diy Archives - Page 5 of 8 - Storefront Life

Yet Another Bench

I know, I know, ANOTHER BENCH?! REALLY? Here’s the deal. We replaced the top of our pipe leg dining table, and our old bench was looking sad in comparison. It’s unfair to give one kid a present, and then stiff the other one. So Mr. Bench got an upgrade.

If you remember correctly, this is what the old bench (& table) looked like:

We salvaged the pipe stretcher from the old bench, and got to work making new legs & a top. We wanted something a bit more industrial looking. The old bench was fine, but a bit traditional. So we searched for inspiration and found this on Pinterest:

I loved the chunky legs and thought it had the perfect shape. So we set to building our own version with a pipe stretcher.

Buy List:

1 – 2×12 x 6′ piece of kiln dried pine (same as our table)
2 – pine 2×2’s @ 8′ for aprons
2 – pine 2×4’s @ 8′ for the legs (make sure these are square edged 2×4’s, not rounded ones like you use for framing)
3/4″ dowel
Wood Glue
4′ pre-cut piece of 3/4″ gas line pipe (threaded on both ends)
2 – 3/4″ pipe floor flanges
2 1/2″ pocket screws

Cut List:

1 – 2×12 at 68″ (bench top)
2 – 2×2 at 48 5/8″ (aprons)
10 – 2×4 at 16 1/2″ (legs) if you can, set yourself a jig on your saw to make sure all the pieces are cut exactly the same size

First up, glue 5 2×4’s together with wood glue and clamps making one great big 4×10, repeat with the other 5 2×4’s (if you don’t have enough clamps, do one leg, then let it dry for a day, unclamp and do the other leg.)

To make sure those legs aren’t gonna move, we also strengthened them with dowels (and a few screws). We liked the way the exposed dowels looked on Daniel & Adelle’s table, so we opted for that route. After the legs have dried, mark 3″ up from the bottom of the leg on one end and mark the center of the board. Then drill a 3/4″ hole with a spade bit about half way through your leg. Ideally it would go all the way through, but to do that nicely (without any tear out) and straight you really need a drill press (which we dont have!). So we opted to do a dowel from each end.

After your hole is drilled, cut a piece of dowel a bit longer than your hole, glue & tap in place. Repeat for all the other sides of both legs and let dry.

To strengthen the top of the legs we used a 3″ counter sunk screw from either end. We pre-drilled the holes with a 3/8″ drill bit, inserted the screws, then filled the hole with a wood plug & some glue. If you must use screws on a project, using wood plugs will make them a lot less glaringly obvious.

Once all the glue has dried (another day) you can cut the dowels close to flush using a coping saw, chisel, hand saw, Dremel, or oscillating multi-tool.

Now it is time to make a few pocket holes for attaching the legs to the top. We put three holes in each leg (kreg pocket hole jig set to 1 1/2″ thick material).

Time to sand. I always find that it is MUCH easier to sand pieces like legs before installing them. As we needed to sand down the exposed dowels, we started sanding with 80 grit until the dowels were flush, then switched to 100, then 150 and finally 220 grit.

The apron pieces got 2 pocket holes drilled in each end (to attach to the legs) and a good sand as well.

Next up, attach the flanges to either end of the pipe and attach the pipe stretcher to the legs with screws. We used a scrap 2×4 to set the flanges up from the bottom of the legs.

Next up, attaching the legs to the table and the aprons. Flip the bench top upside down and use it as a work table to attach the aprons. The aprons will give the bench even more strength, and stop it from wanting to shift sideways. Once the aprons are attached to the legs, center the legs on the bench top, and attach the legs with the pocket holes you drilled earlier.

Assembly — Attaching the aprons to the legs, and the legs to the bench top

Put in a few 2 1/2″ screws through the aprons into the top, and fill the Kreg holes with pocket hole wood plugs and glue.

Time to head back outside, give the top a sand, and an overall finish sand to the rest of the bench.

Bench ready for stain (there's painters tape over the pipe) — Bench ready for stain (there’s blue painters tape over the pipe)

A coat of wood conditioner, two coats of Varathane Chocolate stain, and three coats of polyurethane later and this is what we’ve got. (check out my post on finishing wood here.)

Bench — Yep, I moved my nice new bench out into the dirty alley to take this photo.

