So, after a bit of a false start today*, I started to work on the house again. I spent quite a lot of time carefully working out how to construct the shelves I want to put under the stairs. Me and my MDF trimming plans spent some time together, and then I looked at the sheets of it available, and tried to work out exactly how to pack the sections I needed onto the one sheet, or one sheet and a small sheet. And then it became apparent that I’d have to get two of the sheets, most of the second one would be wastage, but there was no solution that allowed me to use a smaller sheet, because the two of the thinnest bits were still wider than the small sheet, and all the other bits had two sides longer than the small sheet. If you get what I mean.
Having stared at this problem and realised I’d be spending just shy of 40 quid for a lot of MDF I’d have no use for, and which I’d have to have cut-up to get into the minor, I then considered the possibility that perhaps I should consider modding something else.
And then it came to me. I could modify some ikea shelves. The whole design was based on the sizing for ikea’s storage boxes, the ones that slot into their shelving units. So I looked and realised that you could pick up a four-square shelf unit for £20. Granted it is mostly cardboard (but very cleverly designed cardboard).
I had a bit of a wander around ikea, considered a variety of purchases, but actually only ended up with one thing that was on no-list at all. A little set of red drawers to go under the desk in my office (there’s several whole millimeters of space, if you leave the wheels off, which I did, I then took up that space with felt feet (which I stole from the two sets of shelves I’d bought).
Having got them home and assembled them both (with glue, for extra permanence) I then took a saw to both of them lopping off one of the cubes, to leave two L-shaped storage units. yes, incidentally, I’m aware that ikea does (in fact) do some under stairs storage, but I wasn’t very fond of the bits that I could find (and it was also way more expensive).
I can’t say that it’s the neatest, most beautiful trimming. But the whole lot’s going to be slotted under the stairs and then there’s going to be some fun and games with hardboard to cover the manky wood that’s currently around, and filler, and such. Hopefully it can be made to look neat.
That done I clamped the shelves I’m intending to use as the front set, to try and make sure that it dries nice and tight, and then I came back to the house and assembled the little set of drawers to go under my desk.
This evening I started to populate the drawers. It’s quite exciting to have some ‘desk drawers’ again. Pens, and some staples, and such in a drawer, with a home. I also put some of the computing stuff in another drawer, and some of the electronics stuff in a drawer. It was quite exciting. What was more exciting was emptying a bag and a box and discovering another box is almost entirely ornaments, which can thus be discounted for the minute in the unpacking and sorting fest.
This is because my best beloved’s father and his partner are coming to visit. In the near future. The house, as may have been mentioned, is less finished than would be ideal. So the time has come for some committed house progress, I feel. Anyhow, the other thing that’s really rather required is some more shelving in the office. I have, I fear, vastly underestimated the amount of storage required in there for exciting things required for maintaining the RiscPC and the BBC Master…
My plan on that front is to wander down to BWRP and see how much a box shelf made from sanded scaffold planks might cost. If it’s too pricey, then I’ll get some scaffold planks and work on them as I did the desk. Although I’m a bit wary of my skills at producing a box-shelf from them. But hey, we can but try.
In car news, apparently, the part required to bring ‘im back to life is available ‘next day delivery’ from Renault. I just need to ring our local Renault dealer and order it… Thanks to the awesome folks at volvo 300 mania for that. I was getting a bit worried, although a large chunk of that was worrying about how you search for something without a name or a part number…
* I tried to do my tax return. This would have been fine if I actually had the P60 to fill in my tax return. However, I’d neglected the fact that my P60 doesn’t arrive until, I think, the May payslip. After much sorting of the filing stuff, and fishing through other sections of the cabinet thinking I’d suffered from insanity I realise that, in fact, I’m a numpty and I actually haven’t had it yet.
