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.

Kitchen coat and shoe built-in

The space between our laundry room door (stained) and the backdoor (painted red temporarily) is to become a set of shoe storage shelves, a bank of drawers for coat and glove storage, and an open coat cubby with hooks to hang coats, sweaters, etc. We've constantly got coats all over the house and piles of shoes by each door. This built-in should serve a much needed purpose. In addition, the lower shoe shelf will also feature a small opening larger enough for the cats to access their litter box in the laundry room. This project is one on a long list necessary to finish our kitchen remodel.

To construct the cabinet, we used mostly vertical grain fir that's was salvaged from an old school cabinet (minus the drawers which are face grain. We're using drawers salvaged from another piece of furniture. The cabinet is made up of two pieces - the first being the base with the shoe selves and drawers, and second is the upper coat storage cubby.

All of the salvaged lumber has been sanded of it's original finish and cut to size. Next up so to start staining so that the cabinet can be put together.

Check back here for updated photos as the projects progresses.