Cubby bench project (spring 2011)

Day 1: Took a personal day from work and headed right to Home Depot after dropping the kids off at school. Selected sheets of finished wood and had them cut the pieces I'd need for supports. Grabbed wood glue, dowels and some particle board for the backs (no one should see them but I didn't want the contents of the cubbies to fall through).

Pieces cut at the store and drilled for dowels are ready for assembly

At home, it took me several hours to get the holes drilled for the dowels, line up all of the dowels with the appropriate holes, add glue, and smoosh them together. The rug got a few glue drips on it (oops) and I drilled right through the wood in spots... ah well, no one will be inspecting either too closely.

Midway through the process of lining up dowels and gluing the supports

By the time my kids' school day was done, I'd assembled the skeletons and had holes drilled into the top pieces. These took up 1/3 of our dining area and my kids will want to climb on them, so I was pressed to finish this project ASAP...

Adding the back at this stage provided some support while the wood glue dried

After the kids were in bed, I got the tops lined up and popped on with only a little cursing. My husband found some straps we use to ratchet things onto our car rooves... they definitely came in handy. By morning they should be in a state where the kids can touch them. Meanwhile, I attached feet I'd found on sale online (about $4 each) with two-sided screws an old gnarly man at Home Depot suggested. Good call! Also, pulled out my miter box and sawed the trim so the two pieces could come together snugly. If I ever need to use these in another formation, I can add more trim -- I've got a bit leftover and anyway, it looks pretty standard.

The pieces are starting to come together

 Trim makes boring, not-exactly-right boxes look so much better...

Inexpensive trim cut with miter box and saw, and attached

 I love these feet and they make this look like a piece of furniture, similar to our inherited dining table and chairs. Together I hope it all gives off a hacienda-esque vibe.

Feet were found online on sale (www.vandykes.com)

Days 2-4: Who knew staining and sealing these would be the hardest part? One fiasco after another... to prevent fumes inside I did this under a covered porch... but it was March and quite wet. The stuff didn't dry quickly and it looked streaky so I kept applying more and more coats... and it had to stay longer and longer outside. On morning #2 the top started bowing and popped off the dowels -- I freaked, woke up my husband and he pulled out the rachet straps again. Between the two of us we got the tops back on reasonably well, but I had to buy some wood putty to fill some gaps. Cushions are now a must.

Stain was applied outside because it was too soon to open windows

Day 5: With fabric from the sale table, and foam that is way more expensive than I expected, I constructed these pillows. Never a patient person, especially with sewing, I just wrapped these like gifts, safety pinned them, then used a curved needle to stitch them up. The roll pillows are actually big dog pillows I found at Home Goods for about $15 each (everything else I found was way too expensive). I folded them on end and sewed a seam down the long edge. The sides are still open so I can unzip and clean them if need by. The larger pillows don't have zippers but I figure I can cheaply and quickly recover them if they get too funky... plus I will eventually get sick of the color and pattern.

Finished product with cushions

 Another angle. The clutter is already starting to fill up the cubbies... but at least it's organized chaos. Our entryway has been a dumping ground for too long! And now we have more seating when our extended families come over.

Time to complete: 1 full day + 1 evening + 2-3 naptimes
Approximate cost: $300

List o' Projects

The projects tackled so far since moving to this house in July 2009:

• Built-in shelves that hold the TV, bins of toys, etc. in a weird space in the family room (I snagged my parents to help with this)

• Built a stacked stone retaining wall where there was rubble from a downed tree

• Tore out a bar that cut the kitchen off from the dining area (with my husband's help) and patched the area of the wall that came off with it

• Built 2 small pergolas and yanked wisteria vines from a nearby tree onto the pergolas for privacy

• Recovered an 80s chair with more up-to-date fabric

• Built L-shaped benches with cubbies underneath and made cushions for their tops

• Ripped out an old privacy fence that had started to teeter (while on a conference call for work, with my phone on mute)

