Hello my sweets. Today I am here to show you the progress on my last big craft room project. I have worked my way around the room and there was one corner left that still looked pretty much like this.
It’s the corner to the right of my door. It’s where the big, whopping ugly radiator sits that keeps me warm and cozy, but that is one big eye sore. In our old house we have old radiators. And not the beautiful antique kind but the ugly rundown kind. So most of the time I just tried to hide it under a sheet and I laid a shelf on top so I could put things there.
That shelf was not attached to anything and the whole thing was a dusty balancing act.
So I set out to build myself something new. Yes built something from scratch this time. My first time….
I started with the design:
I used painters tape to outline my plans. I wasn’t too worried about hiding the wall socket because it gets hardly used and I could still plug in a lamp and run the cord underneath the cover.
I figured I might as well use that little corner a bit better too and add a few shelves for books and magazines. One never has enough room for those. Right?!
So I measured things. Procrastinated for weeks to get my courage up and then set off to the hardware store.
They did the tough work.
With this giant but very cool machine they cut up my MDF boards to my specified measurements. That was a lot of cutting, but it was done in mere minutes.
So the only thing I had to do was assemble…..
I started with the front panel. I had decided to built it with planks, instead of cutting it out of one big slab of MDF. The finished size would be so big that I was afraid I might not be able to maneuver it up two flights of stairs otherwise. (and I was a bit afraid I might not be able to pull it off, that too).
Anyway using a square hook to get things straight, wood glue and little strips to join the planks I started to build the frame and attach a corner support.
Until it looked like this:
I needed that center piece for two reasons. To give the whole thing some extra stability and because the webbing I was going to use was not wide enough to cover the whole frame in one go.
The I prepared the sides.
I cut out some room for our baseboards and attached the supports for the bookshelves.
By lining them up perfectly I could make sure that the shelves would be level (can you make out my pencil line?).
Then we eagerly carried everything upstairs for the final assembly. (I say we, because my Love was a trooper and helped me out all through the project. I needed his skills badly).
Upstairs we stated to attach the sides to the front. And then this happened!!!!
Oh no! The whole thing fell apart! Ouch, sh.., good grief, help!!!!
Turned out we had been so afraid of not having the screws show up on the good side that the screws were just too small. They couldn’t hold it together. Nothing broke though, just all the joints got unjoined
It was kind of late in the day at that time and for the sake of our relationship we just left it like that. And went on to do other things for two days until we had worked up some courage to attack it again.
And then in one big sweep we reassembled it all in a matter of hours. Happy again
We rebuilt the frame and the side supports with bigger screws and stapled the webbing to the inside.
Then it was time for operation bookshelves.
We attached the outer left side support to the main cover by means of the bookshelves. That was a two person balancing act in tight corners involving a level, a screwdriver and a lot of intimate personal contact.
But it worked…..
We sawed some big holes in the top shelf for added hot air circulation and attached it to the sides. So far we don’t think we need a support beam for the top shelf, but if it starts to sag we can attach one to the wall real quick.
Of course at this stage it looks far from perfect.
There are a million screw holes and everything isn’t lined up uber perfectly. But I am confident that a lot of caulking will make it look all better. I love the power of caulk! And paint!
Anyway this is as far as we have gotten now.
A radiator cover / book shelf in my craft room.
Next up: sanding, caulking, sanding, caulking, priming, caulking, sanding, painting. Just a few more steps really
So what do you think? Love or hate?
Marianne Songbird is the founder of Songbird, where she hopes to inspire everyone to create a home they love, one DIY project at a time. She shares anything from craft ideas to home decor inspiration and from DIY projects to decorating hacks. Originally from the Netherlands Marianne and her husband Lex are currently renovating a 250-year-old farmhouse in Germany.
Pat says
I like it. Will you be putting any webbing over the holes on the top? My luck, I’d lose stuff down those holes. Just saying.
Let me guess what color you’re going to be painting it…dare I say it? White?
I like it. I also like the look of the expanded metal grate too. We don’t have radiator heaters but if we did…I’d love that metal as a feature!
I’ve been away from the internet for a couple of weeks– so I need to peruse your pages and see if I missed any posts on this room while I was out… I think I may have missed a wall or two.
take care now! Pat
Marianne@Songbird says
Good thinking! I hadn’t thought of that, but I could see stuff disappearing too. It would probable just fall on the floor if it didn’t get wedged in behind the radiator. Maybe I should put some of that webbing underneath. The webbing is a paper product btw not metal. They have it in metal too, but that was out of my price league.
Katie @ Wildwood Creek says
Building your own storage unit–I’m impressed! Love the extra storage with the shelves. Can’t wait to see the reveal.
Marianne@Songbird says
Me Neither LOL!
Irma says
Hehe, eindelijk weer eens tijd om te komen kijken…en dan zie ik gelijk zo’n prachtig projekt…ben best wel jaloers op jouw moed en doorzettingsvermogen, zulke projekten te maken.
Hele lieve groetjes – Irma
Marianne@Songbird says
Kan alleen maar zeggen dat het mij helpt om uiteindelijk niet langer te wachten todat de moed/ energie/ of motivatie er is, maar het gewoon maar te faken. Gek genoeg komt die moed/ energie en motivatie dan altijd vanzelf. Oh en er niet al te veel mee zitten als het niet goed gaat of niet helemaal zo wordt als gepland. Dat helpt ook. Maar jij maakt en doet toch ook prachtige dingen! Ik zie al je layouts echt wel voorbij komen.
Marianne says
Love it 😉
@mpv61 says
I think it looks great!
Marianne@Songbird says
Thanks! Yes, I am quietly confident too that it will turn out nice.