Archives for February 2016

How to Easily Make a Beautiful Stone Walkway

February 27, 2016 by Ash 44 Comments

When we bought our first home, we loved the detached deck in the backyard. It was large, well-lit, easy to maintain, and looked like it was going to be great for entertaining guests.

However, as the years went by, we didn’t use it as much as we thought.

It turned out that being detached from the house was more of an inconvenience.

We had to walk through the grass to get to the deck, so when I got behind on the mowing, or after a rain shower, the deck wasn’t as appealing.

Then Eileen came up with the idea to build a stone walkway to the deck, so the deck could be easily accessed no matter the weather or condition of the grass.

So after some online research, we embarked on the stone walkway project.

How to Build a Stone Walkway

First, here’s a picture of the yard before we got too far in. Eileen is hard at work with the shovel, and Zeus is supervising.

Digging the Trench

To build a stone walkway, our first step was to dig a 6-inch deep trench from the backdoor patio to the deck. I outlined the proposed stone walkway by pinning yarn in the ground.

Then, staying within the boundaries of the yarn, we dug out the trench.

This step went by pretty quickly. We used a standard round pointed digging shovel.

There were no large trees nearby, so there were no roots to deal with.

After the trench was dug, we switched to a square pointed shovel and worked along the edge to make a nice flush wall.

Then we used a 8 x 8 steel tamper to compact the dirt, making a solid and level surface for the rocks to follow.

Here’s a picture of the dug-out trench. We were on our way to building a stone path 🙂

Laying the Stone Foundation

Next in building the stone pathway was laying down large crushed stone.

This layer of stone was to provide a sturdy foundation to support whatever weight got carried across the pathway.

Home Depot sold the stone in 0.5 cubic feet bags. In total, we used about 35 of these bags.

To distribute the stone evenly, we found it best to place the sealed bags at intervals, and open them in the pathway.

Then the stones were spread out using a shovel and metal bow rake.

Installing Lawn Edging & Fabric

After the foundation was laid, we had to install lawn edging against the wall of the trench.

The edging was needed to keep the stones inside the pathway, so they wouldn’t wander into the grass.

To install, we ran it along the inside edge of the trench, nailing in metal stakes at regular intervals and at corners.

Afterwards, landscaping fabric was laid down to help keep weeds out of the pathway.

Here’s what the pathway looked like with the edging and fabric. We were definitely getting the hang of building a stone walkway.

Laying the Stones

Next up in our stone walkway project was the second layer of stones.

Unlike the foundational stone layer, this was the topmost layer that was exposed to foot traffic.

The rocks needed to be small so they could compact nicely. We went with about 30 bags of white marble chips.

Prior to starting work on the stone path, our yard had some stepping stones embedded into the ground for access to the deck.

They required constant maintenance as grass would grow over them very quickly. In fact, we did not even know about them for the first year of living there because the grass grew over them.

We wanted to incorporate them, so we scattered them across our path and partially buried them with the marble chips to secure them in place.

This turned out to be a very functional aspect in building the stone path.

It allowed us to get to the deck without having to walk on the marble chips.

Although the marble chips were nice-looking, they tended to get stuck in your sandals/slippers, and were not comfortable to walk on if you were barefoot – so it was great to have the stepping stones.

Here’s a picture with the marble chips and embedded stepping stones:

Adding a Cove to the DIY Stone Walkway

The stone pathway to the deck was now completed.

However, we decided to build a small addition to it – a pathway to the right leading to a little cove.

The idea was actually tossed around at the beginning, but we wanted to see how the path turned out first before digging up that part of the yard.

To the right of the path, there was a small table with 2 seats. However, it was often overgrown with grass and weeds and difficult to maintain.

We wanted to make the little cove a functional aspect of the yard again.

So, repeating the steps we did for the stone path to the deck, we dug out a trench for the addition for layered the necessary stones.

Here’s a picture of the trench dug out:

Finally, here is the completed addition once the stones were added. All that was missing was the table and two chairs:

And, All the Leftover Dirt…

You can also see me stressing out about the big patch of dirt in the middle of the yard, leftover from digging the stone pathway.

I was never good at getting grass to grow, so I wasn’t looking forward to that project.

Prior to the large dirt patch was a giant dirt mound from all the digging. While trying to figure out where to relocate all this dirt, our neighbor asked if he could have it – apparently his dogs left a lot of holes in his yard.

So we shoveled all the dirt right over the fence into his yard (don’t try that without your neighbor’s approval).

Anyway, our hard work on the stone walkway paid off! We had a wonderful looking stone path providing easy access to the deck.

The walkway was very low maintenance, and even our dog used it instead of running through the grass – he hates to get his feet wet – oh Zeus.

Here’s the before and after pictures of the stone walkway:

In just two weekends, Eileen and I made this stone path that connected our patio to our detached deck. If you are looking to build a stone walkway, it’s an easy project with a large payout! And, the total cost was around $250.

Eileen and I, as well as Zeus, used the pathway more than we ever thought, so it was worth every penny.

Thrifty Kitchen Cabinet Makeover

February 21, 2016 by Eileen 48 Comments

After redoing the kitchen in our first house, we were hoping that our new house would have an old kitchen.

