Making Jane Harrop's Kichen Cabinet

The picture on the front is what I am aiming for.  The scary part is always when you open a kit like this - there are so many bits.

Absolutely no need to worry - Jane has a page of all the pieces drawn to size and labelled clearly.  I like to lay out all the pieces by the side in the same layout so it is quick to find what I want during the assembly.  There are also three more pages of beautifully illustrated very clear instructions - do not get clever and deviate from them unless you really know what you are doing.  I have done this in the past to my cost.

Most kits start by building a basic box from the back, top, bottom and two sides.  Notice the expensive clamps - they do very well for this sort of thing.

Detail always matters to me - I love her shelf supports - how cool is that.  Please don't worry this looks scruffy and crude it will at this stage.  The first coat of paint brings up the surface of the wood and I don't fuss much with edges being neat just yet.  The cream colour is my ever-favourite shed paint (Cuprinol Shades) the green is basic green acrylic.

Jane supplies two shelves for the bottom cupboard and two for the top.  My memory of my mom's cabinet was that it had a narrow half shelf in the flap cupboard which had holes for eggs and always had the butter and lard and maybe cheese stored on it - a sort of dairy shelf.  So I did go a bit off piste and hacked one of the lower cupboard shelves down to the the width I wanted (half inch) and added it to the flap cupboard.  It also works out well because it means you can have good spaces in the lower cupboard shelves for bigger things - like the chip pan! Not for the very chic Vianne, of course.

I struggled to drill six neat holes the right size for the eggs and then decided I needn't have bothered - all I needed to do was chop a bit off the eggs and glue them in place.  They look fine.

Here the doors are made up and the first coat of paint applied.  Now comes the waiting game.  The paint needs to dry properly and then be rubbed lightly with very fine grade sandpaper or brown paper bag scrumpled up or, better still, the magic paint sponge I've mentioned before.  When those nibs are off and it is silky smooth the proper careful painting is done.

When all the painting was done - except I forgot the green across the bottom cupboard and across the pull-down flap and had to do it later - it was time to put the doors on.

I have to admit I found this a bit difficult.  You can locate one of the pins by sight but the second one has to be done by guess and by God.  To explain...

You get two sequin pins per door; you chop their heads off and push the remaining stick through the pre-drilled holes in the shelf and down into the pre-drilled holes in the door.  You then do the same through the base and into the door; et voilà, you have two hinges so the door will open.

Another difficulty I created for myself was that I didn't allow any slack when I put the shelves in.  I was desperate for a tight fit so by the time the doors had three coats of paint, moisture and pin fitting they were extremely reluctant to close.  So, that is definitely a handy tip if you are building stuff with doors that will open - allow some space to do this.

Here's the end result against its kit photo.  There are a couple more things I did slightly differently.  The ribbon hinges Jan has fitted from the back of the flap to the front of the cabinetwhich makes sense as the ribbons don't get in the way when closing the flap  Actually mine don't seem to though they theoretically should have!  Maybe also cabinets were like that but I have a memory of ours working this way....????  

I also edged the 'enamel' chopping board with a dark blue/black trim.  I wonder how many of my memories (pre ten years old!) are correct.

So, here we are, a useful piece of kitchen kit and almost an iconic thirties through fifties kitchen cupboard.  In a house with no fridge, freezer or pantry this is where all your food was stored.

I have put butter, lard and dripping on the shopping list - not to mention an open bottle of milk.

Link:  Jane Harrop Miniatures


(Come back tomorrow for views of the kitchen)