Remember the closet we were building in the studio? (You can read about it HERE if you missed it.) Well, we finally had some time to do a bit more work on it. This is how it looked when you last saw it…
The construction of it was very basic, but I didn’t care too much about making it fancy. The interior would all be hidden away behind closed doors.
Over the weekend, we took advantage of the warmer-ish weather and built the two doors for the larger opening. I wanted to build them out of tongue and groove v-boards, so they would compliment the planked walls and ceiling.
We put them together using 1 x 3 boards on the back side of each door. In hindsight, we should’ve used a “Z” pattern to help reduce the risk of warping or bowing. One of the doors is pretty warped, but we’ll fix that with the placement of a barrel bolt at the bottom of the door. In the case of this closet, done is better than perfect! Because it’s a converted sunporch, the room is a bit more relaxed than the rest of the house, so it’s okay for this closet to be a bit wonky!
The overall result, once it’s finished and painted, will look great and it will provide the functional, closed storage I desperately needed in this room.
I am still deciding on paint color, but I’m pretty sure it’ll either be the same color as the wall or the bright white of the trim. I want it to look more like a built-in cabinet that fades into the wall, so it doesn’t look too visually heavy or imposing in the room.
I did order some fun hardware for the doors, though. I have a nice stash of hardware for dressers and cabinets, so I tried a few different options – large knobs, sash pulls, cabinet latches, etc. None of them seemed to be the right scale or look for the closet doors. So, I turned to Etsy to see what kind of vintage door pulls were available. I ended up finding three matching door pulls from the former Soviet Union!
I think the scale will fit the doors well and they are definitely unique. I grew up in Germany during the cold war and visited a couple of countries on the east side of the wall before it fell and I later spent the summer in Russia as a teenager, so I feel a small connection to these handles and the odd, T-shaped keyholes. Hopefully, they’ll look good on the doors, too.
Oh, and I forgot to show you the frames I found when my mom and I went antiquing! I found several nice antique and vintage gold frames to use for original paintings…
It’s nice to have the frames on hand, so I can cut the linen panel to fit the frame before I start the painting. I’m a little shy about hanging my artwork in my own house, but I’m hoping to change that. Having nice frames on hand and being intentional about creating paintings to fit the frame will take away the I-don-have-a-frame excuse. Plus, a gold frame can make just about any painting look special.
Hopefully, we can finish that last door later this week…
Could you add an upper and lower “z” to each door for more stability? Just a thought.
Love all your projects! Your mom and you did a great job on the guest room!
When you next frame a painting, will you show us a step-by-step process?
Love watching your painting journey and it’s interesting to see how you’ve chosen various methods for instruction. You have great talent, the paintings are beautiful!
The studio cabinet is really shaping up. Puttiing together the tongue and groove boards to fabricate the doors was inspired.. I agree that it will subtly tie it in to the rest of the room. You are so resourceful to have found the ex-Soviet door pulls. I love them. They’ll give the “built-ins” a unique, quirky look – perfect for Miss Mustard Seed’s studio.
As for color, I vote for same color as the walls, with the furniture’s trim painted same as trim in studio. That might contribute to the concept that the cabinet is a built-in.
The closet is turning out so nicely! I was wondering if you were thinking to paint it. It’s going to look so nice!
I love those pulls..how cool they are from the former Soviet Union. I spent sometime there after the Wall fell. But I totally know what you mean with feeling connected in a way!
Beautiful work as always! Those frames are going to be so fun to fill up!
Hi Marion:
By displaying your paintings in your house you’ll learn more from them. I’ve walked into a room and seen things I’d like to use again in new work or I’ll see what the last few finishing touches need to be in an artwork.
Hi Marion-
Looks great your could add the Z to the front of the doors for a little more detail and a lot of sturdy doors. Can’t wait for your next project!!!!
HA!!! We had an older home with an enclosed back porch. I used it as a sewing/art room. It had no closet and I desperately needed storage. We did the same exact thing for a closet. Ours had windows on three sides similar to yours. We made enclosed cabinets under one wall below the windows too….I know you are planning to put bookshelves under yours. Great minds think alike!!!!….Oh!!! who am I kidding….I would LOVE to have your brain!!!! lololol
Your paintings are SO beautiful! If I could even dream of painting like that, I would have them everywhere! Why are we so hard on ourselves? You are amazing. Keep up the great work and thanks for sharing.
Iagree with the person who added you could probably add the z braces now. If not, they sell wires with turn bolts at almost every hardware stores. Would that be a possible cure? We’ve used them a lot on vintage doors to square them up.
Admire your works!
Great job , im excited to see it painted and all finished ! You are very inspiring:)
This is encouraging me to take advantage of our warming weather here in the Pacific Northwest and getting some pieces painted that are in desperate need of a fresh look. Thank you!
I echo Mary Anne, it’s not too late to add “zees” to the inside of the doors. I think you will be much happier with them thusly strengthened.
Marian,
It’a looking great! I know how excited you are to finish it and move on to the rest of your space.
Observation: My husband and I are wondering if the base of your new cabinet should be set upon another base an inch thick or greater? It appears that eventually the doors might begin scraping the floor (gravity) over time? Their weight… And another, smaller base will give the cabinet more toe-kick space as well?
Enjoy your warmer weather!
*hugs*
Kelley~
Hi Marian! Closet looks great and I love love those frames! Can’t wait to see what you paint to put in them! Where do you sell your paintings when you decide to sell them? Is there a website or something? Maybe you’ve already mentioned it and I missed it? Would you please tell us again if that’s the case? Thanks! Have a great day! ?
I love watching your progresss! A tip on frame storage told to me by an artist that worked in a gallery, “Fronts to fronts and backs to backs.” This prevents the hardware from damaging the fronts.
I love those frames. I had to chuckle at your comment about not hanging your paintings. My mom loved painting and as a kid I thought the only paintings people hung in their homes were ones that they painted themselves. Every room had her paintings hanging and when we kids started doing artwork, ours were hung too! And she would go to garage sales to hunt down old frames to use and build her canvases based on the size of those frames. So hang those beautiful paintings already!!
If this were my project I might be freaking out a bit, but since it’s yours.. it will look amazing when done.
I adore the door pulls and what a reminder every time you put your hand on them of a time long past~
Thanks for sharing Marian.
Cynthia
Ha! I’ve learned with DIY projects (especially ones that are new territory), you just have to be flexible and pull out your problem-solving skills when something doesn’t go as planned. It is just a closet door, after all. It’s a very small thing and it can be fixed (or remade, if it comes to that.)
It’s not too late to add diagonal interior support pieces above and under the center piece
Yep, I think we’ll add some diagonal pieces that can be adjusted to fix the warping. I’ve been looking into that.