Turn a closet door into easy storage

I'm always on the hunt for ways to make things around the house more organized.  In fact it makes me a little nuts when all of our belongings don't seem to have a place to be put away.  The front entry of our home as been an issue for me, because of this.  Coming home from school, the school bags and shoes get dropped a foot inside the front door, and then we spend the rest of the day hurdling over them to get in and out.  We have this nice closet right next to the front door, but for some reason opening the door to put these things away just doesn't happen.\

So I decided I wanted a shelf for shoes, book bags, hats, car keys, etc.  But I didn't want to lose the closet storage and I didn't want the shelf sticking out into the entry way (taking up space) so I created a hinged shelf.

 

I started with just an ordinary closet.  The door in place right now is just a crappy, hollow core door.  First I removed the door.  If you just wanted to take out the door and swap it for another one, you could lift out the hinge pins.  But we need the hole apparatus gone, so pull out your screw driver and remove the screws holding the hinge to the door frame.

Next you need to remove the door stop.  This is the thin piece of wood (approximately 1.5 inches wide and 1/2 inch deep that is nailed into the middle of the door frame.  It keeps the door from over closing.  But for this project it's going to get in the way, so it needs to go.

A cat's paw, or pry bar removes this quickly.  For mine it left behind some of the nails that must have been nailed into it from the other side of the door frame.  I don't want these scratching me or my kids when they get into the closet, so best to use a hammer and pound those back into the frame.

Finally, remove the trim around the door.  Our house was nicely equipped with the cheapest, crappiest trim so it certainly doesn't hurt my feelings when I have a chance to remove more of this.  First run your utility knife around the edge where this meets the rest of the frame to make it easier to remove it, and then use your pry bar to get under it and remove it with little-to-no damage to the wall and door frame.

The door frame is now ready for the shelf to go in,  I have, in the past, used solid wood shelves that I found an unfinished furniture stores.  But we don't have one of those near us now.  And I also really wanted the shelf to be a close fit to the door opening, so I built the shelf to fit this particular spot.  When measuring the shelf you want to use, first measure the width of the door opening.  You then need to be sure that the distance (on your shelf) between the front right corner and the back left corner is no bigger than this... allowing extra room for a hinge (so add about 1/2 inch) to the diagonal measurement of your shelf.  The reason to check this measurement, is when the shelf is installed and you wish to swing the shelf/door open to access the closet, the back corner farthest away from the hinge side is going to have to be able to clear the door frame.  Measure wrong, and you'll be stuck with a shelf that won't swing open, it will just be stuck in the door frame.

I built this shelf using some stock pine (it's a little naughty... hahaha, knotty) which is about 3/4" thick.  I used rabet joints to hold the shelves in place because it's super sturdy.  For the back I grabbed some beadboard wall panels.  You don't have to build the shelf yourself, but I do recommend solid wood as particle board shelves just don't seem to hold up as well over time.

The next step was to attach the hinges and install the shelf.  The door I removed only had 2 hinges.  For this I like the security of 3 hinges just because this thing is a lot heavier than that crappy "builder's special" hollow core door.  If you grab a set of hinges from Home Depot, make sure you grab some longer screws.  The "included" screws will work great for attaching the hinge to the shelf, but you really need something longer for the side of the hinge that attaches to the door frame because you want to send the screws past the door frame and into the wall studs for added stability/strength.

Once the shelf is in place, be sure to test it to make sure it closes all the way and when open the door doesn't move.  A door that keeps trying to close or keeps trying to open is a sign of a door that is not well hung.  As long as the shelf moves freely you can move to the next step of trim.

You can see in this picture that I have added some 1/4" thick plywood as the initial trim around the door.  This replaces the old crappy trim and has a flat surface so that nothing will get in the way of the shelf opening.  The low profile trim is also put into place to balance the trim on the left side of the door, aesthetically speaking.  You can also see in this picture that the trim around the shelf on the hinge side has a 45-degree angle.  This is done so that the door can swing open wider than if the edge was squared.  