Then, we could just gut it and start fresh. Plus, an old kitchen would save us some money on the asking price.

However, that was not the case with the house we bought. The house itself was amazing, but the kitchen had somewhat modern granite countertops with old, dated cabinets.

I spent so much time in the kitchen, from trying to get my one-year old to eat to upholding my title as family baker, and this kitchen begged for an aesthetic update.

DIY Kitchen Decisions

Currently, it had brown countertops, black appliances, oak cabinets with gold pulls, and there was red stone backsplash just behind the oven.

Even though brown granite would not have been our first choice, we didn’t want to gut the kitchen and waste the stone.

My thinking was to come up with a plan that worked around the granite.

I made some subtle changes first – I painted the walls a lighter color, which was the same color I had painted the open family room.This gave the downstairs a seamless feel and the lighter kitchen worked with the brown granite more than the tan did.

Ash also replaced the ’70s vinyl baseboard with freshly painted white wooden baseboard.

We had also planned to switch out our old black appliances with stainless steel ones. The oven and fridge didn’t keep their temperatures properly – Ash was constantly microwaving his ice cream because it was too frozen and my cookies were constantly burning even though the middles were cooked through.

We had been waiting for Black Friday to get the best deals, and we did pretty well!

Next, I had to make a decision about the cabinets. I wanted to gel stain them like I did with the bathroom vanity, yet I was nervous about it. It was a huge undertaking!

When I did the bathroom vanity, it was one cabinet.

This was 22 cabinets!

I came up with some other options, like staining just the frames and then replacing all the doors and drawer fronts; however, even those costs added up, and there was no guarantee that the colors would match.

I hemmed and hawed over it, until I saw the forecast for the upcoming weekend.

It was mid-November and the forecasters were calling for the 50s on Saturday and Sunday! Mild weather meant I could easily air out the kitchen from the gel stain.

I decided it was now, or let the kitchen continue to drive me crazy until Spring.

So, now it was 🙂

Gel Staining Kitchen Cabinets

I used the same General Finishes Antique Walnut Gel Stain that I used for the bathroom vanity.

I needed about 3 quarts in total for both projects and 2 quarts of the General Finishes Polyurethane. (To read about how I used this gel stain on the bathroom vanity, including the tutorial and gel stain tips, click here.)

I did three coats total (plus a little touching up here and there); in hindsight, I wished I had done four.

My primary focus was getting the cabinet frames finished and the kitchen properly aired out.

My secondary focus was the doors and drawer fronts because I could do those in the garage in batches.

Preparing the Kitchen

Prior to starting, we emptied the cabinets completely, and then covered the countertops very thoroughly, placing old bedsheets on the counters and then wrapping it all in plastic.

We covered the appliances and the floor with plastic too.

Working on the Cabinet Frames

After two coats of stain, the cabinet frames were looking good!

As you can see, we ventilated the room really well, strategically placing the fans so the fumes could exhaust efficiently.

After three coats of stain, the cabinet frames were looking awesome! The dark brown was a big improvement.

I should also mention this was the point in the project where I wasn’t sure if I liked it.

It happens to me with every project. After I put in a lot of work, but I can’t yet see the final result, I start thinking, “Oh no, what did I start?!”

Rest assured, once the cabinet doors and drawers were back, the new appliances came, and the backsplash was installed, I knew all the hard work paid off.

Sidenote: On the left of the above photo, you can see the difference in the kitchen wall paint colors since I didn’t bother to paint above the countertops due to the upcoming backsplash. Therefore, you can see the old tan compared to the light ivory. The lighter color made the room appear bigger and was less matchy-matchy with the countertops. Sometimes when you try to match too much, the end result isn’t the best.

Gel Staining Kitchen Cabinet Doors and Drawers

After I was finished staining the kitchen cabinet frames, the instructions called for 5 days of dry time before the polyurethane.

During this time, I started on the doors and drawers out in the garage. The weather was still pretty mild, which was great for drying.

I worked on the doors and drawers in batches of six – which took me about 45 min per session.

As soon as I got the last coat of stain completely on one batch, I moved onto the next batch.

This way while one batch was amidst its drying cycle, I was able to keep the project moving forward.

The below structure is something Ash made so that I could stain both sides of the doors during the same session.

He used two sawhorses and two 2 x 6s to make this makeshift staining station, threading wire through the hinge holes to let them hang dry.

Gel Staining Kitchen Cabinet Doors - Garage Setup I did most of the staining with the doors flipped up on the wood, and then I got to the hard-to-reach places while it was hanging.

Updating Hardware and Hinges

Here’s Ash putting the doors back on with their new hardware and hinges.

He doesn’t look too thrilled, but trust me, he was!

We were over the moon to have a functional kitchen again.

Time & Cost of Gel Staining the Kitchen

From start to finish, our kitchen was down for about 6 weeks; however, it was functional after 8 days – there just weren’t any drawers or doors yet 🙂

Coincidentally, I decided to stop eating gluten around the time we undertook this project – so instead of ordering pizza night after night (which we definitely would have done otherwise), we saved a bunch of money chomping on fruits, veggies, and frozen meals that we made ahead of time.

As far as cost, we spent about $150 on the gel stain and polyurethane and about another $20 on foam brushes and chemical-resistant gloves.

