Momplex

Easiest Drawers

Hello DIY Friends!!!

I'm so excited to share with you a little sneak peek of the kitchen we are working on!

Everything BUT the kitchen sink (and appliances) is DIY!!!  

We've made some major progress lately, and I'l be sharing how we did those projects with you shortly.

Today, I want to share with you (just in case you missed it the first time around) my favorite way to do drawers for kitchens. 

Favorite because

Read More

How to Build Stairs

We are getting to the good part. With snow threatening to stick, and noticeably less light each day, winter is fast approaching up at the Momplex. We have been blessed with a beautiful fall (THANK YOU for your thoughts and prayers for good weather!), and are still optimistic about getting a roof on the Momplex and being able to work inside over the winter. I am so desperate to work inside the Momplex because these are the projects that I love. I already have the kitchen cabinets made i

Read More

Building Base Cabinets

Seven sheets of PureBond plywood and $200 in popular boards.

Yep, that's what it took to take this blank space ....

And turn it into this:

Well, at least to build all those cabinets!

I'd love to know how to make a dishwasher out of plywood, but I'm going to stick to cabinets for now.

The Ram and I spent about a week building the cabinets, and honestly, the building was the easy part.  Once we got all th

Read More

Window Jamb Extensions

Remember when we built these guys?

And then we stacked foam blocks around them?

 

And then poured concrete in the foam blocks around the boxes?

And then hung windows on the outsides of the boxes?

Well, today's the day that we are going to start finishing out the inside of the windows!

Read More

Deck Foundations

You all are just awesome. I feel especially thankful and appreciative today because I won't be calling these sono tubes "sauna tubes" today (thank you!) and because you have helped us solve the Great Gable Debate! Thank you all for you so very helpful comments, you have shown us solutions that we would never have even considered! It has taken us longer than we thought to put siding up on the Momplex, and although we are feeling confident about getting the Momplex completely sealed befor

Read More

Deck Stair Building How-To

Yeah, we really need to build some stairs, don't we?

Every time I've ever tackled stairs in the past, it's been quite a bit of figuring.  

Well, go figure (pun not intended), someone comes up with a stair building app.  I've lost my purpose in life.  

Just fill in the blanks, like how tall the overall rise is, what your tread thickness is, how deep your treads will be ..

And out comes your stringer pa

Read More

Foundations for the Little Roofs

When we poured the slab for the Momplex, we saw an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. Or more appropriately, build two roof support foundation systems with one concrete slab pour.

Read More

Hanging Kitchen Cabinet Doors with Concealed Euro Hinges - Momplex Vanilla Kitchen

With the doors painted, it's time to take this -

And turn it into this -

Pretty crazy how just installing doors over cabinets can do that, isn't it?

The doors we ordered are measured for full overlay, and will require a Euro Style Concealed Hinge, 1-1/4" (sometimes referred to as Full Overlay), Face Frame.  

Full Overlay means the doors pretty much cover the entire cabinet - there's a 1/2" gap between all doors and

Read More

What Next?

I've been dreading writing this post. This is not easy.I hope you understand that we are real people, working with real limitations on a budget, and there is no midnight crew making things happen magically. It's just us, one family, trying to build two houses in one for our Moms. We have been waiting and waiting for a break in the weather to put the roof on the Momplex. The trusses are sitting there, ready to shed snow, if we could just get a week of no snow, no wind, and decent temperatu

Read More

Finishing the Little Roofs

This project ... building these little roofs over the Momplex front doors ... it only took a day or so. But I think I'm dragging it out into three posts because I loved working on it so much. Wood is definitely my favorite material to work with, and I love revisiting this building project.

Read More

Blank Slate Bathroom

Well, it might have taken us a few months longer than we'd have liked (decks, flooring, and trim got in the way), but we are finally taking you up on your suggestion to focus first on finishing out this room,

Read More

Painting the Face Frames

So let's just say you got a team of two building a kitchen, and one hates painting and the other can't paint.

Well, it's not that I couldn't paint.  They say occassional painting in a well ventilated area is fine for pregnant women.  

But up here in Alaska, in the cold winter months, working inside a poured in place concrete building, with no ventilation, where your full time job is to build and paint or stain furniture, it's not occassional and it's not well vent

Read More