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All Purpose, Every Occasion Caddy

May 15, 2015

Father’s Day will be here before you know it! Are you ready ?

Come to think of it so is the end of the school year… that means teacher gifts… dang.

What about that graduation party you just received and announcement for ? Oh man, what about that baby shower?

Wedding Reception ?

House warming party?

No matter what the occasion, I’ve got your covered. Check out how versatile this baby is!

Want to make one of your own !? How about 3 or 12 ? Get all your holiday gifts done in one fell swoop!

I am over at Remodelaholic today, and you can see the entire tutorial here!

My Recycled Shop Cabinets

May 5, 2015

Supplies Used:

A whole bunch of FREE crap
Elbow Grease
Lots of of Work
Clearance Hardware from Lowes

Ok, I am speaking to all of my skilled craftsmen out there, please just ignore the following post. Seriously, stop reading. The following post will make you cringe.

BUT to all of my DIYer, makeover addicts, and frugal finders, you are gonna love this! I am going to show you, how I took a whole bunch of free Craigslist crap and turned it into an awesome workspace.

It all started with these cabinets. These were originally from a High School renovation. There were three left and I was able to snag them for free! I sanded them down, primed them, and then installed them.

The next question was what to use for counter tops… the cabinets from the high school, did have a counter top, BUT I wanted to space out the cabinets to allow for more storage, so the original counter top would be far too small.

Well my Husband was scrolling through the “free” section of Craigslist, and came upon two FREE “all wood doors”. So he was my hero and went and snagged those from the curb. Which was no easy feat, those beasts are HEAVY, which is probably why the owner assumed they were all wood… They weren’t. They were solid core, meaning they aren’t hollow, but they were not solid wood. Which presented some problems, but stay tuned I will be showing you how I turned them into awesome counter tops.

Next, I needed to create some overhead storage. Over the past few months my husband acquired quite a collection of solid wood furniture for me. He found them by simply perusing the “Free” section of Craigslist. After moving all of these pieces from place to place while trying to organize the garage, I decided to sacrifice all my spare wood and potential projects towards the greater good of the garage. I tore them all apart and ripped them down to make my cabinets.

Like I said, all pro wood workers, look away. I am butchering these cabinets.

BUT guess what they are in my garage, they are going to take some abuse and are FREE.

Mic Drop.

After a little bit of playing around with sizes, I came up with this configuration. I kept one of the cabinets in the original dimensions ( the center one) and then installed the two side cabinets. I then used 1×2’s and 1×3’s to make face frames for the cabinets.

The only part of the project I really spent money on was making the cabinet doors. I made a simple shaker style cabinet door. I apparently got a little ahead of myself and did not document the process.

BUT, Jill from “The Rozy Home” did great post at Remodelaholic showing “How to Make a Shaker Cabinet Door”.

After deliberating over the cabinet color I settled on a dark gray. I am not going to lie, I changed some of the cabinets 3 times! After my frustrating trial runs, I realized I really wanted them to match the floor. So that is exactly what I did. I had leftover paint from refinishing the floor, and so that is what I used! Ha.

Last thing they needed was hardware. A few months ago, I was at Lowes and stumbled upon this hardware… all on CLEARANCE! they were selling the small pulls for like $.49! The large ones for $.97! I bought every single one, and I am so glad I did. I have used them everywhere and had just enough to put them on my garage cabinets!

So there you have it, my nearly free modge podge garage cabinets. There is a lot more to the garage renovation, but that will need to wait for another day.

The moral of the story: If you are hesitant to start an overhaul because of the price, then start hitting up the “free” section of Craigslist. It WILL be a lot more work, but it is A LOT cheaper!

Take Luck,

Corey

Secret Compartment Jewelry Case

April 24, 2015

Materials Used:

1×6″ (x1 @ 6′)
1×3″ (x2 @8′)
1×8″ (x1 @6′)
1×2″ (x1 @ 8′)
1/2″ x 3 1/2 ” Board ( I found this in the trim section, they were only 1/2″ thick, or you can use a planer)
Paneling 1/4″ (2’x4′ sheet)
Cup Hooks (x 10)
Mirror ( 20″ x 15 3/4″) I found that Lowes will cut this size mirror for about $12.00
Full Extension Ball Bearing drawer Glides 16″
(3) 2″ drawer pulls
(3) Coat Hooks
Wood Glue

Tools Suggested:

Kreg Pocket Hole Jig
Table saw
Finish Nailer

Making the Frame-

1×3″-

21 ” long point to long point with 45 degree angles (x2)
25″ long point to long point with 45 degree angles (x2)

Using a Kreg Jig , drill pocket holes in order to create a 90 angle.
Repeat on all four corners, in order to create the rectangle frame.

