From Scratch: A DIY Beer Fridge Cupboard
Next on my list of DIY projects to embark upon was an enclosure for my mini fridge. A.k.a. the beer fridge. A.k.a. the most important fridge in the house. Respect it. What with my epic make-your-own-bar project complete, I felt like this typical white mini fridge from my student days was a bit of an eyesore in an otherwise decent environment. New fridges are ridiculously expensive, and I’ve been enjoying the furniture game so far, so off I went up to dad’s shop.
Note: Please ignore the 1980′s “faux” hardwood slat floor. My shame keeps me up at night. Also there should be a plant in that red pot but I killed it. Slowly and deliberately.
Dimensions
- 39 inches tall
- 26 inches wide
- 24.5 inches deep
Supplies
- Enough solid knotted pine to crush a man
- Some plywood backing (but the decent stuff, not the particle board)
- Hardware: Screws, finishing nails, hinges, handle, rubber floor scratch safety pegs
- Wood glue
- Dark walnut oil-based wood stain
- Polyurethane finish (designed for oil-based stain)
- Dark brown porch paint (durable finish)
- Total cost: roughly $160, BUT my dad was kind enough to give me the wood, so more like $80.
Kicking it off
The first step was to put together a frame using 2×2″ boards, which was measured to give my fridge about 3 inches of space on all sides. This was pieced together using screws and wood glue, and was slightly offset to prevent the screws from intersecting. Next, the table saw, skill saw, and jigsaw were cranked up and most other pieces were cut to scale, beginning with the plywood back and sides (best grain facing out). The solid pine slats for the door and top were all cut to the right length, but also to an even width to make up the designed total width rather than have one thinner than the others.
The sides went on first, always with a combination of wood glue and screws. The top went on second, with wood glue and finishing screws this time as to not mar the surface. Lastly, the door was pieced together with supports on the back added on to hold the weight of the door (pine is heavy) by pushing the tension down onto the bottom hinge using a diagonal cross-beam. Four 2 inch holes were drilled in both the top and the bottom of the back (8 in total) to provide circulation as well as a space for the plug of the fridge to snake out the back. Once all was assembled, the whole thing was transported back my apartment in Waterloo.
I Staind this thing like a band from the 90′s
This part wasn’t nearly as tedious as I thought it would be… Although large for a cupboard or end table, this thing is still fairly small and a full coat went on within 20 minutes. I did about five coats in total… I would have probably done less, but the light part of the grain on the sides refused to darken for the first several coats. I repeated this process on the door as well, still keeping it separate from the base unit until the end. Somewhere in here I painted the inside with dark brown paint that I still had left over from the bar and dresser project. I was almost out of stain and didn’t want to risk wasting any on the inside (or having to buy more), so I used the leftover paint that I already had from these past projects. After the stain dried, which took forever (over 24 hours to get dry to the touch), I wrapped it up by adding a coat of polyurethane for a bit of a glossy finish (and for protection of the top in particular).
The last piece of the puzzle was to put on the door, using special non-mortise hinges that cause very little gap. Basically they’re nested, as well as thin (see the pic below). It was a little tricky to mount the door, since the supports holding the pine boards together on the back of the door itself were cut very closely so that the door would nest into the front of the cupboard. Some shims under the bottom of the door and careful measuring of hinge placement helped accomplish this, and thankfully it fit in on my first try.
Last up was to attach the handle, which also took some careful measuring as even a very slightly tilted handle is for some reason very easy to spot even from far away (I’ve learned this the hard way). I went with a very long stainless steel modern piece at the suggestion of @kimkoserski, although it was one of the more expensive standalone pieces at $15 from Home Depot. If I was a patient man I would have ordered one online for a third of the price. Once the handle was on the door all was tested and everything seemed to fit well. In fact, it’s so close that when the door is closed it actually contacts the top overhang a bit, conveniently holding it shut while not causing too much friction when opening/closing.
Finally, a finished product! We put the fridge in and it fit like a glove. Although it’s not the most gorgeous and sensible piece of furniture that I’ve made (it seems a little awkwardly big for an end table but too small to obviously be a fridge), it’s a hell of a lot better than a plain white mini fridge… and at the very least I can be proud that it was the first project completed entirely from basic materials rather than a restoration.
Who’s up for a beer?