Trim was added to the bottom and sides of the shelf piece, in addition to the angled piece shown above.  The trim pieces were quite wide because there were large gaps between the shelf and the wall on the top and the left side, that needed to be covered.  While trim could normally be nailed in place, these large pieces seemed to need a little more strength, but I didn't want them looking gaudy with big screws hanging out.  For this trim, I chose to use a counter-sink drill bit, and wood plugs to conceal the screws.

The countersink drill bit not only drills a pilot hole for the screw (to prevent splitting wood), but then removes more wood so that the screw head can be recessed deeper into the wood.  Premade plugs are available that fit right into this hole, or you can buy a plug cutter which is great if you want to make your own plugs out of the wood you are using.

So drill your hole, screw the trim in place, insert the plug and then sand the area until smooth.  Then paint away, or stain, whatever you wish.

The final steps with the shelf may vary depending upon how well your shelf is working and how much weight you intend to place on your shelf.

I fear my two boys will take turns climbing on the shelf at some point.  So I chose to install an anti-sag gate thingie.  This has 2 brackets, that you install at the upper corner closest to the hinges and the lower corner farthest from the hinges.  Then they are attached with a length of wire rope and a turnbuckle.  The turnbuckle allows you to twist it and tighten up the wire rope as needed to keep that lower corner from sagging over time.

I also installed a coat rack on the back of the shelf so the boys would have a spot for their jackets.  Make sure you do this after installing that anti-sag thing.

 

I also needed to create a mechanism to help the shelf close flush against the frame.  There was a slight twist in the top of the shelf that made it so that when the shelf closed, there was a 1/2" gap between the shelf and the frame at the top.  For this I used a gate latch, and then I created a cleat with a slight dip in it.  This allows the gate latch to run up this cleat and rest in the depression - thus keeping the top tighter against the frame - while still allowing the shelf to open easily.  Genius!

A few accessories later, and the shelf was done and ready for action.  Now I just have to convince my boys that they want to put their things on it... instead of dropping their gear in front of it.

 

Careful! The pictures in this post might turn your stomach a bit...

... so you've been warned.

I've never written about something that happened to me in February 2013 (so about a year and a half ago).  I've never had a problem talking about to people, because the shock factor is fabulous, but really sitting down and thinking about it is hard.

On my birthday, October 2012, I got my very own table saw.  I loved it.  I'm sure my Dad thought it was a little silly as part of the way I selected it had to do with it matching the majority of my other tools... but just because I like DeWalt tools, not because they had to match color-wise.

This table saw is great, because it stores somewhat compactly, but then had a little stand to set it on when you wanted to cut something.  The guide also expands out to 26 inches which is seemingly perfect for cutting any size of wood you need, provided the piece starts out at 4 feet or less.

It also has some great safety features built into it.  There is a little metal piece that attaches behind where the blade spins.

So it comes up and mimics the shape of the blade, but then is the exact same width of the blade.  This is so when you're making cuts, the portion of the wood that gets devoured by the saw blade also makes room for the wood the smoothly pass by this piece.

Then there are two pieces that attach to this little metal piece.

This little piece has teeth in it.  When the wood gets past the saw blade and the metal piece, it runs into this piece that hinges and lifts up to accommodate the wood moving under it.  If the saw tries to kick the wood back towards you, this piece will prevent that because those little teeth dig into the wood so it can't move backward.

This is the other safety piece that attaches.  It lifts up some to allow the wood to slide under, towards the blade.  The whole function of this puppy is to keep things from landing on the blade.  Seems smart enough.

So theoretically, there should never be a reason to remove any of the safety devices unless you were making a rabbet or dado cut (a groove cut) where you are passing a piece of wood over the blade but the cut doesn't make its way all the way through the wood.  For a cut like this you would have to take the safety devices off the machine because they would not allow the wood to pass beyond the blade.

BTW, my hands are starting to shake already and I haven't even made it all the way to the story!!