The kitchen cabinet pulls worked out to be around $200, making the total cost just under $400.

Now, it was a big time commitment, but if you dislike your kitchen cabinets that much, it’s 100% worth it!

Here is an after picture – with the refaced cabinets, new appliances, and the tile backsplash Ash did right after we put the cabinet doors and drawers back.

How I Redid My Kitchen with $400 Here is another look at before and after and the difference that gel staining kitchen cabinets made.

Updating My Kitchen for Less than $400 We also replaced the gold chandelier with this modern one from Overstock.

How to Gel Stain Our Kitchen Cabinets for Less Than $400 While our kitchen looked 10 years younger, it was far from complete. Next on the list was:

Painting the window trim
Updated lighting
Six panel door for the pantry
Updated pantry – more space!
Crown molding on top of the cabinets
Finish converting desk area to cabinet
Replace baseboard on cabinet base

Look for future posts regarding the rest of the list! Thanks for reading!

Sisters and Stripes in the Nursery

February 15, 2016 by Eileen 22 Comments

After finding out we were having a boy, we had to start turning a room into a nursery. The obvious choice was our guestroom. I spent countless hours going through Pinterest boards and googling pictures of DIY nursery ideas, deciding how I wanted to decorate our little one’s room.

The room was currently yellow – a color I had chosen years before. The yellow was bright and sunshiney, but it was ready for a change.

The furniture was ready for a change as well. It was odds and ends from flea markets and leftovers from our college days.

It was certainly time to makeover the guestroom, converting it to a beautiful baby nursery.

Making Plans for the Nursery

The carpet was already turquoise, so the plan needed to revolve around that. I love a pretty carpet, but when they are bold colors, you have to go neutral with the walls.

After much consideration, I decided to paint the walls gray. I know that sounds crazy – who paints their nursery gray?! But, I had a vision.

My DIY nursery ideas included painting the fourth wall, the longest one, striped with a lighter/whitish gray. This wall was opposite the mirrored closet doors, so the reflection of the stripes in the doors would make the small room appear larger.

The furniture would be all white, and I would work in more turquoise in other areas – pillows, blankets, and baskets.

Here’s a side-by-side before (from quite a few years prior) and after:

Two of my sisters offered to paint the room since I was pregnant. And, it gave me time to work on more DIY nursery ideas.

My sisters had made a bet on whether we were having a boy or a girl. PK put her money on a boy, due to the fact that everyone’s first-born in our family had been boys, and Bridget said a girl to go along with the bet. Whoever lost the bet bought the paint 🙂

Ash was thrilled with this hands-off project because he had more time for other things – like putting together all that nursery furniture!

Just to give a little background…

PK, my fact-loving, detail-oriented sister had never painted a room before – let alone done any house project other than some light dusting.

Bridget, on the other hand, designs movie sets for a living and can pretty much do everything. She is a hard-worker, a great delegator, and very goal-oriented.

Accordingly, she gave PK the responsibility of planning out the stripes, putting PK’s meticulous nature to good use, while she got started on the rest of the room.

Painting the Stripes – DIY Nursery Ideas

We planned to do nine, thick alternating stripes, aiming for the stripes to start and end in the base color – the darker gray.

PK started with the laser level and masking tape with the plan to do two rounds of masking tape, painting the darker stripes first.

After that dried, she did another round of masking tape for the lighter stripes. It was more time-consuming this way, but paint wasn’t wasted.

The laser level made putting on the masking tape rather simple. It hooked onto the wall very easily, so there was no ruler, pencils, or any other contraptions involved – just a little patience 🙂

Here’s the initial tape job, leaving everything outside the boxes to be painted with the base color.

Painting the Window Trim

After the room was painted with the base color, the wooden window trim stood out like a sore thumb. It screamed to be painted white.

This is a prime example of how one project can turn into another; however, the end result made it worth all the effort they put in!

Below the window trim is now painted white, the second round of masking tape is on the striped wall, and the lighter stripes are now painted.

After looking through so many DIY nursery ideas, the room was coming together nicely.

Sisters & Stripes in the Nursery

I forgot to mention one thing about my sisters – they love Frozen…. and they were painting the nursery right around the time when the soundtrack came out.

Yes, they are in their 20s, but they love that movie – the funny sidekicks, the catchy songs, and of course the fact that it’s about sisters.

As they were painting, they blasted the soundtrack over and over… and over again. This was probably the point where Ash wished he painted the room himself – just kidding…

I, on the other hand, was actually disappointed I couldn’t help. However, I did enjoy the extra time to catch up on the Real Housewives with my buddy Zeus.

Here’s PK and her awesome stripes. Not bad for her first time painting!

Other than cleanup, the room was done. The accent wall looked perfect!

Looks like all that singing, I mean painting, paid off.

My sisters were thrilled to be able to help out with the nursery, PK received some real world lessons, Ash and I got something checked off our growing to do list without lifting a finger, and our little one was about to get a beautiful nursery.

We loved the grays of the nursery. If you are looking at turning a room into a nursery, definitely consider neutral colors. They are easy to work with and can be easily accentuated.

