The electricity cupboard

This is my electricity cupboard:

This was my electricity cupboard: 

Pretty gruesome, I'm sure you'll agree. The external section to keep it protected was a metal cabinet which had kindly been stuck to the wall at the wrong angle on both planes! Not only did it rest slightly diagonally when viewed from the front, but also from the side. Joy. 40 years of bad paint jobs, a broken catch and rusted hinges added the finishing touches to that "I live in a squat" impression. 

There was nothing else for it - it had to go. My landlord felt no need to protect me from such a hideous monstrosity in my hallway (oh yeah, it had to be in the first room that people see, to completely mortify me when friends came to visit) so it was up to Poppy and I to address the situation.

And so, Fred was born.

Isn't Fred beautiful? It may seem a little strange to name a cupboard, but Poppy and I have worked on so many elements of the house that projects need specific names when we discuss them or we get mixed up. 

We boxed in the cupboard from floor to ceiling with a very basic frame, allowing for support bars at either side to fix in shelves after construction. Sorry I don't have full project pictures, but I didn't know back then that I would be describing the process in the future.

Once the frame was fixed to the walls and ceiling, we added tongue and groove shelves (they only needed to be lightweight) and tongue and groove panels on the sides. The doors are also T&G with black iron hinges and brass catches.

All in all, this was a relatively low cost project when you consider that it not only provided storage, but also beautified an undeniably ugly space. I was happy to leave the black heads of small brads showing where the T&G was held onto the box and finished up with two coats of antique pine matt varnish to help the new wood blend into the hallway. All in all, another fun job. Few people remark on Fred, which is a bit of a shame as it was a doozy of a project, but I think that's because it blends well with the surroundings and seems to look as though it's been there forever.