DIY China Cabinet

Scripture to Live By:

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.

He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.

Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Isaiah 40:28-31

This passage of Scripture is so precious to me. I love focusing on  who my God is and how powerful He is, that he never faints or grows weary.  Sometimes I do grow weary and my energy is spent.  I am so very glad that He gives power to the faint and he has power to increase my strength.  God help me to wait before you and renew my mind in your word that you can empower me with your strength that I may soar again like an eagle and run with my hand in yours and walk beside the still refreshing waters.   You are unfathomable, Almighty God.  Thank you for loving me.

Home Improvement Post:

This is my favorite of all our DIY projects.  

We bought a house that as you enter the dining room from the out side that  the first thing you saw was a wall with a huge return air vent. The vent went directly to the furnace, that was in a room behind the wall.  You could not get rid of the vent so we tried to think of what we could do on that wall to conceal the vent.  We needed a China cabinet to put our dishes and glassware in so we decided to make our own DIY China Cabinet around the  vent.  So here is what we did.   

We went to Lowe’s and purchased the following:

4 – 36 inches wide x 30 inches high

1 – 30 inches wide x 30 inches high

2 – 36 inches wide x 12 inches high

1 – 30 inches wide x 15 inches high

Crown moulding

1 sheet oak veneer paneling

1 3 ft x 4 inch oak board

1 6 ft shelving board

Several 2 x 4’s for the floor framework

We had gotten two glass doors from a warehouse sale at Kraft maid several years before waiting for the right project to use them on.  Now the time was right.  

 Go here andhereto see the process of doing this.

We sanded all doors, frame work of cabinets, veneer paneling and the 2 x 4’s we were using for the floor frame work, and then stained them. 

After the stain dried, I put the first of three coats of Minwax Polycrylic protective finish on the doors and the frame work, 2 x 4’s and the veneer paneling.    

When the  first coat of Minwax Polycrylic protective finish dries, 

you lightly sand it before adding each additional coat.

We removed the baseboard from the wall so the cabinets would fit up against the wall.  

Then we made a frame for the cabinets to sit on.  We used 2 x 4’s to do the frame work. 

We had stained and Polycrylic finish them as we had the doors and the cabinets.   

 We made framework extend beyond the cabinet itself, one and one quarter inch around the entire perimeter of the cabinets.

Then we began to assemble the cabinets on the framework.  We assembled 1 36 inches wide x 30 inches high Cabinet and secured it to the floor framework.  Next we added one 36 inches wide x 12 inches high on top of it and screwed the two together.  Then we added another  36 inches wide x 30 inches high cabinet and screwed them together.  We did the same with the other side.

Next we took the screen off and painted it to match the cabinets. We also painted the wall behind the screen to match the cabinets.  We had to move the thermostat as well. 

Next we put in the bottom cabinet in the center of the other two cabinets which is 30 inches wide x 15 inches high.  This is underneath the vent screen. 

Then we put a 30 in x 30 inch cabinet above the screen vent and matched it in the center of the two other top cabinets.  

We changed the doors and put the glass doors we had purchased from Kraft maid.

My husband had to cut out a pieces on the framework for the doors to fit properly as seen below.

Next we put two shelves in this cabinet.

We took a piece of oak wood and cut it to fit underneath that cabinet, to hide some of the wall below the cabinet between the top cabinet and the vent screen.

 Then he put angle brackets on it to screw it to the underside of the cabinet.  

We put two shelves in that area that would still let the air flow is but we could place decorative items on to further hide the screen.  

One shelf covered the top of the cabinet that was on the floor and the other shelf was spaced equally between that shelf and the board above.  

Each end of the cabinet needed the oak veneer paneling put on to finish off the cabinet as seen below.  

The next step was to put the crown molding  trim up around the top edges of the cabinets.  

The cabinet is completed and we are very pleased.

We put a light on top of the cabinet to accentuate the cabinet and the dining room at night.  

A swag was placed on the wall above the cabinet. We added couple of pitchers to finish it off.

Next I added the glassware and the dishes.

Added a few things to the shelves to decorate and was very pleased how well this once bare wall with only a air return vent turned out.  Hope you agree.  

So now when you enter our home this is what you see instead of a wall with a huge air vent in the center of it.  

View from the living room looking into the dining room show the buffet we made, as well as the china cabinet.

So if you have a wall that has some unsightly thing on it that can’t be removed.  Why not think of how you could make that wall look better.  Perhaps what we did would work for you.  

Blessings, 

Parties I Link Up To:

Housewife How Tos

Savvy Southern Style

Sassy Little Lady – Saturday

Adorned from Above – Wednesday

Southern Lovely – Wednesday

Mandatory Mooch – Thursday

Think Tank – Thursday

Between naps on the Porch,penny-pinching-party;I’m an Organizing Junkie;The Dedicated House; Beauty and Bedlam;Ginger Snap CraftsIt”s So Cheri

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