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I bought an Armoire a few months back on Craigslist for $75. I loved the color and lines on it.

DH brought it home, and we waited while we worked on the pantry area we are remodeling. I put the Armoire in a corner in the dining area till we were ready.

Once the pantry remodel got to the point when the refrigerator could be moved, then that empty space could have this Armoire there. We divided our storage (as I used to have it in our Virginia house) where food and baking were separated in different storage areas.

This Armoire is for storage of ALL that is needed in baking and cooking supplies right near the stove area.

When I took this photo this morning, the trays had not had screw holes plugged and polyurethane applied. DH did that work today, then put them back in and even cut the liners for each drawer, they are ready to be packed with my baking goods!

BEST of all... I WILL be able to FIND stuff!

Chalkboard paint and cork-board is going to be applied to the interior door sections for making up shopping lists and recipes we are planning to try.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Mary Ruth,

The photos above of the Armoire do not show it installed yet. It is not straight on the wall. More work has to be done and it will be attached to the wall as a permanent installation.

The bottom shows a dark area behind the legs ,this is actually a kick board placed back about 3" and painted black. This is so if something is dropped and rolls under the unit, it will be reachable.

I am not sure what I will put on top (thinking of a box made to hold my cookbooks) but that top has a finished cover that goes to the top of the crown molding so it easier to put things up there.

There will be scribe molding against the wall on the side and at back for this Armoire.

The tile floor is going to be removed and new tile placed then we will set the cabinet.

I am excited about my mixing bowls and large pyrex measuring cups going in the bottom drawer! I have problems digging them out and then separating them from other nested bowls when I need one, do you realize how heavy those are? LOL

I guess I am really making a Universal design, or Accessible design to personalize my kitchen to make it easier for me to use.

Due to my injuries and surgeries I received from my infamous fall 4 yrs ago, my limited lifting and arm/shoulder abilities have been greatly reduced. I get exhausted just putting together supplies and tools to bake with.

This Armoire will make it easy for me to take out what I need and to keep the kitchen tidy! I get things ready and then go do something else, then return to the kitchen.

I need to vary my tasks so as to not stress one area of my body too much, otherwise I can't finish the project. I am so lucky to have a husband who can do this for me, customize our kitchen for both of us to use!

I am in PULL OUT TRAY HEAVEN! Each cabinet in the kitchen will be customized for ease of use and finding things. Aren't I a lucky gal?

I just checked this thread and noticed I didn't mention that I plan on making a small design on the pull out tray fronts to make it special when I open the doors (can leave them open while I get supplies out for what I am going to bake)

One thought I had is to paint an oval in the center of each drawer and make it a chalk board for labeling what is inside that tray.

Any suggestions or inspirational photos would be grateful! Thanks!

Things do not move fast around here, so the projects take a long time. We now have to take a break for my Cataract surgeries (not a big deal these days with new methods)

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Mary Ruth,

What a great project MR. I love that armoire. Your kitchen is going to be so beautiful and efficient. We are both fortunate to have men that can do all of this work too. You are moving right along with the kitchen. As you know, that is the biggest project so once that is done, the rest will be play time.

Your project is coming along beautifully. I look forward to future posts.

That is a great reuse of furniture!

(Hey, not all of us need men to complete diy projects, Victorian Girl.) I love my power tools! LOL!

I built pull out shelves similar in two kitchen cabinets, and a pantry space. It is so satisfying to create storage that is usable!

Genius!!!

Thanks VG! I am like a kid on Christmas morning playing with my toys! LOL Will show progress photos but will take time since us old fogies have to move slowly to allow time for LIFE in between!

Gracie, Thanks!

conrad,
I USED to have my own power tools and actually USE them, but since I have recently become disabled I can't help DH as much with the projects. So, I make sure DH gets his favorite foods, takes breaks, and I help him with supplies and the caulking and painting that needs to be done. I don't want to wear him out so I let him work when he is in the mood to after all he does have a full time job.

