Monday, September 10, 2007

Sticking Points

It is inevitable that one gets stuck on occasion. Sometimes you are waiting on materials or perhaps you sprain your ankle- things happen.
In this case, we've run into a bit of a problem with our pantry project. Nothing disastrous, but just one of those things that you have to problem-solve.

It started when we decided to put the microwave in the pantry. After all, who wants to look at a microwave in a more period style kitchen? Plus, they are space hogs and only used (by us) to heat up leftovers or Steve's coffee, which he likes super hot.

We had ordered the same brackets that we used for the upstairs pantry from Vandyke's. We liked the design and the price was right. But then we realized that to fit the microwave on our shelving, the shelves would need to be deeper and subsequently the brackets larger. Fortunately Vandyke's takes returns.

To be exact, we need brackets that are 11"- 13" for the shelf support and about 9" for the wall mounted part. Not easy to find as we have found. Or rather, not easy to find in a style we consider appropriate for the style of our home. In fact, I have found a definite shortage of arts and crafts style iron brackets on the market. Most are Victorian in design- you lucky Victorian homeowners!

We found two options during our rather extensive googling. One was an iron bracket in an Eastlake style from goantiques.com. This company says they may get more in October, but they will not give out a phone number- a red flag in my book. Not to mention how difficult it was to get a straight answer via email.

The other is solid brass and twice the price ($40/pair). The more I look, the more appealing these become.

Then, I found these from our friends over at Rejuvenation. They are $29 each and we need 16 of them!

Eastlake is not the most period appropriate for us of course, but for some reason we feel better about that style than more flowery Victorian.


Other than this issue with the brackets, things are moving along with the pantry. Here you see the cabinet grade 3/4" birch plywood we got for a steal at Owl Lumber because it was off size and they wanted to get rid of it. It's a shame to cover it up. In case anyone is wondering, we had to open up the wall to add more 2x4s and decided to add plywood for more support. We also added an outlet for the microwave.

Steve has been faithfully going to the wood shop and gluing up the shelves. They are now ready for me (the helper) to sand and stain them.


The plans are on the wall. This pantry has been planned out in great detail. When it comes to storage in our small home, we do not mess about.
I am very excited to finally have a place for my beloved Dyson vacuum cleaner and to be able to finally unpack the kitchen contents still stored in boxes in the basement.
And that is my way overdue pantry update!

7 comments:

Gary said...

Since Steve is a master with the woodworking tools, why not make wood corbels to use as brackets to your own design. You could make some pretty intricate 2.25 inch thick pieces using 3 pieces of 3/4 inch wood stock stuck together and a jig saw. Just a thought!

StuccoHouse said...

I'm stuck on a few items in my house too. It's such a hassle to hunt them down....but when you finally find the exact thing you want...it sure is satisfying. Your pantry looks like it will be very nice.

John Kenzie said...

So the back wall will be painted wood, or will you plaster over that?


We are stuck on every job in our place. I think it is finally cool enough to get up and patch the roof tho.

Jocelyn said...

I forgot to mention the back wall will be oak beadboard stained to match the trimwork. It will be easier to maintain than a painted wall.

sparky said...

too heavy?

http://arusticgarden.com/6carrshbr.html

regardless of price, try to find something very close to what your looking for and post the link

Jocelyn said...

Very kind of you Sparky. We want something less curvy and with more straight lines. Thank you very much for the suggestion though. We'll keep looking :o)

sparky said...

no sweat; fighting random acts of violence with random acts of kindness

post a link to a pic or draw something. i have many sources, and connections to inexpensive,
'custom-made' metal workers