1930's Inspired Labor of Love Built-Ins Designed with Reclaimed Wood

Our 1930’s inspired built-ins designed and built with reclaimed wood was a true labor of love, but so worth it!

living room built-in using reclaimed wood

In our last blog and video, Nate began to design and build living room and kitchen built-ins after we redesigned this large shared area. The built-ins were handmade from old reclaimed shiplap and pine wood. Such a gem of preservation going on here!

In this blog, you will see him continue the project by building cabinet doors using antique reclaimed beadboard. They turned out so amazing!

It was definitely a challenge to get to this point. And if you live in a small space like we do, then maybe it will help to give you some inspiration for your own projects!

1930’s INSPIRED BUILT-INS

These 1930’s inspired built-ins were made with mostly reclaimed wood from our neighbors. Old pine, shiplap, and beadboard. They were a gem of a find and true treasure! Nate designed them himself so they are definitely original and very unique – truly handmade built-ins.

And they were definitely a labor of love! There was much tedious work involved in the process. But it was so worth it for us. This was not just about getting a project done and building cabinets. It seemed to be a bit of an art project complete with creative designs totally hand crafted!

RECLAIMED WOOD

Using all of the reclaimed wood we were gifted to steward felt like quite a responsibility. That may sound a bit extra. But, hear me out. These were gem pieces of the past that could’ve ended up in a landfill somewhere. Creating more trash. And more importantly, a loss of historical materials.

Since we moved into a heritage district, anything old gets us excited! We have learned to really appreciate preservation efforts.

The old pine and shiplap were removed from our neighbor’s garage that was being torn down. The beadboard was piled up in another neighbor’s shed and she graciously allowed us to take ownership of them to put to good use. And that we certainly did!

BUILT-INS DESIGNED WITH RECLAIMED WOOD

Our built-ins were designed with reclaimed wood. In our video, Nate shares how he took our reclaimed beadboard and turned them into handmade cabinet doors. It was challenging to work with older, warped, and somewhat damaged wood. But we were able to salvage the beadboard and preserve it. One piece at a time. Again, a true labor of love.

man measuring beadboard cabinet door with kitchen built-in frame made with reclaimed wood

Nate had to work to make sure the reclaimed beadboard cabinet doors were square enough to fit into the face frame of the built-ins. He used clamps and various measuring tools to work on that. Once the doors were perfectly square in the face frames, he would mark them with a permanent marker. Then he could cut them out using those lines.

man marking beadboard cabinet door with kitchen built-in frame made with reclaimed wood

Even though some of the beadboard was in bad shape, he was still able to use them. He would just measure them out long enough to cut them down to the parts of the wood that was still good to use.

RECLAIMED WOOD CABINETS

This is how we assembled the beadboard for the cabinets. Nate would lay the beadboard pieces down vertically with the front side down. And then line them up next to each other. He would check the tongue and grooves to make sure they connected together as best as possible. Although sometimes that was not possible if the wood was too damaged. In those cases, he would just make sure they were as even as possible. And it would give the cabinets some character because of the old wood, so perfection is not what we were striving for.

Then he would measure out the top and bottom of the lined beadboard to know where to cut to make them even. He placed three battens on the back top, middle, and bottom. Then he screwed them in.

man adding battens to beadboard cabinet door

For the kitchen built-in, he also marked the top and bottom cabinets to make sure they lined up with one another. It gave the whole built-in unit a seamless look and feel. Nate is always so good about those details.

ANTIQUE ACCESSORIES FOR RECLAIMED WOOD BUILT-INS

We stopped by a local antique store to find antique brass hinges to add to our handmade reclaimed beadboard cabinet built-ins. I believe we may have also found some antique silver hinges as well.

It was so great to find them to add that extra touch of historic magic to our project. Using as much old or reclaimed materials we could find.

Nate advises that a self-centering hinge bit is a lifesaver when building cabinets and installing hinges on them. He initially screwed in regular Phillips screws. But, he later ordered slotted head screws to fit the time period better. The next project would be to figure out how to patina those screws!

antique brass hinges with Phillips screws and slotted head screws

LABOR OF LOVE BUILT-INS

Our 1930’s inspired built-ins designed and built with reclaimed wood was a true labor of love! It was worth the effort, tedious tasks, and figuring things out as we went. Story of our lives these days! In the end, we were so pleased with the results so far. Stay tuned for our next blog where we reveal the finished built-ins!

Materials & Tools We Used

Clamps: This was used to clamp reclaimed wood together to create perfect squares for the cabinet doors.
Circular Saw: This was used to cut wood for the built-ins.
Cordless Drill: This was used to quickly screw in screws while building DIY built-ins.

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living room and kitchen built-ins using reclaimed wood

CHECK OUT OUR VIDEOS

Thanks for joining us on this journey! We hope that you will find inspiration watching us learn as we go while we’re attempting to renovate and rebuild this old small historic cottage mostly on our own~ while working full time jobs! Stay tuned for more progress updates ahead. Read more about us here.

You can also watch a video about this here.