Furnishing the Nursery

For every piece of furniture, we carefully read reviews – especially for the changing table and the crib. The crib and glider chair were from Babies R Us. We used coupons that came in the mail.

The changing table was from Wayfair, and the lamp was a Target find.

I made the pillows with leftover fabric from the curtains. I also made the storage bins for under the changing table. The storage bins were made from contact paper and cardboard boxes.

The nursery was such a sweet little room – perfectly made over. After we moved, the new owners fell in love with the room as well, using it for their nursery too 🙂

If you are looking for DIY nursery ideas, the gray striped accent wall looked gorgeous – and it was an easy DIY.

From Rags to Riches: French Doors on the Pantry

February 12, 2016 by Eileen 56 Comments

Simply stated, our pantry was an eyesore.

It was a little nook of shelves with old curtains pulled to each side.

We were going to put our house on the market soon, and in looking at the competition, we kept seeing very similar houses with beautiful kitchens.

We looked at our old countertops, painted cabinets, and raggedy pantry….and sighed.

Then, I got an idea – installing double French doors on the pantry.

Who doesn’t love French doors? They add a certain style and class – and it should be an easy, relatively cheap upgrade to a tired kitchen.

Planning for the French Door Installation

I tend to be very particular when it comes to what I want. Installing any old French doors wasn’t going to cut it.

I searched and searched and finally came across a set of French doors on Overstock. Overstock has some great options when you aren’t finding what you want at the typical stores. (I also found my oddly-sized bathroom mirror there!)

French doors can be expensive but a 10% coupon code, which is pretty easy to find with Overstock, helped with the price.

The before picture (below) is so zoomed that I thought I would include the below pictures too. These are unfortunately the best pictures I could find.

The first is a picture of two of my sisters and me, standing in front of the pantry. You can see the old curtains and the tiebacks. It was pretty awkward having the curtained pantry in the middle of our kitchen.

The second is my sister PK, acting like Vanna White, and it shows the curtain rod and the pantry shelves. It needed an upgrade, didn’t it?!

The doors I found were sold as bi-fold doors, but the conversion to French doors was simple, especially because we had an existing opening. This made for a much easier door installation.

Also, the doors were cheaper to buy unfinished – which wasn’t a problem because I don’t mind painting. Amazon also has a lot of French Doors too if you are looking for more options.

How to Install Interior Double French Doors

To install the double French doors in an existing opening, Ash removed the six small hinges that connected the door panels together. These hinges were light duty and were meant to be used in a bi-fold setup with little load.

He purchased six heavy duty door hinges, figuring that due to the glass, 3 hinges per door would be needed to handle the weight. (Aside from that, no additional extra hardware was needed.

If we wanted to keep the doors as bi-folds, we would have needed to purchase a bi-fold track to mount in the door frame.)

The actual door came in several different sizes, so we bought the one that most closely fit the pantry opening. It wasn’t perfect because the door height was just a little short.

So Ash filled the gap at the top with a piece of 2 x 4 wood painted white (as you can see in the picture).

He also had to trim the baseboard at the bottom so that he could have a flush edge for the French doors.

To mount the French doors, he installed the hinges on the doors first. Then he took one door panel and placed it in the ‘open’ position in the pantry, with the hinges open 90 degrees. He used some scrap wood (about ¼” thick) to elevate the door off of the floor.

With the door in position, he used heavy duty screws to secure the hinges to the wall. He then removed the scrap wood supports on the floor and verified that the door swung open and closed easily.

Then, he repeated this procedure with the other door panel. Installing French doors was pretty simple, and although unpainted, the double French doors already looked so much better than before 🙂

How to Paint French Doors

With the double French doors mounted, the next step was painting. I chose a white semi-gloss paint to match the baseboard and chair rails that I just refreshed.

It went on pretty easily with just one coat needed. There was no need to use any masking tape for the glass panels.

This particular door came with a protective plastic film on each glass panel, so it was easy to paint the double doors without prep work.

Unfortunately, as easy as this made the painting process, removing the film was actually very time-consuming. However, we knew this going into the project because we always thoroughly read the online reviews 🙂

How to Attach the Door Installation Hardware

After screwing on the door handles, the last step of the door installation was to attach some magnetic catches at the top to keep the doors closed and to also serve as a stop to prevent the doors from swinging inwards.

A simple task, but the first try was a no go.

The magnets Ash used were way too strong, as they were making a loud, clanging noise as they connected. Also, when we opened the doors, the panels shuddered from the magnetic tension release, which wasn’t good for the glass.

Ash simply replaced them with less powerful magnets that were just as effective.

As you can see, this weekend project of installing French doors turned out great.

Our raggedy old curtains were now beautiful double French doors. A simple swap made a drastic difference.

Here’s another look at the before and after of installing the double French doors. It really updated our kitchen without touching the countertops or cabinets.

Now that we are in a new house, I miss those interior French doors; however, I have a plan to work them into our new house too!

Maybe in my office – they would go with our new built-in bookshelf with a window seat. I’m sure Ash won’t mind installing French doors again. Stay tuned 🙂

How to Build a Storage Shed from Scratch (Phase 1)

February 4, 2016 by Ash 45 Comments

With a larger house comes a bigger yard. I knew my little push lawn mower could only do so much with half an acre. This was proven true after nearly 3 hours mowing the grass, and stopping to empty the bag every 2 minutes.