The Back of the Framed Mirror-

1×3″-

19.5″ (x2)
25″ (x1)

Paneling (1/4″)-

20 1/4″ x 23 1/2″

Using a Kreg Jig make pocket holes to:

Join the 2 joints.
Attach the frame to the back.

Using wood glue, secure the 20 1/4″ x 23 1/2″ paneling behind the frame opening.

Top Piece-

1×6″ Board ( You will need to rip this down)

22″x 5″

Using wood glue place the board centered on top of the unit. Then reinforce with 1″ wood screws. I wold suggest using a counter sink drill bit and pre-drill.

Corbel-

Use a 1×2″ board to make the corbel. Then attach at the top corners of the mirror.

Base-

1×8″ ( You will need to rip this down)

22″ x 7 1/4″ (x2)
5″ x 7 1/4″ (x2)

Drawer-

1×6″ ( You will need to rip this down)

19 1/4 x 4 3×4″ (x2)

1×4″ Board

5 1/2″ ( x2)

Paneling

6x 18 1/2″

In order to create the appearance of 3 individual drawers, I made cuts in one of the 19 1/4″ boards. To enhance that card catalog look I used small 2″ label pulls.

When making the drawer using either a table saw or a router and cut a 1/4″ deep groove, approximately 1/2″ from the bottom edge. (See image below.)

Using a Kreg Jig I attached the sides to the front of the drawer. Add a small bead of glue to the cut out groove of the boards. Then slide the paneling into the grooves. Then attach back with glue and reinforce with a nailer.

Hook Base-

1×4″ Board-

19 1/2″
5″ (x2) (These will be made into the corbels,see dimensions below.)

I attached the the corbels to the base board using pocket holes, and then fastened it to the base of the jewelry case.

( You can fill the holes with Kreg Jig Wood Plugs.)

Drawer Insert-

1×2″ Boards

22 1/2″ (x2)
16″ (x2)

Paneling 1/4″

22′ x 17 1/4″

Construct the fame using the 1 x 2″ boards. (Hold off on attaching the 1×3″ board until after you have installed the drawer glide.

At this point I would pre-drill the locations for your cup hooks.

Nearly there! One of the last steps is adding the drawer glides.

Once you have your drawer glide installed, then add the 1×3″ trim board. (Remember this is only 1/2″ as opposed to standard boards that are typically 3/4″ thick. We need that ext 1/4″ allowance so that we can use a magnetic touch latch. This will allow the opening to stay inconspicuous, while still allowing easy access.

The Finish-

I used “Weathered Gray” from Minwax, I then used a small amount of Minwax Jacobean to darken the edges and crevices. I then white washed the entire unit two times. Both times wiping away any excess with a rag. Once dried completely I used a finishing wax.

The Hardware –

After the finish has completely dried, it’s time to add the last of the hardware and the mirror. To place the mirror, I smoothed an ample amount of Liquid Nails on to the panel sitting with in the frame. Gently set the mirror in place and allow to dry.

I decided to add trim to the interior rim of mirror, so it would hide the edges and create a nice finished look. (If you own a router, then you can easily route out the interior lip of the 1×3″ boards to hide these edges as well. I was simply trying to make this tutorial more accessible to more readers. )

Now, slap on the hooks and pulls! I always love adding the finishing touches! Only thing left to consider is how to install it on a wall. I opted for this:

Now, hang er’ up and enjoy!

Pantry Bi-fold into French Doors

April 22, 2015

I have recently finished up my kitchen makeover and this was one of my last projects on the list! I wanted to give my basic bi-fold doors a facelift. After a while considering my options, I came up with this solution, and I kind of LOVE it. You can read all about it on my post over at Remodelaholic!

Workshop Assembly Table

April 15, 2015

Ok, so after 3 years of being frustrated with my shop set up, I finally decided to do something about it ! One thing that I really wanted to have an assembly table. I was always sitting on the garage floor trying to assemble furniture. My joints were always wonky, and the fact that it had carpeting did not help. Well the carpet is long gone.

The reason I had never built an assembly table before was due to space issues, but then I had an epiphany, if I could make it multipurpose, so that it actually created more space in then it would be totally worth it! I decided that my table saw, air compressor, and the air hose/reel were bulky and hard to work with (space wise). The other requirement, I had to do it CHEAP! So those were my requirements… and I met and surpassed them!

I am so excited about how it turned out!

WARNING: This is a BRAG POST, not a tutorial. I am featuring the assembly table that I made, in hopes that it will spur some ideas !

