovely wife with a finished kitchen.

If you need any more info let me know, I would be glad to supply it.
Much better. I hate to say it but I would start by getting rid of the bar because it closes off the kitchen. Otherwise this is a tough one and hopefully someone with more experience will have some ideas.
 

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#9 ·
Stumped on a double-blind corner, out of ideas

Hey everyone. I am fairly new to woodworking - only done a few serious projects but I have been lurking around LJ for a few months and you guys have been awesome, given me a lot of courage to try out new things. I have set up shop in our 300sqft ground floor and I plan to tackle my woodworking as a business, rather than a hobby. I won't be selling anything any time soon - but for me looking at it as a business first really pushes to look at the best possible options. Because every project I make for my lovely wife and our home, is a project that in my mind has to also serve as an example of my craft and a possible showcase piece.

So after we bought our first home half a year ago I have been slowly doing small projects like a bar top, wardrobe, TV cabinet, A king size bed and a computer centre. But these have all been a piece of cake in comparison to what I am now trying to do.

I now need to tackle a full size kitchen cabinetry, but instead of a regualr dreaded blind corner I have what I have affectionally called a double-blind corner. Basically our kitchen is an L shape which turns back in the end. See pic for reference:
Furniture Rectangle Wood Slope Parallel


So here's the thing, in the wood colours are the cabinets I am designing, in regular SU colours are the items that are placed, in the corner - standing proud at 50" is our refigertaor. It is the best place in our mind because we need to maximize our counter space. On the wall the in the corner the large box and smaller ones is our gas heating unit - this is the worst part, can't move it due to regulations, so this has to stay put, there are a lot of tubes running along the wall as well, but these are not important at the moment. The gas heater stands 57" off the floor. Extending from the wall is also our bar tabletop which I made, it is movable, but there is no other place for it in our house, so only place to move it would be a fireplace..

So essentially what I have in the corner is a double whammy, a very narrow space to move into and not much I can even put in the cabinet from the front - at best i would be looking at 10" from the front. So my plan was to actually finish the cabinets as you can see in the drawing, then make the end blind cabinet higher by a thickness of the tabletop.

Then I would make that last part slideable on rails onto the lower tabletop, which would allow me to reach in the counter from the top, because I still will have about 20" from the tabletop to the gas heating unit. In that way I could use the blind corner as a trash can/storage for things I use onyl a few times in a year.

But now that I have had time to think about it I am not so sure, maybe I should let go of the idea of putting the refigerator in the corner, and leave it on the left side of the cabinets - which means I won't be able to hide it and I will lose some counter top there. So I am truly stumped.

In short here are my options:
1. Make a sliding (or fold up of some kind) table top for the 2xblind corner, so I could still use the space form the top. (the blind cabinet would be 27" width)
2. Move my refigerator out of that blind corner into the beginning of the cabinets, lose some counter space, but compensate with being able to extend the cabinets to the end and making a pull-out table top into the blind corner, so I would still have room to work with, but culd reach the cabinet form the front.
3. Just frame the gas heater corner off and forget about it. (our kitchen is quite small, cabinet widths on pic are standard 24")

You guys have seen a lot has anyone dealt with something like this? Because I have searched high and low and I have not found anything yet. Any suggestions would be highly appreciated, I really need a fresh look on this thing, because I have been staring at it, drawing and redrawing designs for 3 weeks now and I have all my materials ready as of last weekend. I would really like to make a new year present fro my lovely wife with a finished kitchen.

If you need any more info let me know, I would be glad to supply it.
This is a bastard, no doubt about it. Getting rid of the bar is the last resort, and I hope not to that. Main reasoning being that we don't have a big dining room, so this is where we eat and be merry.

We probably will need to move the bar a bit further, make it overlap the chimney by 10" or so (currently the bar top is ~20") That would give us 10"space at the kitchen. Which would be ergonomically better as well.
 

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#10 ·
Stumped on a double-blind corner, out of ideas

Hey everyone. I am fairly new to woodworking - only done a few serious projects but I have been lurking around LJ for a few months and you guys have been awesome, given me a lot of courage to try out new things. I have set up shop in our 300sqft ground floor and I plan to tackle my woodworking as a business, rather than a hobby. I won't be selling anything any time soon - but for me looking at it as a business first really pushes to look at the best possible options. Because every project I make for my lovely wife and our home, is a project that in my mind has to also serve as an example of my craft and a possible showcase piece.

So after we bought our first home half a year ago I have been slowly doing small projects like a bar top, wardrobe, TV cabinet, A king size bed and a computer centre. But these have all been a piece of cake in comparison to what I am now trying to do.

I now need to tackle a full size kitchen cabinetry, but instead of a regualr dreaded blind corner I have what I have affectionally called a double-blind corner. Basically our kitchen is an L shape which turns back in the end. See pic for reference:
Furniture Rectangle Wood Slope Parallel


So here's the thing, in the wood colours are the cabinets I am designing, in regular SU colours are the items that are placed, in the corner - standing proud at 50" is our refigertaor. It is the best place in our mind because we need to maximize our counter space. On the wall the in the corner the large box and smaller ones is our gas heating unit - this is the worst part, can't move it due to regulations, so this has to stay put, there are a lot of tubes running along the wall as well, but these are not important at the moment. The gas heater stands 57" off the floor. Extending from the wall is also our bar tabletop which I made, it is movable, but there is no other place for it in our house, so only place to move it would be a fireplace..

