While cutting some pieces of plywood today, I failed to probably plan all my cuts, with the end result being that I now have many nice long scraps that are only a foot or so wide. They’ll be perfect for the ductwork tunnel, but I need two pieces 21 1/8″ high for the interior divisions of the dishwasher cabinet and only have one suitable piece of plywood left. Before I steal more of Croft’s ugly scraps ( 😀 ), I’m going to go raid the other store he mentioned has a scrap bin. I went by there tonight just to scope it out and see where it is and, sure enough, there is a huge bin marked ‘free wood’. It’s behind a locked fence, so I’m going to hope for clear weather tomorrow so I can check it out. I also went by Home Depot, but their dumpster was locked up and there were only pallets outside of it.

The only other thing I’ll work on tonight is getting rid of The Ugliest Light Fixture In the Universe. I have four of these in Miranda; two in the dining area and two in the study, using up valuable wall space. The ‘shades’ are made of a rubber-like material. They have never worked, which explains why one lit up when I pushed on its switch yesterday. It was like it was telling me “don’t throw me away!” Here’s a picture for posterity.

It’s a shame these lights run off the 12V system. If it was off the 120V grid, I would have been able to replace the fixture with a plug for the dishwasher. I’m instead going to have to run wiring from the nearest plug to this general vicinity.

This picture also shows just how much of the window the dishwasher will be blocking as it is as wide as the counter and at least as tall as the bracket by the stove. The only other option would be to have the dishwasher facing out towards the dining room, but even that would chew up some window space. There really is no ideal solution and I want a dishwasher, dangnabit, so I’m just going to have to live with this. 🙂

This weather is going to make me cry. 🙁

I got out of bed at 9 this morning and promptly went to work. It was sunny and warm, albeit a bit damp. I set up my workshop outside, got all the tools, cut my first piece of plywood, and made a hole in the plywood for the furnace vent, then big, ugly black clouds rolled in and it started to spit. Thank you very, very much. Not.

So, this is how far I’ve gotten today:

This shows how the seat was longer than the base. I cut the seat down to make it the same size as the base.

I used some of Croft’s oak paneling to make a nice bottom for my cabinet.

This is the panel that will be visible from the front door. Note the hole for the furnace duct.

I used the wardrobe door plywood to make that side panel and still have more than enough for the three interior divisions, bringing down the cost of the wardrobe doors. It’s amazing what you can get  out of a sheet of plywood!

After lunch, I’ll start working on cutting and assembling the interior partitions. I’m not a cabinet maker and I don’t have the tools or the knowledge to do a really ‘pro’ job on the joinery for this project, so I’m going to rely on glue and angle brackets and focus on making the exterior as polished as possible while accepting that the inside will be stuffed to the gills and not all that visible.

The divisions will give me a space accessible from the kitchen side through a door, one accessible from the lounge with a door also, a drawer, and another space above it with a door. The two large spaces are being designed with specific storage in mind, which will free up a couple of cabinets in the study and give me easier access to a kitchen tool I haven’t used since hitting the road and miss very, very much.

Off to lunch; it feels so well deserved today! 😀

It was much too cold today to work in the shop, even with a heater. I stayed in and got caught up on my contracts, washed the carpets in the cab, began disassembling the dinette bench, and took a few measurements. Since I was up so early, I’ll be going to bed at a ‘reasonable’ hour, enabling me to take advantage of the clear weather and warmer temperatures we’re supposed to have tomorrow. I have a lunch date with my neighbour and I intend to have some work done before then!

I’m having a hard time deciding what’s the bigger priority; the ladder to the loft or the dishwasher counter. I’m already tired of climbing into bed via a stepladder, but it’s just an inconvenience. The dishwasher counter, on the other hand, would give me some storage space I sorely need and be the final piece in the puzzle of getting a functional kitchen in this RV.

Perhaps I should stop over analysing the situation and just get it done.

But not tonight; there’s a hoooooot bubble bath and a Milepost waiting for me. 🙂

I wanted to get up ‘early’ today to go to Home Depot before it started to… snow. So, I was delighted when I was awoken at 9:30 by a knock at the door. It surely had to be the mail carrier with my Milepost, and it was!

Off I went to Home Depot to return the sixth box of Allure. I also wanted to price lumber and supplies for my last few carpentry projects:

-dishwasher counter: need plywood for the interior divisions

-‘tunnel’ for the furnace duct: need plywood

-ladder for the loft: need 2’x4’s and something thinner for the rungs

-secret project: a small piece of paneling

-trim

I came home with:

sanded plywood (two pieces), perfect for the inside of a cabinet and creating a tunnel for a furnace duct

fancy hemlock trim in short pieces, perfect for a home with short walls (enough for the dressing room and the kitchen, at least)

a large piece of paneling, perfect for my secret project (and probably WAY more than I need)

pallets are made with solid wood held together with a few nails, perfect for making a ladder

You can probably see where I’m going with this. All these supplies cost me NOTHING. I pulled them out of a dumpster! Of course, I asked if I could do this and Home Depot was happy to have someone haul away their trash for them! There is absolutely nothing ‘wrong’ with anything I brought home, not even a speck of dirt on it. I have a huge piece of high-quality paneling in perfect condition, two big pieces of sanded 1/2″ plywood in perfect condition, and a hill of short pieces of high-quality fancy hemlock trim, plus the pallets!

I need more pallets for some other projects, but this was all I could safely carry home today, and the best of what was available in that dumpster. The other pallets were a bit grungy. I’ll check back at Home Depot in a few days to see if there’s anything new available to me. I’d love to find more of that trim!

I’m chomping at the bit get going with the dishwasher counter, but there is no way I can cut up the big piece of plywood in this weather, so I will go start on something else, maybe the trim or the loft ladder.

But before I do that, I’m going to watch the snow fall and melt as it hits the ground. Snow. After weeks of near tee-shirt weather. This place is strange.