So far I had spent $6.00 on (2) 2×4’s, to supplement the lumber I had from disassembling my old work bench. (You can see my old shop here) The castors were from my old table as well, and the door was a FREE find on Craigslist! (Yes, it is solid.)
At this point I had incorporated my air compressor and my table saw, 2 of my bulkiest items in the shop! ( I did research about laying this compressor down, and it was “ok” as long as it was elevated on one end allowing it to drain). Then obviously the table saw is on the end. Next where to put my hose reel… and what to do with all the space on the far side of the compressor! I just can’t let that space go to waste! Well, I have my compressor, and air hose reel, it only makes sense to add my pneumatics! Here is what I did! I basically made a box (out of wood from yet another Free Craigslist find!) Then added a shelf and dividers, as you can see from the picture this was a lot of scrap wood pieces, all unified by paint! I just used leftover paint from the garage floor!

The last thing it needed was a backing, I just recycled the back of my Free Craigslist “thing?”. So ZERO money spent on my nailers and drills.

I made it to fit perfectly in the empty space in my assembly table. Just slid it into place.

Then I used cheap paneling to box it all in. I ended up using a full 4×8′ sheet as well as as some scrap pieces. So that was another $14.00.

I then trimmed out all the edges to give it a nice finished look. I spent about $25.00 on primed 1×4″ finger board.

The last thing I needed to finish up was my table top, I routed out a strip for my Kreg Clamp Tracks (ie My extra set of hands)

and then trimmed out with premium cut 1×3’s.

Look at how pretty that is! Everything has a place, and everything in it’s place. Ah… My happy place.

It wouldn’t be complete without a charging station. I was able to incorporate a power strip that allowed me to plug in the chargers, the compressor and the table saw. Eliminating all the annoying cords!

I was able to mount my air hose reel on the underside of my table top . I made sure that it was located close to the air compressor and easily accessible.

I love that the saw is mounted at the end, and creates support when cutting long pieces. Another thing I LOVE is that it collects all the sawdust! Just flip down the front, pull out the drawer, empty, replace, repeat.

I was able to include all of my requirements, and I LOVE it. I don’t know how I ever functioned without an assembly table. It definitely makes like easier.

It is not only practical, but look at HOW PRETTY !?

What I Spent :

2×4’s – $6.00

Paneling 4×8′ – $14.00

Trim – $25.00

1×3″ s (3) – $15.00

What I spent * – $ 60.00

Like I said, this is what I made it for, the total amount reflects the money I had to spend to complete this project*. It used a lot of recycled materials from previous projects.

So, how much space are you WASTING, NOT having an assembly table !?

Thanks for reading,
Corey

At times I will discover a product I LOVE and want to share these new products, brands, and services with you. All reviews are true opinions and not altered by endorsements. In some cases I may be compensated for my efforts. Posts may contain affiliate links or sponsored content.

Complete Patio Makeover

March 31, 2015

One of lasts summers projects was to make the back patio a little more appealing. It was a lot of little projects that seemed to drag on forever. I did finally finish it all up, but it was a little late in the season for it to be relevant for most readers. So here it is, my back patio makeover in all of it’s 9×13′ glory. Enjoy.

I started with the floor, the floor the ceiling and the walls were all the same color. It felt like a cave. It was too dark of a color for the ceiling, but too light for the floor. The floor always looked dirty. So it got a little makeover. You can read more about the process here!
I loved the difference the floor made, so I decided the ceiling needed some help as well.

You can read more about how I significantly brightened the room here. It is amazing what a little paint can do.

While I loved the new floor, my kids liked to play out on the patio, and I wanted them to have a little bit of a softer surface to play on. So I used a cheap rug and some paint and turned it into this! You can read more about how I did it here.

For the tables, I used two different tables, one that I found at a thrift store, the other, on the side of the road. With a little bit of elbow grease I was able to make them look as if they went together.

You can read all about the process here.

For seating I used 2 chairs from my old dining set and turned them into a bench! You can read all about the process here.

For wall decor I used a mirror that I picked up from “ReStore for $2.00. With a little bit of work I was able to make it fit the theme. You learn how to make your own here.

As a small finishing touch I added a couple of simple coasters, that are super simple and cheap to make, you can read more about them here.

The directors chair was a thrift store find. It was all a matter of repainting, and removing the fabric, using it as a pattern to create a new one.

I absolutely love the way it turned out. You may have noticed I am not great at using color in my house. BUT the back porch was different. I was able to get over the anxiety of bright colors and went for it! I love it.

Blog

1×3″-

1×3″-

Paneling (1/4″)-

1×6″ Board ( You will need to rip this down)

Corbel-

1×8″ ( You will need to rip this down)

1×6″ ( You will need to rip this down)

1×4″ Board

Paneling

1×4″ Board-

1×2″ Boards

Paneling 1/4″

The Finish-

The Hardware –

WARNING: This is a BRAG POST, not a tutorial. I am featuring the assembly table that I made, in hopes that it will spur some ideas !

At times I will discover a product I LOVE and want to share these new products, brands, and services with you. All reviews are true opinions and not altered by endorsements. In some cases I may be compensated for my efforts. Posts may contain affiliate links or sponsored content.

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