Office Redo - Last of the DIY Cabinets

I am working hard trying to finish the office.  

Today I want to show you the last of the DIY cabinets.  I know we have a lot of shelves and cabinets, but one of the main purposes of this room is storage.  

If you remember, one wall has about 9 feet of shelving.  

After it was all done I knew I needed some closed storage

 so I decided to put doors on the middle section. 

(See the before photo below)

 Seems simple enough. 

Getting doors made was my first idea.  I was really ready to pay someone this time, until I found out it would cost $240.  They would be awesome and custom fit, but they would still need to be painted.  I just couldn't afford that. 

 Bummer.  

  Next I decided to look for some used doors.  I kept the measurements with me and looked any place that would sell used doors.  After awhile I started making plans to build them myself, since I couldn't find anything to fit.  

One day I had to drop Jaysen off in Salt Lake. On the way home I drove right past the Restore and thought, 

"What the heck I'll just check one last time".  

They were closing in just a few minutes but I ran in and checked anyways. 

 You guessed it!  

I found two doors!!!!

The doors were the same style and dimension but different colors.  That didn't bother me cause I'm painting them.  I picked them up for $7 each.  They were the perfect width, but not quite tall enough.  I had a fix for that. I took an extra piece of MDF I had laying around, cut it to fit the extra space, and then routered the edges.  This created two faux drawer fronts which I primed and painted like all the other pieces. To connect the doors and drawer fronts I used metal plates/brackets I found at Lowe's for 88 cents each.  Six small screws in each plate, and they became one big door.

Now I just had to install them.  

I conned my mom and sister into helping me do that.  

Here's my break down:

$7 per door x 2 = $14

$2.77  for 2 hinges

(had four hinges already)

$.88 per metal plates x 6 = $5.28

$3.47 per drawer pull x 2 = $6.94

Total for the doors $29 

I saved $211 by being patient!  I think they look pretty darn good.

These open shelves would have been great for decorative purposes, 

but I need to actually store a lot of stuff!  

So check out the before and after.  

What do you think of my refinished cabinet doors?

Now on to the last cabinet in my office!

This is really the last one!  

On the last wall in my office I was going to put two or three shelves supported by chunky wood brackets on the wall above this beautiful buffet that my friend gave me.  But to tell this story I have to back track a little.  Years ago when we lived in Arizona we bought this double desk for our boys because my mother had given us two old computers for them to use.  We added slide out key boards, created the hutch for storage, and painted it all black. 

When we moved to Utah I added wrapping paper to the back and started using it for my sewing machine and serger in this very room.  When we started the office makeover we tried to sell this desk and hutch combo, but after weeks of it taking up room in our garage, I gave it to my neighbor. Only problem is she just wanted the desk.  We begged and pleaded with her to take it all off our hands, but to no avail. 

We continued to work on the other two walls of built-ins  

when one day, I pinned this awesome picture below. 

 I was inspired with a way to get my storage and get rid of that hutch that was taking up precious parking space.

Source

Here's the shortened version of my conversion. 

 (I'm such the poet!)

Let me just say I used scraps of wood and trim I had laying around from other projects we have done.  The only thing I bought for this was the wooden shelf brackets.  

First,
 I flipped the hutch upside down and added two shelves.

Second,
 I cut the legs down.

Third,
 I ripped down some MDF into about 6 inch strips then added it to three sides at the top.

Fourth, 

I flipped it back over, decided on the placement of the wooden brackets, and primed everything.  I then attached the brackets with a Kreg Jig.

Are you still with me?

After giving everything a couple coats of paint.  I asked Les and Austin to help me mount the hole thing to the wall.

(This was pretty easy but they just had to make all kinds of faces like they were dying.)

lol

After they were finished it looked pretty darn good.  I added the crown molding and it looked fabulous.  Well, to me it did.  

I love it because it's so functional and pretty and practically free! 

 OK, I did pay $25 for the brackets.  

I can't wait to show you it all decked out! 

 But that will be another day! 

What do you think about my want to get rid of  turned awesome shelf?  

Does stuff like this happen to anyone else?

I guess I owe my neighbor a thank you for not giving in to my badgering!!

Thanks Holly!

Thanks for stopping by!