Apothecary Medicine Cabinet {Revised and Expanded}

Last summer I showed you a project that was partially complete and today I want to show it to you completed. The original post can be seen here: CLICK TO READ

Backing up; when we took off all the drywall and plaster, I discovered the one wall was deeper than standard 2x4 wall size. There is an old chimney running up through this wall and I'm supposing that's why it's deeper. We uncovered what had obviously once been a door.

Seeing this sparked an idea to do a medicine cabinet in this wall. I wanted something unique and started brainstorming how I could make something. One night as I lay in bed, an idea came to me and I was so excited I could hardly sleep. I had wood left over from my vanity makeover and in using that, the 'apothecary' cabinet would match the vanity. I started in the next day making the door of the medicine cabinet (which I tell more in detail here). It came together really well and I then modified the wall to accommodate my cabinet. Using a saws-all, I notched the 8" stud so that I had 5.5" inches from what would be the front of the drywall. I planned to use 1 x 6 lumber for the cabinet (which actually measures 5.5") and I wanted the 'box' of the cabinet flush with the drywall once it was installed.

I'm missing a picture of the wall actually 're-studded' but on the bottom and right side I added in new studs so that my cabinet is 'hugged' with studs. Using 1 x 6 boards and some tongue and groove boards (like the wainscoting), I screwed together a box.

Again, I'm missing some pics but I painted it white and screwed it to the studs, making sure it was level. Then I waited forever to finish because the drywall needed to be up and that was a job I couldn't do by myself. My 'middle' sister finally took pity on me and took off work (and drove 450 miles!) to come help me.

While I was waiting, I ran a wire from an outlet right around the corner and wired a plug receptacle into the top of the cabinet. My plan was to have a light inside to light my pretty apothecary bottles and double as a night light.

The drywall finally in, I could frame the opening and hang the door. I used 3/4" X 1/2" oak stock and just framed around the cabinet. The outside perimeter of this exactly matched the size of the door. I'd like to say I planned it that way but that would be lying. :) It was just dumb luck (which usually NOT the way it happens with me!).

If you're still with me, you're probably about asleep so I'll wrap this up. The back of the door received a chalkboard treatment and was hung in place. Finally.

Now for some more shots:

Pretty bottles on top to be seen through the glass
and useful things below, out of sight.

And there it is, my very unique medicine cabinet. I love it.

Linking to:

Party Junk @ Funky Junk Interiors
That DIY Party @ DIY Showoff
Knick of Time Tuesday @ Knick of Time Interiors

From the farmhouse,