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Tiered Planter Boxes

March 25, 2015

When we first moved into our house, I was at a loss with what to do with our front entry. It was too small to put any thing large, but big enough that it looked funny with out SOMETHING?!

I was stubborn and thought surely I can fit in some seating… Yeah, that was a bust. As a result I ended up with a lot of scrap 1×3’s. Well, ‘When life gives you lemons… stick em’ down your shirt and make your boobs look bigger.” or… take the scrap and build it into these awesome planters!

If you want to learn more about the floor transformation, you can see how I did it here: Patio Floor Makeover

Materials Used:

1×3″ s
1×2″
Heavy Duty Landscaping Material
Exterior Use Stain
1 1/4″ Wood Screws
Weather resistant Wood Glue

Tools Suggested:

Miter Saw
Drill
1/8″ Drill Bit
Level
Staple Gun

Cut List: ( For ONE tiered planter)

1×3″ Boards

33 @ 16″
24 @ 12″
2 @ 13″
2 @ 24″
4 @ 35″

1×2″Board

6 @ 10.5″

To speed up the assembly process, cut all boards, sand and if desired stain all boards. Once dry, you can begin the assembly process. When assembling , I would strongly suggest pre-drilling all joints for screws, to avoid the wood splitting. If you prefer using a nail gun, use 2″ nails and as an added precaution use a weatherproof wood glue.

To line the planters, I used a heavy duty landscaping material. I would guess you could use another form of material, but that is what I used.

Cut 3 rectangles approximately 22″x 27″, push the material into the individual planter boxes. Make sure the material covers the bottom and the interior sides of the planter. Then use a heavy duty stapler to staple the material so that it stays in place .

Then fill er’ up! Soil, plants, water, sun, you know the routine!

Take Luck,

Corey

DIY Rustic Frames

March 20, 2015

Want to make your own rustic frames for CHEAP? I can show you how. I am over at Remodelaholic today and you can see the full tutorial here.

Ceiling Fan Makeover

March 17, 2015

I have a very dear friend, who was over at my house one afternoon. We were chatting about what my next project would be. I must have said something along the lines of, ” I am not sure.” To which she responded. “Well, when are you going to change your fan? It doesn’t match .” HA. I love that lady. She was right, it didn’t, but I didn’t think it was absolutely horrendous. Regardless, now, nearly 1.5 years later. I did it, Michelle, I finally did a much-needed ceiling fan makeover!

Ceiling Fan Makeover

So, let’s dive into this ceiling fan makeover. First step? Remove that sucker from the ceiling. (Unfortunately, all fans are going to vary slightly, so I can’t help much with that part.) Once the fan was down, I decided to remove, and refinish the blades first.

I didn’t really like anything about the fan, even down to the shape of the fan blades. So, I took matters into my own hands. I drew out the new shape on the blades.

So I took a jigsaw and chopped off the tips.

I used a sander to round out the edges. While I had the sander, I sanded off the finish and prepped it for a new one!

I used a stain on the fan blades. You can use a traditional stain, or you can use a stain/poly blend.

I had to disassemble the entire fan in order to refinish it. The one suggestion I would strongly caution is take pictures of the process! It may help when you put it back together.

Once disassembled I used a foam sand block to scuff up all the metal pieces. ( You will need to have them scuffed up for the spray paint to adhere.)

When prepping for paint, I needed to tape off the bulb socket to prevent paint from getting in the sockets.

Thoroughly wipe down all pieces and lay them out for painting. Once it is all laid out, I was ready to paint! I used Oil Rubbed Bronze Metallic Spray Paint by Rustoleum. Remember to use several light coats, as opposed to one heavy coat. It will harden much quicker, and produce a much more even finish, without drip marks. If you feel like you need a little more direction, here is another tutorial where I showed how to refinish a light fixture .

Once all pieces are dry, it was time to re-assemble. Now might be an ideal time to pull out the pictures of the disassemble process.

There, that finish is much more fitting for my space.

The last thing it needed was new glass shades. The old ones were very dated. This one simple change drastically improved the whole fan. I used “seeded” glass shades. I found mine at Lowes for $3.98 a piece. Not too shabby!

I don’t know about you, but I think it was a night and day difference, once I swapped out the shades. Ta-da !

So let’s break it down.:

Spray Paint $5.97

Glass Shades (x4) $3.98

Stain $0 ( I had some on hand from a previous project)

For a little under $22.00

I was able to completely update dated, somewhat ugly ceiling fan . So, look up. Do you have an ceiling fans that could use and update ?

