Monday, October 8, 2012

In Which We Build

So my little staycation is over. Sadface. Back to the dayjob and the interwebs and everything else. But at least it's finally gotten cold outside. Minnesotans who don't like the cold peeve me off. I mean, why do you live here if you whine when it gets below 60?

On the opposite spectrum, why are there still people wearing flip flops when it's 35 degrees out and I spotted a few flurries? THAT MAKES NO SENSE, PEOPLE.

Ahem. Anyway. So twin and I did a lot of stuff on the staycation. Not quite as much as we hoped, but isn't that always what happens?
But we started refinancing our house (WOO HOO!) and got the veggie garden prepped for winter. BUT! Most importantly, we honed our carpentry skills and pumped out a brand new pocket pantry!!

We have terrible pantry space in our kitchen. Just one little "fancy pantry" as we call it with a door that swings out of a tiny cabinet. It seems cool, but in reality the shelves are too small to hold anything bigger that a bottle of olive oil, so we have to carefully stack things on the floor. Or, when we run out of room (like we have, now) we just have to put things on our counters. It's super classy.

Anyhoo, thanks to Pinterest, we came up with a solution and Twin and I got to work.



Lumber and a patio full of dog toys
 
 



Woo hoo! The frame has been built!



Shelves and dowels added. Now we stain!


It got colder as the week progressed, so we built a fire in the fire pit. Also we have tons, TONS, of dead fall from our trees that have been waiting for years to be burned. We made a nice dent in the brush pile. The fire was burning so hot that we had troubles keeping it going because it would burn the wood so quickly we almost wouldn't have time to fetch another pile from the brush pile.


YAY! The finished project! It's not stocked yet, because we're still letting the polyurethane dry, but this is our pocket pantry! It slides into the gap between the fridge and the wall (we have a 4.5 inch gap there) It's on casters and can roll out and in.


Here's a pic of it in it's little pocket. I cannot wait to load this baby up!

 So there you have it! That was a big part of our vacay. So how about you? Did you do anything crafty or exciting while i was away?

16 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Well, are you guys crafty and clever?
Sorry you had to go back to work. And on Columbus Day - so wrong.
My job is here, so I'm stuck with humid, Southern weather. But as soon as I retire, I'm heading north!

Summer Frey said...

Awesome! I showed Evan your pictures from Facebook a few days ago. I'm not sure our space is big enough. We have a decent pantry, but you could always use more space, right?

I have been up to zero fun. Ran 11 miles yesterday, still suffering today. But I'm going on mini-vacation this weekend, including the ren faire! Yays!

Anne Gallagher said...

Love the pantry. You and Twin are just so handy! Yay. And it fits! Mine would be lopsided, that's a fact.

I'm just about ready to get the fireplace going in the house. It's 47 degrees here today and I can't turn on my heat. (Long story). So I'm off to the 'rents to gather up some kindling and wood. Yay me.

Maria Zannini said...

Awesome! I'm so proud of you guys.

How does it handle once it's full? Has it tried to tip over or is it more stable? Curious minds want to know.

Austin Gorton said...

That pocket pantry is awesome! If we had space on the side of our fridge, I would totally build one (as it is, we're going to have to sand down the bottoms of the cupboards over our fridge when we put in hardwood floors, the fridge takes up so much space).

I mean, why do you live here if you whine when it gets below 60?

Hear hear! This is the weather I love MN for: cooler than summer but not quite winter yet. I can wear layers and not swelter, but I can also go outside and my beard doesn't freeze. I love it!

Carolyn Abiad said...

That is such a great use of dead space! I love it.

I'm also wishing for a firepit. The weather is finally cool enough down here in NC.

Johanna Garth said...

I LOVE that pocket pantry! Will you come to my house and make me one too? :)

Janet Johnson said...

What a brilliant idea! Love it!

LD Masterson said...

Very clever. I'm impressed.

Catherine Stine said...

Very cute pocket pantry and what fun a fire-pit is when it's cold out! I love fall!

Ninja Girl said...

What a wonderful idea! We have a pocket of space very similar to yours. Hmmm, might have to consider that for boxed items like cereal and crackers. Very clever storage unit :)
Hope you're having a great week so far,
Ninja Girl

Unknown said...

That is very cool! I should try my hand at some projects like that in future :)

Jamie

Joan Crawford said...

This is so clever, it makes me want to cry a little bit.

Good on you guys for building stuff! Thanks for sharing the pics; all the creeps like me like looking at your stuff and pretending we're there and thinking about all the great conversations we'll have and what we'll make for snacks...

Carol Kilgore said...

I have lived in the north, and I know what it feels like with winds whistling through when the temps are below zero. Here in Texas, we do get a little chilly when it dips below 60, like it did over the weekend. Could be because we've just come off about six months of 90-110 degree weather. Give us a little time to acclimate, though, and we'll all be good to go for our short winter.

Love your pantry!

Michael Offutt, Phantom Reader said...

You are so handy with tools and boards and home improvement. I wish you lived next to me so I could solicit advice and trick you into helping me with stuff like this LOL

Southpaw said...

Crafty and handy! Very cool. I like that it rolls out.

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