Making Grandma’s Interior Shutters and Daddy’s Cubicle Bulletin/Picture Board

Originally this weekend’s project was going to be to finish making my daughters Marble Racer.  However I lacked the required lumber to do so.  So we instead decided to make the interior shutters Grandma (my mom) has been asking for since last Christmas.

The dimensions required for each of Grandma’s shutters were 9 ¼” x 31”.  Four (4) shutters would be needed in order to cover Grandma’s window.  To make the shutters I purchased four (4) ¾” thick x 9 ¼” wide (10” original unplanned) pine boards.  I purchased 4’ pine boards even though I only needed 31” length.   I used the extra length to temporarily tack fast a guide strip of wood so I could run my router along the guide strip to make a long straight line V-shaped line.  The V-shaped lines gives the interior shutters a look and feel similar to raised panels, but without the woodworking headache.  Once the routing was done, I then cut the pine boards to the proper length of 31”.  Cutting the pine boards to the proper length of 31” after routing made it possible for me to cut off the nail/tack holes made from the temporary guide strip, thus no marks left on the finished project.

The four (4) shutters are now finished, at least my part is, Grandma has to paint them yet.  After she paints them, I will use both decorative and plain hinges to install them.  Check back at a later date for a picture of the finished project.

Another project we did this week was making a device for my cubicle at work (Hershey Medical Center, Technology Educator).  I wanted to make something that would make it possible for me to hang my framed degrees up.  For those of us that have cubicle walls, you can relate to the fact that hanging a framed degree/photo isn’t possible without messing up your employers cubicles.  So I came up with the below design.  It is two (2) pine boards 9 ¼” x 40” and one (1) pine board 2 ¼” x 40” (center board).  Nail the pine boards in the shape of an upside down “U” and slip over the cubicle wall.  Tada!  Now you and your cubicle neighbor have a solid board to hang framed degrees/photos from.  Stain or paint it to your liking.  You can also go to Michael’s or any craft supply store and purchase some cork board material to add to it as well, which is what I did.

Photo Update:  Below is a picture of the finished interior shutters.