Would you believe it’s new? Hanna and Tomas built a magnificent porch cabinetry that perfectly suits their old house

Where did you get the idea for building a cabinet on your porch?

Hanna: We live in a log house built around the turn of the 20th century with an approximately 15-square-meter heated porch. We had all kinds of makeshift basket setups there, but they weren’t practical and didn’t keep items neatly out of sight. We needed more storage space for the porch, so the clothing routine of our family of five would run smoothly.

Tomas: We couldn’t find any ready-made cabinets that would fit, since the porch has many windows and no unbroken wall space. We realized it would be most cost-effective to build our own.

How did the project go?

Hanna: It was easy to find a design for the cabinet by browsing Pinterest. The most time-consuming part was drawing up the plans on paper, which required meticulous measuring and detailing because, as we would order the cabinet parts pre-cut to exact dimensions. During installation, we discovered a few measurements were slightly off, so we had to do some extra sawing and improvising to make everything fit.

Tomas: We put in benches under the windows, with storage beneath them. Along one wall, we built large cabinets with a countertop in between. There was already an old cabinet in the space, so we fitted it with a new door to match the new cabinets.

For the frames and doors, we chose 18 mm solid wood, and the countertops are 28 mm thick. In hindsight, I think we should have used thicker panels at least for the vertical frames to make them sturdier.

We ended up building the cabinet interiors ourselves as well. Originally, we had sized them to accommodate, for instance, Ikea wire baskets.

The large cabinets store all the outdoor clothing and shoes for the family of five. Designing them required precise measurements, which isn’t easy in an old house where walls and ceilings can be somewhat askew.

In Tomas’s opinion, the most annoying step was cutting dozens of trim pieces at an angle. After some initial fumbling, the workmanship improved toward the end. Altogether, the renovation cost just under 2,000 euros.

How long did it take to build?

Hanna: We thought we’d get it done in about a week, but in reality, it took almost our entire summer vacation—of course, we were also doing plenty of other things at the same time.

Tomas: A week probably would have been enough if we’d worked standard-length days. Cutting all that trim was time-consuming: there are four large doors and five small ones, each with double paneling—two strips of trim side by side plus upper and lower trim. The first angled cuts were a bit rough, but they started to look almost professional by the end! On the hardware store’s advice, we simplified things a bit by attaching the trim to the doors with construction adhesive.

Were you happy with the final result?

Hanna: Even though it tested our patience a bit, definitely! It’s wonderful to finally have everything organized on the porch.

There’s extra storage space under the countertops. The red-striped fabric adds a vibrant look to the porch.

The old porch doors were revamped to match the new cabinets. Everything was painted with Farrow & Ball paint in the shade Sudbury Yellow.

What are your next projects?

Tomas: While renovating the porch, we also tore down a run-down log house in our yard and used the wood to build a garage. We plan to add a green roof to it this summer.

Follow Hanna and Tomas on Instagram at @punainen.pihlaja