Built-in In-wall iPad Cabinet

Yes, I was one of the crazy people who stood in line at the Apple store for hours the day the iPad was released. I'm a bit of a gadget geek, and I knew my life wouldn't be complete without the "magical" device.

For years I've contemplated the idea of a kitchen computer to control music, look up recipes, surf the web, etc. We already use our iPhones for this purpose, but this would be a dedicated device that would remain in the most trafficked room of our house, the kitchen. Most computers are just to large and obnoxious for the kitchen, especially if you're going for a more clean look. The first time I saw the iPad, I knew that it was the perfect device for the kitchen -- small, sleek and keyboardless. That set of this little project.

The idea came from the built-in cabinet for a telephone you'll find in many older homes. From there, we began sketching and coming up with the right dimensions, including depth to make sure you'd be able to get your hands beside and behind the device to lift it out of its dock.

During the prototype phase, we came up with this:

From iPad Built-In Cabinet

From iPad Built-In Cabinet

From iPad Built-In Cabinet

Once the prototype was complete, we assembled and installed in our kitchen. The fact that we already had the walls torn out made installation all that much easier.

More photos:

From iPad Built-In Cabinet

From iPad Built-In Cabinet

From iPad Built-In Cabinet

We fastened the dock into the cabinet so that it can lift out without also picking up the dock. We did this by using a copper strip that was hand hammered to give it a finished Arts and Crafts look. It was fastened down using some finishing screws.

From iPad Built-In Cabinet

From iPad Built-In Cabinet

The cabinet is built using 100% recycled material and wood scraps. We put the back on a hinge so that the cord can be passed through the back to be plugged in. The back latches closed.

All in all, we're extremely happy with the cabinet and the device. The speakers throughout our house are wirelessly fed using Airport Express devices, so we're able to control our music library, and the rooms the speakers are turned on in all from the iPad. I highly recommend the Epicurious application for recipes. The device also acts as a great in-wall picture frame to feature family photos.

Mastering the Art of French Doors

To continue with the door theme, we recently installed a set of french doors in the kitchen. This particular set replaces one of the windows on the South wall of our kitchen. The doors open out onto the future home of our outdoor kitchen dining area, which is a project for a different day.

The removed window is being kept to be installed on the North wall of our library. At one time there was a window in there, but somebody removed it. I have no idea why someone would take time out of their day to remove windows, but obviously somebody had way to much time on their hands.

The project in pictures:

From The Making of a Craftsman Home

From The Making of a Craftsman Home

From The Making of a Craftsman Home

From The Making of a Craftsman Home

From The Making of a Craftsman Home

The paint will be stripped off the inside of the door and stained, and the outside will be painted. The outside of the house will be trimmed around the door to match the rest of the trim, and the cedar siding will be repaired.

Mulching

I'm not a fan of mulching, but it's pretty much a requirement here unless you want to fight weeds the rest of your life. I've been collecting cardboard boxes all winter to complete this job. First, I break down the boxes and lay them on the ground, and then I cover them with the bark mulch. The combination is a really good mulch and weed suppressant.

I added a new section called Landscape under the Features section in the left-hand navigation. This area contains a photo gallery of landscape photos taken during the 2010 season.

Happy spring/almost summer everyone.

From 2010 Landscape

From 2010 Landscape

From 2010 Landscape

Follow up: Kitchen coat and shoe cabinet

We're slowly making progress on the kitchen coat and shoe cabinet that we posted about earlier. We're trying to finish one corner of the kitchen and work our way around the room until the entire project is complete. At this rate hopefully we'll be done by the year 2525. Nonetheless, we've picked the corner by the back door and laundry room to focus on. Here is a picture of the bottom portion of the cabinet. It contains two shelves for shoes and four drawers for keys, hats, gloves, etc.

From Kitchen Coat and Shoe Cabinet

Little One insisted on being in the picture. He's been a tremendous help on this project. If it wasn't for him insisting on being at your feet or exactly where you need to stand or sit at all times, then we probably wouldn't have been able to finish this project.

The cat litter is in the laundry room, so we cut a whole in the side above the bottom shelf to allow the cats to be able to enter and exit. Both cats seem to have the hang of things already. Whew.

From Kitchen Coat and Shoe Cabinet

Next up is to build the top cabinet which is just one open box with coat hooks in it.

The door of perception is now wide open

It's been awhile since I posted a blog entry. We've been working on a couple of good size projects. Spring this year in Seattle/Tacoma has been unusually cold, rainy and cloudy. Yes, these are all things this area are known for, but it's normally not this bad. We've managed to dart outside between rain storms to finish up a few things.

New Back Door

This has been on our list since we moved in, and it's nearly done. We had a solid plate metal door (think dark and ugly), which we replaced with a nice nine square craftsman style door that matches our french doors and our front door (and actually seals). This door, like most everything else in our house, was purchased from Second Use as salvaged material.

Old Door after being removed:

From The Making of a Craftsman Home

New door after being installed:

From The Making of a Craftsman Home

One small victory for doorkind. If the rain ever stops (please tell me it will), then we'll be able to paint and finish up this project.