Okay, so I said, "theoretically".  But I was having a slight issue.  Sometimes the wood would bind up a little bit when it got past the blade and was having some interaction with that metal piece.  It was bugging me.  Binding up of the wood was making it more difficult to push the wood all the way through the saw.  So I took them off.  No, I wasn't making those nice groove cuts.  I just figured that since I was very safety-conscious, it was enough.  I was wrong.

This one fine morning in February 2013 I was busy trying to build a bookshelf to go above a desk I had put together.  I wanted to get it done.  I had family coming to town.  I dropped my first grader off at school, and then had my preschooler with me for the whole day.  We stopped to pick up the wood I needed and had the attendant at Home Depot cut the plywood sheet down a bit, the sheets are 4x8 feet, and that's tough to manage by yourself on a table saw because they're huge.  Got home and now had these perfect 8 foot long pieces that I was systematically cutting down to size for my project.  I had an 18 inch piece to cut.  Now if you only have 18 inches on the right side of the saw blade, you aren't going to need to trouble yourself with a "pusher" stick, so that was a non-issue.  But it did mean I had more than 6 feet of wood going off to the left of the blade.  That's a fair amount of weight, so my right hand was going to guide the wood through while my left hand was supporting the weight of the wood on the other side.  I wasn't centered on the saw blade, but I was super close.  My preschooler was sitting on the other side of the garage where he was commonly sent when I was cutting things to keep him out of harm's way.

....  hold up...  my stomach is starting to squirm.  Must take a 10 minute break to calm down.

Deep breath... and I'm back.

So I started the cut.  The wood bound up a bit between the side rail and the blade.  It was going to kick the wood... it did kick the wood.  It tried to send it backwards, but my body was trying to push it forward and the human brain sure does react a whole lot slower than a saw blade.  The wood kicked, my arms still pushing it forward meant the wood couldn't kick backwards.  Instead it came up off the table and then landed back down on the blade because my arms were pushing it that way.  The wood bounced off the table.  Something was wrong.  You know that feeling like you can't put a finger on it (that's a really bad joke), but something seems off?  That's what I felt.  I looked down.  "Oh SHIT!  Oh no, oh no, oh no.  I cut myself!  I cut myself!!!!  My hand!!  It had bounced off the blade too!!  AHHHHH!", that's was the quote of what went down in my head.  What came out of my mouth was very different.  I had a 4 year old sitting 8 feet away from me (behind me, and to the left), that had no idea what just happened.  I didn't want to scare him.  I pulled my right arm into my shirt and covered it with my other hand and turned to walk towards the door into the house.  I asked my 4 year old, "could you please turn off the saw?  We're done cutting things for a little while.  Let's go watch Curious George."  He didn't know anything was wrong, so naturally in typical boy fashion he said, "No".  It was an inconvenience to whatever he was doing in his corner.  Clenching my jaw, I walked back to the table saw and turned it off with my foot.  Blood was starting to drip at this point, so now I was leaving a trail back into the house, all over the door knob, etc.  

My son followed me in.  I grabbed the phone, a dishcloth (which I wrapped my hand up in), and while I dialed 911, I turned on PBS for him.  I calmly asked him if he could go next door to our neighbor's house for a little bit while I made a phone call.  I was scared with what I had just seen.  I was glad it was wrapped up now because I couldn't bare to look at it, and I was afraid that I could only maintain my composure for so long.  And I didn't want to scare him.  He refused to go next door!!  I sat down in a chair near the front door and talked to the dispatcher.  The ambulance arrived quickly.  I explained what had happened.  They wanted to look at it, and that's about the point that I started having trouble stopping tears.  It was grotesque!  I didn't want to take that towel off until my son was out of the house!!  But now he was nowhere to be found!  The back door was open, the EMT's went next door to look for him.  I was afraid he was hiding in the backyard somewhere (he had taken to hiding very quietly from me lately).  I was wandering around in the backyard calling for him, and starting to get light-headed.

