This is a project I finished last weekend but which I couldn't photograph till this yesterday. It was still gloomy and overcast but better than trying to photograph it in the dark after work.
So, here it is! Our new 'gas bottle and bin hiding' box!
This is what you'd see as you came to the front of our house - my little window shelf with the pretty succulents and a small cement slab holding gas bottles and stuff to go to the rubbish bin. Not particularly attractive. Which is why I never have any photos that show it.
I always planned to make some kind of cupboard to hide them. I had these old shutters (louvre doors really) which I'd bought at an op shop a few years ago. I'd used them to make a screen to cover the hot water cylinder when it was on the front porch. When we moved the hot water cylinder to the side of the house we no longer needed the screen.
But I never throw anything away if I can help it. Things have more than one lifetime around here.
The shutters were too big for the new gas bottle box so I had to cut them down. I had two narrow ones and two wide ones so I worked out which would work best - the narrow ones on the sides, the wider ones in front as doors.
They were already painted the same colour as the house so they were perfect. I cut them down to the right height and joined them at the corners using hinges. I used small brackets to attach the sides to the wall and keep it all in place.
The lid is hinged above the box so that it slopes. This is for two reasons. Firstly I just thought it looked nice. Secondly I don't want this to become another flat surface for things to accumulate.
Now all we need to do is lift the lid, use the hook to keep it open, then swing the doors open to access the gas bottles.
There's a small bin in there for empty bottles and I put the kitchen rubbish on top of it every night cause I hate stinky rubbish in the house. In the morning we take it down to the bin on our way to work. Having the rubbish inside the box means less temptation for the dogs to go excavating for goodies.
Not that they would.
My dogs are well behaved.
But in case a possum comes visiting. You know.
Of course, nothing ever comes together easily. The leftover bit of door I planned to use for the lid wasn't long enough. The solution was obvious: I found an old bit of timber to extend it to the right length.
I even added some initials.
Did I ever show you the gorgeous little watering spout I got at a garage sale?
So here it is. Our new gas bottle box.
Ok, one thing finished and crossed off the list.
Another 5 million to go.
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