Because of this, I bought a used riding mower that sped things up significantly, as I can now finish cutting the lawn in just over half an hour.

However, the behemoth was taking up half our garage. I had big plans for our new garage, and as much as I loved my new riding mower, its home was not going to be the garage.

This was an excellent opportunity to work on my dream shed project – teaching myself how to build a storage shed.

Storage Shed Plans and Designs

I worked on building the DIY storage shed single-handedly over the summer. I wasn’t sure that building a shed was in my skill set, but I did a lot of research, watched a lot of videos, and asked some contractor gurus for advice.

The result?

An amazing DIY storage shed that my wife still can’t believe I built.

If you are wondering how to build a storage shed or if building a shed from scratch is within your skill set, keep reading this DIY shed tutorial. I’m breaking it into two posts because of the amount of details.

Choosing a Storage Shed Design

In learning how to build a storage shed, the first thing I had to do was decide on a shed design and plans.

Now if I was going to build a shed, I wanted it to be multi-functional and not just mower storage. I went over several ideas in my head about how I could use the new storage in the shed.

I initially thought it would be nice to have an area of the DIY shed to store bagged lawn clippings and keep it dry from the rain. It was annoying trying to handle soaking wet yard waste bags once exposed to the elements all week.

I also wanted to remove some of the bulkier items from the garage (like the wheelbarrow and fertilizer spreader), so the storage shed needed to be large enough to accommodate these things.

After taking measurements of the riding mower, I padded the size to include additional storage. I settled on a 10 x 16 shed plan.

This would give me ample space to park the mower and store gardening equipment and large tools.

When planning things out, I usually like picturing the end product and doing a walk-through in my head to make sure everything makes practical sense.

I envisioned myself driving the mower into the storage shed, stepping off to the left (bagging chute was on the right), and walking out the shed door.

I knew I wanted the mower entrance to be on the far end, and shed storage directly adjacent. Now if I stepped off to the left of the mower, I didn’t want to be walking into a wall.

I thought it would be a tight squeeze to fit between the mower and the wall, so I wanted to place the mower entrance on the right size of the shed.

Deciding on Storage Shed Plans

With the basic requirements of how to build a storage shed in mind, I started shopping online for storage shed plans. There are lots of sites online selling plans for custom built storage sheds.

I ended up going with www.icreatables.com. They had designs more to my personal liking, and they also had a ton of resources (video walk-throughs of storage shed constructions).

I found a “Cape Cod” shed design that I liked a lot. It came with a large overhang that would be perfect for keeping rain out of my bagged yard waste.

I just needed to add a deck to make a little porch on the storage shed to elevate my bags off the ground. Here’s my first sketch of the DIY shed:

As you can see in the picture, I have the mower entrance on the far right, and a porch on the rear for storing bags of lawn clippings.

I also added a smaller door on the side of the shed to easily access the storage area of the shed. Two windows were sufficient to let in enough lighting. I also factored in a ramp for the mower.

Don’t let the 12 x 16 dimensions fool you. The extra two feet was accounting for the overhang, so the storage shed plan was still 10 x 16.

The shed foundation was going to rest on some 4 x 4 skids, sitting on 18 concrete blocks.

I did look into concrete anchors, but opted for the skid design due to simplicity.

Also a majority of comparable storage sheds in my area were resting on skids, so that gave me confidence that I was making the right decision.

I knew I was not in a flood zone either. If this were the case, I would have had to anchor the DIY shed permanently.

I purchased the storage shed plans for $15 and started going over the material list and putting together a cost estimate.

Preparing for Construction

Moving on to the construction part of how to build a shed – this part of the storage shed construction took quite some time as I had no experience in construction of this magnitude. I had to google lots of techniques and terminology while going through the storage shed plans.

Also I can’t tell you how much of a resource youtube was for me. With each part of the shed construction process in the plans, I had to picture myself actually doing the work to know if it was within my skill set and if I had the correct equipment.

I did have to purchase a number of tools to complete the shed project, but I’ll get to those in a bit.

After mulling over the storage shed plans and materials, I hit a snag.

To accomplish the two feet roof overhang, I needed a 16ft LVL (laminated veneer lumber) beam.

This is essentially a really strong, hard, and heavy piece of wood running across the underside of the overhang. It needed to be strong enough to handle the weight of the shed’s roof.

Unfortunately, the storage shed plans called for a certain size LVL beam that was really expensive for me and was not available at the local Home Depot.

I considered making my own beam, but abandoned this idea out of lack of experience. The last thing I wanted to do was make something unsafe.

At this point, I was also getting a little overwhelmed at the construction design of the overhang.

This was a turning point in my shed project. So teaching myself how to build a storage shed, I ended up abandoning the overhang design and opting for a more traditional shed.

This meant ditching the storage of the yard waste bags. It wasn’t such a terrible loss. If I really wanted to, I could construct a box with a flap at the top to store the bags in.

So, I browsed through more shed designs and bought a simpler one for another $15.

After some tweaks to the purchased plans, here was the final design I ended up going with:

That sketch needed a bit of explanation as it does look a lot different than my original idea and went against my initial plan of the mower entrance being on the far right.

