Utility room closet progress.

Frame going up.

My chicken door worked today!  It even closed tonight.  I was very happy.  I had to replace the fuse again.
This project is slow going, just like all the other projects!  I have spent two days planning everything out and making sure I know what order I want to put the closet together.  It is up against the sink and that is going to limit my access.  I went out and cut all these small pieces but then had to put every one of them on the sander to smooth them.  It took most of the morning.  I even used a level on all the pieces so it will be perfectly level.  I used the existing walls as my main anchor points. 

For the shelves I used tongue and groove juniper.  It is in the same genus as cedar (I believe?) and should help keep the bugs away.  It smells almost like cedar. 

Shelves in place.

Once I had the shelves up I started to get nervous.  There was not a whole lot holding the shelves in place and I was afraid the cats would come explore and the whole thing would come crashing down.  I took a whole bunch of measurements to get the facing, side pieces, and laundry divider all cut out and sanded.  Again a couple of hours just to cut and sand the pieces down.  The girls had to help me hold a couple of the pieces in place as I screwed them in.  It is starting to look pretty good.  I have been thinking about the front doors and I think I am going to attach one to the far wall and one to the middle board that both open out to the left.  This will make it easy to get laundry out and into the washing machine. 

Almost finished.  Just needs doors.

 I am thinking about putting two sets of stacked doors so you can get the laundry and shoes out of the closet without opening the upper portion.  The slats across the front are for the laundry sorting area.  There are three bins built into the closet so the laundry can be sorted into its appropriate location.  I raised it up off the floor so you don't have to bend over so far to get to the bottom of the bin.    The area under the clothes bin is for barn boots.  It is a little dark in that corner now.  Not sure what I am going to do about that.  I could tap off of the light fixture and add a low light between the closets but it would have to only hang down three inches.  Will have to consult the design engineer (wife) about the lighting issue.