Our New Bathroom Cabinet.

By Guest Blogger: Bill Mullen

Last week Steph had mentioned that she wanted to clean up the clutter in our bathroom vanity. We have a large two sink vanity that easily accumulates stuff like hair spray, hair gel, toothpaste, and the normal stuff. We have a built in medicine cabinet, but it is not very deep and does not hold much... (Editor's Note: I use a lot of ellipses, most of the time incorrectly) So she asked me to build a cabinet. I was not sure if my scrap wood would make a good door, and I was worried about how it would look, so I figured I would get around to it sometime.

On a side note, I had noticed a gift box that a coworker had been given from the company I work for. I had seen it sitting in his office for a long time. It was propped up against the wall outside his office, where I could see it every time I walked out that way. I always thought that I could make something neat out of this box. I never thought of a wall cabinet, but I will get to that.

I was leaving work on Friday, and the box was in the hallway by the exit door with a 'Basura' sticker on it. Some of you that work in an office may recognize the basura sticker. It is a sticker that says trash in several languages so the housekeeping staff will know that it is trash and to take with them when they empty the trash. Basura means trash in Spanish, and the sticker, even though it says trash, are not called trash stickers, they are referred to as basura stickers, and everyone knows what you are talking about. (Editor's Note: I tend to go on and on about minutia...) I was leaving work on Friday and there was the box with the Basura sticker on it. I grabbed it and put it in the trunk of Boomer (Editor's Note: my car is called Boomer, cause the stereo is loud and 'booms' the girls when they sit in the back seat). So I drive home with the box in the trunk.

When I get home, I put the box in the garage, and it hit me... I could make a cabinet out of the gift box. Now that may sound strange, but I took lots of pictures so you could see what kind of gift box it is. You can't see from the picture, but the box is a very stiff cardboard, like the back of an entertainment center. The top of the box is a rusty metal. I have a closer image.

Before I get into the box construction, I have to elaborate on my carpentry skills. I have very little, and I am winging it. I got some very useful but extremely dangerous tools from my step dad Joel. Shout out! I will most likely lose a finger or appendage eventually, but so far just a torn fingernail. Here are some photos of my workshop.

The table on the left is a table I fabricated out of a pallet that I salvaged from work that a server was shipped on. (Editor's Note: I get most of my stuff out of the garbage, because I fancy myself an environmentalist. {I am actually really cheap}). The table in the middle is a loaner table saw from Joel. Shout out. The table on the left is a piece of plywood on a pair of $14 saw horses.

I told Steph my idea, and she said go for it. (Editor's Note: she thinks all my ideas are crazy, most of the time she is right). I asked her what she will want to put in the cabinet. She gave me a list, and I started measuring to determine where the shelves would go. I had some nice plywood my brother Steve (shout out) had given me from an entertainment center he built when he was single. He is now married to Keri (shout out) and moved to Missouri. The shelves for the entertainment center were a good size to rip (Editor's Note: rip is what you do when you cut wood on a table saw. {At least I can sound like a carpenter}) into the right size for my shelf. I measured some body wash and toilet paper, because the body wash is the tallest bottle to go in, and toilet paper will take up one shelf by itself.

I don't have a picture, but when I put in the shelves for the body wash and the toilet paper, there was a lot of wasted space. So I got creative and added a couple more shelves and a divider with two smaller shelves. I got the shelves in, and by this time, was getting pretty handy at measuring the wood and installing into the case. I anticipated screwing through the back into the wall studs. However, the new shelves added some weight to it, and when we start filling it up, I was worried about the cardboard holding the weight. So I measured out a back plate to put on the back of the box to screw into the wall stud. This would give the box some much needed support.

I found the spot on the wall and got it ready to mount. I used my handy dandy stud finder, and screwed the cabinet into the stud. It was surprising how sturdy my support made the shelf. You can see the screws in the middle of the back of the cabinet.

It turned out really well. I am torn about painting the shelves and the cardboard to match. So take a close look, and let me know in the comments if I should paint it. Also, add to the comments if you have any ideas on a color that will accent the rusty door, or I could leave it as is. It doesn't look bad, and the different colors reminds us how much of a hodgepodge it is. Here are some more pictures.

Thanks Steph for letting me post!

Check out my blog at WPMDataSystems (I hope to post more often soon!)