SOURCE LIST:

Materials & Cut List:
(see above) – Wood from Downtown Lumber
Stain – Varathane Chocolate
Polyurethane – Minwax Oil Modified in Satin

Tools Used:
Miter saw
Drill
Kreg Jig
Orbital sander
Measuring Tape
Finishing Supplies

Difficulty Level (on a scale of 1-5):

two out of five

Total Cost: $60 (for the new wood, we already owned the pipe, stain & poly)

Quick & Dirty Outdoor Table

We got home from a week vacation in Vegas to find that our house hadn’t floated away in the Toronto Floods, and that our garden had doubled in size because of said rain. Win win. We also came home to a heat wave. You’d think I would be prepared for the heat after staying a week in the desert. No siree. Vegas heat = dry and wonderful, Toronto heat = humid and sweaty. Needless to say on our first day back we didn’t do much. We played and cuddled with Odin (who we missed desperately) and had a few cocktails on the deck.

Our deck layout is small (big surprise), and features a bench and two chairs with a small folding table. This works well for the person sitting beside the table, but everyone else must hold on to their drinks, snacks, hats etc. Fed up with holding onto my wine glass, (yes yes I know, first world problems) I sprang into action and built a quick and dirty (literally) outdoor side table.

Last time I was up at the cottage, I ~~stole~~ borrowed an old battered 2×12 that was sitting under the bunkie. My Dad had used it for the concrete forms for the cottage foundation, and the old board was just hanging out under the bunkie left for a life of firewood/scrap. I saw the beauty in its weathered aged goodness and brought the board home with me. It has since sat littering the garage floor (much to El Granto’s chagrin) waiting for a project.

In my fit of DIY, I did up a quick drawing, decided on a design & size, and made a few cuts of the weathered wood (see cut list below.)

Outdoor Side Table

(19″ tall, 17″ wide and 11 5/8″ deep )
Note: My sketch is in no way to scale, or in correct proportions, or even straight. That’s just how awesome I am at drawing…

I drilled a few pocket holes (four in one end of each of the side boards, and two on each end of the shelf), and screwed in a few outdoor Kreg screws, and 15 minutes later we had a weathered side table. Perfect for holding a glass of wine, sunglasses & a magazine. I made the shelf big enough to hold our Bose sound dock. Cause no deck time is complete without some Robin Thicke.

Side Table — No sanding, no staining, no finishing. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

SOURCE LIST:

Buy List:
1 – 2×12 @ 8′ (Under the Bunkie)
12 – 2 1/2″ outdoor pocket hole screws (Lee Valley)

Cut List:
1 – 2×12 @ 17″ (top)
1 – 2×12 @ 13 1/4″ (shelf)
2 – 2×12 @ 17 3/8″ (sides)

Tools Used:
Miter saw
Drill
Kreg Jig
Measuring Tape

Difficulty Level (on a scale of 1-5):

one out of five

Total Cost: $0 (booyakasha)

Quick no Plan Project: Beer Can Carrier

Last weekend while Kristen was sanding a new project and I had little to do. Sure I could have helped. But why not whip together a quick project while she did all the boring work?

I have seen many beer/can carriers on the internet and decided to give it a try myself.

I started by measuring a can and adding some inches to the height to give some room for a handle (9 inches tall) and measured two cans beside each other for the width (giving a little breathing room for easy removal of frosty brews it came to 5 1/2 inches). Then I used a combination square to add 45 degree corners to the template (the flat top section is 1 3/8 inches).

IMG_20130629_161250 — Scribble on pieces you know will be scrap as a reminder.

After cutting out the first side of the carrier with the miter saw I decided I was happy with the size and traced the outline to the 2nd side.

IMG_20130629_161706 — Using the first side as a template for the second side

IMG_20130629_162045 — Both sides cut and ready to go

I measured and drilled a 3/4 inch hole in each side for the handle to pass though.

IMG_20130629_165941 — Tiny markings to show me where to drill.

DIY Tip: place a scrap board beneath your piece to stop tearout when drilling holes that will be seen or are large

I then lined up three cans and and measured their width and found that with a little breathing room 9 1/2 inches suited three cans quite well.