Take luck,

Corey

PVC Bed Canopy

March 5, 2015

When we first moved into our home, I was a little stumped with what I should do with our bedroom. It seemed a little dull…

I knew I wanted to do something different, and I really wanted to case my window with big white molding. I did end up casing the window, and as a result took down the drapes… So, I had all these extra sheer panels laying around… Hmmm what to do !!?

I had just finished up another PVC project and had some leftover pieces laying around, which gave me an idea… Bed Canopy!

Shopping List:

4 x ½” PVC Pipe (8’ long each) $1.86 x 4 = $7.44
4 x 90° Elbow PVC $0.46 x 4 = $1.84
14 x PVC Conduit Clamp $3.04
Spray paint (Rustoleoum Oil Rubbed Bronze)

Tools Suggested:

Saw ( miter, hand, circular, etc… PVC is fairly easy to cut)
Drill
Sand paper

Cut List:

King Size:

2@76″
2@80″

Queen Size

2@60″
2@80″

Full Size

2@54″
2@75″

Twin

2@39″
2@75″

For this project I used 1/2″ PVC. I was building it for a king size bed so I needed 4 pieces.

I personally used 10 pipe hanging clamps. I also needed (4) 90 degree elbows with 1/2″ opening. Once you have all your pieces cut, you are ready to paint ! You can read more about the painting process here.

After all of your pvc is painted, and completely dry you are ready to install!

To begin, you will need to do a little bit of math, and in my case trial and error. Using a tape measure, and a pencil, layout the position of your soon to be canopy. Once you have your 4 corners marked, you can play an easy game of connect the dots.

The first thing you will attach is the clamps. I would suggest trying to find a few ceiling joists, if at all possible. If you can’t, it’s not the end of the world. This is a fairly lightweight design. I would however use “mollies” just to give it a little more staying power. I used 10, but this number and placement can change based on aesthetics, size, etc… Once the hangers are installed, it is time to put in the PVC. Simply run the PVC through the clamps. However, it is not time to put on the corner pieces. First we need to add our curtains. I decided to use curtain rings. This is completely optional. I liked the fact that I did not need to worry about the clamps being in the way of the curtain .

Once your curtain panels are attached you are good to go! I personally use Lill sheer panels from Ikea. They were only $4.99 for a 2 pack. Score!

I absolutely love how they give this room a soft spa like quality. This canopy is just what my room was missing ! It gave it the ” Wow factor” without breaking the bank, love it! Does it look a little familiar ? You may have seen it over at My good friends site a few years ago! Make sure to head on over to “Take It From Me” enter to win some of her great give-a-ways!

Steampunk Gear Clock

February 26, 2015

Materials Used:

Foam sheets
Wire Wreath Forms
Wooden Wreath Circle
Old Clock(s)
Textured Spray Paint

Tools Suggested:

Exacto Knife
Hot Glue Gun
Jigsaw

I used a ton of wire wreath rings to make the clock. These rings come in lots of different sizes, which was PERFECT, I needed to give the clock some diversity. These worked perfectly.

Wooden wreath forms worked really well, and gave a little bit of thickness in contrast to the wire wreath rings.

If you aren’t afraid of a little shop work, consider adding some wooden gears to the mix. I used a piece of OSB and drew out a “gear”, then used a jigsaw to cut them out. It worked out great, BUT it was a little bit of work.

If the task of cutting out OSB with a jigsaw is a little daunting, consider using craft foam. It is easy to cut, and work with. I simply drew the design directly onto the craft foam, and then used and exacto knife to cut it out.

Then of course don’t forget the clocks! I used all sorts of them. It did not matter if they matched, because I would ultimately be spray painting all the components of the clock.

I ultimately decided the trick to making this look work was layering! I just started overlapping, and layering all of the different components. For example, below you will see that I layered a wooden wreath with a wire form on top, and then hot glued them together.

Same principle here, I cut out a gear out of osb, and then layered a wire wreath ring behind it.

Basically, keep layering until it looks full!

Last but not least, SPRAY PAINTING! I used a textured metallic spray paint by Rust-O-Leum. Worked like a charm.

Seriously, the paint is what makes all the difference. It can take a random group of items, and make them look… …like a work of art.

Suspended Shelving

February 20, 2015

Hey everyone, I am over at Remodelaholic today showing you how you can easily make these suspended shelves! Head on over and check it out HERE!

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