I wandered back into the house and my neighbor had come over to let me know that he was next door with her and she would take care of him.  Apparently he had wandered over there and told her "my mom cut her hand so I'm going to hang out with you for a little bit", as easily as if he had said that I was taking a shower.  Good, he was unaffected.  I called my husband.  He is routinely not available for a multitude of reasons, but on this day he was in his office.  Told him I cut my hand and was going to the ER.

I went for a little ride in the ambulance.  I hadn't really looked at my wound yet.  They kept trying to ask me if I cut all the way through.  What did they mean?  They gave me a pain patch... no idea what variety.  But I wasn't in pain.  I was mortified... but no pain.  The pain patch must have had a little extra calming bonus to it.  I could no longer keep my hand covered, but until the patch really kicked in, I wasn't looking at it.  Once I did, it seemed unreal.  It looked like some elaborate make-up application for Halloween.

The saw blade, that spins counter-clockwise towards you, had first grabbed the muscle of my thumb.  It tore in deeply there, and then must have flipped my wrist to nick the other side of my thumb too.  You can see how they thought, at first, that I had cut all the way through.  Amazingly, aside from a small nick on a tendon on my thumb, it was mostly just a flesh wound (Monty Python reference, so you have to read that with an English accent).  What actually hurt the most was when they had to dig around in this wound with the "numbing" medication syringe that would allow them to stitch it back up.  Yow!  

While I was waiting on a consult from the doctor regarding any damage to that tendon, I got to listen to a lady in the next bed.  Do these people not realize that I can hear through the flimsy curtain?  She was complaining of shoulder pain.  Apparently she had been out shooting her rifle preparing for a zombie apocalypse!!  I also got to taunt my husband with my nasty hand... because he has a super weak stomach.  The calm-you-down medication was wonderful because it made it possible for me to deal with this insanity.  I even told the ER staff that I was just really upset because my career as a hand model (Seinfeld reference) was officially over... and what was I going to do for work now?

17 stitches later it looked so much better.  To this day I tell people my grandmother was watching over me.  She swore we would eventually evolve into a species that only had thumbs (because she constantly saw people using just their thumbs for texting, etc.), so clearly she knew I was going to need mine - she was such a feisty, smart lady.  It wasn't perfect.  I did have a little damage and spent a number of months going through occupational therapy (OT) to get to the point where I could almost bend my thumb as much as I once had, and it gave me back some of my grip strength which I will have to continue to build back up over time. 

Once the stitches came out I started using some Booboo Balm to help with the healing and it also helped with the itching that always goes along with wounds.  For the most part these days, I would say my wound is unnoticeable.  Either that or people don't want to ask, or they figure it was a surgical scar... yes, my own operating room in the garage.  I did spend a number of days in disbelief.  I couldn't understand how I could have let something like this happen.

Things that have changed for me as a result of this?  It took me a while to be able to use my saw again.  Initially this was because I didn't have the strength in my hand to push wood through it.  And then after that it was fear.  I talked for a while about it with my dad.  About how anyone goes back and uses a tool again after it has done something like this.  He calmly (because I've never known him to explain things in any other manner) suggested that it gives you more reason to set yourself up for success.  You don't stand in a place where wood would hit you if the saw kicks it.  You create systems that make it so you don't have to juggle the wood you're cutting.  You think about every scenario that could go wrong so you can systematically avoid each of them.

I can't make a cut, where I'm forced to stand in front of the saw blade (all safety attachments in place) without my heart stopping.  I first spend a few minutes thinking about how to make every cut without standing there.  If I have to make one, while standing in the same position I was in when I cut myself I literally have to walk around for a few minutes to psych myself up to do it.  Every cut I make with that saw, since that fateful day, has become a little easier and a little easier, but my mind never stops thinking about every bad possibility so I'm constantly on high alert.

I don't relay this story to make people afraid of their equipment.  But you should be very aware of what can happen.  That saw doesn't care if it's cutting wood or flesh.  It doesn't mean you stop doing it, but it does mean I never do it without taking every possible safety precaution, and I will never again think that I can outsmart the machine.

From stinky dog couch to reading nook heaven...

