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New Kitchen Cabinet

I gained a lot of counter space when I removed my dishwasher, but I really didn’t need that much more. What I needed was a cabinet to hold all the stuff that’s normally on the counter and which has no other home. So when I travel, that stuff ends up filling the sink, making using said sink a pain.

The problem was finding a cabinet that would fit into the awkward space between my stove and window. And I only just realised that I forgot to grab a before shot. Doh. This is the best I can do:

I needed something that would be about 12″ wide, about 25″ high, and no more than 12″ deep. It also had to fit around the window valance as I did not want to have to mess it up.

I spent quite a bit of time on the Ikea website then at stores looking at the buildable furniture. I was resigned to making something myself when I found the perfect compromise on the Target website:

This design would allow me to cut down the top part of the cabinet to fit it into the space while still having a good sized cabinet with a door.

Now, I knew that this was going to be a cheap particle board item that wouldn’t age well, but for the price, it was worth having it even for a short while. You can buy this item in a white version in store, but to get the espresso, you have to buy online. I thought the espresso colour would look nicer against my cabinets than attempting to paint white laminate.

Particle board isn’t an easy thing to cut cleanly, but I was able to do an excellent job of it:

The vertical cut isn’t as clean because I started and stopped with the saw while the horizontal cut was made in one motion.

To cut the particle board, I put a layer of tape over the area I wanted to cut, then I used a straight edge and a sharp blade to score through the laminate layer. I then sawed through using my jigsaw and a 10TPI blade. 20TPI is recommended for laminated particle board, but I forgot to grab one last night and the 10TPI did a good enough job.

It took a bit of fussing to get all my pieces cut to fit the hole since nothing was plumb and square. Interestingly enough, the counter I installed is perfectly level while the upper cabinets are not! Go me! 🙂

The area around the valance looks silly:

If I was working with high quality cabinetry (that I would have willingly paid for had I found something the right size), I would have probably cut down the valance and attached the curtain rod to the cabinet. But since this is a vantage point very rarely seen, I will be happy to close the gaps with a little trim.

Once I was happy that all the pieces would fit in the space, I assembled the cabinet, using glue in addition to the screws. I then moved the cabinet into place and mounted it with one bracket screwed into the wall and by screwing the base of the cabinet directly into the counter.

Valance area not withstanding, it looks pretty good!

The cabinet came with a crappy black plastic pull. I used one of my nice pulls that matches the rest of my cabinetry. That involved having to drill new holes into the door but, thankfully, the ends of my pull cover the original holes. I think that pull makes all the difference!

The inside of the cabinet has a moveable shelf. I did not use the top part of the cabinet, so I cut it down to make myself a second shelf in case I ever need it:

If you squint, you can see the roller catch I installed for the door (just below the shelf). The door came with a pretty strong magnet catch, but magnet catches aren’t good enough in an RV. The roller catches have never failed me.

I am going to look for some baskets to fit into the top portion to hold spices. I had thought to put a dowel across to hold whatever, but I don’t think there is enough space to put a dowel and still give me room to pull things in and out. The right baskets will make that space look really nice and hide the awkward valance area.

Everything but the pepper mill fits!

I could move the shelf up a notch to fit in the pepper mill, but then the other items on the top shelf won’t fit. The pepper mill can travel while stored at an angle!

Standing in the entrance looking at the cabinet:

And the ugly side:

I’m not sure yet what I’ll do to cover the hole in the counter (used to be a cup holder). Suggestions?

I’m really pleased with how well this project came together and how much better it looks than I would have expected!

Tomorrow, I am going to use another piece from the same collection to make some improvements in the study.

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Dude, Where’s My Truck?!

This evening, I headed into town to get a few things at Lowes.

I decided to stop at Pizza Hut for dinner first. The menu here is quite different than the one in Canada as it is much less extensive. But, like in Canada, my usual order cost less than what the menu claimed it should in addition to the cost being less than up north. $9 (including the tip) for a giant mountain of salad and a pizza. Really, why do I bother cooking in the States?

The folks at the Suffolk Lowes are so helpful! I wound up in the hardware section before I was accosted by a sales clerk.

“Where’s caulking?”
“Sorry, clear across the store in painting.”
“And wood glue?”
“Same aisle.”
“Door catches?”
“That I can help you with!” He wasn’t satisfied to just tell me that it was in ‘that aisle’ but made sure I had the exact kind I wanted and in the right colour.

The parking lot of the store was nearly empty when I came out and something seemed odd. Waitaminute. Where’s my truck?! I wandered around for a bit feeling completely bewildered and desperately trying to remember landmarks I had seen on the way into the store. But the lot was practically empty. I could easily scan it My truck wasn’t there!

There was no way someone stole my truck while I was in the store; right? And there wouldn’t have been any reason or time to tow it; right? And then I remembered the hot dog stand. I had passed it on the way in. I found it and then realised that the Lowes parking lot is divided into two with a road between the parts. I was thinking so hard about my shopping list as I walked into the store that I hadn’t even noticed I wasn’t parked in the main lot.

So, yes. My truck was fine and waiting for me right where I left her. I realised then just how deeply I miss having electric doors with a key fob that has a car finder button. I never knew how much I relied on it until I lost it.

From now on, I will try to heed the words of the immortal Captain Kirk as I leave my car in the hopes that this will serve a mnemonic device:

Everybody remember where we parked.

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I’ve Been Missing Out!

I don’t get much into the Christmas spirit and I don’t care much for Christmas movies. Neither does my friend, so I was puzzled that she really wanted to see the original 1947 version of ‘Miracle on 34th Street’ at the cinema today. But we have common tastes, so I agreed to keep an open mind and tag along for the 2PM matinee.

