Printers Triple Console Cabinet

So a few months ago, I received the following message from a friend..

"Ok, I'm just curious, but would you possibly be interested in doing a comissioned piece of furniture??"

My response.."I would love to"

And so it began, we traded numerous messages back and forth, made changes to a plan she had fallen in love with.  We changed the height, took the drawers out and made larger doors, put in shelves, and changed the stain color.

And yesterday, my amazing husband helped me load it into the truck, and we delivered it.  She said it was beautiful, and her kiddos started filling it with board games, and puzzles. I was so happy to see instantly put to use!!

The inspiration for this piece came from this Sideboard available from Restoration Hardware, in case you happen to have $1595 +tax and delivery lying around.

(and a huge thank you to my amazing husband that helped me work out a few kinks with those darn doors!! Love ya babe!!)

Information:
The plans can be found at Ana-White
The stain color: was Miwax River Stone
I used PureBond Plywood, and Pine Wood to complete the build.
The pulls can be found here.
Notes:
I changed the dimensions to fit her area from 36"high to 33" high. (Entire measurements are 33"high x 72"long x 17.5"deep)
I took out the drawers, and made the doors 28" high, and the face frames changed from 34.5" to 31.5".
The only other changes from the original plans were the main box pieces which changed from 31" to 28"

Antiqued Hutch & Buffet

As I mentioned in earlier post, I'm slowly filling our new home with treasures.  I really wanted a buffet and hutch, but when I surveyed the house I realized that we have gigantic windows covering every wall in the house.  The largest wall space I could find downstairs (unused by couches, tv's or the big farmhouse table) was only 48".  This really didn't give me much to work with, so I quickly surveyed building plans, and began tweaking them to fit my needed area. On a whim I pulled up my local craigslist, and started perusing through the offerings.  Most were way too big for my area, and then I found a little gem on Whidbey Island for a song.  As a family we had been dying to make a trip there and this was the perfect excuse (I'll post about our fun adventures soon!!)

After bringing home my new treasure, I removed all the hardware, and lightly sanded the entire piece. I then applied 3-4 coats of Behr Powdered Snow to the entire piece, sanding between each coat.  I then applied Ralph Lauren Tea-Stained Glaze to the entire piece to give it that antiqued look. I sealed it with Minwax Paste Wax.   I found the drawer pulls at Hobby Lobby, but no matching knobs. After trips to three different hardware stores, I finally found some rustic iron knobs that worked well with the pulls.

I just love how bright it is now, yet so vintage (which I adore)

Entryway Bench & Shelf

Slowly but surely I'm trying to fill empty walls, and spaces in our new home.  Our front entry way was lacking a place to hang visitors jackets, and a place to sit down take off those pesky muddy shoes.  I think this fit the bill quite nicely.

I found the bench plans here on Ana's site, and I had it built in under an hour.  I did make one change though to the plans.  I used (2) 2x6's instead of the 1x12 for the bench seat.  I think it gives it a sturdier feel, and I like the look with two pieces of wood.

The shelf was put together using some scraps from the garage, a 2x8 attached to a 2x10 cut 4 inches shorter.  I then used some moulding to add a decorative detail.  The hooks I found online at Amazon, and were delivered straight to my door.  I painted them all white, and then used glaze to give them an antique look. 

Now I just need some cute frames on the shelf, and a pop of color in some accents.

Daniel's Desk

Well, now that you've heard our exciting news (our new house) you may understand what has kept me away. 

I've also been super busy with projects to fill the new house.  First up was to build a desk for Daniel, now that he would have his very own room.  I chose the Brookstone Desk and Hutch, and found the plans on the ever talented ana white website.  Plans can be found here.

I chose to stain it using Minwax Honey Oak, and I love the look and feel of it.  I'd like to put cork board on the back of the hutch, but that will have to be a project for another day.  Tomorrow I'll post pictures of the matching Brookstone Bed.

Ladder Shelf

See this box?

It's been sitting here for the last four months (yes we've been in Seattle for 4 months already!!)  It's been sitting here, because our master bathroom has absolutely no storage, a pedestal sink (which surprisingly doesn't hold much), and a huge jacuzzi tub that takes up 3/4 of this small space.


When Ana listed these plans, I knew this would work perfectly in the space I had.  I played with the plans a little, and altered them to fit the space (23").  I used a 20" board for the base of the shelves.  Mostly because I had it, and the rest of the wood already.  It went together rather quickly, in less than an hour!!

