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…

outdoortable

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.

DIY Outdoor side table
DIY Outdoor side table
Side Table
No sanding, no staining, no finishing. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.
Side Table
Room to hold a few bevy’s, magazines and sunnies

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)

Window Shopping – Post & Beam Reclamation

I love nothing more than strolling around our neighborhood with El Granto & Odin. Coffee in hand, walking wherever our feet will take us. We like to stroll and visit new areas, window shop, and often come home with some new purchases.

One of my favorite places to window shop is the Junction. There are some great shops, and two of my absolute fave shops; Smash and Post & Beam Reclamation.

Storefront of Post & Beam Reclamation
Storefront of Post & Beam Reclamation

This past weekend I was wandering through Post & Beam and thought I’d share some of the awesome things I spied there. I would have loved to have brought home every last one of these pieces, but alas our budget is being directed at the coffee bar & backyard this spring.

So here are some of my picks.

The front window display showcasing some awesome lights and iron orbs
The front window display showcasing some awesome lights and iron orbs
Heres a closer detail of one of the iron orbs. Wouldnt this be great with a hanging fixture and edison bulb? (or take a cue from Restoration Hardware and hang a small chandelier inside)
Here’s a closer detail of one of the iron orbs. Wouldn’t this be great with a hanging fixture and Edison bulb? (or take a cue from Restoration Hardware and hang a small chandelier inside)
Wouldnt this lantern be gorgeous hanging from the ceiling of a lovely gazebo? Or as the entryway light for a coach house.
Wouldn’t this lantern be gorgeous hanging from the ceiling of a lovely gazebo? Or as the entryway light for a coach house.
Lovinf this simple but classic mantle. Made we want to bring it home even though the storefront doesnt have a fireplace! Would be cute with stacked logs in the hearth
Loving this classic mantle. Made we want to bring it home even though the storefront doesn’t have a fireplace! Would be cute with stacked logs in the hearth. Oh and check out those warehouse lights! Fab over an island or dining table
Arnt these lovely? Would be great feature in a stately kitchen
Aren’t these lovely? Would be great feature in a stately kitchen
These lights would be great in a powder room or boys bedroom or office (although those bulbs are all wrong)
These lights would be great in a powder room or boys bedroom or office (although those bulbs are all wrong)
Love their outdoor pieces including this. Would be perfect for an english style garden
Love their outdoor pieces including this fella. Would be perfect for an English style garden
Made from reclaimed materials, these modern looking industrial stools would be great at a dining table or as end tables
Made from reclaimed materials, these industrial stools would be great at a dining table or as end tables

Did you fall in love with any of these finds? Whats your favorite place to window shop?

 

Tin Ceiling Part 3 – The Reveal

Three weekends of sore muscles and standing on ladders are over, and we are now the proud (and tired) owners of a reclaimed tin ceiling. We first showed you how we prepped the ceiling, then how we prepped the tiles, today you finally get to see the finished product.

It was a bigger project than we anticipated. Anything where you’re working on the ceiling is exponentially harder. If we were to do it again, we would rent some scaffolding, as moving ladders around was a pain. We did borrow a work light from our neighbours, which was a necessity.

Work Light & Brad Nailer, our tools for the day
Work Light & Brad Nailer, our tools for the day

This is what the ceiling looked like before.

Ceiling Before
Ceiling Before

This is what we started with on installation day.

Ceiling Sheeted Ready for Tiles
Ceiling Sheeted Ready for Tiles

When installing the tiles you need to decide where you enter the room the most. The tiles overlap, so you want to make sure the edges overlap away from where you see the ceiling from most. We enter the living room from the hallway so we started the tiles at the corner farthest from the entryway (kitty-corner to the hallway).

The tiles overlap and have little notches where they fit in together. We figured this was enough to be able to line up the tiles properly, but once you’re standing on the ladder with the tile over your head, it’s much harder. We wish we had laid out a chalk line grid, it would have made the installation quicker and preventing one crooked tile that moved when I was nailing it. (arg)

After the first tile is up, we continued along that row to the end, then started the next now. Your arms get very tired, so this process ended up taking us two weekends to get done.

First Tile Up!
First Tile Up!

When we got to the middle of the ceiling we needed to deal with the electrical box. We had planned the tiles so that the light  ended up in the middle of two tiles. We just needed to cut a half circle out of each tile around the light, and it should work perfectly. We traced the shape of the electrical box onto the tiles that needed to be cut.

Tracing for Electrical Box Cut-Out
Tracing for Electrical Box Cut-Out

Then headed out to the garage and El Granto cut the tiles with a metal cutting blade on his Dremel. (We could have used tin snips, but the curve is a bit tricky and the Dremel is waaaay easier.)

Cutting the Tile
Cutting the Tile

After the tiles were cut, we added an extension box onto our ceiling electrical box so that it would allow us room for the plywood and the tin tile. The box is easy to install (again the power is still OFF to this room!)

El Granto Intsalling Box Extension
El Granto Installing Box Extension
Box Extender Installed
Box Extender Installed

After the box was up we installed the cut tiles around it.

Cut Tiles Installed
Cut Tiles Installed

Then re-installed the light fixture.

Light Intsalled
Light Installed

We then installed the remainder of the tiles. The result is a very eclectic ceiling, but we love it. Some of the tiles are much more worn than others. We tried to make the layout look random, but still balanced. We would like to add some panel molding around the edges, but that will have to wait until we have access to a truck or van.

Without further adieu, here is the finished product.

ceilingcomplete

ceilingcomplete5

ceilingcomplete4

ceilingcomplete3

ceilingcomplete2

The living room is starting to come along now. Next up, we need to trim out the tin ceiling, and swap out the light fixture for a more elaborate chandelier. A few more big projects and it will hopefully start looking more like the period building it once was.

SOURCE LIST:

Materials:
20 2′ Square Reclaimed Tin Ceiling Tiles – Aberfoyle Antique Market
3 4×8 Sheets of 3/8″ chipboard – Rona
Round Electrical Box Extender – Home Depot
Screws – Home Depot
Brad Nails – Home Depot
Clear Coat – Canadian Tire

Tools Used:

Drill
Compressor & Brad Nailer
Ladder(s)
Work Light
Chalk Line
Dremel

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

four out of five

(Really it deserves about a 3.5 it was just a pain as you are standing on a ladder working over your head)
Total Cost: $430