This has been a bit of an ongoing project that I finally wrapped up this weekend.  We have a nice little office nook area where I built a desk and shelving.  We wanted to have an area where we could sit and read, but also wanted to have a pull-out / hide-a-bed couch for when guests come to visit.  The problem was that there wasn't a ton of room for the bed to pull out and we didn't want a massive couch in this spot.  Instead I more wanted a reading bench with some cushions that had a handy bed built into it.

First I looked online for the mechanism that those hide-a-beds use.  It really seems like just a big hinge and spring.  To buy just that part was going to run around $500!!  No way!  I'm far too cheap for that.  So I started looking on craigslist for someone getting rid of their sleeper sofa, because naturally one of those would theoretically have a working mechanism in it that I could pull out and put into my bench seat.

People really didn't want to part with their ugly old furniture for cheap.  There were some nasty couches I came across and I was not going to give someone a few hundred dollars for them.  This couch I lucked into.  It showed up in the "free" section... which is of course one of my favorite craigslist categories.  As it turned out it was a friend of mine who was trying to unload this thing that their dogs had loved... a lot.  She thought I was messing with her when we called up and said we wanted it.  I think her exact words were something like, "I thought I was going to get rid of that crappy old couch.  You're totally messing with me."  and I had a hard time convincing her that I really wanted her piece of sh!t couch... not to compliment my decor, but because I'm cheap and wanted that damn spring/hinge!  

So here it is, in all it's glory in the top picture.  I think pictures don't do things much justice.  It certainly did have a lovely scent of wet dog mixed with about a gallon of febreeze... hahaha.  

First step was to tear it up.  Pulling off the fabric is time consuming.  It's clearly attached before they add the sleeper bed part because there were a few pieces that I just couldn't remove as they were screwed in under the hinge.  For this part I used my utility knife, my multi-tool, and occasionally a hammer and pry bar.  You can get most of the fabric and padding off by making a few slices with the knife and then pulling/ripping.

   

You'll find that the fabric was held in place really well with a lot of staples.  While you don't necessarily have to remove all the staples, I like to remove the majority of them because I was going to refurbish this with wood and I wanted the wood to lay flat against the couch frame.  This is where the multi-tool is handy.  There's usually some sort of flat-bladed tool that looks a bit like the head of a screwdriver.  Mine also has a can opener function on the same piece.  Using this you can work it under the staples and twist your wrist 90-degrees to create some separation from the frame.  Then using the wrench function, you clamp onto the staple, twist your wrist 90-degrees again to get the staple out.  There are literally hundreds of these things.

With the staples out of the way I needed to adjust the couch some to make it fit like a bench.  We have a low window sill that I wanted the bench to fit underneath.  Ours wouldn't fit flush against the wall, because there is still baseboard trim in the way, so I wasn't concerned about getting the couch low enough to slide under the entire window frame, just the most prominent piece.  In the top picture, where I started destroying the couch, you can see how the back of the couch runs into the window sill.  Then in this picture you can see how I shortened the frame so it would slide under it.  It now sits flush against the lower piece of the sill and the baseboard trim.  Perfecto.  To make this work I had to remove the back of the couch - the part that is covered in fabric that the pillows rest against.  This piece isn't necessary for me because you can rest the pillows against the wall and window sill.  For that job you're going to want your hammer and pry bar because the back is really well attached to the sides of the couch.

With the couch completely stripped, I could now build it back up.  I wanted to match the type of trim we have in other parts of the house as well as the look we have for our entertainment center and kitchen cabinets.  It's a very square, shaker-style trim.  Which is pretty simple to put together.  For this I picked up some HDF (high density fiberboard), which the kind of material they use for clipboards, and some primed 1x2, 1x3 and 1x6 wood.  If you were wanting to stain your finished project these materials would need to be more expensive, selecting sandeply (nice, smooth sanded plywood) instead of HDF and then some "select" pine (or whatever wood you like) in the placed of the primed wood I chose.  For a painted project I like the primed wood because the priming means the wood isn't going to be quite so thirsty for whatever paint you choose - that means less coats of paint.  The trim that's primed is also less expensive.  It seems like that's because they are using pine that has been joined together.  