I found some poplar that was laying around the garage and cut 4 strips to 9 1/2 inches long and ripped two of them down to 2 5/8 inches to make the bottom of the carrier with a little gap on either side for the escape of any condensation that may build up and drip down the sides of my nectar vessels during transport.

IMG_20130629_164616 — Side pieces (left) and bottom pieces (right)

After all the pieces were cut they were sanded down to 220 grit and I attached them all together using some black finishing nails that were left over from ages ago when we made the Liquor Cabinet. Leaving a gap between the sides and the bottom (more condensation relief).

I then cut the handle (some 3/4 inch dowel left over from a project you’ll see in the future) to size leaving a little room for it to poke out just for looks and inserted it in to one side of the carrier. I then coated the inside end and the outside end of the handle with glue and slid the entire thing in to place so that no glue got where it shouldn’t be. (Wiping up any excess that squidged out.)

IMG_20130629_175251 — Can Carrier Assembled

I picked a random jar of stain (Minwax Weathered Oak) and set to staining. Then I hated the stain.

So I restained it darker using Minwax Jacobean.

IMG_20130630_182017 — Niiiiiiiiiiiiiice!

Happy with the stain I set to four coats of Varathane Oil Modified Polyurethane in Satin finish. Using the process outlined in the finishing post.

In all I think this probably took about an hour and a half including stain and finishing. The entire build only took about 45 minutes and was a great way to get me out of sanding other projects. AND now we have a great way to carry our Friday Libations out to the patio (or the park shhhhh).

SOURCE LIST:

Materials:
Scrap Pine (1×6 x 2′)
Scrap Poplar (1/4″)
Scrap Dowel (3/4″)
Scrap Finishing Nails

Cut List:
2 – 9″x5 3/4″ – 1″ thick Pine
2 – 4″x 9 1/2″ – 1/4″ thick poplar (sides)
2 – 2 5/8″ x 9 1/2″ – 1/4″ thick poplar (bottom)
1 – 9 1/2″ dowel (handle)

Tools Used:
Miter saw
Combination Square
Drill
3/4″ Spade Drill Bit
Orbital sander
Measuring Tape

Difficulty Level (on a scale of 1-5):

one out of five

Total Cost: $0!!!

Essential Tools for the DIY Beginner

Recently I was fortunate enough to receive an invite to a DIY 101 seminar put on in conjunction with Rambling Renovators and Home Depot. It was a super fun event where we got to learn about gardening, tools and spray painting with the Home Depot pros. I learned a ton of new things (especially in the gardening area, as I totally have a black thumb!) Check out this excellent recap by Jen at Rambling Renovators (and you can even spy my mug trying out the cordless brad nailer!)

Sylvan teaching us how to not murder our plans. — Sylvan teaching us how to not murder our plans (we ended up making our own herb gardens to take home!)

Rick the tool guy giving us the down low on the coolest new tools

The seminar on tools got me thinking. El Granto and I have been very lucky and have received a lot of our DIY tools as presents from family. Some hand me downs, and some Christmas and birthday gifts. I still have the hammer my dad gave me when he dropped me off at my first apartment in college. He left me with a small array of tools; hammer, screw drivers, and a little tin full of misc screws and nails. He didn’t want me to be the girl hanging pictures and assembling Ikea furniture with a butter knife. Thanks Dad!

We now have quite the tool arsenal, but if you’re just starting out on the path to DIY getting your needed tools can be an expensive and overwhelming experience. So to help you out, I have devised a list of the best items to purchase to get you started on most tasks.

Essential Tools for the DIY Beginner

Miter saw. This workhouse will have you making precise, clean cuts for everything from trim and moldings, to framing and furniture. To start out, all you need is a basic 10″ single bevel compound miter. If you outgrow this down the line, corded tools hold their value well, and you’ll be able to resell on Kijiji or Craigslist.

Ryobi Saw — Ryobi 10 In. Compound Mitre Saw With Laser $99.00

Good quality tape measure (or two!) You will literally use this non stop. Measure twice really is a motto to live by. Purchase a good quality tape. One that is sturdy, accurate and has a good extension. We currently have FIVE!

DeWALT 25' tape with 13 foot stand out (great for measuring things by yourself) $25.99 — DeWALT 25′ tape with 13 foot stand out (great for measuring things by yourself) $25.99

Level. Not only is a level great for well, making things level, but I often use mine as a straight edge and saw guide. Invest in a level, as this is a tool that you will have for years to come.

