World's Coolest Mother's Day Present: The Construction

And now a little behind-the-scenes look at what went into creating the roombox:

Once I'd decided on the case and had it ordered, it was time for some planning. I drew out a floorplan to scale so that I could get a better idea of how things were going to fit (and how much.)

Doors, and windows, and cabinet kits, oh my! A big ole' pile of construction supplies...

A dry fit of the case before beginning work. I marked out important lines and areas to be cut out for the door and window.

I stained the entire case and finished the walls before assembly.

These are the garden walls, with the siding being glued and clamped on one section at a time.

With the siding done and painted, and the door and window finished and installed, it was time to begin assembling the walls.

Living room - I've cut and glued on the stone sheet and used plaster to blend in rough edges. Also did the same for the hearth, which I constructed out of foam and wood. Since there's not enough depth for an actual firebox, I opted for a little trompe l'oeil instead - I painted the area black, and then covered it with a mesh firescreen later. I did consider building out the entire fireplace from the wall, but it would have taken up too much of the limited display space.

I took step-by-step photos of the entire fireplace process, so I'll post a tutorial on it later.

With the stone texture sheet applied and all the dry fitting done, it's time to make it look like real stone! This stage took quite a while, as I did the paint in many layers to build up a natural look.

The painting is done and sealed and the stone all grouted. The firebox and screen are finished, and the custom-built wood mantle has been added on. With all the walls now installed, it's time to add floors and then the really fun part - accessorizing!

I can't seem to find my other photos of the kitchen cabinet construction and doing all the floors, so the next post will show you some of the accessories I "bashed" for the project.