Woodworking the Interior – Eureka, CA

I decided to make my main home base Washington and leave Northern CA for a bit. With access to such a great shop in Eureka, CA, I thought it would be a good idea to get a big push in for all my interior woodwork. All of the wood, and most of the hardware for all this is salvaged/reclaimed/scrap. Here’s what I did:

– Kitchen drawers: redwood shiplap, plywood, drawer slides, antique marine brass latch/handle combos and miscellaneous wood for the drawer fronts (like a piece from a cabin I grew up going to in Maine that got destroyed in the hurricane). They were tricky (my first drawers), but once they were finished they slid like butter, and latched so sweetly (Laura Goldhamer called opening and closing them a “drawergasm”). These kitchen drawers house my silverware, plates and bowls, pots and pans, teas and herbs, bags, rags, etc.

– Closet – only a foot wide, this houses the ever-so-important button-ups and vests, along with scarves, hats, belts, suspenders, and the like. The doors have a magnetic chalkboard front and some nice old barn wood with aged copper. Antique brass latch. Oh, and lined with cedar plywood for added moth protection (Thanks, Joe).

– Wood storage – This unique “drawer” rolls out from under the woodstove on wheels. It looks like a drawer, and it looks like a crate, but it rolls completely out and can be a table, chair, or cutting board surface (food safe finish). The food safe boards can be removed from the top to reveal firewood storage and all woodstove accoutrements (axes and hatchets, woodstove tea kettle, drop-in denatured alcohol burner, etc). The crate is made out of old redwood white picket fence boards. The inside is still white, but he outside takes advantage of the wide array of redwood colors and gradients from a purple through a red, pink, and onto a white. It kind of represents the American Dream to me – we take all this colorful different pieces, and then whitewash them to all look monotonous and the same.

– Upper cabinets – Some of these have been mostly done for a while, but I put the finishing touches on them and built some more. Redwood face frames, old barn wood door frames, aged copper doors, cool antique hinges, etc. The main large cabinet resides over the kitchen and houses an overflow of herbs, tea accoutrements, cooking spices, vinegars, and oils, as well as bathroom and medical supplies. The smaller cabinet (above the bench) houses letter writing supplies and a postal box for Lightfoot Sustainable Post.

– Vent Hood – The large cabinet also houses a vent hood. I salvaged this from an old travel trailer, took off the stainless front and replaced it with hammered copper. I also replaced the light with an LED and the fan with a computer fan. Behind the unit is a dust collector open-close vent so that I can open the vent hood to the outside when in use. The outside of the bus has a chromed vent for the output.

– Bench Backs – The benches I built a long time ago have always been just okay. They needed back to allow for more comfortable sitting, as well as to hide all my junk that resides behind them. Finally… The backs are pine tongue and groove bead board with 1-1/4” holes in each of their centers with a brass tubing as trim. These holes allow your finger to enter, push a latch and let the backs dow for access to storage areas. They are pretty neat.

– Solar/Electrical Hub – Originally (and temporarily) in a different spot (where my fold down desk will go), I had to move this to a new location. Above my drivers seat was already a cabinet that housed much of the originally bus electronics, so I figured it was a good hug for my solar electronics. I cut out the originally metal door and made a larger wood cabinet. On the doors I mounted my fuse box, as well as a display for telling my the status of my solar charging and batteries and such. Inside one of the doors I mounted my charge controller. It all fit perfectly, and has been awesome, despite the pain in the but of rerouting all my wires to that location.

– Rebuilt Book Shelf – I had built an okay bookshelf above the driver’s seat across the front of the bus a couple years back, but it broke (leaving my friend Lily with a slight concussion), and so I decided to rebuild it. My new design offers a little less room for books (I’m okay with paring down the possessions and weight), but also offered a great place for my large tea kettle to hang out. The middle of the bookshelf had a placard that says “Edna”, which folds down to reveal all my shop manuals, and above which houses my tea kettle. On either side sits a self-contained bookshelf, which can be removed individually by pulling three pins out. This is for when I’m doing an event and want to take my library out to share, or to access some wiring that runs beneath it.

–  Many smaller projects – Stainless steel above the sink on the bottom half of the window so I can hang sponges, etc, and my veggies are protected from the sun when I am drying them. Trim along the back and side of the benches. Nails along a piece of trim above the woodstove for drying herbs. A lantern holder on the closet that holds one of my homemade 100% recycled lanterns that run on recycled vegetable oil (or any number of fuels). Added a piece of angle iron to create as more sturdy heat shield between the sink and woodstove.