So essentially what I have in the corner is a double whammy, a very narrow space to move into and not much I can even put in the cabinet from the front - at best i would be looking at 10" from the front. So my plan was to actually finish the cabinets as you can see in the drawing, then make the end blind cabinet higher by a thickness of the tabletop.

Then I would make that last part slideable on rails onto the lower tabletop, which would allow me to reach in the counter from the top, because I still will have about 20" from the tabletop to the gas heating unit. In that way I could use the blind corner as a trash can/storage for things I use onyl a few times in a year.

But now that I have had time to think about it I am not so sure, maybe I should let go of the idea of putting the refigerator in the corner, and leave it on the left side of the cabinets - which means I won't be able to hide it and I will lose some counter top there. So I am truly stumped.

In short here are my options:
1. Make a sliding (or fold up of some kind) table top for the 2xblind corner, so I could still use the space form the top. (the blind cabinet would be 27" width)
2. Move my refigerator out of that blind corner into the beginning of the cabinets, lose some counter space, but compensate with being able to extend the cabinets to the end and making a pull-out table top into the blind corner, so I would still have room to work with, but culd reach the cabinet form the front.
3. Just frame the gas heater corner off and forget about it. (our kitchen is quite small, cabinet widths on pic are standard 24")

You guys have seen a lot has anyone dealt with something like this? Because I have searched high and low and I have not found anything yet. Any suggestions would be highly appreciated, I really need a fresh look on this thing, because I have been staring at it, drawing and redrawing designs for 3 weeks now and I have all my materials ready as of last weekend. I would really like to make a new year present fro my lovely wife with a finished kitchen.

If you need any more info let me know, I would be glad to supply it.
Year see that you got a challenge there..

I think that you perhaps have gotten a little "blind" staring at that rorner. Try to forget that for a second and focus on what kind of kitchen you like. Now depending on wether you cook seldom and need a "french tea kitchen" or the all in chef's dream place ill suggest to consider these two options (or somewhere in the middle):

Small kitchen:
- Put the stove where the fridge is and build a cabinet around the heater (remember air vent).
- Get rid of the bar (sorry) and put the fridge at the chimney, perhaps inside a cabinet or with a nice countertop on…

Large kitchen:
- Bild a large cabinet over the whole corner and use it for cleaning gear etc
- Get rid of the bar (sorry again)
- Build a nice "island" out in the room w access on all 4 sides in order to activate the narrow space in the kitchen
- Consider having the fridge and stove in the island
- Perhaps the outside of the island could have a few bar stools to get the "bar feel" back?

Perhaps, in such a relatively small space, consider not making cabinets over the table but open shelves instead in order to give a more airy feeling
A few nice lamps and some good looking cooking gear around and you are cooking in style!

Hope this was usefull?
 

Attachments

#11 ·
Stumped on a double-blind corner, out of ideas

Hey everyone. I am fairly new to woodworking - only done a few serious projects but I have been lurking around LJ for a few months and you guys have been awesome, given me a lot of courage to try out new things. I have set up shop in our 300sqft ground floor and I plan to tackle my woodworking as a business, rather than a hobby. I won't be selling anything any time soon - but for me looking at it as a business first really pushes to look at the best possible options. Because every project I make for my lovely wife and our home, is a project that in my mind has to also serve as an example of my craft and a possible showcase piece.

So after we bought our first home half a year ago I have been slowly doing small projects like a bar top, wardrobe, TV cabinet, A king size bed and a computer centre. But these have all been a piece of cake in comparison to what I am now trying to do.

I now need to tackle a full size kitchen cabinetry, but instead of a regualr dreaded blind corner I have what I have affectionally called a double-blind corner. Basically our kitchen is an L shape which turns back in the end. See pic for reference:
Furniture Rectangle Wood Slope Parallel


So here's the thing, in the wood colours are the cabinets I am designing, in regular SU colours are the items that are placed, in the corner - standing proud at 50" is our refigertaor. It is the best place in our mind because we need to maximize our counter space. On the wall the in the corner the large box and smaller ones is our gas heating unit - this is the worst part, can't move it due to regulations, so this has to stay put, there are a lot of tubes running along the wall as well, but these are not important at the moment. The gas heater stands 57" off the floor. Extending from the wall is also our bar tabletop which I made, it is movable, but there is no other place for it in our house, so only place to move it would be a fireplace..

So essentially what I have in the corner is a double whammy, a very narrow space to move into and not much I can even put in the cabinet from the front - at best i would be looking at 10" from the front. So my plan was to actually finish the cabinets as you can see in the drawing, then make the end blind cabinet higher by a thickness of the tabletop.

Then I would make that last part slideable on rails onto the lower tabletop, which would allow me to reach in the counter from the top, because I still will have about 20" from the tabletop to the gas heating unit. In that way I could use the blind corner as a trash can/storage for things I use onyl a few times in a year.

But now that I have had time to think about it I am not so sure, maybe I should let go of the idea of putting the refigerator in the corner, and leave it on the left side of the cabinets - which means I won't be able to hide it and I will lose some counter top there. So I am truly stumped.

