Website by mikee, personal website

Projects Gallery

I really enjoy building, constructing, repairing or renovating things, carpentry in particular. Here are some examples

Wardrobe in a narrow closet

This project involved making the best of limited space in a 1 bedroom flat. Despite this closet being narrow, we agreed to create a hanging rail and show rack. In the airing cupboard I created a special bracket and hanging rail for drying hanging clothes, taking care to design it this way to avoid power cables running up the wall.

What the client said:

“ I’m really really pleased with the wardrobe, everything’s clean and tidy and it’s a brilliant job. Just what I wanted - in fact it’s even better than I had in mind. Really chuffed!”

Jan A, Aug 2014

Cast iron fireplace refurbishment and installation

This project involved the renovation of a cast iron fireplace removed from a 1930’s house in Reading. The old paint was removed and once cleaned up, it was painted with a silk finish paint. This picture shows just after installation. Tiling within the surround is likely in the near future.

What the client said:

A duck house that is not on an MP’s expenses

I have maintained the pond at Farm View Drive, Chineham for many years and around 2010 I built this elegant cedar wood duck house.

It has a tiled roof with leaded corners - but no ducks. Each of the vertical segments have now been opened up in case ducks felt they couldn’t see prey.

Cedarwood is a great timber for outside use and used extensively in expensive summer houses. It has a oily content so can last 50 years.

A Monk’s bench

I made for a friend so his kids could sit and put their wellingtons on.

Testimonial: "Mike made this wonderful bench for us to sit in our front porch, it is now a treasured possession and in daily use, caps and sunglasses in the summer; hats, gloves scarves in the winter.  Mike created the design from some vague ideas that we gave him but the workmanship is superb, its very solid, totally functional, just what we needed for our growing family.  Mike also did some renovation work to our utility room and porch. He was very tidy and the attention to detail and hard work he puts in is unsurpassed.   Mike comes highly recommended."  Jeremy S, Newbury."

Shoe storage

A fairly simple shoe rack that keeps the shoes tidy and fits into an otherwise poorly organised utility room cupboard

TV stand

When I bought this TV in 2002 you had to buy a cabinet that was as bulky as the old CRT TV’s! I built this stand from Cherry laminated MDF.

It has wheels so it can be swung around to watch from the dining table. All the cables run behind a false skirting board to the left of the TV and the TV stand has been replaced by a bracket that holds the TV more discreetly.

Cupboard Conversion Project

The pictures below show a challenging conversion of two cupboards into one very useful corner cupboard

Testimonial: “This cupboard has annoyed me for years. When Mike told me he could make a single cupboard I was really pleased. The finished result is so pleasing and for the first day or two I kept opening it to look inside! Mike even offered to fill in the gap between the cooker and the cupboard. He was tidy and careful. Joan F, Chineham

The shots above show the very narrow opening into the two corner cupboards

After conversion, the single cupboard has a very large opening and huge shelf. The gap beside the cooker has been filled in too.

Missing shelf - kitchen cabinet

You’d be amazed how many kitchen cabinets don’t have a shelf. The reason; awful plumbing!!

I offered to put a shelf in this cupboard and fill in the hole at the bottom where a much larger water softener had been removed. I took care to create a template and only cut the necessary holes.  The bottom panel can be removed to service the water softener.

The £5 soccer table - repaired.

We needed a soccer table for the garage conversion I undertook. I stumbled across this at the public tip and took it home and repaired it. Sure it’s not perfect but no one noticed on an open day for the garage conversion.

I love diverse and challenging jobs and got a great thrill bringing this back to life, saving money on a project overspend and actually using it. (I was rubbish)