When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Lemonade

 Last week when Lucy's goat milk soap batch didn't turn out, I pulled out one of my grandma adages: "Make Lemonade out out lemons. I'm not sure if the 14 year old budding entrepreneur understood the metaphor, but she did some research to find out why her batch was crumbly and what to do about. Turns out that if she measured everything proper, including the lye, the bad soap bars can be grated then reheated in a warm crockpot, which I believe she did today.

So, I'm following my own advice with my two lemon kitchen cabinet projects that have bugged me all summer. They were the two  cabinets that made I for the Manchester kitchen. The original one never suited me for a number of reasons, but mostly because I was disappointed in my workmanship and because I made the front doors fixed instead of working cabinet doors, as well as the narrow door that I added on the left instead of making wider drawers. And I wasn't real happy with the bump out for the stove top either, so I remade the cabinet.

I did have to make a new small drawer for the old cabinet, which was easily drawn and cut in Design Space. I also cut two 1/16 counter tops that I'll glue together to get a thicker counter top. I'm finally liking the new reimagined original counter top. 

So this lemon is now sweetly revamped and I'll use it in the kitchen. Still not perfect, but it is handmade and that's okay. 

               

The second one didn't go well either--in my mind. I just didn't like how it looked in the kitchen. In fact, I just didn't like my plan for the kitchen at all. I made a second set of drawers so that it had drawers on both sides of the working doors under stove cabinet. The problem was that the cook top sat on top of the counter top and didn't look right. The pin hinges also posed a problem with the counter top and it seemed not quite long enough.

By now I had a brilliant lemon scented brainstorm and tried this  remake up on the third floor which will be some sort of an art studio, a place where the Miss can work on her genealogy, and other interests, maybe a scrapbook or two.

Originally, I remade the cabinet with 3 drawers on the right side too, after, taking the drawers from the original cabinet. But with the new plan for the revised cabinet, I had to rethink making another set of drawers. A third set of drawers really at this point was not an option since I had lost the original design in Design Space, I DID NOT want to have to remeasure and redraw off the pieces, so I cut a door by hand out of 3/32 basswood so that the pin hinge would less likely split the 1/16 inch basswood. I took me a while today to figure out the cabinet door instead of drawers, but I got it cut and installed.

I cute the counter top from 1/8 inch basswood to have a nice heavy work space and it just a little longer so that it would glue down to the thin 1/16 inch nicely on each end. I made a paper templet to mark the hole placement for the hinge pins

This tiny drill bit is perfect to drill the pin hinge holes.

With a gap between the top of the 1st drawer on the left and the counter top, I decided to add a pull out shelf like a desk might have. I used a tiny brad for the handle.

These pieces are looking better and have their new places in the Manchester Country Home. I need to order more drawer pulls, do paint touch up, cover the countertops and glue them in place. Now that's progress.

Finally after dinner I installed the light that will be behind the exhaust hood. It's not very pretty, but it will be out of sight and a touch of light on the cook top. I'm not gluing in the exhaust hood so t that I can change out the light if I need to.

So that's what I did today. Made some Lemonade.

Have a great week

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