In short here are my options:
1. Make a sliding (or fold up of some kind) table top for the 2xblind corner, so I could still use the space form the top. (the blind cabinet would be 27" width)
2. Move my refigerator out of that blind corner into the beginning of the cabinets, lose some counter space, but compensate with being able to extend the cabinets to the end and making a pull-out table top into the blind corner, so I would still have room to work with, but culd reach the cabinet form the front.
3. Just frame the gas heater corner off and forget about it. (our kitchen is quite small, cabinet widths on pic are standard 24")

You guys have seen a lot has anyone dealt with something like this? Because I have searched high and low and I have not found anything yet. Any suggestions would be highly appreciated, I really need a fresh look on this thing, because I have been staring at it, drawing and redrawing designs for 3 weeks now and I have all my materials ready as of last weekend. I would really like to make a new year present fro my lovely wife with a finished kitchen.

If you need any more info let me know, I would be glad to supply it.
I can help you layout your kitchen with some CAD drawings if you want. Just message me and I can help you design your kitchen with various design options. Just looking to help out a fellow wood worker.
 

Attachments

#12 ·
Stumped on a double-blind corner, out of ideas

Hey everyone. I am fairly new to woodworking - only done a few serious projects but I have been lurking around LJ for a few months and you guys have been awesome, given me a lot of courage to try out new things. I have set up shop in our 300sqft ground floor and I plan to tackle my woodworking as a business, rather than a hobby. I won't be selling anything any time soon - but for me looking at it as a business first really pushes to look at the best possible options. Because every project I make for my lovely wife and our home, is a project that in my mind has to also serve as an example of my craft and a possible showcase piece.

So after we bought our first home half a year ago I have been slowly doing small projects like a bar top, wardrobe, TV cabinet, A king size bed and a computer centre. But these have all been a piece of cake in comparison to what I am now trying to do.

I now need to tackle a full size kitchen cabinetry, but instead of a regualr dreaded blind corner I have what I have affectionally called a double-blind corner. Basically our kitchen is an L shape which turns back in the end. See pic for reference:
Furniture Rectangle Wood Slope Parallel


So here's the thing, in the wood colours are the cabinets I am designing, in regular SU colours are the items that are placed, in the corner - standing proud at 50" is our refigertaor. It is the best place in our mind because we need to maximize our counter space. On the wall the in the corner the large box and smaller ones is our gas heating unit - this is the worst part, can't move it due to regulations, so this has to stay put, there are a lot of tubes running along the wall as well, but these are not important at the moment. The gas heater stands 57" off the floor. Extending from the wall is also our bar tabletop which I made, it is movable, but there is no other place for it in our house, so only place to move it would be a fireplace..

So essentially what I have in the corner is a double whammy, a very narrow space to move into and not much I can even put in the cabinet from the front - at best i would be looking at 10" from the front. So my plan was to actually finish the cabinets as you can see in the drawing, then make the end blind cabinet higher by a thickness of the tabletop.

Then I would make that last part slideable on rails onto the lower tabletop, which would allow me to reach in the counter from the top, because I still will have about 20" from the tabletop to the gas heating unit. In that way I could use the blind corner as a trash can/storage for things I use onyl a few times in a year.

But now that I have had time to think about it I am not so sure, maybe I should let go of the idea of putting the refigerator in the corner, and leave it on the left side of the cabinets - which means I won't be able to hide it and I will lose some counter top there. So I am truly stumped.

In short here are my options:
1. Make a sliding (or fold up of some kind) table top for the 2xblind corner, so I could still use the space form the top. (the blind cabinet would be 27" width)
2. Move my refigerator out of that blind corner into the beginning of the cabinets, lose some counter space, but compensate with being able to extend the cabinets to the end and making a pull-out table top into the blind corner, so I would still have room to work with, but culd reach the cabinet form the front.
3. Just frame the gas heater corner off and forget about it. (our kitchen is quite small, cabinet widths on pic are standard 24")

You guys have seen a lot has anyone dealt with something like this? Because I have searched high and low and I have not found anything yet. Any suggestions would be highly appreciated, I really need a fresh look on this thing, because I have been staring at it, drawing and redrawing designs for 3 weeks now and I have all my materials ready as of last weekend. I would really like to make a new year present fro my lovely wife with a finished kitchen.

If you need any more info let me know, I would be glad to supply it.
Thanks Kaerli, this is extremely useful. As you correctly stated I have become very stuck with my initial thoughts. I have become blinded by the blind corner.

Fitting the fridge against the chimney, a cabinet around it and extening a ~25-30" shorter version of the bar top from there could be a great option. I will have to put it in a design.

The island can't go too far from the chimeny, just because this part will extend into our living room, but the airy kitchen is also lucrative, Could be a good option, although 2 of the cabinets should house a washer machine and a dishwasher, so they can't be open or moved around from the initial wall or blind corner. But you have given me a lot to think about. I hope to come up with a new design quickly.

Mac: I would hate to have you waste a lot of your precious time, but if you could help me and promise not to waste more than a few hours, I would be glad to see someone else's design. I will send you info in a message.
 

Attachments

#13 ·
Stumped on a double-blind corner, out of ideas

Hey everyone. I am fairly new to woodworking - only done a few serious projects but I have been lurking around LJ for a few months and you guys have been awesome, given me a lot of courage to try out new things. I have set up shop in our 300sqft ground floor and I plan to tackle my woodworking as a business, rather than a hobby. I won't be selling anything any time soon - but for me looking at it as a business first really pushes to look at the best possible options. Because every project I make for my lovely wife and our home, is a project that in my mind has to also serve as an example of my craft and a possible showcase piece.