Well, I can’t believe I’ve never seen this hilarious and thoughtful movie! It was so good! They really knew how to make movies back then. We’re both looking forward to seeing ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ (Jimmy Stewart, *swoon*) on the big screen on December 19th!

We went to Cracker Barrel for an early dinner after. I stepped out of my comfort zone and ordered their cider pork roast with Gala apples, cranberries, and pecans (mac & cheese and broccoli as my sides). WOW. I didn’t realise that Cracker Barrel makes fancy meals like that! This was really good, with the pork being fork tender and the apples still having a bit of bite to them. This meal really changed my opinion of Cracker Barrel and makes me feel less guilty about enjoying their food so much!

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Monday Matinee

I decided to take most of today off. Being able to take time off on a weekday is a great perk of self-employment!

First off was a sushi brunch at Toyko Thai in Smithfield. I got the three-roll special with miso soup for $10.50.

yellowtail, spicy tuna, BBQ eel & cucumber

Notice that pale yellow ginger in the lower left hand corner? That’s what pickled ginger is supposed to look like. For some reason, North Americans think good pickled ginger is supposed to be bright pink. Is ginger pink? Nope. Tokyo Thai is the only sushi place I’ve eaten at in my travels that has such good ginger!

After lunch, I meandered my way to the cinema in Chesapeake. I really, really, really wanted to spend another two and a half hours with Abraham Lincoln, but I know I’m going to buy ‘Lincoln’  on DVD, so I decided to see another one on my list that my friend won’t want to see, ‘Flight.’ It was quite a good story about addiction and how it affects daily function. I’m glad that I saw it on the big screen, but it’s not one I’ll want to see again. It was a great choice for a matinee.

When I got home, I discovered this beautiful thing waiting for me:

Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000

I have wanted an ergonomic keyboard since Microsoft put them out in 1994, but they were incredibly expensive. I was just never sure enough that I would like them to put out the money. I have made do for a very long time with the Microsoft Comfort Curve Keyboard 2000, a keyboard that has served me well and that keeps dropping in price.

This summer, while at a client, I had a chance to try out the latest incarnation of the ergonomic keyboard, the Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000, and my interest was renewed. But they were $50 at Staples, still too rich for an experiment when my Comfort Curve model was serving me so well.

I kept the ergonomic keyboard in my Amazon shopping cart for several months, watching the price yoyo up and down a couple of dollars. On Black Friday, I decided to see if it might have gone down enough for me to make the plunge. YES! I got it for $30 with free shipping!

So far, my only quibble with it is that the six/question mark are located for proper touch typing, so on the left side of the keyboard, while I have gotten accustomed to over reaching with my right index finger. So that will take a little getting used to. Otherwise, the layout is like my Comfort Curve, so I know the Windows key is my command key, the alt is the option, and where all my accents are. The ù is just a little less of a reach for my pinky, which is great. And I love how solid the keys feel under my fingers. I’ve only been using it for about a half hour and it’s like I’ve been doing this forever. Those years on the Comfort Curve have prepared me well!

In other news, gas prices in Virginia are INSANE. I filled up my truck at $3.09 a gallon! To put that into a little perspective, I needed 12 gallons of fuel, so my total was $37.20. When I was traveling through the US in June, I paid an average of $3.75 a gallon, so the 12 gallons would have cost me $45 then. And the last time I bought gas for my truck in Quebec, I paid $1.30/litre, so converting gallons to litres, I would have paid $59.15 for that 12 gallons. I am not complaining and it is great that I can drive all over with my truck and not feel a pinch!

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A Good Home Really Is Never Done

I have lots to keep me busy right now, including searching for some materials to complete a few more projects in the rig before applying the final coat of paint on everything.

One project is to build a shelf over my new desk to hold the computers and offer better cable management.

I did some shopping at Lowes and Walmart yesterday as well as extensive online shopping (I finally find something I want at Ikea and they don’t sell it online?!). I know what I want the end result to look like and it seems that I will have to build it myself. I did find a shelf on the Target website that will be a good starting point, although I will need to take my saw, a drill, and some cloth-backed vinyl to it.

The other project involves removing my beloved dishwasher and instead installing a cabinet. The dishwasher has served me so well, but it’s now leaking like a sieve and is not fixable. 🙁 Plus, I am so rarely hooked up to a power source where I can use it. When I put it in, I was still locked into a vision of RVing where I was going to be in RV parks with access to 30A most of the time and that vision has changed. If it was still functional, I would hang on to it, but it makes sense to take it out now.

So I now need an odd-sized cabinet to fill that gap, something ideally about 24″ tall and 12″ wide. I found something suitable on the Target website, but, like the shelf, I will have to take a saw to it. It’s not the sort of quality I would want for something people will see first then when they walk into my home, but it’ll do.

While I will sorely miss my dishwasher, I am starting to warm up to the idea of having a cabinet near the stove, but still far enough away, to be able to store oils and spices in it as well as all the loose bits on the counter that wind up traveling in the sink. Besides, being dishwasherless right now fits in with the improved vision for my RVing life that I am living right now.

Both pieces should arrive late this week or early next week. I would have preferred to pick them up in person, but they are only available through the online store. I’ll then have to dig out the tools again to put them in and then I might feel motivated to do that painting!

As a side note, I’m really enjoying the weather in Suffolk! It’s been sunny and in the teens in the afternoons. We did go down below freezing last night, but are back up well above that at for the next week or so, with afternoons promising to be gloriously warm and sunny.