My 80s Kitchen Cabinet Refacing Project (aka Lipstick on a Pig)

[4nthony]

Yeah I've found over the years that having kids (and pets) is a fairly good antidote to most artistically themed projects placed anywhere within reach of the munchkins. Or in reach of any and all objects said munchkins might employ in their destructive testing normal use!

I was 49 when I had my first (only) child -- I'm 53 now -- and I miss those days of having things I like to look at on display throughout the house. Now, anything my daughter can get her hands on becomes a toy, noisemaker, drumstick, etc. It's as if there's a high-tide line throughout the house, but she's at the point where she now knows to grab a chair or stool to give her the extra height she needs to get what she wants. The other two kids are 10 and 12, only here part time, and have no interest in anything but their screens.  [big grin]

The Bronco looks great too. You just don't see them around here anymore. They have either rusted back into the Earth or were cut up somewhere in their lifetime. Almost none still have the original rear wheel opening shape.

I forget where the Bronco was originally delivered but I think it was the Upper Midwest, so it wasn't a dry climate and there is some rust that I need to tend to. I've thought about trying to tackle it myself and knowing how to weld would be a very useful skill to have, but as in woodworking, all the tooling (and space!) required would send me down a whole new rabbit hole. But on a nice day, it's a really fun car to take out for a cruise at the beach.

Just because I know how it goes, I'm probably the only one to notice the notch in the top edge of the sink base drawer to miss the drain plumbing. Adapt and move-on. I like the full drawer-bottom aspect though. Many times, a drawer like that is cut into a U shape to clear the pipes and I just don't like the look of it.

Ha. The notch...that's what I get for holding the tape measure in the air and trying to eye the height of the back panel. I started modeling a drawer box with the U-shape in SketchUp but then the laziness kicked in. I'm happy with the full drawer and at least you get instant feedback if you don't arrange the contents properly.

Excellent work. I'd like to do the same but my wife wouldn't have the patience for me to finish it around our work and kids schedules.

I caught some grief before the drawer boxes went in and things were just stacked inside the cabinets. It was in that state for about 3 weeks. Then the drawer boxes went in and she was happy again. She even said she'd be OK just leaving the drawers without fronts. An idea I actually considered, but I'm glad I followed through and finished it up.

That Bronco is really nice, so nice to see one that isn't all rust. I'm betting it was built before you were born.  [eek]

I was born in 69 so yeah, it's got a few years on me.

I agree with Bob. Continuing all the horizontal lines will result in a more harmonious look. Now your eye involuntarily gets pulled to the cabinet next to the stove. Human brains are exceptionally good at finding patterns. Or in this case the disruption of a pattern. Sometimes you can use that on purpose. Lot's of architects and artists do. But in this case I would just go with the natural tendency and continue the lines.

Yeah, I think I agree with Bob, too. I'll extend all the lines.

I left them off the false front as I didn't want someone to think it was functional and try to pull on it but it will offer a better visual.

I also need to look at the backside of that front. I think I put the wrong side forward as the grain pattern is much more subtle than it is on the other fronts.

Thanks again for the comments and feedback.

One of things I might do differently on future projects is related to the edge banding. I used 6mm edge banding all around and it blends well on the rip cuts, but might be a bit heavy on the cross cuts. I noticed in the walnut kitchen video posted above, he fits his edge banding into a rabbet with a small lip of veneer to hide the forward facing edge:

Definitely something I'll experiment with on future projects. As for future projects, this upstairs linen closet is well past its expiration date and might be next on the list:

 

[afish]

Just because I know how it goes, I'm probably the only one to notice the notch in the top edge of the sink base drawer to miss the drain plumbing. Adapt and move-on. I like the full drawer-bottom aspect though. Many times, a drawer like that is cut into a U shape to clear the pipes and I just don't like the look of it.

Im a fan of all drawer bases as well and also do drawers in SB when time and budget allows. Its A LOT of extra work to really maximize every ounce of space but when home prices are what they are and easily reaching 7-800+sf it makes sense to maximize every inch of what you have. Im kind of OCD about wasted space, probably because I dont have enough. The kitchen Im doing now I was able to rework and condense the under sink plumbing as much as possible before hand so that helped.  It has full height bottom drawer that just misses the p-trap by about 1/16" the middle drawer will be custom U notched for disposal and upper will be tilt out with trays. Your drawer just missing the stove handle was tight.  When i bought my house the silverware drawer would only open about 3 inchs before hitting the dishwasher handle. so you had to open the dishwasher everytime to get silverware [eek] I lived with that far too long. 

 

[Crazyraceguy]

Your drawer just missing the stove handle was tight.  When i bought my house the silverware drawer would only open about 3 inchs before hitting the dishwasher handle. so you had to open the dishwasher everytime to get silverware [eek] I lived with that far too long.

That's funny. My Ex had the bright idea to put pulls on the doors and drawers of her kitchen all by herself. It was designed with beveled edges that were not intended to have them. It was fine everywhere but one, well two actually. The cabinets in the corner had very minimal fillers, so the top drawers overlapped/interfered with each other anyway. You could only open one at a time. After she put those pulls on, they only opened 6 inches or so.