Thursday 8 May 2014

Around here...

We've enjoyed a lovely May day holiday with a picnic in Hitch Wood...


(Can I just say, my bum isn't this big. My cardy has sticky-outy pockets creating an optical illusion of booty. I actually have the pert derriere of a 20 year old. Honest.)


Isn't it beautiful?

Things at home are not quite so beautiful...


A little electrical socket re-jigging was called for but we have a splashback up! Yay! 

You'll have noticed that the surrounding kitchen isn't exactly selling it just yet. 

The doors are off...

 
and are getting clad in strips of hardwood...


and slowly but surely, I'm amassing a pile of 'done' doors.


And there is mess EVERYWHERE.

I'm using this product...


Titebond melamine glue. Apparently it's the bees knees for gluing wood to melamine. I'm not even using panel pins. It gives you plenty of slippiness time so you can guide your joints into the right position. Then you clamp it and it dries fairly quickly. You can stop clamping after 30 mins. Which is good if you only have five clamps and a lot of doors.

They say, 'this is an exceptional glue that forms a bond stronger than the substrate itself.'
I think that means you'll pull the whole melamine front off the cupboard before you pull my planks off.
It's pretty butch. I like that in a glue.

I had a play with my ESP today. What peculiar stuff it is. I've even got a couple of coats of paint on the cupboard frame. Cooking is strictly forbidden until this section of cupboards above the cooker is completed. Hopefully I can pull that off before the weekend is over because I go on strike at weekends and force my husband to cook. I don't want to miss out on that!

11 comments:

  1. You....a big bum???? Do me a favour! Did you saw the strips into the correct size or did B&Q do it?

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    1. I ummed ans ahhed about how to go about it. Should I use MDF or plywood or waterproof MDF or marine ply? I don't have a good enough straight saw and I didn't want to pay a lot for cutting. In the end I got a bunch of hardwood strips from Cheshire mouldings. I thought that being hardwood they'd be tough and to some degree unlikely to swell with a bit of steam. They are around £3 each and I can cut them to size easily with my hand mitre saw as I go. I'm really pleased with them. I wouldn't be able to get such a straight line with a jigsaw, even with clamps and guide timbers.

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  2. That photo of the two of you in the woods is just beautiful, you need to get that framed. It would add colour to C's bedroom! xxxx

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    1. What a good idea. We never print photos out anymore, just stick them on facebook and forget about them.

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  3. Oh, I love that top photo - you look like you are off to Grandmas house through the bluebell wood :-). I may have to take a look a that Titebond - I love me a good glue!

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    1. I love that photo too. We were looking out for bears!
      Titebond have all different kinds and different sizes too. It's great stuff.

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  4. What a gorgeous photo of you and C. It has a real timeless quality, just beautiful.
    You're doing great with the Doors of Perception, keep going! xxx

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  5. Such a sweet photo :) The doors are looking so much better already- good luck with the rest of them! xxx

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  6. I loved the photo of you and your daughter, beautiful.
    Cant wait to see the finished kitchen!

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  7. I hope you see this message as it's a while back now-I'm about do makeover my wardrobes and want to create a similar look to your kitchen. Would you mind telling me what wood you used and where you got it from! Thank you. Your kitchen looks fab

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    1. Hi Fay, rather than try to cut strips of MDF in a straight line with my jigsaw I went for moulding you get in the moulding section of your DIY store. I went for a wider flatter one in hardwood. If you have a proper table saw or know someone who does you can save a huge amount by cutting MDF instead. My mouldings are Cheshire mouldings I think. Shop around as the DIY stores seem to have different brands with differing prices and when you're buying a lot, it's good to make savings. I sanded and primed the wood before I glued it on with titebond melamine glue. I used spring clamps from Poundland to hold while they dried. Then ESP on the melamine surface and edges, then waterbased eggshell applied with a mini roller. Good luck!

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