• Painted our bedroom (after getting some advice from the Washington Post's Home Front makeover series)

• Added a shelf for condiments near the stove

• Constructed a small retaining wall for a flower bed using stones found while moving azaleas

• Made curtains for various windows, a canopy bed and one shower

• Created large wall panels with old, beloved wallpaper from my childhood home

• Recovered kitchen chairs, add more padding, and tighten up some of the joints

• Started a mural of an Italian vista on approx. 8' x 15' dining room wall

• Built a "mud room" wall with hooks, mirror, shelves

• Assembled a makeshift pantry, merged with existing cabinetry, with chalkboard on its side

• Started a mosaic backsplash

• Extended kitchen cabinets to the ceiling and added trim and a wine rack

• Built a knife rack in a wasted sliver of space between upper cabinet and wall

• Mounted a TV in the kitchen for my husband so he can cook and watch

• Started another mural downstairs, of Ireland, on canvas hung over a swath of wood paneling

• Husband built a hockey rink in our backyard

What I'd like to do:

• Sculpt an existing chandeleir from Habitat ReStore into something resembling coral, with the kids, using plaster of paris

• Build a track around the perimeter of our yard that could double as a walkway

• Carve out a new room from an open area that's become a dumping ground (add walls and door)

• Add a sliding door (barn style or similar) to the attic bedroom for privacy

• Transform an antique ice box with rusty innards into a bar & wine rack

• Rehab an old ship door table (replace wobbly legs, sand down the stained surface)

Getting started

I work full time in a cubicle. I have two small kids. I have about 30.2 min of free time a day, and in it I've found that I'm obsessed with planning the next DIY project.

This has been a somewhat clandestine affair. My husband doesn't understand my need to constantly improve our house, prove myself, whatever the impetus is for these projects. I tend to work under cover of darkness, because the only time I can pull out tools without my kids underfoot is after their bedtime, after bills are paid, the kitchen is clean, etc. I've had a few comments from neighbors ("Were you out digging last night...?").

Rushing through projects is a necessity right now. I can't leave nails, shards of wood, paint, etc. around for even a day -- my kids will be scratched, splintered and covered in that paint if they get the chance. So I plan, plan, plan then work in short bursts. This has proven effective for me. Even if I wasn't so time-constrained, I am certain there would be long dry periods then fits of creativity. The great thing about this approach is seeing progress almost immediately.

Another benefit is the learning curve I've had... I inevitably screw something up, and plow my way through, and along the way learn something. It may be something I want to repeat (like using trim to finish off even an otherwise boring woodworking attempt) or not (like leaving wood outside in damp weather). None of these projects is so involved that I couldn't abandon it and start over. Not that I have... I'm stubborn, cheap, and fairly resourceful so I just cover over or mash my mistakes into a reasonable result.

(My little brother has invented a verb for this approach. He calls it "hill-billying". As in, "I didn't have the proper tools so I had to hill-billy it." Turns out that I'm not as suburban as I've feared...)
I have no real skill, just a bunch of ideas and some exposure as a kid to parents who knew basic carpentry, reapholstery, tiling, and a multitude of other things that enabled them to fix up and maintain a 1947 house. Now I find myself in my own house from 1948, after years of renting... I could not be happier with the freedom to do whatever I want! Within limits, of course -- e.g. I'm not spending more than a couple hundred dollars on any of these projects, and I've shied away from getting outside help (which I would need for anything involving electricity or plumbing).

So after near-constant sketching, list-writing and scheming, it's about time I have a formal place to jot down my ideas, my progress, and -- if anyone like-minded ends up reading this -- get some ideas and feedback.

My plan is to log my ideas, describe projects I've undertaken and about how much they cost (in time and supplies), and lessons learned. And because I love before & after photos, I'll try to include plenty of those (they may be from my phone, because in my house the camera is never charged up).

Yay!