"Before and After..Kitchen Corner Quagmire"

A lonely, unused corner of a kitchen, where a cast iron radiator used to live. What should I do?  I could simply repair the walls, and put an antique hutch there....or I could build some simple shelves...or even a corner cupboard...




In the end, I decided to play off the walnut pieces and white trim in the rest of the kitchen, and build a walnut & white wall unit.  Sort of a command center for the kitchen.  I made it a little higher than standard counter height, so you could stand and check your email,  or write a check...

I made the drawers with dovetail joinery, and used full-extension, soft closing concealed drawer slides...

This "door" is actually an ebay find.  It was an old window that I converted into a door.  I decided not to paint it, you can't duplicate that patina...














Not a bad transformation? Let's hope HGTV likes it, in the making of a home renovation show.

"Before and After...The Sunroom, er, I mean PLAYroom"

So here is what I had to work with; a bedroom on the main floor which was dying to become a sunroom.  

By taking out the unused door and putting in a set of double-hung windows, it set the scene for a cozy reading nook.  I made everything from scratch out of mostly poplar and stock molding.  To contrast the painted white trim, I laid distressed walnut wide plank engineered flooring, over radiant heat panels.  The floor was a breeze to put in, it took me barely a day. The radiant panels however, took a while, and were fairly costly to have plumbed; but that even warmth underfoot was well worth it!

After I commissioned my mom to create the roman shades and pillows for the storage bench, the nook was complete. Though, like in most families with young children, my sunroom gradually changed into more of a playroom.  But you know what?  Even better!

"Before and After"

Here is a wall that needed to come out, connecting the main living space to the kitchen.

Luckily it wasn't a load bearing wall, so it was fairly easy to do.  

I created the columns out of MDF, and mitered the corners.  The floors turned out to be different heights, so I had to create a transition.  I the upper panels were created on my router with a cope and stick construction, and the lower panels I made recessed and applied stock molding in the recess.