Here I Am

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?