DeWALT 28" box level. (has rubber shock end caps so if you drop it accidentally its not the end of the world!) $69.99 — DeWALT 28″ box level. This fella has rubber shock resistant end caps so if you drop it accidentally (like I am oft to do) you wont be running to the store for a replacement. $69.99

Cordless drill. This is the tool that will probably get the most use in your workshop. From assembling furniture to making short work of little projects, a good drill is essential. Make sure to choose a cordless drill wisely. Choose one that has a good battery life, quick charging time, is lightweight but powerful. This is a tool to invest in. Purchase one with a 1/2″ chuck (3/8 is just too small). Also consider your other battery powered tools, and purchasing a line of products that you can interchange the batteries. It means less chargers, and having backup batteries ready when you need them. I am scoping out a new drill (El Granto’s is a bit too big and heavy for me). This Ryobi drill + impact set I have my eyes on.

Ryobi One+ 18V Lithium Drill and Impact Driver Kit $149

Hammer. A well balanced comfortable hammer will make short work of your task. Choose one that is lightweight but powerful to reduce fatigue.

Pencils. This may sound like a “DUH” item, but when you need one, you can never seem to find one. Buy a few good quality ones and keep them sharp and handy. (Don’t forget a sharpener too!)

It also doesn’t hurt to splurge on a fancy tool or two. After trying out this puppy at the Home Depot DIY 101 seminar I am in LOVE. This cordless brad nailer has me wanting to tackle another trim project like our guest room board & batten. Heart <3 …

Ryobi 18V ONE+ 18ga Cordless 2 Inches Brad Nailer $199

Tips!

Home Depot will rip down large lumber for you such as plywood (for a small fee). For big projects, bring your cut list with you and have them cut it for you. A table saw is a big purchase, and unless you’ll be using it a ton, you really don’t need one!

You don’t need a truck to get big lumber home! We don’t have a car, and (as you know) build a lot of stuff. We walk home with what we can, but for larger purchases we rent the Home Depot take it home van. For $25 you get 90 minutes rental time, which is plenty of time to get everything home and unloaded.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help. If you’re unsure on a project, do research and ask for help before getting started. It’s much better to plan and research and get it right the first time than to do a poor job and waste expensive materials. Don’t forget to read the instructions! Packages can often tell you exactly how to get things done. Use resources like sales people at the hardware store, and free in store workshops to help you get the knowledge you need.

*I was not paid in any way for this post. All opinions are my own!

Benched

Daniel & Adelle’s Farmhouse Table project is coming along. The tabletop is built, stained and ready for polyurethane. We still need to make the legs & aprons, but its getting there! We also managed to knock off some progress on the matching benches.

The benches are 77″ long, which means they will just fit underneath the table. The reason they went with this design was so that the benches could completely fit under the table when not in use. This will work well in Daniel & Adelle’s long but narrow dining space. Being able to get rid of the benches also means the dining room can quickly be turned into an impromptu dance floor when a dance party just happens to break out. What, you don’t have surprise dance parties in your dining room? Psssht, you’re not living until you dance like Elaine, or break out a Tom Cruise pantsless dance routine in your dining room. Impromptu dance sessions happen all the time with our friends.

The benches are simple, but needed a bit of cutting, sanding and a load of pocket holes. We got started by sanding the bench top, and cutting the legs, aprons, stretcher and stretcher support.

Adelle cutting the legs & support pieces.

All the support pieces are made from spruce and the bench top is from 2×12 pine. For the aprons, straight up 2×4’s would have been a bit bulky and heavy, so we ripped down 2×4’s to 1 1/2″ x 2″ on the table saw for the side & end aprons.

ripping boards — Ripping the apron boards.

The assembly of the bench was a bit tricky due to the limited space for the pocket holes. The pocket holes for the apron supports actually intersected each other. Good thing all of this will be hidden! We also broke out the corner clamps again (they are getting a lot of use!)

Stretcher & legs — Attaching the stretcher support to the legs

We used a ratchet and driver bit to manually drive all the screws for the bench legs. At this point in time I believe I felt it necessary to check on the dog, or tie a shoe, or any task that got me out of screwing in all those difficult screws.

Once the legs were assembled we attached the aprons (insetting them by 1/8″ for a little flair) and the bench was made.