So after we bought our first home half a year ago I have been slowly doing small projects like a bar top, wardrobe, TV cabinet, A king size bed and a computer centre. But these have all been a piece of cake in comparison to what I am now trying to do.

I now need to tackle a full size kitchen cabinetry, but instead of a regualr dreaded blind corner I have what I have affectionally called a double-blind corner. Basically our kitchen is an L shape which turns back in the end. See pic for reference:
Furniture Rectangle Wood Slope Parallel


So here's the thing, in the wood colours are the cabinets I am designing, in regular SU colours are the items that are placed, in the corner - standing proud at 50" is our refigertaor. It is the best place in our mind because we need to maximize our counter space. On the wall the in the corner the large box and smaller ones is our gas heating unit - this is the worst part, can't move it due to regulations, so this has to stay put, there are a lot of tubes running along the wall as well, but these are not important at the moment. The gas heater stands 57" off the floor. Extending from the wall is also our bar tabletop which I made, it is movable, but there is no other place for it in our house, so only place to move it would be a fireplace..

So essentially what I have in the corner is a double whammy, a very narrow space to move into and not much I can even put in the cabinet from the front - at best i would be looking at 10" from the front. So my plan was to actually finish the cabinets as you can see in the drawing, then make the end blind cabinet higher by a thickness of the tabletop.

Then I would make that last part slideable on rails onto the lower tabletop, which would allow me to reach in the counter from the top, because I still will have about 20" from the tabletop to the gas heating unit. In that way I could use the blind corner as a trash can/storage for things I use onyl a few times in a year.

But now that I have had time to think about it I am not so sure, maybe I should let go of the idea of putting the refigerator in the corner, and leave it on the left side of the cabinets - which means I won't be able to hide it and I will lose some counter top there. So I am truly stumped.

In short here are my options:
1. Make a sliding (or fold up of some kind) table top for the 2xblind corner, so I could still use the space form the top. (the blind cabinet would be 27" width)
2. Move my refigerator out of that blind corner into the beginning of the cabinets, lose some counter space, but compensate with being able to extend the cabinets to the end and making a pull-out table top into the blind corner, so I would still have room to work with, but culd reach the cabinet form the front.
3. Just frame the gas heater corner off and forget about it. (our kitchen is quite small, cabinet widths on pic are standard 24")

You guys have seen a lot has anyone dealt with something like this? Because I have searched high and low and I have not found anything yet. Any suggestions would be highly appreciated, I really need a fresh look on this thing, because I have been staring at it, drawing and redrawing designs for 3 weeks now and I have all my materials ready as of last weekend. I would really like to make a new year present fro my lovely wife with a finished kitchen.

If you need any more info let me know, I would be glad to supply it.
For a narrow and flexible solution to the island, could someting like this work (with wheels on it): http://www.ikea.com/dk/da/catalog/products/14631607/ - Would keep some of the bar feeling as well
 

Attachments

#14 ·
Stumped on a double-blind corner, out of ideas

Hey everyone. I am fairly new to woodworking - only done a few serious projects but I have been lurking around LJ for a few months and you guys have been awesome, given me a lot of courage to try out new things. I have set up shop in our 300sqft ground floor and I plan to tackle my woodworking as a business, rather than a hobby. I won't be selling anything any time soon - but for me looking at it as a business first really pushes to look at the best possible options. Because every project I make for my lovely wife and our home, is a project that in my mind has to also serve as an example of my craft and a possible showcase piece.

So after we bought our first home half a year ago I have been slowly doing small projects like a bar top, wardrobe, TV cabinet, A king size bed and a computer centre. But these have all been a piece of cake in comparison to what I am now trying to do.

I now need to tackle a full size kitchen cabinetry, but instead of a regualr dreaded blind corner I have what I have affectionally called a double-blind corner. Basically our kitchen is an L shape which turns back in the end. See pic for reference:
Furniture Rectangle Wood Slope Parallel


So here's the thing, in the wood colours are the cabinets I am designing, in regular SU colours are the items that are placed, in the corner - standing proud at 50" is our refigertaor. It is the best place in our mind because we need to maximize our counter space. On the wall the in the corner the large box and smaller ones is our gas heating unit - this is the worst part, can't move it due to regulations, so this has to stay put, there are a lot of tubes running along the wall as well, but these are not important at the moment. The gas heater stands 57" off the floor. Extending from the wall is also our bar tabletop which I made, it is movable, but there is no other place for it in our house, so only place to move it would be a fireplace..

So essentially what I have in the corner is a double whammy, a very narrow space to move into and not much I can even put in the cabinet from the front - at best i would be looking at 10" from the front. So my plan was to actually finish the cabinets as you can see in the drawing, then make the end blind cabinet higher by a thickness of the tabletop.

Then I would make that last part slideable on rails onto the lower tabletop, which would allow me to reach in the counter from the top, because I still will have about 20" from the tabletop to the gas heating unit. In that way I could use the blind corner as a trash can/storage for things I use onyl a few times in a year.

But now that I have had time to think about it I am not so sure, maybe I should let go of the idea of putting the refigerator in the corner, and leave it on the left side of the cabinets - which means I won't be able to hide it and I will lose some counter top there. So I am truly stumped.

