Need plans for an uber-simple pine cupboard/hutch!

[Jason White]

I just spent a horrible night in an IKEA store looking for some type of "temporary" cupboard/hutch for a bare wall in my kitchen. The kitchen will get gutted in the next 1-2 years, so I don't want to spend too much time or money on this. We're talking pure utility, folks.

Since I couldn't find what I want, I'm thinking I want to build something kind of rustic-looking, maybe even out of cheap #2 pine from the home center and bang it together with square cut nails (and a few rabbets/dadoes). Raised-panel doors? Forget it! I'm talking uber-simple here... something that looks like an old farmer built it for his kitchen. I need storage below for large dishes and serving platters and open shelving up above (like a hutch) for lots of cookbooks. I want to be able to bang this out in a single weekend if possible and maybe cover it with an opaque stain or milk paint to take the curse off of the knotty pine.

Any ideas? Pictures would be most helpful. Thanks.

Jason

[Jim Becker]

Jason...just sketch it out in general and determine the base dimensions for what you want and go from there. You measure for the details from the initial carcass you build. To make it quick but keep it strong, build a basic sheet goods box for the main carcass. Then build slab sides from lumber to cover the box and make face frames to match. Using pocket screws for the carcass and the latter part will make it fast. Build the shelving unit for the top as a separate unit. You'll still need cross pieces behind it to prevent racking or some form of back. A bead-board product will work nicely for that and look great once painted.

When you paint, do not use "latex" paint. Use a 100% acrylic product like Bennie Moore satin Impervo water borne or Sherwin Williams Pro-Classic water borne. They will not have the 'blocking' problem that latex paint has when you sit things on them.

[Jason White]

Thanks, Jim.

Rather than paint, I was thinking of some type of light-colored transparent stain. Something almost paint-like, but will let the knots show through a bit. I also don't want to bother with primer.

Anybody else have a picture of something they've built that sounds like what I'm looking for?

Jason

Jason...just sketch it out in general and determine the base dimensions for what you want and go from there. You measure for the details from the initial carcass you build. To make it quick but keep it strong, build a basic sheet goods box for the main carcass. Then build slab sides from lumber to cover the box and make face frames to match. Using pocket screws for the carcass and the latter part will make it fast. Build the shelving unit for the top as a separate unit. You'll still need cross pieces behind it to prevent racking or some form of back. A bead-board product will work nicely for that and look great once painted.

When you paint, do not use "latex" paint. Use a 100% acrylic product like Bennie Moore satin Impervo water borne or Sherwin Williams Pro-Classic water borne. They will not have the 'blocking' problem that latex paint has when you sit things on them.

[Bruce Pearce]

Popular woodworking.com has some simple PDF plans you can download free. The Martha's Vineyard Cupboard might do.
Good luck.

[Jason White]

Thanks, Bruce!

JW

Popular woodworking.com has some simple PDF plans you can download free. The Martha's Vineyard Cupboard might do.
Good luck.

[Jason White]

Bump!

Anybody got any pictures?

Jason

I just spent a horrible night in an IKEA store looking for some type of "temporary" cupboard/hutch for a bare wall in my kitchen. The kitchen will get gutted in the next 1-2 years, so I don't want to spend too much time or money on this. We're talking pure utility, folks.

Since I couldn't find what I want, I'm thinking I want to build something kind of rustic-looking, maybe even out of cheap #2 pine from the home center and bang it together with square cut nails (and a few rabbets/dadoes). Raised-panel doors? Forget it! I'm talking uber-simple here... something that looks like an old farmer built it for his kitchen. I need storage below for large dishes and serving platters and open shelving up above (like a hutch) for lots of cookbooks. I want to be able to bang this out in a single weekend if possible and maybe cover it with an opaque stain or milk paint to take the curse off of the knotty pine.

Any ideas? Pictures would be most helpful. Thanks.

Jason

[Jim Becker]

Same technique will work with a stained, piece, Jason. You just need to be more picky about matching your shelving back to the rest of the piece. So if you use knotty pine or something similar, build the back of the upper case using vertical boards of similar material that have either T&G or a sliding half-lap edge, using only a few brads at the top and bottom to allow for wood movement.

[Jason White]

BTW -- what's with the tux? I feel totally underdressed!

I thought this was an informal gathering.

Same technique will work with a stained, piece, Jason. You just need to be more picky about matching your shelving back to the rest of the piece. So if you use knotty pine or something similar, build the back of the upper case using vertical boards of similar material that have either T&G or a sliding half-lap edge, using only a few brads at the top and bottom to allow for wood movement.

[Jim Becker]

Jason, it's not really a tux...just one of my rarely worn suits "adapted" for a formal fund-raiser for the university that Professor Dr. SWMBO is employed as an assistant professor. It was held at the Constitution Center in Philadelphia last year. This picture is just an experiment to see what kind of clarity can be had with the new, larger avatar limits in the vBulletin 3.7.0 software now up and running for SMC. I'll change it soon to something more realistic relative real life...

To keep this comment relevant in the future, here's the avatar that Jason asked about...

jb-av.gif

[Vince Shriver]

www.plansnow.com/cabinets.html