Awesome, complete, woot!

Wait…why does the bench top look so long??? Oh CRAP! I got so carried away at the start, I forgot we needed to cut the bench tops down to size! Woopsies! This bench was 7 feet long, when it was only supposed to be 77″. Now what? We do disassemble the whole thing and cut down the top?(Remembering all those screws put in by hand….) That doesn’t sound like fun…

OR we could lift the whole bench upside down and cut the top on the miter saw. Seriously?!

cuttingdownbench — Cutting the bench top

YEP. It happened. The miter saw table rollers & two people held up the bench, while Daniel cut the bench top down to size. Phew, crisis averted. At least I didn’t screw up the whole project. With a few minutes work, we were back on track. I am very thankful I realized before staining!

Speaking of staining, after all that sanding was done we applied wood conditioner and then stained away. Talk about a staining party. The four of us were staining away in our tiny garage on a Tuesday night. (Even El Granto picked up a brush and he doesn’t do that often!)

Aint no party like a staining party — Aint no party like a staining club party

One bench built & stained, one more bench to go!

Fancy Pants Drawer Liners

The bottoms of the drawers for our media cabinet were a bit, well…not living up to their potential. We used hardboard & chipboard as the drawer bottoms and compared to the stained wood on the rest of the piece, they look a bit shabby and out of place.

I knew all along that my anal retentive personality wouldn’t let the drawer bottoms live in such a state. Not only were they not up to par, but they were an excuse to add a bit of fun to an unexpected place. I love adding colour/drama where you least expect it (like my purple wallpapered closet doors.)

For the drawer bottoms, I narrowed it down to either paint or paper. While paint could be fun in a nice bright colour, I decided on paper in the end to add a bit of a graphic punch.

There is a newly opened store in my neighbourhood called TOWN that I knew would have some lovely papers. (They also have the best selection in cute cards!). The selection at TOWN did not disappoint, and we spent several minutes trying to decide on just one pattern (would have bought them all!) We took our sheets of heavy weight wrapping paper home, cut out squares to fit the drawer bottoms, and got to gluing. I used Elmer’s extra strong spray adhesive (the same spray adhesive I use to attach foam for upholstery projects). A few quick sprays of adhesive, and careful application onto the drawer bottom, and we had a much nicer looking drawer.

Media Cabinet Drawer — A little pop of sunshine every time you open one of the drawers

I bet you’re wondering how much use we get out of those skinny little drawers. LOTS, they hold remotes, video game controllers and all sorts of little things that you don’t want out all the time, but would get lost in the big drawers. I am LOVING not having the XBOX and PlayStation controllers hanging out on my end table!

The drawers are lined, now I can sleep again. (Isn’t everyone kept up at night by the thought of an unsightly drawer bottom. Wait, that’s not normal?)

SOURCE LIST:

Materials:

Wrapping Paper (3 sheets) – TOWN the Store
Elmer’s Spray Adhesive

Tools Used:

Ruler
Pencil
Scissors

Difficulty Level (on a scale of 1-5):

one out of five

Total Cost: $16

Pinterest Challenge – Restoration Hardware Shelf

We had so much fun doing the Fall Pinterest Challenge, that we jumped at the opportunity to do it again this time. The jist of the Pinterest Challenge is to stop just pinning ideas, and start creating. You’re supposed to DIY something from Pinterest. Whether it be a recipe, craft, home project etc.

I have a few pins over on Pinterest (only 2,555 or so…) so I had a good amount of things to choose from! I figured this was a good opportunity to knock something off the to-do list as well.

Our front door opens onto the dining room. We have built a coat rack, installed an Ikea wardrobe and we have a nice bench and mirror. The only thing lacking in the entry was somewhere to put your keys and mail, or to keep a coffee away from the dog while you’re tying your shoes pre-puppy walk. We don’t have a lot of space, so a traditional console table was going to be too big.

Entry Before. Isn’t that wall crying out for a table/shelf for keys & mail?

Here is our inspiration:

Restoration Hardware’s Reclaimed Wood Shelf

Source: restorationhardware.com via Kristen on Pinterest

If we love the shelf so much, why didn’t we just go buy one? errrr… The price for shelf + brackets was $240. Yep, for one lil shelf. Ouch. We just don’t roll like that.

