Antique Boxes Hutch Build

Each row had to be assembled individually. We glued the first few rows then let the glue set before we continued on more rows. It was to prevent the whole unit from swaying (or becoming “un”square) and once each section was glued then we fit the sides and it was clamped together to create a tight perfectly square hutch. The tricky part was the two sewing drawers that set to the side of the big “encyclopedia:” antique box (the big one at the bottom). It was tricky because the vertical divider was pretty thin and it had to have a parallel piece glued in…it took a lot of clamps to get that area perfectly square.

I brought a few of the different size antique boxes to fit in the hutch to “test” our build (not that there was a whole lot that could have been done once the glue had set..ha ha). The box that I am showing trying to fit was a little bit taller than the other boxes it’s size, so we had to use the table saw to trim off a half an inch off the top of all four sides. I still got to keep the logo on the front of the box and I am going to touch a little bit of stain so it’s not noticeable on this box. It was a super easy fix so the boxes would all fit.

The next step was to bring every antique box to the wood shop so we could set “cleats” in the back so that when the drawer goes in, it stays flush on the front. Because not every box was the exact same length ( I think the sewing drawers were the longest). So the last thing we did was put stops in each cubby hole space then attach the back (not permanently…just enough so that we could load it and move it to Kansas.)

This build was finished on Tuesday…..We moved Thursday!! Talk about cutting it close!! Doesn’t it look just like the picture. All of the boxes fit! The original computer model didn’t show a top because we knew we would cut the top to size and fit it perfectly. We used a small crown molding (2 inch, not your normal crown) under the top so it wouldn’t overpower the piece. The dresser that was refinished as the base had simple lines so I wanted just a little bit of a crown to finish the piece…like icing on a cake! Isn’t she a beauty? Now….I need to name her because Antique Boxes Hutch doesn’t sound right, it sounds a little boring and this piece is AWESOME…any ideas on what I should name her?