| What better place to display your work than everyone's favorite room in the house? The kitchen is the heart and soul of a modern house and the inspiration for these 17 projects. Each project is designed to enhance cooking enjoyment, make entertaining easier, provide more storage options—even simplify cleanup chores.
With basic woodworking tools and a few free hours, you'll be able to easily complete many of these projects. And for those with more time, Classic Kitchen Projects offers a number of challenging projects to refine your skills and make your family's kitchen a joy to use. Classic Kitchen Projects includes:
- Serving tray and lazy Susan
- Spice drawer/shelf
- Country pine table
- Spice and tea shelf
- Paper-towel holder and pinching towel rack cutting board and knife rack
From the Introduction
From the earliest open hearths to today's high-tech extravaganzas, the kitchen has always been the domestic center of any house. In fact, in colonial America, the kitchen often wasn't just the center of the house, it was the house: a single large room with a fireplace where people cooked, slept, and ate. Even when separate bedrooms and common rooms were added, the hub of the house remained the hearth, no doubt because it was the warmest room in winter.
The kitchen is still where family and friends are most likely to gather. Modern living rooms often lie empty while the kitchen assumes the role of social gathering place. Everything - from marriage proposals to a child's first steps - is likely to take place in the kitchen, and (oh, yes) it is also where we cook and eat!
The kitchen is a socially complex place to be sure, but it's also a physically complex one. A livable/workable kitchen must be ergonomically sensible, comfortable to work in, and visually pleasing. It's not surprising, then, that we place a great deal of importance on making this space as personally efficient and visually appealing as possible.
Odds are that you are at least somewhat unsatisfied with your kitchen. Regardless of whether it is new or old, you may have found it lacking in some way. I'm not talking about anything major: Perhaps there are a few places that you can't reach comfortable, or there isn't enough counter space or not enough storage. Possibly it needs some organization or just a little dressing up.
This book begins with some ideas on planning and/or choosing the projects you might want to build and why. Advice on scale and proportion is included, in case you have to adjust the size of a project to better fit your kitchen. It also points out other ways to customize your projects (for example, by choosing different woods for different projects) and offers some thoughts on finishing options. There's also a primer on the tools, techniques, and joinery used to build the projects.
The 17 projects presented range from a simple rolling pin to a full-size kitchen island. Many of these projects can be completed in a weekend, allowing you the quick gratification that comes from successfully completing a project. Others will take longer and be more challenging, leading to even greater satisfaction. Regardless of the degree of difficulty, these projects are all attractive and useful and should be interesting and fun to build.
Additionally, these projects are designed for a space that is central to everyone's life - the kitchen - which is arguably the most social and public space in your house. And what better gallery is there for you to display your work?
Table of Contents
Introduction—Chapter 1—Planning a Kitchen; Chapter 2—French Rolling Pin; Chapter 3—Cutting Board and Knife Rack; Chapter 4—Adjustable Shelves; Chapter 5—Wine Rack; Chapter 6—Spice and Tea Shelf; Chapter 7—Paper-Towel Holder and Pinching; Chapter 8—Towel Rack; Chapter 9—Dish-Drying Rack; Chapter 10—Serving Tray and Lazy Susan; Chapter 11—Hanging Pot Rack; Chapter 12—Spice Drawer/Shelf; Chapter 13—Folding Step Stool; Chapter 14—Country Pine Table; Chapter 15—Kitchen Island and Stool; Metric Conversion Chart; Resources; Index. |
