We are slowly remodeling our kitchen bit-by-bit. Our house is less than 1000 sq. ft. so storage space is at a premium. We keep five gallons of emergency drinking water (for when the power goes out during tornadoes or ice storms) in an Igloo cooler that sits in our kitchen at all times. I wanted an attractive stand to put the cooler on and thought a smaller version of the Laundry Basket Dresser would work well with the plastic tubs I use to store juice pouches and bottles of gatorade that I buy in bulk. (Please ignore my yucky floor in the pictures. We won't be replacing the 23 year old vinyl flooring until the rest of the remodeling is done.)
I built this stand using scraps of OSB from building goat houses for our goat herd so the wood was basically free. I wouldn't use 1/2" OSB again, though, because it split so easily even though I drilled pilot holes for all my screws. I also wasn't real thrilled that there is no way to sand it smooth. I did the best I could and hoped the primer would smooth it out some more. It didn't, but my husband says he really likes the texture of the hammered metal paint on the shelves and top mixed with the texture of the OSB because it looks really distressed.
I plan to buy some wheels to put on it so it will eventually be countertop height and I want to be able to move it around if needed. I also will be sewing a cover for the cooler so it matches my kitchen decor and looks a little spiffier than the dinged-up former soccer team beverage carrier that it has been in the past.
The biggest challenge of this project was keeping everything square while screwing the pieces together. I kept a framing square with me throughout the entire assembly.
My next project is going to be building a hutch using a variation on the plans for Grace's Bookcases.
(Updated pictures to show the cover I sewed for the water cooler and the added wheels.)
I primed and painted all the pieces before assembling them to make it easier. The parts that were going on the inside got 2 coats of paint over the two coats of primer before assembly. The parts that were going to be on the outside only got one coat of paint over the 2 coats of primer before assembly. Then after I screwed it all together the sides where the screws went into got the final coat of paint to cover the screws, too.
I didn't paint over the screws on the top because they sort of match the hammered metal finish and I didn't want to have to spray paint just the top while trying to not get silver paint on the black sides.