Built in cupboard made from salvaged and repurposed pallet wood

Built in cupboard made from salvaged and re-purposed pallet wood - a project overview

Final in use...

As part of a bathroom renovation project conducted and managed by SD Projects and Interiors.  The customer requested that an existing walk through cupboard/entrance from the bedroom to bathroom is closed off.

Two separate cupboard spaces to be created from the subdivided space.
i.)  For the bedroom side; a standard bedroom cupboard with layout for hanging area and shelves.
 and;
ii.)  For the bathroom side; a custom made cupboard manufactured from re-purposed wood. (the customer commissioned Salvage Kul.char to design and make this cupboard)

This project was not only exciting it was fantastically challenging in terms of the obstacles presented by the space allocated for the cupboard. Which in turn just made it more exciting.. See initial post here, and the "before" and "after" images below.

Before

After

The salvaged and re-purposed pallet wood build in cupboard project - overview through photos below

The customer brief for the bathroom built in cupboard

1. Use salvaged and re-purposed wood
2. Completely enclose the side wall, back wall and other areas with wood
3. Create shelving space in the upper section of the cupboard 
4. A laundry basket unit in the lower bottom area of the cupboard - front opening door and internal space used as laundry basket
5. A white wash / stained finish to complement the shade of the new tiles
6. Frame around cupboard area and a matching mirror and frame for the wall area above the wash basin.

List of materials used:

1. Salvaged pallets
2. White wash Stain (self mixed colour combination)
3. Water based Matt sealer
4. Wood Glue
5. Hinges
6. Screws
7. Design for door and acrylic paint
8. Shelf brackets
9. Sponge brushes
10. Patience
11. Red Bull
12. Savvy

Power and hand tools used:

1. Belt sander
2. Jigsaw
3. Clamping brackets for lamination process
4. Hammer
5. Hand Planer
6. Drill

Project steps:

a)  The pallets were stripped. Planks best suited for the project then selected.
b)  A lamination process of individual planks, in line with the size requirements of each sectional piece of the cupboard, was undertaken.
The sectional components that made up the cupboard;

• 4 x long rectangular sections for the side walls (350mm x 850mm)
• 3 x medium rectangular sections for the shelves (350mm x 740mm)
• 2 x medium but broad rectangular sections for the ceiling and floor  (400mm x 740mm)
• 1 x almost square section for the door (600mm x 740mm)
• 1 x rectangular section for the back (1900mm x 1100mm)

c)  After the components were laminated, each one was cut to size and planed to ensure a consistent thickness across all sectional pieces.  Following this pieces were sanded to achieve a smooth finish.

 d)  The next step was a white wash staining process.  To complement the tiles, a french white option with darker lines was selected. 

Staining pallet plank components w.i.p

Adding darker lines

Blending

Final

Final close up

e)  The stained components were left to dry overnight. The design was then hand-painted onto the door using acrylic paint. All the components were sealed with a water based Matt sealer
f)  The cupboard was installed on site, in an existing space (door and frame), the "before" pics below shows the space allocated for the built in cupboard.
The first step was to install the back section to subdivide the area.  The wall panels were screwed into place.  This was followed by the floor board and door and then the shelves and ceiling board.

Several measuring, cutting and component adjustment took place on site.

Before:  View of the door space that had to be divided directly behind the door frame and then turned into a built in bathroom cupboard. The white double door in the pic is the existing bedroom cupboard door

Closer view showing the door frame and the existing bedroom cupboard

g.) Once the cupboard was in place all that remained to do was the frame around the perimeter.

Cupboard installed - one step away from finished

Door with design

Shelf view

h.)  SD Projects and Interiors finalised the remainder of the bathroom renovation and also hanged the mirror supplied by Salvage Kul.char.

Final product

View of cupboard and matching mirror

Final product - the door at the bottom opens to a space that serves as laundry basket

Always a pleasure working with Sapphire Dawn trading as SD Projects and Interiors