How to Build a Storage Shed

At this point in the shed project, I had already started doing some of the prep work outside that was not going to change, regardless of the shed design.

Specifically, I laid out the 18 concrete blocks for the skids and worked on getting them leveled properly for the storage shed (see pictures below).

Here’s a small tip about leveling the skids for a storage shed. Even though I tried my best to get the concrete blocks perfectly level, there were a few that were off by a little.

This left a gap when the skids were rested on them. So to fill the gaps, I used scraps of roofing shingles. I read this shed tip online, and it helped me out a lot.
After leveling off the concrete blocks and placing the 4 x 4 skids on them, it became very apparent that as flat as the yard looked, there was a subtle slope that made the right side of the shed about a foot higher off the ground than the left side.

This made it very inconvenient to have the shed ramp on the right side. It meant I would need a much bigger ramp (more materials and expense).

Also, that extra foot of height was making me nervous about driving the mower up it. How simple it would be to just have the ramp on the left side of the storage shed, where the ground height was minimal.

So, in my DIY shed design, I relocated the mower entrance. I did some more measurements and decided that the squeeze between the mower and the wall (when exiting the mower on the left) would not be so bad.

Nonetheless, I still kept my fingers crossed it would work out. Also, I had to relocate the storage shed entrance door since that was where the mower was going to park.

I did have to add some steps into my shed design to accommodate the big drop from the door to the ground now.

Additionally, I moved the windows around in my shed plans. The windows are on the front right corner now.

It all worked out for the best as this was the optimal setup to allow the most sunlight in. My yard has lots of big trees, and most of the storage shed is usually under tree shade.

As you can tell in the picture with the 4 x 4 skids, I get the most sunlight from the right side of the shed so relocating the windows to the right made the most sense.

Happy with the new design, I was excited to my DIY shed project – as I was making some good progress constructing the storage shed.

Ordering the Shed Materials

One of the most exciting and anticipated moments in the project was getting the Home Depot delivery of materials. For $75 delivery fee, Home Depot dropped off a gigantic pile of lumber for the storage shed on my driveway.

With my wife’s help, it only took a couple of hours to relocate the lumber into my garage to keep it save from the weather.

It was also very fitting that it happened to be our 5th year wedding anniversary, and wood is the appointed gift for 5 years! So happy anniversary my dear – wood!

Anyway, prior to ordering, I made a saved list called “Storage Shed” on Home Depot’s website, and added all the materials I needed.

Money-Saving Tips for Building Sheds

The total came to around $2000. I was able to knock off an extra $250 though, and here’s how: ebay has lots of 10% off coupons for Home Depot (up to $200 off). I’ve come to realize that these coupons are hard to get a hold of for free. They typically sell for around $35 on ebay.

This was a bargain for me because that $35 that I would spend on the coupon would save me $200 off my storage shed cost.

Incidentally, the day I was going to purchase the coupon on ebay, I checked my mailbox and saw a bright yellow letter from Home Depot. I knew instantly what it was – a 10% off coupon!

What were the odds? We just moved into our new home a few months prior, and Home Depot sent us a coupon congratulating us on our move. Well, we saved another $35. If you aren’t as lucky as me, buy the coupon on ebay for your project, if it makes sense for your budget.

For the other $50 I saved – I used ebay. I was able to purchase 2 gift cards on ebay worth $500 each, but selling for $475 each.

How to Build a Shed Foundation

The next step in learning how to build a shed is to work on the shed foundation. I made the skids out of 6 pieces of 4 x 4 x 8 pressure-treated wood.

Pretty much all wood used in the storage shed was pressure treated, by the way. The wood was treated with a special chemical to keep bugs (and moisture to some degree) out. When building outdoor structures, you really need pressure-treated wood.

A word of caution though, be careful about splinters and sawdust from cutting. Splinters on the skin might sting or give a rash because of the chemicals.

Also, wear a dust mask when cutting the wood. You don’t want to be inhaling chemically treated sawdust.

For the storage shed skids, I needed each of the 3 rows to be 16 ft long, so I joined 2 of the 8 ft pieces with a mending plate.

With the 4 x 4 skids now in place, I finally had a platform to start erecting the storage shed. I followed the directions in the plans to frame the floor joists (see picture).
Looks awesome, right? After framing the floor joists, I secured it to the 4 x 4 skids with some L brackets.

Also, do you see my framing nail gun on the right hand side? I could not have built the shed without it.

I highly recommend this type of tool for building large structures like this shed. The specific gun I have is a Paslode gas framing gun. I bought a used one on ebay for $100. They normally retail for several hundred dollars, so it was a great deal. I did have to buy a cleaning kit though because the nails were starting to jam after repeated use.

Gas framing nail guns are the way to go if you don’t have a pneumatic compressor. They use a special butane fuel cell (a small cylindrical cartridge you insert into the back) and a rechargeable battery.

The nail gun ignites some of the butane to fire a piston forward and drive the nail in.

It’s really powerful (and dangerous if you’re not careful) and makes framing wooden structures a breeze.

Here’s my nail gun and me:

How to Build a Shed Floor

In learning how to build a storage shed, the next step was the actual floor. I used several 4 x 8 sheets of ¾” T&G orient strand board, following the sheeting patterns in the plans. The T&G stands for tongue and groove.

