My husband's uncle asked me to build a buffet for him, but was intentionally vague on everything he wanted, aside from the dimensions. I came and looked through Rayan's plan index for ideas, and decided that the Mitchell cubbies would be perfect, with a few modifications.
I love how Rayan assembled it (as opposed to other plans for the same thing, that I've seen out there), but knew my husband's uncle wanted something a little more traditional. So I just “filled in” the front frames, added height (to account for the 4″ cement baseboards that are built into all the houses on the Navajo reservation), tacked on some ply to the back and lengthened it a bit.
This build, however, I DID use the back supports…. and (obviously) added doors 🙂
I finished the shelf at 11:30pm the night before my husband's uncle came (at 5:30am!), so there wasn't enough good light to get a good photo… so I asked him to send me one after he had it put it. So there ya have it, “home” and decorated (Navajo style)!
$70, which included the MDF, 1/4″ ply for the back & General Finishes gel stain
The body of the shelf is made out of MDF and the frame is pine furring strips. To get the colors consistent, I used a gel stain and stained the wood, then “painted” it on the MDF, feathering my strokes to resemble the light/dark notes in wood.
This was the first time that I'd used General Finishes gel stain, and… Can I just tell you how AMAZING it is? I tend to use gel stain for anything I plan on staining, just because it's easier to get an even coverage… and I was perfectly happy with Minwax. I can't say WHY I got a hair up my butt to try General Finishes… but I did… and luckily, there's a retailer very near me that sells it (only 2 in my state and one happens to be on the way to my hubby's work!). This stuff is BEAUTIFUL.
