Craigslist and IKEA own my life

Hey internet!

I haven't posted for a while.  Partly because work, weather, and friends (it turns out I still have some of those, even after 3 months of serious hermitage) have distracted me a bit from making progress on the house, and partially because the things I have been working on are slow and fiddly, and not as spectacular as tearing down a wall.

So number 1:  the living room is (mostly) furnished!

Here is a pic of the new (antique) couch I got for $80:

Here is a pic of the antique wardrobe ($40) I got to conceal My stereo system:

Here is a pic of the interior.  The crap plywood shelves came with it.  I will be replacing them in the near future, and probably getting rid of the also-crap shelf supports,  thinking I might put in a peg system.

Second:  The Kitchen!

The Great IKEA Cabinet Clearance is long since underway, and here is what I have managed to procure so far:  Two 88 x 24 x 24 pantry cabinets, an 18 x 36 x 22 over-the fridge, and a 24 x 36 x 22 over the fridge, and a bunch of doors and hinges, and a large white melamine side panel, which will double as a very classy dry-erase board.

Here is a dry fit of one pantry cabinet and the 24 tall over the fridge, with the melamine panel.  

So, there are a couple issues:  1) melamine sticks out too far.  2) floor is not square to wall, so melamine either has a gap at the top or at the front.  3) The second pantry cabinet doesn't fit. 4) the 24 inch cabinet is sandwiched b/w the fridge and the beam so tightly that doors can not be installed.  

So, I swapped out to the 18 inch cabinet, installed a 2x4 anchored to the studs (and the beam) to support the cabinets, and connected it all together.  Here is where I am so far:  

I think it is clear from the pic that a second 24 inch wide pantry cabinet is not fitting, unless I am willing to give up the window, which I am not.  So I am going to cut the second cab down to 16 inches wide.  To do this, I will need a table saw, some forstner bits, a drill press, some dowel centers, a drill guide, and a fair amount of precision.  Maybe a bit of luck, too, because I have never made anything this precisely before, and I only get one shot at any of it.  Saving all that for the next post. 

Also, I did some plumbing.  Installing icemaker water lines is soooo easy!  You clamp a saddle valve to a cold water supply line, and run a hose to the fridge. The valve literally pierces the side of a copper pipe, and just works thereafter.  I leave you with this: