Ideas and projects around the house that you can do yourself
The China Hutch Experiment is our latest project in distressed furniture. We found it on Craigslist for $20. It needed a few minor repairs, but everything was there, no broken glass and no missing parts! (This is no antique, it is a cheap Chinese knock off, so we’re not “ruining” anything) After cleaning, and sanding it, I sprayed it with a couple of coats of light blue paint. Continue reading Distressed Furniture: The China Hutch Experiment
From the moment we moved into the new house, the wife has been looking for a side table for the living room.
She looked everywhere, and we tried several tables of various shapes and sizes to no avail.
Finally, while at a furniture store, she found a table made from what looks like an old baluster, that she thought was a great inspiration piece.
Continue reading How to Build a Table From Reclaimed Column for Less Than $35
One of the quickest ways to build “stuff”, is to use a pocket hole jig. Basically, the jig drills a screw hole at an angle into a board. This lets you put a screw through the center of one board into another. No dowels, no tenons, no dovetails, no fancy tools! It may not be a family heirloom, but most of the things you can assemble with pocket screws will hold up to a lot of abuse.
Continue reading Beginners Guide: Kreg Pocket Hole Jigs – The Mini
When it comes time to find a new piece to make over or materials for making something, there are a lot of places to look besides the high priced stores. Here are some ideas for ways to find cheap furniture and other stuff for your next project.
Continue reading 11 Ways to Find Cheap Furniture & Other Stuff to Paint or Up Cycle
When we found the new house, it had just been “flipped”. Almost everything was done. The one obvious item left, was in the living room, around the fireplace. The house is 50 years old. Why no one had added custom built in cabinets during that time, I won’t ever understand.
Continue reading Custom Built in Cabinets – A Fancy Fireplace
Our move was quick, and in the winter. We needed additional storage, so… we bought an Ikea Brimnes bed frame. It has large drawers under it, but it’s very plain. Not how I would have built one at all, but very workable.
The problem is that we needed it to be about 4″ off the wall. I hate when my pillows fall behind the bed! Solution, a short, padded headboard.
Continue reading A Quick Padded Headboard – Or another Ikea Hack
My wife decided that the side chair in our sun room, just didn’t work for her anymore. So… let’s upholster it she says. (We??? I know what that means) Just how hard can upholstering be?
Here is the chair we started with. I didn’t think it was too bad.
Continue reading Upholstering a Chair ain’t so bad – Learn the Basics