So we made it (with our spin on it of course)

Storefront Life’s Take on Restoration Hardware’s Reclaimed Wood Shelf

So how’d we do it?

Bought some 1″ gas line pipe (it matches our dining table!) from Home Depot.

Supply List:

2 – Floor Flanges
2 – 6″ Nipples (teehee)
2 – End Caps

Flange + Nipple + End Cap

Assemble them all together and this is what you get:

Shelf Brackets

Now you need a shelf. We headed to the garage to check out what cool wood we had. We found some awesome worm eaten Butternut that El Granto had gotten for Christmas (yep we ask for building materials for Christmas). We loved the character of the butternut and decided it was the way to go.

Butternut Wood. Check out all those awesome worm holes!

We cut the piece of wood 28″ long, and trimmed the width to 5.5″. This would enable the wood to sit on the pipe, but inside the edges of the end cap and flange. We wanted to be able to see the cool bracket. You can easily make the shelf wider by resting it on top instead of inset.

Next up, after deciding on placement and height (centered on the wall and 40″ off the floor) we went stud hunting, and found that we could hit one of our brackets into a stud. So we marked out the placement.

Marking the shelf bracket holes

After the holes were marked, El Granto screwed the bracket into the studs.

Attaching the Bracket to the Wall

After the first bracket was attached, we attached the pipe nipple and used it to help us level the second bracket.

Ensuring the Brackets are Level

Next up we marked the second bracket, and used EZ Ancors to ensure the shelf would be attached to the drywall nice and sturdy.

Installing the EZ Ancor`s

We then attached the other flange to the wall with screws into the wall anchors, and then screwed on the pipe nipple and end cap.

We gave our wood two coats of furniture wax and laid it on top of the pipe, screwing the end caps against the wood to hold it steady. Oh and it’s nice and level!

TA DA! What do you think of our DIY Restoration Hardware Shelf & Bracket?

Make sure you check out all the other awesome Pinterest Challenge projects, check out the hosts blogs too!

Sherry @ Young House Love
Katie @ Bower Power
Megan @ The Remodeled Life
Michelle @ Decor and The Dog

SOURCE LIST:

Materials:

1″ Gas Line Pipe (2 flanges, 2 end caps & 2 6″ pipe nipples) – Home Depot
Butternut Wood – Gift
Furniture Wax – Home Depot
EZ Ancors – Home Depot

Tools Used:

Miter Saw
Sandpaper
Dish Soap (to wash the pipes)
Drill
Level
Pencil

Difficulty Level (on a scale of 1-5):

one out of five

Total Cost: $16

Tin Ceiling Part 1

**This is Part 1, as this is a lengthy (and wordy) project, so we’ve split it up to avoid you falling asleep in your coffee **

We’ve been a bit quiet on the DIY front as of late, don’t worry, we have been working albeit slowly on project for the last three weeks. If you remember we were brainstorming inspiration for our vintage reclaimed tin ceiling tiles. After much deliberation we decided to leave the tiles as they were in all their rusted peeling paint glory.

Why you ask? They are over 120 years old sporting their original paint. These tiles were reclaimed from a store in London Ontario. It seemed a shame to strip or paint over all their history just to have them look like brand new tin tiles. Our Storefront had been stripped of every single original detail when we bought it, and we drool with envy when we look at other homes with original details still in place (like the houses over at Old Town Home and Victoria Elizabeth Barnes Victorian house blog) in our hearts we knew we needed to leave the tiles as is.

We were also going to put the tiles on our master bedroom ceiling, then we thought it a shame as no one but us would ever see them (we’re not the type to have guests hanging out in our bed looking up at the ceiling…) So we decided to have the tiles grace our living room ceiling where they would be there for all to see.

Ceiling looking towards our backyard — Living room ceiling looking towards our backyard

Ceiling looking towards our staircase — Living room ceiling looking towards our staircase

We have 20 tiles which means we can cover an 8×10 foot area. We decided to do a kind of panel inset in the center of the living room, centering around our lighting fixture. Now that we had it planned out (phew that was tiring!) we needed a plan of execution…

I don’t know if you know this about me, but I am a PLANNER (aka anal retentive). I always want to do something to the best of my ability, do it the easiest way, and for the least amount of money. So I research, and plan. I may not SHARE my plan with my husband, but I do always have one up in my noggin. So for this project I contacted a tin ceiling expert, and picked his brain. What I learned was that you can put tiles up two ways; glue or nails (or both!) Glue is easiest, but does the most damage to both the tiles and the ceiling if you ever want to remove. Nails require more work, but do much less damage to the tiles, and your ceiling can always be patched. We decided to go with the nails.