One end of the board has a protruding strip called the tongue, while the other end of the board has a groove. The tongue of one sheet is meant to be inserted into the groove of the next sheet, interlocking them together.

Once nailed down to the floor joists, the T&G system made a very sturdy floor for my shed.

I also applied a deck finish to the floor to protect it from water.

I knew it was going to be a while before the shed roof was installed, so waterproofing the floor was a high-priority (see below picture).

How to Build Shed Walls

After securing the floor to the foundation, the next step was to frame and erect the walls. I followed the plans carefully and cut all the 2 x 4s to proper lengths.

The large shed floor was a perfect platform to build the wall panels on (you can see I started assembling a wall in the last picture).

After finishing a wall section, I stood it up, carefully aligned it with the edge of the floor, and nailed it into the floor joists.

The 10 ft side panel went up first and was easy to raise and nail by myself. However, I needed some help raising the long 16 ft panel.

It was very heavy and wobbly to work with by myself.

Once in position, I secured it to the floor and then to the 10 ft panel already standing up.

At this point, I thought it would be a good idea to use L brackets to more securely join the two wall panels. So I installed 5 brackets which held the panels very tightly in place. I repeated this technique for the rest of the panel installation.

However, this idea backfired a little later in the project (I’ll get to that when I tell you about installing the exterior siding).

The L brackets were a good idea, but unfortunately not this early in the project.

I finished the panel installation. I installed some temporary supports to the open end of the panels to give some rigidity until more panels were installed (see picture).
The two remaining wall panels took me more time to build, as they were more complicated in design. They had openings for windows and doors, which meant building and installing headers.

Remember how I had purchased 2 separate plans in the beginning of the project? It actually worked well for me.

The second plan (which I was basing my shed off) did not include any windows or a small door frame. However, the first plan (with the overhanging roof) had both of those things.

So I merged the plans to create what I had in mind for my shed.

How to Install Door and Window Headers

Next up in my how to build a storage shed project was installing the door and window headers. During the constructions of the wall panels, I had to install headers above each door and window opening.

When you have a large opening in your wall frame, there is no vertical support there to help bear to load of the roof.

So you have to install a strong beam above the opening to transfer the roof load horizontally and then down the sides of your opening. This beam is called a header.

I built my own headers by nailing 3 layers of wood together. I sandwiched a strip of plywood between two pieces of 2 x 6 and it made a very strong beam.

Here is the shed with all four wall panels up. Not bad for someone teaching himself how to build a storage shed.
Ignore the windows that are mounted in the frame. I will install those later, but I was eager to see what they would look like mounted.

I removed them shortly afterwards to continue construction.
My shed project was really starting to take shape at this point. It looked like a professionally constructed building and I was thrilled!

If you are wondering how to build a storage shed or if it is within your skill set, this tutorial will definitely set you on your way.

The second part of How to Build a Storage Shed is continued here – Shed Project Part 2 (siding and roof).

How to Make Storage Bins from Cardboard Boxes

February 4, 2016 by Eileen 108 Comments

Before our baby was born, we spent a lot of time putting together the nursery. We painted cute gray stripes, decorated with a cute theme, and ordered the best furniture for our budget.

We found a great changing table with open shelving, so I was planning to buy storage bins to fit all the little things you need under the changing table.

However, I ran into a snag. I realized that I could only fit two store-bought fabric storage bins on each shelf. It awkwardly left a lot of open space, but three storage bins just didn’t fit across.

On top of that, there weren’t many colors to choose from on the store-bought fabric storage bins.

Since I was 7 months pregnant with my first and was pretty bored, I decided to make my own DIY storage bins. I tried using fabric from the curtains, but that was a fabric/hot glue mess.

So, I found a much simpler way – making DIY storage bins using contact paper and cardboard boxes! I can’t emphasize how easy it was! It’s definitely fool-proof.

Here is the end result – these customized storage boxes are made out of just contact paper, cardboard boxes, and packing tape! Not bad, huh?

The contact paper on the DIY storage bins easily allowed me to customize the bins in colors of my choice, rather than being tied to store-bought colored storage bins.

How to Make Storage Bins from Cardboard Boxes

I cannot tell you just how much I love these homemade storage bins. The customized storage boxes are so easy to make and you would never know that the base is made from a cardboard box!

You just need a little time and patience and a few easy supplies to make these DIY storage bins.

You can pick out different colored, patterned, or textured contact paper, which brings character to your space.

When making your own DIY storage bins, for just a few dollars per box, you get lots of storage and a pattern of your choice.

DIY Storage Bin Materials

Cardboard boxes
Packing tape
Knobs
Contact paper(s) of your choice

To make these cardboard storage boxes, I ordered a bundle of boxes from Amazon, since we didn’t have any laying around. (Have I mentioned how much I love Amazon prime?!) We were planning to move soon, so we would use the rest of the cardboard boxes then. However, if you have little ones already, diaper boxes and wipes boxes work really well for these cardboard storage boxes.

I also ordered three types of contact paper for the storage bins. The baby’s room was going to be gray and turquoise (gray walls, one striped with a lighter gray, turquoise carpet, and white furniture – check out our nursery makeover).

