How to Build a TARDIS

Or, How to Get Your Creative DIY-er Best Friend to Build You a TARDIS Pantry.

One day a few months ago my husband and I (I think it was me, he thinks it was him) had a Whovian epiphany.

That you could totally make a pantry cabinet look like the Doctor's (Who, that is) TARDIS time machine!

I am slightly creative, but I have a few very creative friends, one of whom happens to enjoy DIY projects....

And is my best friend from high school.

Which is to say, I have spent 25+ years manipulating my way into her heart and wrapping her around my little finger.

I'm kidding! Maybe.

So I texted her, "You should totally come up here and turn my pantry into the TARDIS!"

To which she replied, "What's a TARDIS?"

It's true, my dear JHo is not a Whovian. I firmly believe, however, that she would be, if she started watching the show.

Not knowing what a TARDIS is did not dissuade her in the slightest, That is what the Google is for, after all.

She found this:

From here

And the perfect shade of TARDIS blue:

also known as "sapphire lace"

She also found the "Public Call Police Box" and "Free for Use of Public" signs for the front, as well as a nifty caged light for the top.

Now, this is the pantry I already had:

Which JHo deemed to be too tall and skinny to look right as the TARDIS.

So she found this one:

Plans began. JHo suggested she and her kids come during their spring break in March. I was like, oh my god, she's serious, she's actually going to do this for me!

I mean, I don't know what I did to deserve a friend like her. A friend who, with one little suggestive text, will drop everything, travel to your home (she lives in California) and build you a kick-ass new piece of furniture.

Who DOES that?? JHo does.

She and her kids arrived on a Saturday. First up was a trip to Home Depot to acquire the rest of the needed supplies.

top left are pieces to form the top of the TARDIS
chrome spray paint is for dining chairs...more on that in a bit

And then she cracked the whip! That evening after dinner we emptied the old pantry and moved it out to the garage. She got into the new pantry box, lightly sanded down the two side pieces and we applied primer.

that's my boy!

JHo got up early the next morning and painted the sides.

The same was done to the doors, top and small front panels.

For a sweet little detail, a poster of the Andromeda Galaxy was decoupaged to the back of the inside. Once everything was dry, this is where we were:

Next came the door details.

different handles than what the cabinet came with

Eventually all that was left was the tiered top.

JHo enlisted the help of her FIL to noodle the design of the top pieces, which she packed in a giant suitcase,
trusting the airline not to manhandle it too much, the parts survived and she successfully assembled them here

Attach doors, attach top, and...VOILA!...there's a TARDIS in my house!

But that's not all. See, I am a Coca Cola fan. I have a bunch of Coke kitchen accessories and it is the reason for the bright red wall. I have always wanted my kitchen/dining area to resemble a 50s/retro diner. The TARDIS fits right in with this since it looks like a British police call box from the 60s.

I knew our very old, worn, hand-me-down wood dining table was going to be an even bigger eyesore next to our shiny, new TARDIS pantry. Thus, I just had to find a retro style dining table.

Upon purchase of the above table (sans matching chairs), JHo suggested chrome spray paint for my existing chairs.

not being much of a DIY-er myself, I was oblivious to the
magical properties of spray paint. I mean, come on!

You need to see the before and after!

BEFORE

AFTER

I know it's totally nontraditional and maybe a little wacky, but it's AMAZING and AWESOME and we LOVE IT!

If you are interested in building your very own TARDIS cabinet, you can go to our Pinterest board where the items used, with post-project notes, are pinned.

So what do you think? Would you ever do anything like this? Think I'm crazy?

(There's a TARDIS in my house!!)