In short here are my options:
1. Make a sliding (or fold up of some kind) table top for the 2xblind corner, so I could still use the space form the top. (the blind cabinet would be 27" width)
2. Move my refigerator out of that blind corner into the beginning of the cabinets, lose some counter space, but compensate with being able to extend the cabinets to the end and making a pull-out table top into the blind corner, so I would still have room to work with, but culd reach the cabinet form the front.
3. Just frame the gas heater corner off and forget about it. (our kitchen is quite small, cabinet widths on pic are standard 24")

You guys have seen a lot has anyone dealt with something like this? Because I have searched high and low and I have not found anything yet. Any suggestions would be highly appreciated, I really need a fresh look on this thing, because I have been staring at it, drawing and redrawing designs for 3 weeks now and I have all my materials ready as of last weekend. I would really like to make a new year present fro my lovely wife with a finished kitchen.

If you need any more info let me know, I would be glad to supply it.
Might do, if I don't extend the shelves all the way to the edge. Then i could still have some leg room on the kitchen side and also that would cover the bar from the living room side.

Thanks a lot for the ideas! I am slowly formulating a different plan and once I get there with the help of you guys I will put it up for additional ideas. :)
 

Attachments

#15 ·
Finishing a countertop (2" slab of Iroko)

Hello again

Firstly, thank you again to all of the people who replied in the first entry, you guys helped to expand my view of this project. Especially big thanks to MacB who is an unexpected gift from above, he is helping me design my new kitchen. And when I say help I mean that he is designing something for me out of the kindness of his heart and all I have to do for now is to stay out of the way.. That is so unreal and unexpected, the community here in LJ is absolutely amazing.

Now while the design is on the way, I have some time to think about the next step, which for me is the countertop. Today after work I will be bringing home a 2" slab of Iroko(also called Afrcan Teak; Poor man's Teak; Iroko Mahogany) rough dimensions are 32" by 13 feet, but I will probably use about 9 feet for the countertop.

So I have read about it and as I understand it is very durable, the oil content is quite high, so the top doesn't need a lot of treatment. But I still need to plane it and sand it and for that I read that due to it's toughness you need quality sharp tools and patience. I am tinkerign with the idea of using a hand plane and sand paper instead of powertools, because handplaning gives me more control than anything else and as far as I saw in the lumberyard, the material was not terribly warped.

So I am trying to achieve a silk smooth feel on the top, maybe some gloss or even high gloss, not sure about that yet. Anyone here worked with Iroko and got any good tips for me? How far should I sand it up to, 1500 sounds enough? Should I oil between some sanding to make sure no grains come up after I apply my finish coat of lineseed oil and beeswax?

Also, the slab features awesome sapwood on both sides of the board (see pics below), I feel that the white lines would make great contrast in the top. How is sapwood for these kind of applications, is it durable enough to leave on the outside edge, should I butt it against the backdrop, or should I leave it out altogether?
Wood Flooring Floor Road surface Automotive exterior


Wood Flooring Floor Composite material Hardwood


Is there any other tips about making counter tops from such large slabs? Should I make any vertical or horizontal cuts in the bottom side to eliminate the threat of warping, or should I be fine without them?
 

Attachments

#16 ·
Finishing a countertop (2" slab of Iroko)

Hello again

Firstly, thank you again to all of the people who replied in the first entry, you guys helped to expand my view of this project. Especially big thanks to MacB who is an unexpected gift from above, he is helping me design my new kitchen. And when I say help I mean that he is designing something for me out of the kindness of his heart and all I have to do for now is to stay out of the way.. That is so unreal and unexpected, the community here in LJ is absolutely amazing.

Now while the design is on the way, I have some time to think about the next step, which for me is the countertop. Today after work I will be bringing home a 2" slab of Iroko(also called Afrcan Teak; Poor man's Teak; Iroko Mahogany) rough dimensions are 32" by 13 feet, but I will probably use about 9 feet for the countertop.

So I have read about it and as I understand it is very durable, the oil content is quite high, so the top doesn't need a lot of treatment. But I still need to plane it and sand it and for that I read that due to it's toughness you need quality sharp tools and patience. I am tinkerign with the idea of using a hand plane and sand paper instead of powertools, because handplaning gives me more control than anything else and as far as I saw in the lumberyard, the material was not terribly warped.

So I am trying to achieve a silk smooth feel on the top, maybe some gloss or even high gloss, not sure about that yet. Anyone here worked with Iroko and got any good tips for me? How far should I sand it up to, 1500 sounds enough? Should I oil between some sanding to make sure no grains come up after I apply my finish coat of lineseed oil and beeswax?

Also, the slab features awesome sapwood on both sides of the board (see pics below), I feel that the white lines would make great contrast in the top. How is sapwood for these kind of applications, is it durable enough to leave on the outside edge, should I butt it against the backdrop, or should I leave it out altogether?
Wood Flooring Floor Road surface Automotive exterior


Wood Flooring Floor Composite material Hardwood


Is there any other tips about making counter tops from such large slabs? Should I make any vertical or horizontal cuts in the bottom side to eliminate the threat of warping, or should I be fine without them?
I think no significant need to cut (verti or hori).
The wood is looking good and thick enough.
 

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#22 ·
Thank you MacB!