So, I found a cute, high-quality turquoise patterned paper and a gray one on Amazon. I figured I would alternate colors on the customized storage boxes.

For the inside, I used a less expensive, thinner paper in a neural color from Target. You don’t have to cover the inside, but it is nice to have a storage bin where you can easily wipe the inside.

Instructions for Making Customized Storage Bins

To make DIY storage bins, first measure the area where you want to put your customized boxes. Make sure they will fit length, width, and height-wise. I had to cut a little bit off the top of my cardboard boxes to make them fit.

Next, cut the flaps off of the cardboard boxes. You could use these as dividers, if you’d like 🙂 Use a good pair of scissors or a box cutter if you are cutting your cardboard box.

Now you are ready to cover your DIY storage bin with contact paper. Cover the outer four sides of the cardboard box with contact paper. Pay attention to patterns, if you want everything lined up nicely. Some patterns are easier to work with than others.

I didn’t cover the bottom of the cardboard box with contact paper, so this is what the bottom of the homemade storage bin looks like.

Also, you might need to tape the bottom or inside edges of the contact paper down, depending on the quality of your paper. If you want your customized storage boxes to last, I would get good quality paper, like this one.

Next, if you plan to cover the inside of your DIY storage box with contact paper, you can do that now. Since I was making this batch of customized storage bins for my son’s nursery, I wanted the inside of the box to be nicely covered, so I could easily clean it.

Later on, I made more cardboard storage boxes for various things, like paper storage, and I didn’t cover the insides – so it’s up to you!

Adding Knobs to the DIY Storage Bins

Now, ready for the best part?

This really makes your DIY storage bins look store-bought and makes them super functional.

After I was finished covering the inside and outside of the customized boxes, I was ready to add the knob to the cardboard storage box. The knobs made the storage bins look professionally made and made the bins easy to quickly grab.

I picked the knobs up from Home Depot – they were inexpensive white knobs. Yet, the screw was too long – so I simply swapped the large screws out for the short ones. (Below is the knob, washer, and short screw).

I drilled one hole in the front of each DIY storage box. Then, I added simple, white knobs, so I could easily pull customized bins in and out.

Here’s a picture of what the inside of the DIY storage box looked like, after adding the knob.

I definitely recommend using these knobs for the cardboard storage boxes because they made it so easy to pull out each homemade storage bin.

Later, I made more customized storage bins – for closet storage (winter hats, gloves, etc) and for Ash’s office. I used knobs on all of them and it was so much easier to grab a knob from the top shelf of a closet, then a whole bin.

For less than $5 per box, I had functional customized storage bins that I LOVED.

Time and Cost of Making DIY Storage Bins

The total cost of making customized storage boxes is really just the amount you spend on contact paper and knobs. I made my storage boxes for less than $5 per box.

I was so pleased with cardboard storage boxes that I used the leftover materials for winter storage bins and pantry floor bins. I also used chalkboard contact paper to make paper storage boxes for Ash’s messy office closet. They were fun because you can write on the contact paper with chalk, which makes for easy labeling.

These DIY storage bins are so pretty that you can put them anywhere in your house, leaving your guests wondering just how you made storage bins from cardboard boxes.

Overall, this was one of my favorite thrifty DIY projects – it’s hard to believe that underneath the customized storage bins is a simple cardboard box.

Updated: How did the storage bins hold up?

The customized storage bins have held up great. Three years later, these nursery storage bins still are in tact. In fact, I just tightened the knobs yesterday for the first time. The contact paper has remained on perfectly too.

And, I should mention, these bins get a lot of use!

Three years of pulling the diaper bins out multiple times per day!

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Archives for February 2016

How to Build a Stone Walkway

Digging the Trench

Laying the Stone Foundation

Installing Lawn Edging & Fabric

Laying the Stones

Adding a Cove to the DIY Stone Walkway

And, All the Leftover Dirt…

DIY Kitchen Decisions

Gel Staining Kitchen Cabinets

Preparing the Kitchen

Working on the Cabinet Frames

Gel Staining Kitchen Cabinet Doors and Drawers

Updating Hardware and Hinges

Time & Cost of Gel Staining the Kitchen

Making Plans for the Nursery

Just to give a little background…

Painting the Stripes – DIY Nursery Ideas

Painting the Window Trim

Sisters & Stripes in the Nursery

Furnishing the Nursery

Planning for the French Door Installation

How to Install Interior Double French Doors

How to Paint French Doors

​How to Attach the Door Installation Hardware

Storage Shed Plans and Designs

Choosing a Storage Shed Design

Deciding on Storage Shed Plans

Preparing for Construction

How to Build a Storage Shed

Ordering the Shed Materials

Money-Saving Tips for Building Sheds

How to Build a Shed Foundation

How to Build a Shed Floor

How to Build Shed Walls

How to Install Door and Window Headers

How to Make Storage Bins from Cardboard Boxes

DIY Storage Bin Materials

Instructions for Making Customized Storage Bins

Adding Knobs to the DIY Storage Bins

Time and Cost of Making DIY Storage Bins

Updated: How did the storage bins hold up?

How to Attach the Door Installation Hardware