I did not like the look of the back splash extending beyond the upper cabinet to the end of the overhang of the new countertop. It just did not look finished. Originally, I wanted to stop the backsplash where the upper cabinet ended. Efiwym, my wife and I had several discussions regarding this dilemma. She thought the backsplash should not stop by the upper cabinet but extend to the end of the overhang. I was okay with doing that, but I believed it would look unfinished without something above the backsplash.
Therefore…I decided we needed to put a shelf above it. Efiwym did not believe it was necessary. I looked online to see if I could purchase one. And there were plenty of cabinet making companies where I could buy one, but they were extremely expensive. Also, there were not some IKEA®- type shelving that would match the cabinets. Therefore, I would build one.
I was not sure how deep I needed to make the shelf. The width was determined. It to be greater than 12 inches, which was the span of the backsplash by the overhang. I could make it as deep as the cabinet but was that necessary. I chose to make the shelf 6 inches deep. By using pre-cut 1 inch by 6 inch read oak boards, I could make a three-shelf unit. I would need to purchase a 1 inch by 12 inch board as the back of the shelf.
Since there was no stud between thew upper cabinet and the area where the shelf would hang, the shelf would need to be screwed only to the upper cabinet. Using some ideas I found online, I drew up a plan and a list of materials for the shelf. I showed them to Efiwym, and I did not sense much enthusiasm, but I was still going to build it.
I went to the home improvement store to “save big money,” and I purchased all the wood I needed. I brought the wood boards down to the basement and put them on my table saw where they would sit for about 4 weeks. The focus was on installing the pendant lights, painting the kitchen and dinette and installing the backsplash. Once those tasks were completed, I would build my shelf.
After I finished with the backsplash, I started working on the shelving unit the next day. With my drawing in my hand, I started measuring out the boards for the cutting. I thought about using the miter saw for this project, but I was not happy with the saw cuts when I cut the corner edges for under the cabinet. The blade on the table saw was fairly new and it was cutting plywood. I thought it would do a decent job.
After I cut all the pieces, I needed to round of the three shelves and the back. I did not know how much of a rounded corner I wanted and I did not have a compass to make the arc. But a Just-okay DIYer can always improvise. There were some DVD’s in box in the basement. I took one DVD and used it to mark my corners. I only needed to mark one board as I was going to clamp them all together and cut them all at once. Unfortunately, I did not have my jig saw. I lent it to someone and never got it back. Plus the blade would not be wide enough to cut through four pieces of wood.
I would do a rough cut with my table saw. Approximately a 45 degree cut to remove most of the excess wood. Then I would clamp them all together and round them off with first my Sears® belt sander, then my Black & Decker® orbital sander. The process worked out a lot better than I thought it would.
Since I was going to use the pocket screws for the shelves, I needed to drill countersink holes for these screws so they would be flush with the back of the board. The back and side of the shelf needed to be flush with the wall and cabinet.
I would use my Kreg® jig to put the shelf together. No glue here, just screws. I laid out the location of the screws on the back of the back side of the shelf. I made sure the screws were not near where the shelves were located. I marked about 10 spots for the screws. I would use the Kreg® pocket screws for the two shelves too. I set up the Kreg® jig for the 3/4-inch thickness of the board. I clamped the board into the jig and drill pocket holes for the bottom shelf.
With my Black & Decker® orbital sander I sanded the exposed sides of the shelf. From my experience with this wood from the place where I saved 11%, I took my time to make sure there were not any mill marks that would show up after I stained the wood.
After I finished sanding, I proceeded to stain the shelf. I used the stain I had for the kitchen cabinet doors, I was concerned if the shelf would match the cabinet. The stain was close, but not a true match. I gave the stain a good stir and applied the stain with a foam brush. I followed up by wiping the excess off the pieces of wood.
After the boards were dry to the touch, I took the back of the shelf upstairs to see how well the stain matched. I was shocked. It was a perfect match. I was happy with the results. I will apply a few coats of polyurethane tomorrow.
The next day I was ready to apply the poly. I learned a lot when I finished the kitchen cabinet doors. One, the stain I purchased was a surface stain, not the penetrating king. Which means, you can easily rub off the finish. If I brushed on the poly, I would remove some of the stain and lighten it up. I had a perfect match, and I did not want to mess that up. So, I bought a can of spray polyurethane. And if I apply additional coats within 2 hours, I do not need to sand between coats, (according to the instructions). That works for me.
Unlucky me. The spray nozzle was clogging and leaving spots on the boards. I switched the nozzle off an old can of poly, and the problem was gone. My concern was that the spots would be noticeable. (And they were not.)