This is our retirement house, so the effort should last us for the rest of our life as long as we are in this house. That is why we are customizing it for us and my abilities in the future to work in the kitchen and to continue to be productive. And he LOVES to cook and experiment with foods, I LOVE to bake! So this is becoming a kitchen that will cater to both!

aychihuahua,
I figured the cost of materials, and to get this Armoire saved us some money in construction and I didn't want just another cabinet in that corner. This wall can be seen from the dining area and the Den so I wanted to bring the 'furniture' feel' as something different in the kitchen. This will be the backdrop for our butcher block island! Can't wait to get to that part!

Did I mention that the pull out trays are 16" front to back depth (pull out tray interior useable space)and 30" wide!!! Loving it! Solid construction with full extension glides too. I did the custom spacing to hold what is going in the drawers, that is why there are different heights in between. For example, my spices do not need much height so the space to the next pull out on top is less. I got a label maker and am putting the names of the spices and herbs on the top. I will open the drawer and be able to read the tops! And... I will eventually divide the savory from the sweet types, etc.

I have an herb garden and dry my own herbs so I store larger containers of these, I bought the smaller pint and half pint of mason jars for those. I give away a lot too, I have a line waiting for certain dried herbs... LOL

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Mary Ruth,

Wow! That's amazing!! Great job and I applaud all your work and ingenuity.


My blog and Pinterest:
www.alwaysnesting.blogspot.com
http://pinterest.com/AlwaysNesting/

Thank you! Always Nesting!
More so a requirement since DH does not return items to where their 'home' is, I have had such difficulty in finding things just to make scones or some ingredients!

Since I was in charge of the kitchen in our Virginia house, I knew where everything was! But when I had my infamous fall and had multiple surgeries with long recoveries and therapy in between, he took over the cooking and the kitchen in our apartments after selling the house (then living in apartment in Virginia then transferring to apartment in Florida) until we found our house. In this house, 5 days after we moved in I had Cervical spine surgery with 4 discs fused, so recovery...again was long. Cooking was just FAR from my activity list! DH did all the cooking and housework (not too good I am afraid, but he tried).

Now I am, what I call, 'waking up' to more activity and have been dabbling in cooking again until I can handle more... but couldn't find anything in the tosseled mess of that old pantry with things fallen over and hard to find unless you emptied the shelf first... NOT something I wanted to get into. I missed cooking and baking.

So, DH and I sat down and I gave him my plan and he agreed that we could find things easier and BOTH could use the kitchen and make it FUN!

I did have my own business for remodeling kitchens and did work in that area for some years so I figured all I had to do was make the drawings and proceed to the next step!

attached drawing is the plan for the kitchen, this phase we are doing is phase 2, the pantry (little room to the right of the kitchen) was done first, now we are on the cook's pantry area, NEXT is the stove area.... we are working in phases because then we are not with a kitchen out of commission for long.

We now have two sink stations too! The pantry long 72" stainless sink with two drainboards is great for processing herbs without disturbing the main sink area. I can process the herbs (have to take breaks while working on cleaning and getting herbs in dehydrator) so DH couldn't start dinner or use the main sink, this way, the USE of the main kitchen is not interrupted!

We were going to work on the kitchen before we moved in, but the surgery date came up (I was waiting to hear for many months when I would be fit in with this specialist doctor) and all our plans had to change. Remodeling while living in the house is not easy, but we are working with what happened in our lives and just keep plugging on.

What did we do the second year we lived in the house? (first year surgery, recovery and therapy for me, DH just trying to keep up) and the second year we built two kitchens. One for my daughter and one for my son. All three of us had moved into 'fixer upper' houses! We are not done with their final touches on their kitchens but they are extremely happy to have the storage and shelving PLUS pull out trays for all their stuff!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Mary Ruth,

phase 1 was veggie sink in the pantry area

Across from that sink is the pantry food storage cabinet. The refrigerator was moved to the right of this cabinet

With the kitchen NOT being one continuous wall or have cabinets that meet in any corner, we were able to break it up into phases.

