I have good news and bad news. The bad news is that I was unable to complete the Fall ’22 One Room Challenge due to unforeseen circumstances that took us away from home for several weeks in November and December. The good news is that I finally finished the built ins for our home office/guest room and it looks Ah-mazing! I’m so happy with how it turned out and can’t wait to share the process with you! Grab a coffee and get comfortable because there is A LOT to cover! In fact, I will probably have to break it up into multiple posts because there is so much that went into these built ins.
Ok so where to begin…
After building the base and screwing it into the studs, I built cabinet and drawer boxes for either side. I made them out of 3/4″ plywood and put them together with wood glue and pocket holes using my Kreg jig tool.
Here are all of the pieces cut for the cabinets and ready to assemble. I made sure that the bottom of the cabinets was raised 3/4″ more than the sides to accommodate the 1×2 trim that will be added later.
I had to make cutouts in both base cabinets to make room for power outets and the internet router and cables to be hidden. To do this I drilled through the cabinets on the four corners of the intended cutout and then used a jigsaw to cut them out completely.
I used outlet extenders so that the electrical box would be flush with the cabinet and I could put on the outlet covers.
For the desk top, I used 1″ thick select pine boards that I glued/screwed together. In hindsight, I should have used a harder wood for the desktop but I’ll get to that later.
Next was building the custom bookcases. Again I used 3/4″ plywood and ripped everything down with my circular saw and Kreg jig rip cut guide.
I also used these super handy corner clamps to hold everything in place while gluing and screwing the bookcases together.
Once I dry fit the bookcases on top of the desk, I cut out arches for the top of each of them. I did this using the string trick to trace the arch and then cut them out with the jigsaw. The arches will connect with the 1×2 trim that will go on the front of the bookcases and shelves.
I anchored the bookcases to the walls and then installed the arches and trim with wood glue and my brad nailer. Wood filled the holes, caulked the seams and now they’re ready to be primed and painted! It’s starting to take shape!
To be continued!
This page contains affiliate links. If you choose to purchase after clicking a link, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. These commissions help me pay for operating costs for the blog and are greatly appreciated. Thank you for your support!
