So... the insides are done. Time to do a bit of work on the shelves. This is turning from a wardrobe into a cupboard really, as we need the space for storage of stuff more than clothes. So, shelves had to happen. As earlier experiments showed, this was not going to be easy. Still, the old brain does like a challenge, even if it's pretty masochistic. Hanging shelves. The way forward. Just not great if you happen to get dizzy from seeing things swinging. I'm not nice to myself, but the idea was a good un. Now, just to make them.
So, with some kiln dried timber, bought to make the frame that didn't happen and the shelves that did, and some fancy measuring involving folded bits of paper - I'm SO high tech its frightening - we had the basis of a shelf. Three more and a lot of drilling that scared the catface, and a long wait while the glue dried.
Here we have the shelves taking shape. Ducko cut more of the hardboard to size, and we glued it onto the timber frames, and voila - shelves.
Next - the shelves got the same treatment with the cut up envelopes, covering the tops that can be seen, and the front - we were having to be careful with the envelopes by this stage. At the finish we only had the front picture side of one left. So regardless of maths, the fuckit that'll do attitude actually worked out for once!
Now attention was turned to the outside of the 'drobe. There had always been a plan in mind - something quite different, yet similar in process at least - to the insides. First step was to paint the doors white. You can see here there are weird yellowy stains coming through the paint from the wood. Turns out it might have been better not to have taken the varnish off after all, as the seepage was coming through from the wood. The doors got a coat of paint, then a layer of sprayed on lacquer, then another coat of white. Sadly even this was not enough to keep the yellow from coming through as I will point out later - I'm a bit of a perfectionist at times, but the adds character argument can work equally well.
The idea originally had been to cover the entire outside with what will be covering parts of it... it just wasn't going to work. The frame of the 'drobe has some lovely features, one of which is the grooved sides to the outer edges that frame the doors. This, had the original idea been followed, would have lost a lot of what it is to look at, as well as making the whole thing not quite work size wise. I know, I know.. but all will become clear soon. For now, the outsides all got the same coatings of white and lacquer as the doors.
At this stage - it all looked quite Christmassy to me. Like an oriental Santa's cupboard. here you can just about see the grooves on the front panels.
Now for the real mindbending fun to begin. The outside of the 'drobe is to be all Ordnance Survey maps. Maps of the area. The map which covers Newcastle - where I live - and Consett - where Ducko resides - is all one map. We got four in all to cover the thing. Now... to fit both my street and Duckos onto one door, meant that Consett - further south - would be at the bottom near the left hand edge of the door, while my bit of Newcastle was mid door height and bang on the right hand side of the door if we had Consett just up against the left. So the maps had to be cut to fit, some on the door, some for the side, some for the other door.
After a bit of an accident with the first door - the section covering where we both live - it was clear that the maps had to be cut into smaller sections, or sticking them on without them twisting and going wrong was nigh on impossible. Here's the left hand door in progress. Yes.. it looks very wrinkly. It isn't all that bad once dried. Too much smoothing and the map tears, so it all had to be done with a lot of care. No matter how flat it went on, it wrinkled. Thankfully, its mostly dried flat.
Left hand door again - you can see from the shiny patches to the left hand side of the pic, that the sections glued on got smaller and smaller. Not for ease - oh no - lining up all those edges so the roads met and houses weren't split wasnt easy. Nope. This was the very tricky bit. Of the four maps bought - they are all of the area. Newcastle Consett on one, then to the left of that, Haltwhistle and Hexham. Above those two, in turn, are the Alnwick, and Kielder maps. Here lies the problem. Newcastle is on the coast. To the north, obviously the coast continues, but it moves westwards, so the Alnwick map itself is inset to the Newcastle one by a good way. This meant that the four didn't just line up - but were staggered. So here on the left door, you have at the base - Haltwhistle and Hexham, but above, a combination of both Alnwick and Kielder! Mindboggling.
Left hand door done. Once the stuck downness was dried - it got a coat of pva and water mix to help seal the paper.
Next, the sides of the 'drobe. Here, you can see much more clearly, what I was trying to explain above. On the left of the picture, is the right hand side of the Newcastle/Consett map. Above - to the right in this picture, is the Alnwick map. The Alnwick map ends - and so has the white paper with the map's key, while the Newcastle map - with more land to the east - continues.
Here's gluing the left hand side of the 'drobe. Now, I love Kielder. Many happy memories there - but to continue on from the left hand door - would mean it wouldn't be on the 'drobe. Not having that. So, just a bit more jiggerypokery with the maps, and it fit on, though with a section of countryside now missing. The bottom of this side shows the same as on the right - the bottom maps - set further to the east than the top - run out on the left, so a gap is there, but is filled again with the map's key before we are done.
Course, you have to take a sneaky peak to see what it will look like when it is done.. But, there's still work to do! No shelves to be seen in there yet - here we go...
Now. This... hurt the head to work out. One of the four shelves was always going to be just a spreader at the top, upside down so it looked good to eye level, to take the cords tied around the unusual front to back hanging rail the wardrobe had. This is what we came up with for the shelves after all other ideas failed. Double lengths of cord lashed around the rail, run to each corner of the spreader shelf, and from there down, so there would be no messing about trying to put things on a top shelf hampered by diagonal cords.
So this all looks a bit Heath Robinson - but I like that. After many different attempts at getting the top spreader shelf high enough, and level enough, with a good deal of grumping on my part (i do like it when things just work how I planned them) and a lot of knot untying and putting up with grumpiness on Duckos part, we got it done. Threading the cord through the holes drilled in each shelf and knotting them never gave a consistantly flat shelf, so, they were looped through, tightened and raised slowly, then tied off. As the spirit level shows - its FLAT bebbeh!
There wasn't going to be enough cord to wrap around each shelf, so one cord wrapped, the other ran straight through before being knotted, then on the next shelf down, the cords swapped, so the one that had gone straight through wrapped around the next, giving enough cord, and keeping the strands the same length. Soon enough, with much congratulation to Ducko - we had three level hanging shelves!
Sad to say, the local DIY store going out of business meant we got some nice handles we could afford. This is also a nice shot of just how rockin the gluing was around the lock on the door. Nope, we don't have a key for it, but it looks good!
Doors screwed back on, looking all nice and shiny white against the rather magical and lucky chinese interior. You can also see the attention to detail of the map covering the side of the door as well as the front. No messin.
In situ, ready for the grand finale.
Yes... the shelves really work!
TADA!!! Only took a few months... and the cost of more than buying a new cheap wardrobe... But, it's unique, with memories built in, and I love it.