And when we get to the longest wall, the sink wall in the main kitchen, we can shut off that sink and still have pantry sink area to use. That will be our only inconvenience in this remodel.
The sinks did not have individual shut offs, so DH had to redo the plumbing to make it right in the pantry. He is also customizing the electrical as we go.

Picture shows how we chose to clean up the ceiling after tearing down a couple of small walls that made a mess. We will carry this plan into the main kitchen as well, the wood will get a poly coat that is stained to lessen the light/dark variations. The main kitchen will get a coffered ceiling treatment (not a deep style coffer) in the trim color to break it up.

You can see the main kitchen ceiling beyond the pantry, it has a lot of old lighting in it and an old A/C handler closet to take out that will mess up the ceiling. We have recessed lighting to install as well as a pendant or two over the island.

We have a Peninsula to remove in the kitchen to unblock traffic area and put in an island to replace lost counter top workspace from that and to give the cook a chopping and processing space near the stove with access to the main sink as well.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Mary Ruth,

To take clutter OUT of a house, you NEED storage, this house had almost NIL in storage. We are going to change that slowly.

With both these pantry cabinets ready to store things, the clutter is going to greatly lessen in our work space. I swear my kitchen is the busiest room of the house! DH and I are in there a lot processing something or planning recipes and trying new foods and ways to cook them.

I have been finding great recipes on Pinterest to try as well. And we have an almost FULL freezer in the garage to prove all the work we did! LOL
We prepackage home made foods for DH to bring to work for meals too, he looks forward to his lunch breaks and the employees where he works always come to check out what he brought!

Two weeks ago I made my great spaghetti sauce and a few days later a great lasagna! We freeze some since we just can't eat that every day for weeks! LOL I had not made that sauce from scratch in a long time! I was exhausted, BUT the rewards were great! I made Thanksgiving dinner for us, DH wanted the traditional dinner, so I made the whole dinner and cleaned up afterwards, and my reward is the great turkey soup I made stored in the freezer for a few meals with that great soup!

Just found this on Pinterest for storage idea for pots and pans!


DOES this EVEN MAKE SENSE? Yes, if I were a 6' strong chef! But for ordinary people and people how can't lift anything over shoulder height, not to mention the incredible amount of weight a stack of 3 or 4 of these pans weighs!
So many storage ideas photograph well, but are not practical.

That is WHY we had to go with our own CUSTOM plan for storage, and also the next person living in this house, will also be spoiled in pull out and drawer heaven!

What a clever and ingenious idea for the armoire. I love pull out shelves so everything is very visible and accessible. At present I have to reach so far back and then pull stuff out just to find something in my lower shelf's My new condo will have pull outs.
Mary Ruth, a great idea to label each shelf's contents with chalkboard paint. Seeing so many good uses for it these days.
Between your DH's skills as a builder and you as a kitchen designer this is a labor of love with your own special interests at heart. As we age we learn so much about ourselves and what we can and can't do. Am looking forward to seeing your finished kitchen spaces. Good luck with the cataract surgery!

Thank you mamaspoon!
Not just aging but disabilities not expected and of course we NEVER plan on having.

I took care of clients' special needs and paid attention to how they lived in the homes they were building. It was amazing to sit at a table in the planning stages with Architect, floor plans, builder and client and myself (built-ins, storage and kitchens) discussing the process of how the house would be used BEFORE it was built.

I do not have the budgets some of my clients had, but I can FEEL the RICH feeling of having needs met with convenience in my storage.

And sometime next year we can make it pretty and do the final finishing touches.

Mary Ruth, not only do I love your baking needs armoire but I just love reading the threads you start that contain floor plans and schematics (is that right?) It is really a treat to be part of a professional presentation and it makes everything so clear and understandable.

Plus kudos to your DH for making those pull out drawers/trays. I know he is a carpenter/cabinet maker but still my DH says those things are a bi to make! The only question I have is where is the counter space for things you remove from the refrig? Beside the pantry sinks?

I love the sections of your kitchen. It makes it more interesting and commodious too!