Building my dream media center
Alright so six months ago I rented a new two-bedroom apartment to call my home, started work at RIM, and life was good. What was missing? A BADASS MEDIA CENTER. I’ve wanted to really step it up in this area for a long time, but lacked the funds and had shared living arrangements. But now… now it was time. Come with me on this journey.
First step: A massive fucking television
This one sort of dropped into my lap. Not literally – a friend was getting rid of his and I offered to buy it from him, mostly just to take the opportunity to drive his $70,000 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution across town. I ended up with a 42″ LCD HD tv for a few hundred bucks; probably the best deal I’ve ever gotten in my life. I’ve mostly just watched TV and movies on my computer, so this was a big step and quite exciting. I didn’t even know what to do with it.
Side note: I don’t believe in paid television programming
I made this decision a while back… I hate being exposed to countless advertisements and reality TV shows. Yes, I know that some reality shows are good, but that’s the problem – I’d definitely get hooked on a few and then just end up being one of these guys that comes home from work and sits on the couch all night. Okay I still basically do that most of the time but I don’t know, it’s a principle I was raised with and it stuck. So, just so you’re aware, none of this will include bringing cable or satellite into the mix. BUT, it is totally workable with this system and it is primed and ready for a signal.
Second step: The engine
It’s important to have friends in life. Good friends. Good friends that you can exploit into giving you free stuff, or fixing your free shit after they’ve given it to you. I’ve got another old friend who works in IT at an insurance company (love you buddy), so I threw out the question… “Any machines laying around?” Long story short I ended up with an old Dell desktop (old but definitely workable). All I needed to do was buy a new video card that could output 1080p resolution – it was about $40 at the local computer store. The desktop isn’t actually that bad, and is perfect for a media center. It’s got an okay processor, 2GB of RAM, and a 50GB hard drive (don’t worry, I’ll address media storage later).
Edit: I ended up getting my mom’s old computer, which used to be my old computer, and pulling out a TV tuner card (PCI slot) that I transferred over. For the non-techies, this allows you to plug a co-ax cable into the back and watch your paid cable programming on the TV – the program guide, everything. Even better, the tuner card came with a remote control.
For peripherals, I jumped onto tigerdirect.ca and grabbed a long-range (30 feet) wireless keyboard and mouse with extended battery life. I keep this under the coffee table and pull it out when I use the media PC. Or, I can just use the remote control for the TV tuner for limited functionality.
Okay, we’re done with the hardware
At this point I have a working TV/computer that I can use to store media files, stream Netflix (which I love… $7 a month well spent), or watch TV if I had a cable subscription. Bonus, it has a full operating system so if I want to watch a YouTube video or settle an argument with someone, I can just load up a browser. For most people this would be enough, but I want this to be a top notch media experience. So what are the next steps?
Windows Home Group: One of the few things Microsoft did right
Networking two computers together, WINDOWS computers with the SAME OS, used to be a royal pain in the ass. But, with Windows 7 and the home group functionality, it’s super easy and maintains the connection even if your IP address is constantly renewing. So, I set up the media PC to connect to the PC in my office, which happens to have 4,000 GB of movies and TV shows. All of which I purchased after I won the lottery in a single weekend spending-spree. I also added my music folder to gain access to my 30,000 songs – also purchased via the iTunes store after I went to Vegas one weekend in the 90′s and struck gold.
Operating Systems and Software
There are a few options to really customize the software and OS aspects. Sure, you can just have a regular computer, but that’s designed for.. well, using an actual computer – not a TV/Media-PC setup. The first question was operating system – Windows 7 or Ubuntu Linux? Both would run fine on the computer’s low specifications (Kudos Microsoft), and Ubuntu would be fine since I’m not running any games. Yet. Well, in the end I went with a dual-boot option so I can pick which one I want to use. Basically I’m still deciding.
As for software, XBMC is definitely the best route. For those who don’t know, XBMC is the X-Box Media Center, packaged as software that runs on either Windows or Linux. It serves you up a gorgeous user interface (that can be custom skinned to whatever you want by downloading skins from the web site) that provides access to your music, movies, TV channel, weather, you name it. The best part? It automatically reaches into the Internet and grabs the DVD cover image, synopsis, and even IMDB rating for all (well, almost all) of the movies that you own. Amazing.
Icing on the cake
To make it even better, I’ve grabbed software called Air Video Server that runs in the background on my office computer, and dishes out all of the aforementioned media via Wi-Fi to any mobile device that I have. Yes, I have four or five phones and three tablets in my house – most of which can now live stream my movies and music.
