the bunch- handcrafted.stylishly: Photo Storage Cabinet and Print Display

{Photo Storage Cabinet and Print Display} has been made possible by Shutterfly and Looksi Square.

This project was, by far, the most rewarding project I've ever completed. I was challenged by Shutterfly and Looksi Square by this:

And well, to be completely honest, I have been seriously lacking in physical prints lately. It is sad when I think about it, how the once suspense of picking up a set of prints is completely non-existent anymore.

I can remember how exciting it was, before digital cameras, to pick up the prints that were created from a roll of film you dropped off two weeks earlier. And now, I almost never even print photos anymore, even with how convenient it is.

So, with this challenge it gave me an opportunity to have some of the THOUSANDS of photos I have of Madisyn's first year and a half of life printed. The prints I received from Shutterfly were high quality and came SOOO FAST! I ordered them online and they were at my door step so quickly!

For my answer to the challenge, I wanted to create a cabinet {using as many re-purposed materials as possible} to house all things "photo". I LOVE photos and scrap-booking and creative photo displays and albums and collage books (the ones you can create so easily at Shutterfly) and I have A LOT of "photo stuff". When my project was complete, I was able to condense the items I had on 3 book shelves onto two and move one of them out of our living room all together because this cabinet neatly, and beautifully holds IT ALL!

It also doubles as a display piece. I'll show you how below!

The Process

Materials:

1 -Vintage 8 pane window (I originally intended to use two {as you can see from my Introduction Post } but it would have been a MASSIVE piece of furniture- and that was not the intent)
1 -1"x12"x12" board
Spare 2x4 wood scraps
2 - Hinges
Killz Primer
Paint
Wood Stain
8- Magnetic Paper Clips
E6000 Glue

The first step of the process was the hardest, by far---> coming up with plans and measurements.

I outlined the planning process in my Update Blog Post-but I will do a quick review for you here as well.

Serena and I started by measuring the vintage window-{ the cabinet had to fit around it} and we simply used a tape measure to figure out the height I knew I wanted the top of the cabinet to be. We modeled our plans off of Ana White's Ikea Hemnes Linen Cabinet- I liked the basic farm style and knew I wanted the finish to highlight this design.

We quickly figured that we could make ALMOST the whole cabinet from the one 1x12x12 I wanted to use- and that was SOOO exciting to me! We worked together using the scary table saw, to rip down the 1x12 into 2x2's for the frame.

We used the 2x2's to construct a frame using the Kreg Jig to create pocket holes for wood screws and Gorilla Glue, of course.

Once the frame was complete I was able to set the vintage window inside to make sure it would fit- calculating the space needed around the window including space for the hinges was super nerve racking for Serena and I. Its so scary to create a frame for a door {and have it Gorilla Tough} and just HOPE you allowed enough space for the door to open. Needless to say {even with the vintage-completely un-square nature of the window} it seemed to fit!

Having already decided on a finish style (two toned wood stain and paint- as inspired by The Golden Syacmore), we were able to start cutting the boards needed to fill in all the empty space.

We measured the space between the sides of the frame that we would fill with the rest of the 1x12 ripped into boards about 3/4" thick and the width of a 2x4. I wanted to get a similar look with these boards as we achieved with Madisyn's Farm-Style Toddler Table.

After cutting the boards for the sides, we finally ran out of wood from the 1x12x12. So I went "shopping" in our reclaimed wood stash and pulled out some 2x4's that were long enough to rip down to make the top and shelves.

With all the measuring and wood cutting complete, it was time to start finishing! I gave the frame a good coat of primer with Kilz. And then two coats of a beautiful Blue.

I also took all of the wood to be stained {side panels, shelves and top} out onto the grass with a tarp underneath and stained both sides of each board.

With all the wood finished, it was time to assemble! We used finish nails to attach the top, sides and shelves to their support pieces. And I was nervous AGAIN. This would be the first opportunity to see if the door would actually function.

Kyle and I struggled with the best way to attach the hinges. I originally wanted the hinges to be internal (mounted on the inside of the frame and inside of the door- so all you might see from the exterior would be the round spine of the hinge). It was quickly clear that we had not allowed enough room for this style of mounting. So, we improvised (as the two of us are GREAT at doing) and mounted the hinges on the outside of the door and inside of the frame. This gave us an extra 1/8" ish for the door to swing. I ended up liking the look of the exposed hinges. What do you think?

Even with the hinges mounted on the exterior of the door, I still had to do some adjusting due to the vintage nature of the window. IT IS NOT SQUARE IN ANY WAY. It actually was wider in the middle than on the two ends, so in order to get it to close well, I had to do some sanding. Well, maybe a lot of sanding (but only in the middle of the window). Since I was already sanding, I decided to rough up some of the edges a bit and release any paint that was chipping and loose. I loved the way it weathered with a little sanding.

I also forgot to mention, that the window needed A LOT of cleaning. I use these windows for various projects and the best system I've come up with to clean them is to put them in the bath tub. Spray with the shower. Douse in Dawn. And use a stiff wire or plastic bristle scrub brush. It does a great job. This particular window had a TON of white over-spray on one side of the glass- so I also spent about half an hour with a razor blade getting as much of that off as possible.

Anyway, now that you've seen it finished, you are most likely wondering how I achieved the Display Frame Concept. I took the magnet part off of these handy-dandy clips using a screw driver.

Then, I glued the clip to the inside of the window/door in the center of each window pane using E6000 {by far my favorite glue for purposes such as this- see how I used it to create my beautiful Apothecary style Candlestick Vases here}

With the clips attached to the door front, it allows the openness I wanted to be able to view the pretty contents inside the cabinet, and the versatility of being able to switch out the prints whenever I want!

Inside the cabinet, I made the bottom shelf a good height for two metal bins I had to contain mini-albums.

The next shelf up fits 12x12 scrapbooks perfectly. And the top shelf houses two pretty photo boxes to keep my prints {that I will be printing frequently from now on} safe until I scrap-book them or put them in albums.

Serena and I had fun arranging a vignette on the top of the piece as well.

Thank you Serena and Kyle for all your help- it was a lot of fun! And thank you to Shutterfly and Looksi Square for the opportunity to have my first sponsored blog post!

I LOVE IT and can't wait to show it off in my home!

Looksi and Shutterfly have invited me to participate in a creative brand collaboration. I have been provided with product compensation for this post, but all opinions are my own.