Bathroom Cabinets

As long as were planning the kitchen cabinets, we thought it would be a good idea to do the bathroom cabinets at the same time. We chose to use hickory because of its resilience, prominent grain patterns and color variation. The random streaks and burls provide an interesting texture and provide colors ranging from almost white to dark brown. These colors fit nicely with the browns of the bathroom as well as with our yellow kitchen.

Next, in both the bathroom and in the kitchen, we need to choose the countertop materials.

Kitchen Cabinets

Our cabinets made the big trip from Cache Valley to Torrey on Presidents Day, courtesy of Mel Olsen, long-time Logan neighbor, friend and owner of Baker’s Cabinets.

We had met with Mel prior to our drive to Torrey in order to touch bases and to make certain we would have everything in place when he and his assistant, Paul Meyers, arrived. During that meeting, Mel said he would be there between 9:30 and 10:00 AM. I doubted he would really be in Torrey that early since that would necessitate a 4:30 AM departure from Logan. But, when I looked out the window that morning and saw him pulling in even earlier than planned, I was thrilled. In less than three hours, Mel and Paul had everything installed in the kitchen.

Paul standing in the midst of all of the cabinet

Paul working in the kitchen while Mel works in the bathroom

Paul is almost finished

Mel puts the handles and knobs on the doors and drawers

Finished

Paul, Mel and their handiwork

Before I had time to really appreciate the beautiful work, they were back on the road headed north.

Cabinet Nailers

In conventional construction, there are plenty of ways to attach cabinetry and other necessary fixtures to walls. Those ways are called two-by-fours which are used to build the frame of the house. In our straw bale house, there are no two-by-fours. So how do you connect cabinets to walls when the only material available is straw covered with plaster? The answer is “nailers.”

Before plastering the kitchen wall, Scott inserted nailers along the south wall at the height required by our cabinet maker.

Scott began by using the chain saw to cut notches in the bale wall at the specified height.

He then made large (8-inch by 5-inch) triangular spikes out of plywood and screwed short lengths of two-by-fours to each spike. This is the “nailer" which Scott forced into its chain saw notch.

In order to secure each nailer in place, Scott screwed it into the nearest bamboo pole.

Before plastering over the nailers, we made a photo record of their location and height. We now have a very sturdy support system for our soon-to-be-completed (fingers crossed) cabinets.