LOS,
For the space as to what I remove from the fridge, I have the two (20" wide each)drainboards (almost level) to put things on as I take them out of the fridge. So, there is not a problem as to where to put things! I even put my milk in a small covered pitcher to bring where I make my tea so no traffic to the fridge!

When I get home from shopping, I locate all that goes into the fridge on those drainboards and the rest on the counter in the kitchen. Once the next phase is done by the stove, we will have 30" wide by 30" depth to put things that go into the Armoire baking storage (I never buy that MUCH baking stuff at one time!)

In the old space, I could not open the right side door of the refridgerator enough to clean out the drawers, but where it is now, I can just empty the drawers right on one drainboard and in one sink, then clean out drawer and have plenty of room to do the job right! And cleaning out the fridge, or whatever involves the fridge, does NOT interfere with dinner being made in the main kitchen!

Also, I could not grab a large pan such as the Lasagna size pan with two hands because the door shelves interfered with my shoulders fitting to grab with both hands. That problem is now solved as well.

The BEST part is freeing up the Main Sink area for one person and the other sink for totally different use. That is the true meaning of a TWO-STATION kitchen. WE are LOVING what has been done so far and can't wait to continue this philosophy through out the house! We even each orient towards different bathrooms and places to read.

Peter follows the method I used in kitchen manufacturing in that he routes a dado groove the size of the pull out tray bottom (we used 3/4" material for the pantries) and then on the front and back sides. He then put the pieces together with glue and screwed into place.
The drawer glide goes on the outside of this frame and onto the sides of the Armoire interior. The interior had some 2X4's added to the sides to make the room for the pull out trays to clear the door hinges and to clear the doors even if they are open at 90 degrees only.
The full extension glides allow for 150 lb weight for each pull out tray. That means, heavy bowls and cans will be supported.

Peter is NOT a cabinet maker, he was building houses and also running crews when I met him, I showed him how to follow drawings and that is how he learned. HE NEVER built anything before with carpentry tools himself! He was a Drill Instructor in the Marines before I met him, and thus didn't work much with his hands!
This shows ANYONE can do what we do with drawings and working on one portion at a time!

We perfected the pull out trays for us in the Virginia house Picture attached... I got the way they were constructed from where I worked (custom kitchen and mill-work shop) Peter re-fit this cabinet by taking out the few shelves it had and replacing with pull out trays from left over lumber we had. The new owners emailed me after going for a large shopping spree at Costco and the supermarket! She said she shopped 3 times and STILL couldn't fill those pull out trays!!! LOL

The sections of the kitchen were NOT planned by me... they just happened to be in this 1979 built home, so we adapted to the construction and now customizing for our lifestyle.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Mary Ruth,

In case anyone thought I couldn't possibly FILL this Armoire... here is photo!

I worked on this till about 3 PM and was so tired but so HAPPY too!

It is almost filled! And I emptied from all over the kitchen and emptied the surplus on the dining table! I have to organize each drawer and make the containers unified and labeled but I am almost there!

And the next phase with larger cabinets (from 15" on each side of the stove to 30" each side!) and 6" depth top drawers for utensils will help to loosen the storage to not be crowded.

PHOTO:
There is still a half depth shelf (installed at the back) to install over that top pull out tray.

The pull out trays are full today at least 75% each!
I still have to unify containers for the spices and other goods.
The bottom drawer holds my bowls
second from bottom has utensils (will be able to be organized better after we build the stove cabinet (to the left side) with large utility top drawer.

The middle pull out tray is all spices and herbs. I have some containers not unified and duplicates. This will be remedied soon when I get more spice jars and change out containers.

Under the spice drawer (3rd up from bottom) is my flour and grain pull out. 2nd from the top is our Asian drawer.

I think I will hang my measuring spoons and measuring cups on the sides.

The back of the doors will be cork board and chalk board.

I LOVE MY ARMOIRE CABINET!
And... where it is located, I can leave it open while I put my ingredients together, and then close when finished, will not interfere with traffic or other tasks! And I can SEE what I need before going shopping! I can write it on the chalk board as I find items used up.