Firstly, I would like to re-start with the project by giving a huge thanks to mr MacB! http://lumberjocks.com/MacB and also the community here in LJ, but Mr MacB gets the main credit here. I don't know if I can give out his name, so let's call him Mr HeartofGold. Can you believe it, here I was stumped like you wouldn't believe with my double blind corner and here comes along a guy who doesn't know anything about me and offers to help me with drawings.

I'll be real honest, I have the gift of cynicism, so I thought it is a scam, either he wants to design something for me for money, or he has another agenda. So as he offered that I give him a call, I did a big internet research to make sure I am not calling a 1000$/minute kind of line and so forth. Well I must admit, my cynicism was totally unfounded.

Here's a random guy with a heart of gold, who after 1 phonecall made a bunch of drawings for me and after some more info and a second call made adjustments and made me a full kitchen drawing. If I was ever to order a design like that I have no idea how much it would cost me, but with prices being what they are here, probably a couple of thousand for sure.

And I know he is a busy guy, so I still don't know why he would take so much of his time to help out a guy from a country in Europe. But he did, and I got an amazing gift for my birthday and christmas combined. A full plan of my new kitchen! Thank you again Mr MacB, I can never thank you enough, but when I ever get near your area, I will be sure to stop by and thank you in person.

Anyway, this is what I am working with now - and it is amazing, my fiancee and me are both very excited. I do have to get rid of my bar tabletop, but it is a small tradeoff.
Parallel Rectangle Drawing Line art Engineering


Rectangle Slope Parallel Font Engineering


I could have never come up with this design by myself and this is the amazing part of this community, there are some really unbelievably generous people here! Of cours he sent me more drawings, but there's no point for me to put them all up here.

Unfortunately, with my trials and tribulations with the chess board I have been slow on the kitchen remodel. But as it happens I have a very persistent fiancee, who keeps me in check, so I am back in the business. Got all the appliances ordered and putting up a part of the top cabinets this weekend. Then I will finish the bottom cabinets and when I recieve the appliances in the beginning of february, I will put them up as well.

The project itself will take a long time to complete, because I am hanging the carcasses now, but after I have them up I have to finish up my MBA, so I will be doing the doors only on weekends. But I will get it done. I'll put up some pics as soon as I have the first 3 cabinets hung.
 

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#23 ·
Thank you MacB!

Firstly, I would like to re-start with the project by giving a huge thanks to mr MacB! http://lumberjocks.com/MacB and also the community here in LJ, but Mr MacB gets the main credit here. I don't know if I can give out his name, so let's call him Mr HeartofGold. Can you believe it, here I was stumped like you wouldn't believe with my double blind corner and here comes along a guy who doesn't know anything about me and offers to help me with drawings.

I'll be real honest, I have the gift of cynicism, so I thought it is a scam, either he wants to design something for me for money, or he has another agenda. So as he offered that I give him a call, I did a big internet research to make sure I am not calling a 1000$/minute kind of line and so forth. Well I must admit, my cynicism was totally unfounded.

Here's a random guy with a heart of gold, who after 1 phonecall made a bunch of drawings for me and after some more info and a second call made adjustments and made me a full kitchen drawing. If I was ever to order a design like that I have no idea how much it would cost me, but with prices being what they are here, probably a couple of thousand for sure.

And I know he is a busy guy, so I still don't know why he would take so much of his time to help out a guy from a country in Europe. But he did, and I got an amazing gift for my birthday and christmas combined. A full plan of my new kitchen! Thank you again Mr MacB, I can never thank you enough, but when I ever get near your area, I will be sure to stop by and thank you in person.

Anyway, this is what I am working with now - and it is amazing, my fiancee and me are both very excited. I do have to get rid of my bar tabletop, but it is a small tradeoff.
Parallel Rectangle Drawing Line art Engineering


Rectangle Slope Parallel Font Engineering


I could have never come up with this design by myself and this is the amazing part of this community, there are some really unbelievably generous people here! Of cours he sent me more drawings, but there's no point for me to put them all up here.

Unfortunately, with my trials and tribulations with the chess board I have been slow on the kitchen remodel. But as it happens I have a very persistent fiancee, who keeps me in check, so I am back in the business. Got all the appliances ordered and putting up a part of the top cabinets this weekend. Then I will finish the bottom cabinets and when I recieve the appliances in the beginning of february, I will put them up as well.

The project itself will take a long time to complete, because I am hanging the carcasses now, but after I have them up I have to finish up my MBA, so I will be doing the doors only on weekends. But I will get it done. I'll put up some pics as soon as I have the first 3 cabinets hung.
Jake,

We love hearing stories like this! Best wishes on your new kitchen.

L/W
 

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#24 ·
Installing upper cabinetry

Nothing much to say, finally managed to get the upper cabinetry up, from scratch to end product took me 1 week.

Details cut:
Wood Floor Flooring Rectangle Wood stain


Painting and lacquering the parts:
Wood Flooring Floor Wood stain Hardwood


Drilling the pin holes for shelves:
Wood Tool Wood stain Flooring Hardwood


Cabinetry glued and screwed together (upside down):
Wood Door Rectangle Fixture Floor


Since I did not know what was behind the sheetrock I was a bit worried because I did not know if I can put them up on the walls or not. So I had to check..
Wood Automotive exterior Material property Gas Rectangle


Good news was, I had a 1/2" piece of particle board put behind there by the last owner, bad news was that after the sheetrock and particle board came about 6" of space until the wall, which is unreasonable by any standards, no idea who came up with that particular idea. But not knowing where exactly my gas line runs behind the wall.. (I have a fairly good idea, just not great. :D) I did not dare to go through teh cabinetry with 8" screws into the back wall.