See in this picture here all those chevron marks where the different wood is joined together?  It makes no difference for this project, but you can see how that type of wood would be garbage if you were wanting to have a stained product.  All these materials can be found at your Home Depot or Lowe's.

The HDF goes on first.  BTW, I choose HDF over MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard) because I have 2 young boys and they are constantly seeing if they can destroy the house, so the tougher the materials I choose, the less often I have to fix things.  :)  The HDF is covering the biggest parts of the couch.

The sides...

The inside edge of the arm rest...

And I thought I took a picture of the front of the couch where you legs would hang over, but I guess I didn't.  For your project, you'll have to take a look to see where you have open areas that had once been covered by fabric and padding and determine how best to cover it.  I cannot imagine many couches not being able to be covered in this same manner.

Next went on the trim.

You can see in this picture how the part your calves would rub against has one vertical piece of trim in the middle, 2 horizontal pieces of trim (all of these are cut from the 1x3 lumber) and they are covering the area where I had applied that other piece of HDF... the one I failed to take a picture of earlier.  The arm rests and the vertical piece extending down from the arm rests were cut from the 1x6 lumber.  The inside of the arm rests used the 1x2 and the outside ends of the couch is where I used the 1x3 lumber.  I had considered adding another vertical piece on the outer edges in the middle, but there was nothing to nail it to.

When you're measuring for your trim pieces, especially those for the arm rests, you need to decide if you want things to line up perfectly or if you want a little overhang.  You can see in the picture below that I opted for about 1/4-inch of overhang.  I prefer to have a little overhang here because I know if I was trying to line it up perfectly, I would probably miss and that would look dumb.  So instead, I made it more intentional looking.

Next step is sanding.  You can use an electric sander if you want.  There isn't a ton of sanding to be done, though, so I opted for my arm-powered sander.  You want to round the sharp corners of that trim some and knock down and roughness in the wood before painting.  That way you get a nice smooth finish.  For paint I used a Sherwin-Williams oil-based paint with the color Domino.  It may look black in the picture, but it is really more of a deep, rich mahogany color.  So nice.  I like the oil-based variety because it is way more durable than latex, so I can scrub the crap out of it, and you won't have any of it coming off.  And I stink at cleaning paint brushes, so I always go into it knowing I will be tossing the paint brush when I'm done.  I also make sure to paint in a nice warm house (like around 70-degrees) because it keeps the paint liquid a little longer and lets it flow more, thus creating a smoother surface.

The last step I did was to grab a clearance rack bedding set.  I found a twin sized one which was the perfect size, but you may want a slightly larger one just so you have room to make a mistake or two.  Then I cut up the comforter and sewed it into pillow-case type covers for the butt cushions and the back cushions.

All-in-all I think it turned out pretty well.  My boys, naturally, think it's super comfortable now... just because it looks better.  :)

  

Big, Beautiful... Nightmare of a Window

Do you have one of these beauties in your house?  We sure do, and as you can kind of tell it's fairly massive.  I absolutely love the amount of light that it lets in, but it faces directly west, and in the afternoon the sun beams through it making the living room a little too warm (in the summer).  We also have a cut out in the wall opposite this one, so that you can see through from the kitchen to the living room... and a view out to the street.  But in the late afternoon, that sun coming through hits you right in the eye as you're starting to make dinner, forcing one to wear sunglasses while cooking!

So after a few other projects had been wrapped up, my next project was to figure out what to do to cover this window when necessary.  I called up one of those window treatment places - can't remember the name - figuring they would have the biggest assortment of options, even though it might cost us an arm and a leg.

The guy came out, took a few measurements.  I explained to him that I wanted something that wasn't fixed!  I wanted to be able to have light coming in through the windows or have it closed off when the mood struck.  He called back a few days later to inform me that he had 2 options.  Both were fixed!!!!  And the cheapest was going to run a few thousand dollars!!!!  Wha????  If I wanted it permanently closed off I could hang a blue tarp across the thing for a couple bucks, but that wasn't what I wanted!!!  What's the point of having this window if it's never going to let light in?

