Post 3: Upcycling Progress

This past week, I’ve gotten a pretty good start on my western saloon style cabinet dartboard. Last tuesday, I went to Recourse Central – a salvage yard with everything from cabinets, to old fireplaces, to refrigerators. Here I looked for a cheap cabinet which could fit my 18″ diameter dartboard comfortably. I wanted my cabinet to be as small as possible for a snug fit to create better symmetry, and so depth perception isn’t thrown off when playing darts. A smaller cabinet would also be easier to mount to my wall because of the decreased weight. After finding the perfect cabinet to accommodate my dartboard, I headed over to Art Parts and a couple thrift stores to look for anything to create a western aesthetic within the cabinet. Here I found a few western trinkets including a mini gas lamp, a vintage pepsi cola jar, and a toy bull. I also found a small block of wood I plan on drilling 6 holes through to use as a dart-holder.

So far I’ve taken the cabinet doors off, in hopes of cutting the top of the door in a “wave shape” to mimic classic saloon double doors, however, I am still debating on whether this is a good idea. The doors have trim on them, and I’m thinking it may be a little awkward looking to cut some of the trim. I’m also slightly concerned about the extra space that will be there after I make the cuts. If anyone has any input on this, I’d love to hear your thoughts! I think as of now I’ll plan to leave the doors as is. I don’t think the doors take away from the western aesthetic at all, and leaving them will most likely result in a cleaner finished product.

As for my fabrication plans, I need to stain the cabinet a darker wood, distress the wood a bit by chipping and possibly even burning the wood a bit, cut the doors in the ITLL or Idea Forge (if I keep my original plans), mount the dartboard inside the cabinet, and finally reattach the doors. Another thing I need to do is figure out how to take out the 2nd shelf, which nailed into the back of the wood, without damaging the backboard of the cabinet. I can’t see the nails, so I think I’m going to need to carefully knock the shelf out and hope for the best. If necessary, I’ll find some scrap wood to repair the backboard.

As I continue with the project, I’m sure I’ll come up with a few more ideas and ways to add to the aesthetic! It’s been really refreshing being able to do an open ended project like this and being able to be creative without many limitations.