Still looking for a design for the front of the pull out trays in case anyone thinks of something!

So far is (mahogany color) stripe around sides and bottom (perhaps top too like a rectangle) on the front of the pull out tray.
An elongated oval in the center with chalk board paint. Then I will use a chalk marker to write what is each drawer. That will make it FUN for me to see something artistic when I am baking!

I could have stained the pull out trays, but I didn't want the whole interior to be so dark. The full back is the same color as the pull out trays so it lightens the interior.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Mary Ruth,

Hi Mary Ruth,

What a clever and creative re-do for the armoire. Great idea to make it custom just for your needs. Love it!

Fun to watch your phase-by-phase kitchen reno.

Just a thought but a sign maker or stamp shop could print decals for the individual trays. You can choose the color/font.

Beau's Rose,
Thanks for the idea of the help on the signs!

I just thought if I changed things around, the markers that look like chalk can be cleaned with ammonia and then rewritten.

Thanks for leaving a reply.

As you can tell, this is a project I am very excited about!
In Design it is "Form follows function"
And this is definitely the function!

Mary Ann, your kitchen and pantry area is wonderful. I appreciate the kitchen layout you posted. Sometimes pictures just can't show the overall project. Great use for an old armoire. Personally you have made much better use of it than housing a TV!

Thanks Georgia Peach.
I know you meant Mary Ruth.
Thanks for your comment!

quote:

Originally posted by Mary Ruth:
Thanks Georgia Peach.
I know you meant Mary Ruth.
Thanks for your comment!

Sorry Mary Ruth. I've been following your updates on your kitchen/pantry redo from Day 1 when you posted your utility sink pic! Thanks for sharing your expertise with all of us. Not too many questions to ask because you are so detail oriented so I just read

I know what a PAIN I am with details! But that paid my salary for many years! I saved money for the companies I worked for by noting all details and measurements ahead of construction.

DH uses a level at every phase of what he does and measures more than twice, because my eye can still pick up a few millimeters off! LOL (and you know how men hate that when a woman does that!)

Attention to detail is what makes for a successful project in the construction industry and a lot fewer headaches I'm posting a picture for you just in case you are still trying to find ideas for the inside of your cabinet doors.

Georgia Peach!
Thanks for that great inspirational photo!
I plan on using the cork so I can pin the latest recipe I want to try and any shopping notes.

I want to do chalk board paint too. I do like the idea of hanging my measuring spoons and cups. I need a new measuring cup set, so I will get the type that are nested and I can hang. There is a some space on each side of the interior just above the top pull out tray and I might put a hook up on either side for this purpose.

I have always loved those cans that are magnetized that you can see through the lid. I have a whole drawer for spices and herbs and have 30 jars, going to World Market to get another package for a few more jars and I should be done! I will organize each drawer with dividers and containers to hold things. I picked up a few gravy package type filing plastic containers that are in the top pull out tray.

My baking gadgets drawer (second up from bottom pull outs) is the worst that needs organizing. But when we build more drawers in the next cabinets some of those tools will be moved. I will wait till then and add dividers and caddies to hold the stuff.

I already lined the drawers so there is a cushion under everything and placed new dishcloths folded in between each bowl.

Thanks for thinking of me and posting that great photo!

What a clever idea! That armoire is beautiful and functional.

Thanks Whitdobe... Nancy!
I baked a few good foods yesterday and so ENJOYED my 'ease' of finding things!

I had not been in the kitchen for more than just fetching yogurt and quick foods out of the fridge for about 4 yrs! I did try and cook a few times, but DH had to help with pots and pans and clean up. (due to recently acquired disabilities) BUT, the last surgery plus therapy and more healing process and I can do more...

So, that is what is fueling my kitchen REVIVAL! And gaining access to ingredients quickly makes me feel like 'I AM BACK'!!!


So this Armoire is an outward display of the changes inside me!!! Happy changes!