So, although I tried to unload this project onto someone else, I was back creating something myself.  I dreamed up the idea of creating a shutter.  It would have to fold up some, like an accordion, otherwise the "open window" version would lease a huge shutter extending out over one's head while the sat on the couch, and would also put a lot of strain on a hinge.  Luckily for me the window is a perfect 1/4 circle.  What this means is that I only needed to measure the width of the opening at the bottom to know how to cut the pieces I would use.

This picture shows you how I measured the window.

Then I had to figure out how to cut the pieces I needed with that measurement in mind.  I went down to our Home Depot and picked up 4 sheets of 1/2-inch plywood, measuring 2x4 feet.  I supposed I could have grabbed 2 4x8 sheets, and they probably would have been a little cheaper, but a 4x8 is super hard to fit in a crossover SUV, and a huge pain in the butt to make cuts on.  It's just huge and awkward.  So I picked up the smaller ones.  Then I cut each of them in 1/2 so I now had 4 strips that were 1x4 feet.  You want a really straight cut, so a table saw is the best way to go for that.  At this time I didn't have my table saw yet, so I just marked a straight line, and used my circular saw... and held my breath the whole time I was cutting... because you know you get straighter cuts when you hold your breath and cut off the oxygen supply to your brain.  ;)  

Then I laid out the 4 pieces (per window on the ground).  I left approximately 1/4 inch space between each of them.  You're going to need to attach a hinge between each one.  The hinge will take up some room, so account for this now.  Otherwise you'll end up with a shutter that is too big for you window.  With the pieces laid out, I drove a big nail into the ground at the bottom/inner corner.  In the picture (above), it's kind of hard to see, but on the bottom left corner you can see a red dot.  Imagine that was my nail.  This nail will be in contact with that corner of the wood.  Now take a piece of string, and tie it to the nail, and then tie a pencil to the other end - making sure the length of string between the pencil and the nail is the "x" length of the window.  We've essentially created a large scale compass (remember those from math class?).  Draw a line across each piece of wood to mark where cuts need to be made for this 1/4 circle shutter.

Using a jigsaw I made the cuts.  I then sanded down the edges some, and applied a piece of trim framing each piece.  You don't have to add the trim, but the shutter looked kind of bland without it.  And unless you have some way to steam your wood so it will bend, go grab some of that cheapo rectangular trim that's supposed to look like wood - but is really some plastic composite stuff, because it's nice and bendy.  

With your pieces all ready to go, attach each one together using piano hinges.  I guess these are more properly known as "continuous hinges".  I found that I had to use my hacksaw to cut the hinge for the last piece, because the hinge was simply too long.  Also, make sure that as you attach your hinges, you're alternating the hinge from front to back.  If you put all the hinges on the side facing toward the window, it won't fold up like an accordion, and same is true if you put them all on the side facing into the room.

You can see here, with this back view of mine, that I put the first and last hinges facing towards the window, and the middle hinge faces out into the room.  If you want your shutters to be white and you don't want the hinges to stand out, you'll want to spray them down with some Krylon or Rustoleum first so they match whatever color you're painting the shutter.

With the hinges put together, and your shutter painted, you're ready to install it.  I used 2 of these hinges that look a little like butterflies.  They were plenty strong for this project, and they have the added bonus of folding up tighter than other door hinges would.  They're referred to as "non-mortise hinges" because you haven't used a chisel to hollow out an area (mortise) for the side of the hinge to nestle into.  You may want some help for this part of the project as it's pretty tough to screw these in while also holding up the shutter.  Trust me, I did the first one by myself and then waited around for help with the second one so I didn't grind my teeth off... or burst a blood vessel in my face from frustration.

Now that you've got them up, test them out!!  It's amazing what a difference it makes.  It was certainly a lot cheaper than what that window blind guy wanted to charge me, and I got exactly what I was looking for!