Now we needed something to nail to…You cant just nail into your drywall, its just not strong enough. You need some wood for the nails to bite into. Next up, we needed to decide if we were going to strap the ceiling or sheet it (run strips of wood in a grid to nail to, or just cover the area of the ceiling in plywood.) Both will work, its just whichever you prefer. We decided to go with the sheeting, as then we could nail anywhere we wanted without a problem. Another decision done!!

We sourced some 3/8″ chipboard from HD as our sheeting material. We got three 4×8 sheets of chipboard, and got one of them cut down into 2×4′ pieces at the hardware store (still waiting on that table saw Santa). We decided to do a 2×8 piece of wood in the middle of the ceiling around the light, then a full 4×8 sheet on either side. We also cut the 2×8 in half so that it would be easier to cut and put up around the light fixture.

Speaking of the light fixture. We traced a spare electrical box onto the ends of the 2×4 sheets and cut it out with a jig saw. This would make it so that we could easily fit around the light fixture (which we would deal with later.)

Now came the fun part…putting up the sheeting. Here’s what you need:

Two ladders
Drill & screws
Swear Words
Stud Finder
Chalk Line
Divorce Papers
Borrowed work lights from the neighbours (have I mentioned how awesome our neighbours are?! I need to bake them some cookies)
Tears

Mark your studs on your ceiling using masking tape. Mark them OUTSIDE the area you’re sheeting. If the ceiling joists in your 100 year old home magically change direction, you are not crazy, cause apparently that can happen, and defy all logic…

Now turn off the power and take down the ceiling light. Swear at wife for having insisted on re-installing repainted light fixture before it was completely dry. (Who would have thought that it would stick together?) oops

Put up the first pieces of sheeting, and make sure they’re straight (or straight-ish if you live in a crooked-ass-house.) Screw into the studs using at least 2″ wood screws

Second Piece Installed (my husband has long ass girly hair, but he drives a motorcycle and lives in a hipster neighbourhood so its all good) — Second Piece Installed. Yes my husband has long ass girly hair, but he drives a motorcycle and lives in a hipster neighbourhood so its sexy and not at all white trash

For the next sheets, both you and your spouse will need to simultaneously stand on ladders, holding a 4×8 sheet of plywood over your heads and screw it into your 10 foot tall ceiling making sure its straight and perfect. Name calling and/or tears are optional. If you eff it up, you MUST take it down and fix it. (that totally didnt happen to us… wait yes it did… shh)

Once you have a couple screws in place around the edges, you can then chalk line between your screws to give yourself a guide where the studs are for easily screwing in more screws to make sure its super oober dooperly attached to the ceiling.

After you are finished, drink several beers and try to forget the urge to kill your spouse.

Ceiling Sheeting Installed (by now its dark, and you have no light in your room, and you give up and eat chicken wings and drink liquor)

This better be correct, cause I am never sheeting a ceiling ever again... — This better be correct, cause I am never sheeting a ceiling ever again…

If you’ve managed to make it through this entire post, I’m proud of you, perhaps a gold star is in order. Now come back next week while I bore you with more words, but actually put some tin tiles up (I know how dare I call this post Tin Ceiling Part 1 and there is in fact NO TIN CEILING.) I’m a jerk.

Vintage Hi-Fi Unit to Bar

El Granto always wanted a bar. Not just any bar, but a man’s bar. One to hold bourbon and cigars, mustaches and testosterone. One that smelled like rich mahogany and leather bound books.

We were at Aberfoyle Antique Market one Sunday when El Granto spied a vintage Hi-Fi cabinet. It was solid wood, had two doors on the front, and a pop up panel in the top where the record player used to go. It had long been stripped of the electronics, but still had all the charm. El Granto saw the potential for this to be an amazing bar. He could already picture himself drinking a Tom Collins while smoking a Cuban. So we haggled, packed it into the (in-law’s) car, and brought it home.