Conclusion
So to recap, here’s the setup:
- 42″ LCD HD TV
- Media PC (desktop) – *with video card that outputs HD
- Long-range wireless keyboard and mouse
- TV Tuner card in the PC with remote control
- Windows or Linux OS (choice from boot)
- XBMC media center software
- Home group local network
- Access to 4,000 GB of media
- Air Video Server software for streaming media to wireless devices
- For anything else I need: The whole fucking internet, like GrooveShark and Netflix
What’s next?
Maybe games? I’ve always been a PC gamer, but if I ever wanted to switch to a controller I can easily grab some wireless X-box controllers from Future Shop, plug them into the media PC via a USB transmitter, and play games on the big 42″. The caveat here is that I’d definitely need a better computer to run any half-decent games. For now, I guess I’ll have to settle for my office PC with it’s Intel Core i7, 12 gigs of RAM, and 3 monitors.
I’M A HUGE NERD I KNOW but my house is wired up like a fucking Christmas tree and I have everything I’d ever want at my digital fingertips. I can’t complain.
EDIT 1: If anyone wants a more detailed guide on any of this, drop me a line and I can explain further how to set up any of the hardware/software/networking.
The epic make-your-own-bar project is complete.
It’s about time… I’ve been telling a lot of people about this project, and it’s finally done! I added the last piece yesterday evening, and here’s the promised blog post. This one was a ton of work; it took three weeks (working on weekends at my dad’s garage) and overall probably ~25 hours or so. First, here’s the finished product!
Dimensions
- 3.5 feet across
- 6 feet 3 inches tall
- 1 foot 4 inches deep
Supplies
- Tools: Sandpaper, drill, drill bits, paintbrush, table saw, belt sander, wood putty, glue, too many others to mention
- Paint – I went with the darkest brown that they had, same colour as the dresser overhaul I did
- Halogen under-counter ights- I got these from home depot ($30 for a set of three)
- Mirror – garage sale for $5, and I know a guy who works at KW glass who cut it for me
- Total cost including the base unit: ~$200
Now for the gritty details. I bought this hutch from kijiji for $100. It’s an antique (hard to tell but I’d guess 30-40 years old) but solid wood so in decent shape. I borrowed dad’s truck and grabbed it from Elora, brought it up north, and separated the top and bottom. Next, sanding sanding sanding. Off to home depot for some paint and primer. The primer took a long time to dry, so I had to head back to Waterloo for a work week and continue the next weekend.
There were four projects to tackle next. First was the compartment in the main section where I can make the drinks. It was open, like a fixed drawer with no top, so I decided to cover it up but with a hatch on hinges that I could open to access the storage space. Some intense interior painting, but it worked out really well! Pics:
The next piece was the mirror in the back. I had to pry the backing off of the unit, slide the mirror in, and reattach it. During this process, I added some contact cement to keep the mirror and place, and put in some 1×1″ pieces of wood on either side to keep it firmly in the back. The mirror is obviously crucial for the bottle display 
Oh yeah and that’s my dad…
Third was the wine rack on the bottom. I had originally wanted to do something fancy like a big “X” where I could stack the bottles… but cutting angled wood to fit inside an existing unit is an absolute nightmare, so instead, I opted for a simple shelf but with a catch. “Catch”, no pun in tended – it’s a little riser in the center that will allow me stack bottles up one side or the other, or to stack them in a pyramid centered on each side. Check out the pic to see what I mean! I’m also planning on getting my own wine made, which should give me 30 bottles that will need to age for 4-6 months. Well, now I have an awesome place to store them, and nothing looks better than a wine rack that’s full to the brim!
Finally, the lights. This was an optional piece but an exciting aspect as it really sets the whole thing off and adds that extra bit of class. I found simple under-counter lights at home depot with really easy wiring (basically just plug the three lights into a central box that has another cord with a switch. These weren’t that easy though, as I needed to drill holes for ventilation over each lights, and have them placed at the perfect spots so as not to be visible and to provide indirect lighting. It worked out great, and I hid the switch just on the inside of the trim on the right side over the counter surface.
That’s pretty much it! Of course there was a lot of fine-tuning, some challenges on the way fitting the extra pieces in, and I had to remove a shelf originally that had sunken nails (fffuuuuuuu). The last piece arrived via UPS yesterday – a hanging wineglass rack that set off the left side beautifully, and leaves a nice space for making the drinks. I hope you like it!
Voila!
Drinks anyone?