We began designing based on a small baker's rack I'd bought at a yard sale (not shown). It had an unusually tall cabinet so you didn't have to bend over to chop or knead like on most countertops. It had a bookcase on top for storage. We decided to add a door to the bookcase, with shelves both inside and out the door, and double the width.
We also decided to build it similarly to the pantry Steve had previously built for me, mostly out of 2x4 and plywood, with 2x2 shelf supports. The new cabinet is built with a similar design and at the same height and width as the pantry.
Note how neat and organized the pantry is when Alex and Joey are not helping me reorganize it. ;)
This is the outside of the cabinet.
I find the pattern-matching Steve did with the wood grain gorgeous.
The wood is simply finished with linseed oil for now. Later, I want to paint some parts of it barn red and green.
Note how *huge* the cabinet is in comparison to the refrigerator and washer!
Steve built it in two pieces to make it easier to move. The two pieces are attached by bolting them to 2x4 in the back. Even so, the top is much easier to move if you first remove the doors and the bottom is almost too heavy to move unless you remove the countertop.
We built the cabinet with hardware Steve had picked up at an auction - the door handles and hinges all match and we have probably a hundred more of them.
The top has three sets of shelves, the shelves in the main "bookcase", shelves inside the door and shelves outside the door.
This is a close-up of the top outside shelf.
I keep the most-often used items on the bottom two outside shelves. The top outside shelf is for my collection of flavored syrups, which are slightly too tall to fit inside.
This is a view with the top of the cabinet opened.
You can see it holds a LOT of stuff! Those jars on the "bookcase" shelves are half gallon jars!
On the right, there are 3 inside door shelves. On the left, there are only two shelves with a bungee cord attached above. This allows me to store tall items such as freezer paper and long aluminum foil.
This is a close-up of the inside door shelf with the bungee cord above it.
The countertop is covered with a material I found. It is basically tablecloth type material with a vinyl top and cloth bottom. Because I have had cats tear up this type of tablecloth in the past, we added a thick piece of vinyl over it. I loved the look so much that I bought more material and more vinyl to cover the table next to the cabinet (which I use as a counter) and our main kitchen table.
I really like several manual cutting tools that I own, but always have problems with the suction feet not sticking and the tool moving as I use it. Steve built the countertop with a hole in the side and attached my food processor to a metal rod via a piece of wood. This holds sturdily, but slips out to allow other tools to fit in the same manner.
This shows a close-up of my favorite cutting tool with one of it's attachments - ready to slice!
This is a close-up of the butcher block built in to the countertop.
Years ago, I bought a crappy metal cabinet at an auction for a buck. When it ceased being useful, I insisted we save the butcher block top as I knew that stuff was valuable, even though it looked like crap.
Steve designed the countertop so the butcher block would fit and I sanded for HOURS upon HOURS, even though it was a motorized sander, to make it pretty again. It's finished with two coats of linseed oil.
Linseed oil is just about the coolest stuff for finishing wood. You rub it on, leave it ten minutes, and buff it off. Easiest finishing I've ever seen. It doesn't really color the wood, it darkens it slightly and brings out the contrast. A very easy, natural finish.
This is a view with both the top and bottom of the cabinet open.
The shelves in the bottom are incredibly deep; all my pots and pans fit in on the left side easily (including 3 canners!)
On the right, I have a bunch of candy jars with scoops for stuff like flours. Items I use less often are stored behind the jars.
The closed drawer is my miscellaneous drawer for storing random stuff: light bulbs, tools, batteries and various kitchen tools that don't fit elsewhere. It is a HUGE, deep oversized drawer.
This is a close-up of one of the bottom shelves.
We lined the bottom shelves with white contact paper to protect the wood.