It was a "Hepplewhite Television" by Magnavox — It was a “Hepplewhite Television” by Magnavox

Problem was, the unit had no shelves (it needed 2), nor did it have a back. There were shelf cleats in the main cabinet where the TV had been held in place and a gaping hole where the record player used to be (it had a really cool mounting system where the record player just sat on four cleats that had springs on them so you wouldn’t skip your record while walking by or dancing around). So we just measured shelves to fit where electronics were previously. We knew we were not going to be able to match the wood and finish. So really the slate was blank for whatever kind of shelves we wanted. We purchased some 3/8” hardboard, had it cut to size at the hardware store and got to work. We bought some black faux ostrich leather fabric and wrapped and glued it on to the hardboard and dropped them in place. Easy Peazy Lemon Squeezy. We then gave another piece of hardboard a coat of black paint and nailed it to the back of the bar.

The Bar with shelves and a back installed

El Granto uses the pop up drawer to hold misc cigar items, his humidor sits on top, the inside is full of bottles and bar wear.

The Pop-Up where the record player used to sit (those tubes are empty)

The top also has an antique silver tray, decanters and decorative items.

The bar used to live in our dining room, but after we added the big new table and the coffee bar, the poor bar had no home. Sad face.

So we emptied it out, and carried the HEAVY bar upstairs into the office. Now it resides under an antique painting, and beside the bookcase.

He looks dapper here don't you think? — He looks dapper here don’t you think?

The office is becoming more manly. I am expecting it to grow chest hair any day now.

XL Art Project

The main floor of the Storefront has almost 11 foot ceilings and is open concept, and to be honest its been very hard to decide on art for the space. Everything I own and try to hang is way to small for the large walls. I have been hunting for some large art in my budget, but have struck out. I decided to take matters into my own hands, and set out to make some extra large art.

My Mom was coming to visit and was bringing my Dad’s truck. A truck meant that I could get some big building materials that I cant normally buy and take on the bus. We got materials for a few projects, and also picked up a 4×8 sheet of 1/4″ masonite hardboard. A lot of artists actually use masonite as artist canvas. It is a nice smooth surface to paint on, and is acid free.

I took my 4×8 sheet and built a frame for it out of 1×3 lumber (I wanted a shallow frame/support as I dont have a lot of space for a thick frame, in hindsight however 2×3’s would have made a beefier support). The frame consisted of an outer stretcher bar with mitered corners, and two cross supports.

Frame pieces cut and ready to be attached

I used pocket holes to secure my frame, then brad nailed my masonite to the frame using 5/8″ brad nails.

Using Pocket Screws to attach the frame together

After that was completed, I sanded the masonite to rough up the surface for painting.

The masonite sanded to scratch up the surface for primer

The hardest part is maneuvering the super sized canvas. I advise having a friend to help you carry and flip this lightweight but awkward art project.

I primed the whole shebang with some left over primer/sealer I had laying around, then I set to painting my art.

I wanted something with some colour, but that wasn’t super in your face (the painting is 4×8 after all, its already gonna have a ton of impact!) Heeding the ombre trend, I decided to do a turquoise ombre painting. I hit up my Home Depot, and got 5 sample pots of paint in varying shades of turquoise (from light to dark).

After my primer had dried, I got to painting. I painted a stripe at the top about 20″ high of the lightest colour.

Then proceeded to do stripes 19″ high of all the other colours. I painted the lightest and darkest colours first and let them dry, then worked my way fading the colours. The lightest colours were fairly easy to fade, but the darkest colours were harder.

I ended up mixing up a “pallet” (paper plate) of paint where I faded the colours together, having dark on one side of a large paint brush and light on the other.

I then painted one stripe between the two colours with the fade in the middle. It only took me one afternoon to complete, and it makes quite an impact.

It currently is leaning against the wall in my dining room, but I think it will end up in my kitchen or even sideways over my sofa. So many options!

SOURCE LIST:

Materials:

4×8 sheet of masonite – Rona
4 – 1x3x8 spruce – Rona
CIL Primer – Home Depot
Behr Paint + Primer Sample pots – Home Depot

Tools Used:

Mitre Saw, Kreg Jig, Brad nailer, Paint brush

Difficulty Level (on a scale of 1-5):

Two out of five

Total Cost: $45