So in the end I went with heavy duty expanding 8mm plastic dowels, and 70mm x 6mm screws. So I put 7 screws per cabinet, altogether 21 screws per that cabinetry that is 900Ă—1850x350mm made of 3/4 baltic birch.
I don't know how much it weighed, maybe like 40lbs, but this thing will carry atleast 600 lbs, so if ever my fiancee kicks me out of the bed i can comfortably climb ontop of the cabinet and sleep it off. :)

Building Wood Shade Floor Hardwood


Building Shelf Shelving Electric kettle Kitchen


The doors and all the hardware will go on once the bottom cabinets are done.
 

Attachments

#25 ·
Installing upper cabinetry

Nothing much to say, finally managed to get the upper cabinetry up, from scratch to end product took me 1 week.

Details cut:
Wood Floor Flooring Rectangle Wood stain


Painting and lacquering the parts:
Wood Flooring Floor Wood stain Hardwood


Drilling the pin holes for shelves:
Wood Tool Wood stain Flooring Hardwood


Cabinetry glued and screwed together (upside down):
Wood Door Rectangle Fixture Floor


Since I did not know what was behind the sheetrock I was a bit worried because I did not know if I can put them up on the walls or not. So I had to check..
Wood Automotive exterior Material property Gas Rectangle


Good news was, I had a 1/2" piece of particle board put behind there by the last owner, bad news was that after the sheetrock and particle board came about 6" of space until the wall, which is unreasonable by any standards, no idea who came up with that particular idea. But not knowing where exactly my gas line runs behind the wall.. (I have a fairly good idea, just not great. :D) I did not dare to go through teh cabinetry with 8" screws into the back wall.

So in the end I went with heavy duty expanding 8mm plastic dowels, and 70mm x 6mm screws. So I put 7 screws per cabinet, altogether 21 screws per that cabinetry that is 900Ă—1850x350mm made of 3/4 baltic birch.
I don't know how much it weighed, maybe like 40lbs, but this thing will carry atleast 600 lbs, so if ever my fiancee kicks me out of the bed i can comfortably climb ontop of the cabinet and sleep it off. :)

Building Wood Shade Floor Hardwood


Building Shelf Shelving Electric kettle Kitchen


The doors and all the hardware will go on once the bottom cabinets are done.
looks great, how did you treat the edges of the plywood?
 

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#31 ·
Closing in on the last steps

Alright, been a while since I last posted anything. Not much to say except that I am one arrogant PITA to myself… I am kind of pissed at myself for taking on a project of that magnitude :D. After all the hours I have put in, it would have been cheaper to buy some higher end cabinets. But alas, even if I did, they would have not been as durable as these 3/4 baltic birch bad boys. But I am sure it will all be well worth it in the end.

Some pics about the project then:
Wood Rectangle Flooring Hardwood Wood stain


Property Wood Flooring Floor Building


Brown Wood Rectangle Flooring Floor

Damn, some of these pieces came out nice, I really like the grain on this one. Too bad most of them will not be seen from anywhere once the machines go in.
Wood Flooring Floor Hardwood Tints and shades


Wood Floor Flooring Hardwood Gas


Table Wood Flooring Floor Countertop


Wood Flooring Floor House Hardwood

Planing the bottom to be flat-ish.
Wood Flooring Floor Asphalt Tints and shades


Furniture Wood Table Rectangle Flooring

Routing some material off for inlays

I don't have all the pics, guess I got so caught up, I didn't take them yesterday. I also took my planes to the top part, even though I had sanded it to 180 previously, that was in december when I was not in the abyss of handplanes yet. And since this big hunk of Iroko was milled with a bandsaw it had a lot of small ridges. So I went ahead and knocked those ridges off, made quick work of it, but had to sharpen more often than with maple or oak.

What else have I done:
Sub-assembled 3 cabinets, only 2 more to go.
Cut 1 of 2 butterflies for the ends - the Iroko was split on both ends, not too bad, but that huge slab it is going to be expanding/contracting anyway, so I wanted to lock it in place at least as well as I could..

Things yet to do before taking this bad boy upstairs for installation:
1. Planing the inlays down
2. Cutting the 2nd butterfly into the top and putting in the butterflies themselves
3. Glueing in the corner piece of sapwood
4. Cutting off some corners
5. Making a leg for the L part
6. Rounding over the edges
7. Cutting in a hole for the sink and stove
8. A metric crapton of sanding, up to 400 with the ROS and then probably grits from 600 to 1500 handsanding, depending on the elbow grease I might finish before 1500.
9. Relocating some outlets in the kitchen and putting it all in.
10. 3 coats of BLO

11. Have some Mr Jack on the rocks and take a breather.

Looks like a lot of work but I should be able to start installation by the end of the week, depending on how quickly the inlays for the butterflies come together - tried cutting them yesterday but didn't work, going to try with a Router and a template today. (I made the butterfly in the table top with a router and template which worked out well, but without a large beltsander or any stationary sander of any kind making the inlay has been a PITA, so I am hoping a template to cut out the inlay will do the trick)

For anyone interested, the Table top is 2" Iroko Mahogany (Afrikan Teak), 25" x 9' , the portruding L is 24"x 24". And it weighs a metric ton, honestly, at least 120 pounds. A lot of heavy lifting on truning this thing around,. I hope once I get the sink and stove cut out, I can still get it upstairs in one piece.
 

