MAKING OF THE GARDEN CUPBOARD

 Garden related sprays, additives are required to be stored. The have to be handy and they should be stored in the garden itself. Added to this if one has a pet, then pet related sprays, veterinary medicines and things demand a storage place. To cater for all this, a garden cupboard was made from leftover pieces of ply and laminate. A rough drawing was made (as per the bottles and sprays) on a a paper with the dimensions to be used as a guide while making the cupboard.  Lets see  how it shapes up!!!!

Take the available plywood (3/4th inch thick is best) and mark the dimensions. Keep the plywood prints such that either it is inside or outside if a laminate is going to be used. Here as it is a garden cupboard, it was decided that only front portion would have laminate and other parts inside and outside would be painted with white oil paint. Since this cupboard was made with left over pieces, it is best left to the discretion of the maker. 

Cut it to the required dimensions. 

Nail the pieces together as per the drawing. 

The cupboard doors were taken from half inch plywood pieces, 

Before applying the white paint, a coat of primer (available in any hardware shop) is necessary. Use gloves to avoid messy hands. The primer helps in minimizing the white paint requirement and also helps in getting the paint to be evenly spread by the paint brush. 

As these plywoods are left overs, each plywood would have rough edges, the plywood would have stains and marks which would require some extra work of painting two coats and where ever possible rubbing it with a sand paper to make it smooth and even, 

Once painted, keep it for drying. 

Use the sandpaper machine to make the surface ready for application of laminate adhesive. Use gloves to avoid messy hands. 

Cut the laminate with the laminate cutter (one can get it in hardware store it is like a paper cutter). Apply a thin layer of adhesive to the plywood surface where laminate is required, put the laminate and try to force out trapped air if any by using a cloth and hand strokes to force out the trapped air, otherwise the laminate will not get stuck evenly. 

Get the hinges and magnetic holders. The thumb rule for hinges is, the witdth of the hinge should be equal to the thickness of the plywood. 

It is slightly tricky to screw the hinges, if not done with care the doors would either be wide apart at the center, or would overlap each other by few milimeters, making it difficult to close the door. For this first anchor it by screwing the center screw and see whether the doors fit snugly if it is then anchor it with other screws, by this if there is requirement to shift slightly it can be done with minimal marks on the inside of the door. 

Use a file to smoothen out the edges of the laminate. 

Drill holes at suitable places on both parts of the door for door knob. 

Place the magnetic holders at suitable places and screw them. 

Place the cupboard and anchor it to the wall. 

The cupboard is ready. 

Cost of this cupboard is around Rs 200 for paint, door knobs and hinges. The cost in the market would be around Rs 3000 and would not get a study garden use cupboard which is made for use of individual likings. In the market there are cupboards available which are made from engineered wood which would perish with rain water and sunlight. 

With slight effort here you get a custom made durable neat garden cupboard for probably 1/10 of the cost. A time well spent gives joy and happiness. Be joyful be happy!!!