Twin Farmhouse Bed Part 1

Our latest project has been building a twin bed for our son Russell. It is a simple design. The headboard and the footboard panels adds some character and was easy to do. We took our 1x6's and ran them vertically and then placed 1x4's on both sides top and bottom then secured it, on the backside, using a finish nailer. For the frame of the bed, we used planed 4x4's and the top plate is a planed 2x6 on top of a 2x4 with a 1" overhang on all sides.

Finishing Our Farmhouse Table

After staining our table, all that was left was to apply finish. For this process we chose to use Minwax Fast Drying Semi-Gloss Polyurethane. We ended up applying 3 coats to the table with sanding before each coat.

Staining our Farmhouse Table

A couple nights ago we applied stain to our new dining room table. We first sanded the entire table down with 180 grit sandpaper and a pad sander. After the table was completely sanded we vacuumed all the dust up and then wiped the table down with a tack cloth to remove all excess dust that the vacuum may have missed.

Sanded, ready for stain 

Next it was time to apply our stain. For our table we chose to use Rust-Oleum's Weathered Grey Ultimate Wood Stain. We applied the stain and only let it soak in for a minute or less as we wanted light and dark spots to add to the "weathered look" shown below.  

Stained, ready for finish

Farmhouse Dining Room Table Build

Last weekend we started on our dining room table build. It was first a crazy idea to build your own table and to make it look good, but now its turning into a reality. This post will show the general construction of the table and we will post staining and finishing soon. We saw this plan on ana-white.com and couldn't resist the challenge.

 

Tools List

• Kreg Jig
• Kreg Face Clamp
• Table Saw
• Drill
• Porter Cable Planer
• Tape measure
• Pencil
• Carpenters Square

Material List

• 2 1/2" Pocket Hole Screws (50)
• 120 Grit Snadpaper
• 3 inch wood screws (12)
• 4- 2x4's @ 8'
• 1- 4x4 @10'
• 4- 2x8's @ 6'     
• 1- 2x8 @ 8'
• 1- 2x10 @ 6'

I chose to use Fir on this table, it was very inexpensive, but took a while in the store finding the best looking and straight boards. The planer helped tremendously getting everything exactly the same width. 

I used the table saw and set the blade depth to 1 1/2" to create the perfect notch for the 2x4 stretcher supports to slide in.

Legs with stretcher supports installed. I used the same technique on the 2x4 as in the above picture.

Kreg Jig in action. Amazing tool to clean up your work, make it look professional, and create strong joints.

Apron installed using kreg jig and pocket hole screws.

Table top boards were put together with pocket hole screws on the under side.

Fully assembled waiting to stain and finish

If you would like to build this for yourself you can follow this link for full assembly instructions.

DIY Kids Flip Down Art Desk

 We found plans for this DIY Flip Down Art Desk at www.ana-white.com. This site has 1,000's of free woodworking projects that are perfect for furnishing your home and doing fun projects that kids can enjoy like this one was.

Material List (Save time in the hardware store by following the links below)

1 - piece 3/4" plywood 16" x 24"
1 - 1x4 @ 10 feet long
1 set hinge supports
1 set basic hinges
3 D Ring Hangers
1 Can Chalkboard Paint
Moulding or trim (optional)

3/4" Brad Nails (get brad nailer here)

2 inch finish nails (get finish nailer here)

wood glue

wood filler

120 Grit Sandpaper

primer

paint

paint brush

For cut list and assembly instructions visit http://ana-white.com/2011/09/flip-down-wall-art-desk-0. This project only takes a few hours from start to finish and is fun for the whole family. Total cost on this project was about $50. You can do it for cheaper depending on what type of wood you decide to use. We used Hemlock for the 1x4's and birch plywood. We recommend not to go cheap on the plywood because that will be used as the chalkboard and desk surface.

CLOSED FOR CHALKBOARD USE 

OPEN FOR DESK AND STORAGE ACCESS 

Easy Chevron Feature Wall

We decided to make a chevron feature wall in the kids playroom last weekend. It took a lot of patience and preparation, but it was well worth the time and energy.

How we did it:

I measured the length of the wall and divided it by 4 {in this case my wall was 142 inches,  142 / 4= 35.5}.   Using chalk, and my level {which features a ruler, eliminating the need for a tape measure} I made a light mark every 35.5 inches across the wall. Using the level, I followed the marks to create 3 evenly spaced, vertical chalk lines.  I measured the height of my wall and divided it by 6 {in this case, the wall was 96 inches tall, 96 / 6 = 16}.  Every 16 inches down the wall, I made a mark along each vertical chalk line.  These lines created my taping guide.  Using the painters tape, I connected the dots, diagonally, in a herringbone pattern.  I was very careful to make sure the tape covered the side of the stripe that would be my base color in the end.  Otherwise, the stripes would not be the same size.
After the tape was in place we began to paint within the tape lines. While the paint was still damp we carefully pulled the tape, then once the paint was dried we wiped the walls clean of all our marks, leaving us with an awesome feature wall.

DIY Kids Play Kitchen

We found an old oak entertainment center from St. Vincent de Paul (Goodwill) and re-purposed it to serve as a play kitchen to go in our kids playroom. 

BEFORE

  Once we got the unit home, we removed all doors and hardware. We then sanded it down with 60 grit sandpaper and  finished with 120 grit. A few coats of our favorite white paint went on next and some metallic spray paint for the "fridge- oven" section. After everything dried we used a jig saw to cut the holes for the sink and faucet. We used a metal mixing bowl from goodwill and bought a faucet at Lowe's. Finally, we put the doors back on and reconfigured the bottom door to open like an oven. For the final touches we painted a cook-top next to the sink and added our favorite hardware to the doors. Our  total project cost was approx. $100. Beats $200+ for a plastic play kitchen.

AFTER