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#32 ·
Making doors

First off, lets start my establishing that i have the best, most understanding wife ever. I installed the cabinetry and had the plumber install my sink on the 20th of February this year, after which I was to make the doors and shelves in short order…. well…. with the 2" slab of hardwood counter top, pine or fir wouldn't cut it for the doors, and oak was expensive, in addition i had to finish up my thesis for my university and had other projects, so I knew it was going to take a few more weeks…

Well, fast forward to now and my wife still lives with me, and has hardly mentioned the doors over the last 8 months, I really do love her to pieces! So now it is high time to get going on the doors. I purchased some maple and oak, so time to make the doors. PS! I noticed I haven't posted pics of the installed lower cabinetry - will do that later when I get the pics from my other computer.

So the doors will be solid wood (32"x24" roughly), rail and stile, with raised panels. Oak rail and stiles and maple panels. Here's what I've done so far:

Printed out DanK's instructions which he gave me on the furniture makers forum, made room for my notes. Chose a piece of Oak which I won't miss, needed it for the door mock-up.
Wood Flooring Hardwood Wood stain Font

Sawed the pieces using a straight edge and my cirular saw.
Table Wood Wood stain Hardwood Workbench

Some hocus-pocus-magic and stiles and rails assembled
Table Wood Rectangle Flooring Wood stain

The 2 pieces of maple which will go into the doors - unfortuantely they are not wide enough, so I had to straight edge them and glue some stuff on.
Wood Floor Flooring Hardwood Wood stain


Table Wood Workbench Wood stain Plank

Did my best to grain match, we'll see how that turns out at a later date. one panel is in the clamps and other will be clamped up later today.
Rectangle Wood Floor Flooring Wood stain


Next up is making the actual door frames for the bottom cabinetry, flattening the maple panels, raising panels, pre-finish, assembly, finish.

As always my posts are picture heavy, now for the questions:
1. As I understand the groove should be 1/3 of material thickness, how about the depth of the groove?

2. How would you recommend i go about raising the panel - I don't have a router bit, or router table for that matter. I was thinking of doing it on the table saw, kind of like you do cove molding. Would hand planing be a better option? How much room should I leave from the rails/stiles until the actual molding part starts?

3. To fix the hardwood panels in the frame I have seen rubber balls of some kind used in the grooves. I can't find them here, what would be a good substitute for these? Could I just peg the middle of the panel on the top and bottom and leave the sides floating, kind of like you do with a breadboard end?

Probably other questions will come up later, thanks for reading and for all the help!
 

Attachments

#33 ·
Making doors

First off, lets start my establishing that i have the best, most understanding wife ever. I installed the cabinetry and had the plumber install my sink on the 20th of February this year, after which I was to make the doors and shelves in short order…. well…. with the 2" slab of hardwood counter top, pine or fir wouldn't cut it for the doors, and oak was expensive, in addition i had to finish up my thesis for my university and had other projects, so I knew it was going to take a few more weeks…

Well, fast forward to now and my wife still lives with me, and has hardly mentioned the doors over the last 8 months, I really do love her to pieces! So now it is high time to get going on the doors. I purchased some maple and oak, so time to make the doors. PS! I noticed I haven't posted pics of the installed lower cabinetry - will do that later when I get the pics from my other computer.

So the doors will be solid wood (32"x24" roughly), rail and stile, with raised panels. Oak rail and stiles and maple panels. Here's what I've done so far:

Printed out DanK's instructions which he gave me on the furniture makers forum, made room for my notes. Chose a piece of Oak which I won't miss, needed it for the door mock-up.
Wood Flooring Hardwood Wood stain Font

Sawed the pieces using a straight edge and my cirular saw.
Table Wood Wood stain Hardwood Workbench

Some hocus-pocus-magic and stiles and rails assembled
Table Wood Rectangle Flooring Wood stain

The 2 pieces of maple which will go into the doors - unfortuantely they are not wide enough, so I had to straight edge them and glue some stuff on.
Wood Floor Flooring Hardwood Wood stain


Table Wood Workbench Wood stain Plank

Did my best to grain match, we'll see how that turns out at a later date. one panel is in the clamps and other will be clamped up later today.
Rectangle Wood Floor Flooring Wood stain


Next up is making the actual door frames for the bottom cabinetry, flattening the maple panels, raising panels, pre-finish, assembly, finish.

As always my posts are picture heavy, now for the questions:
1. As I understand the groove should be 1/3 of material thickness, how about the depth of the groove?

2. How would you recommend i go about raising the panel - I don't have a router bit, or router table for that matter. I was thinking of doing it on the table saw, kind of like you do cove molding. Would hand planing be a better option? How much room should I leave from the rails/stiles until the actual molding part starts?

3. To fix the hardwood panels in the frame I have seen rubber balls of some kind used in the grooves. I can't find them here, what would be a good substitute for these? Could I just peg the middle of the panel on the top and bottom and leave the sides floating, kind of like you do with a breadboard end?

Probably other questions will come up later, thanks for reading and for all the help!
The item you were looking for is SPACEBALLS

Good luck on your doors. Using the tablesaw to make the raised panels would work, just remember:

Be Careful!

Herb
 

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