I used my pocket jig to make the shelves, and they went together so quickly, and nice and squared.  The paint came from another project that's not quite finished yet (promise a reveal soon!!).  And I did some sanding to the edges to make it a little more me.

I love having a place to put everything!!

Natalie's Doll Bed

So I am really loving building furniture.  While looking for something new to build I came across these plans from my new favoritest website.  Natalie was sitting on my lap as I was perusing through, and when she saw the plans she said, "Mommy you bid it (build it), I paint it, K!".  I was so elated that her first thought was for me to build it, rather than buy it from a store.  I was determined from then and there to build this little piece of furniture just for her.  


I had all the spare wood in order to build it, however as it came close to leaving for our trip I neglected to get it done, or even get the wood cut (which would have been especially helpful).  We arrived in our small town destination, and with a more relaxed pace, and all my Christmas shopping done,  I decided it was the perfect time to work on this little project. I went to the small hardware store in town and picked up the needed supplies.  They didn't have any 1x3's or 2x2's, so I would need to split the wood with a table saw, but I was determined.  With the help of my father-in-law's tools (namely, chop saw, table saw, and belt sander) I got all the pieces cut and ready to assemble.  It went together rather easily, and I was so excited as I saw the finished little bed.


After building, puttying and sanding it was ready for painting..





After a few coats of Vanilla Custard in Satin (isn't that the most divine paint color name) and some more sanding it was done.


During all of the sanding, and painting I wanted to make a quilt for the bed.  The local fabric shop just happened to have a few of the prints from the collection that I'm making Natalie's twin pinwheel quilt in.  So along with a few coordinating fabrics, I made a cute little quilt.  A mattress was definitely needed, along with some matching pillows.









I love the finished project, and my favoritest part... "mommy you build it.."


...and I did.

Toy Bookshelves

When we first moved I was bound and determined to have some new toy storage, and to build it myself.  For years I have been ripping pages out of catalogs from Pottery Barn and Land of Nod, thinking to myself..I can do that.

And then a friend told me about Miss. Ana White, and my do-it-yourself world was forever changed.  I have now made four things from her website, which are all copycats of items from you guessed it, those places where I got the catalogs from.  My list is ever growing of things to build.  I always knew I could do it, just didn't have the plans.  Well, now I do.

So to solve my toy storage needs, I built the bankable bookcases.  You can buy them here, or you can build them yourself with these plans.

I used mdf, some beadbord for the back, and my jigsaw for the entire project.  Mommy needs a circular saw that isn't battery powered (maybe for Christmas?) I matched the color to our new couches downstairs, and am so pleased with how they turned out. 

My favorite part is the bottom area, where the boys can rifle through hundreds of legos (maybe thousands) and Natalie can easily play dress-up, and it's a quick clean-up.

The larger items (geo-trax and star wars) are in totes in the storage area under the stairwell, and all the games are hidden up high, so little pieces can't be lost.

I can't wait to start my next project...maybe this

(And to those of you wondering..I did this 100% by myself, so chickies, you can do it too!!)

Computer Tables

After finishing the benches for the table, I was on to my next project.

I had hoped it would be a desk and hutch for the boys, but their was a great demand to get the boys computers out of boxes and set-up. More like three busy boys asking me at least ten times a day when I was going to build their computer tables.

I was determined not to pull out the long utility tables, and rather build something more custom to fit the area.  I chose to do and L shaped desk, but wanting to them to be multi-purpose I made two tables, that fit together to make an L shape.  I used pocket holes, so there were no screw holes to fill, and giving it a cleaner look.

These babies cost me less than thirty dollars, and we're put together and stained in one afternoon/evening.

I must mention that I'm married to a computer geek who has so many spare parts around that it was just a given to build a computer for each boy.  We also wanted them to be out in the open and visible, so we can always see what they're up to.

I give you my computer tables..

Table & Benches

She's Finished!! I only say she because she was quilt difficult.  She required many many coats of paint, followed by much sanding, mostly because every time I brought her out to finish her it would start to drizzle, or rain, and that was when we were living in California, in the summer!!

I bought the table from a friend two years ago, and it was stained a pretty honey color.  I loved the rustic feel, and the sheer size amazed me (it's actually missing a leaf in the above pic).  But some wood beetles had left their mark, and lots of kids crafts had shown their love.  I decided to paint her a pretty white, and sand it to be more of a farmhouse table. I only had a few chairs, so I decided to build benches.  I found the instructions here, and I love how they add to the rustic appeal.  I still need to add another coat of paint, and some sanding to the chairs which will go on either end, but I'm so pleased with the results.