ELF kitchen, right side

Day four

 I'll try and give you some tips (learned by my not doing it right!) in this post which will apply to all sorts of assemblies not just an ELF kitchen kit.

I started today with the fun part and made the stainless steel sink to go under the worktop.  This was super easy - basically just build a box and line with metal.  The contact adhesive (Bostik's Evostik) is pretty smelly and not the easiest to handle but don't try using another glue.  Metal to wood really does need a contact adhesive.  Do put a thin coat on both surfaces and wait for them to dry - about five minutes and then press together.  When I did the fridge I soon learned that my notion of just adding the glue to the metal side and not waiting very long, really doesn't work well.

When you have covered the surfaces with the film, if there are any teeny, tiny gaps that offend just use my usual method of filling them in with tiny blobs of white paint. This photo is a bit messy as the fill in needs to dry and a bit more trimming needs to be done, but the end result is nigh on perfect.

This photo shows the various stages involved.  The boxes are built and everything has one good coat of paint to help the plastic stick - don't miss out this stage - even if the plastic appears to stick OK it will gradually pull away from unprimed wood.  Cut a load of strips of plastic ready for covering the sides and fronts as needed and then start wrapping.  Trim any excess with a very sharp knife rather than scissors.  Take care to remember not to cover any areas which are going to be stuck to something else.

Day five
All the pieces were prepped and ready to assemble.

If you have several doors to space out - do the ones at each edge first and then space the others evenly between.

If you have cupboards above lower units stand them on top of the bottom units and get the upper cupboards lined up perfectly with the ones below, before gluing them in place

Unlike me.... Do not cut any shelf that is going in a space before the space is made, it is very likely to be too big or too small for the finished gap. (How do people like Elizabeth always get theirs spot on?) Even a tiny amount like this means (of course) that you can't fix it in place.

I always make a template from a piece of card for positioning the handles so they all line up and match each other.  It is as simple as making a cardboard cutout the same size as the door, positioning the handle on this and marking up where the holes need to go.  I then drill a hole through the cardboard and double check before using it on the doors.  At this scale the slightest deviation form the vertical (or horizontal) will really shout at you.


The shelf was a change of plan.  I had ordered an LED to go over the sink but at the eleventh hour I decided the complications involved in getting the wiring in and, worse, out the back of the house, didn't warrant the effect I would get from it.  Also the kitchen is so small it doesn't give any real space to be able to dress it with stuff dotted about so I am happier to have a shelf to put something on.

Tah dah...... the units for the right side of the kitchen are ready.

If you like the wonderful kits that ELF makes don't be nervy about putting them together, the first time will be a bit of a challenge (honestly not much) and then, after that, it is always plain sailing and you will be thrilled at how clever you are and how lovely the kits are.

(09/09/17)