Shelves & Storage

Make These Picture Ledges for Under $10

October 29, 2016 by Ash 59 Comments

Do you have a bunch of picture frames lying around and a couple hours of time on your hands? Make a DIY picture frame ledge. It’s simple to make, easy to arrange, and looks quite elegant.

Since our move, we still have boxes of pictures frames taking up way too much of our closet space. However, we are one ample box lighter, due to the awesome picture ledge that Ash made.

As I was digging through the box that held the white, cream, and grayish frames, I thought about a gallery. However, I already had one on a neighboring wall, so I wanted something different for this collection of pictures.

That being said, one of Ash’s least favorite chores is hanging pictures up on our walls. You should hear how he tries to procrastinate the task, let alone see his expression when he languidly follows me around the house with a hammer and nails.

And, he definitely does not enjoy when I ask him to hold the picture up to the wall, as I direct from across the room saying, “A little bit left, nope too much….” With my indecisiveness, that goes on for a little too long before I usually end up putting the picture somewhere else.

For these reasons, I knew Ash would love the idea of not having to hang any of the picture frames in this hefty box and instead have the pictures rest on a DIY picture frame ledge.

Would you know he had both photo ledges built in a couple hours?

He used all scrap wood, and then I painted with furniture paint for a nice finish.

The best part?

You can make them too for under $10!

How to Make DIY Picture Frame Ledges

Here are Ash’s instructions on how he built these simple photo ledges.

I came up with a very simple design for the DIY picture frame ledge. Here is an exploded 3D diagram that I created in TinkerCAD to show how the pieces came together:

I was able to use all scrap wood left over from previous projects. I cut the long pieces to the appropriate length. Eileen used the length of the love seat as a basis for how long she wanted the shelves.

Then, I formed the triangle support ends with my miter saw (this is one of my favorite tools – check out my other favorites).

After that, using some wood glue, clamps, and finishing nails, I attached the pieces to each other. Once the wood glue dried, I used the orbital sander to smooth down all the surfaces to make the different wood segments blend into each other seamlessly.

Since it was scrap wood, there were a few gouges here and there that I patched with wood filler and sanded down to a smooth surface.

Finally, my painter, aka Eileen, gave the shelves two coats of paint, and then it was ready to be mounted to the wall.

In mounting, I secured the shelves to the wall using two lag bolts, directly into two wall studs. The heads of the bolts stood out slightly, so to help blend them in, I covered them with some white paint to match the shelves.

Looking back, if I had some Forstner bits at the time, I would have countersunk the lag bolt heads to make them flush with the wood surface.

The cost of the project was free, as we had all of the material in our garage; however, I estimate the project costing $10 for the wood plus a quart of paint.

Our New DIY Picture Frame Ledge

I loved the way the picture shelves turned out. Ash built them so quickly, and without any trips to the store for additional materials, which is always a plus!

I think it took me longer to arrange the pictures than it did for Ash to construct them. (I’m super slow at arranging things…)

Everyone who visits has been commenting on how much they like them. A few people have said, “Have these always been here?” That is one of my favorite comments because it goes to show how great they look where they are.

Not to mention, Ash was so pleased that we didn’t have to hang all those frames. I haven’t told him we still have two more boxes of pictures in the closet. I’m not quite sure where they are going either. Maybe another picture ledge will be forthcoming.

Here’s another angle of our new DIY picture frame ledge. The more I look at it, the more I love it – and it was a lot easier than creating a gallery, and unlike the gallery, I can easily rearrange the picture frames too.

Shelving projects are one of my favorites – I just love different ways you can display pictures, books, and other items. I’m sure we will have more shelving projects coming soon.

Converting a CD Tower into a Pantry Shelf

October 15, 2016 by Ash 46 Comments

When we moved into our new home, we found an old, tall tower style CD holder shelf that the previous owners had left.

It was supposed to be screwed into the wall, but the screws were loose.

Seeing it as a hazard, Eileen wanted to remove it and toss it, but I had a feeling that we could repurpose it one day into something more useful.

So off it went into the corner of the garage where it sat for almost a year.

As the months went by, I was starting to regret my decision of keeping the tower because it was always getting in my way when working in the garage.

Then, one day as I was looking for some cashews in the pantry, I noticed something very interesting.

One side of the pantry had an extra thick wall. It was actually twice the thickness of a regular wall. How unusual, I thought.

My mind immediate jumped to storage.

If there was empty space in that wall, it could open up the doors for all sorts of pantry storage ideas.

Ever since I built a sliding spice shelf in our previous home (in between the fridge and the wall), I had been eager to come up with something similar for our new home.

The pantry was getting difficult to navigate with all our spices, and we could never find anything we needed. Unfortunately, there was no decent space to build the equivalent, so I needed other options for spice storage.

This thick wall was the perfect solution to our pantry storage shortage.

Planning for Extra Pantry Storage

First, I needed to assess the wall situation better.

I needed to know how much space was available inside this wall. For all I knew, it could have been thick to accommodate a central air duct.

I did some knocking on the wall and it sounded very hollow.

Still, I needed to know what was inside before unnecessarily ripping off a large chunk of drywall just to find the area impractical for use.

Using an Endoscope Camera

I took to the Internet and purchased a very cheap endoscope camera for my computer.

The endoscope would provide eyes into the wall and allow me peer around without causing too much damage.

When it arrived, I hooked it up to my laptop, tested it out a bit to get a feel for it.

Pictured below is the endoscope camera, which plugs into the computer via USB.

To give you an example of the detail it gives, I placed the camera inside my son’s fire engine, and displayed on the computer screen is a very detailed profile of the driver.

After testing it out, I then stuck it into a very small hole I drilled into the wall.

The camera had an adjustable light, so I could see inside the dark wall.

I looked up and down, and all around, and the endoscope revealed what I suspected all along – a lot of empty space!

Determining How to Use the Space

Now that I knew what type of space I was dealing with, I had to brainstorm the best way to make use of it.

It was a tall vertical space, so I was thinking along the lines of a vertical shelf to hold spices. That would certainly help with storage.

I went off into the garage to plan out designs for a custom-built shelf to fit the area.

In the garage, I saw some scrap wood resting in the corner that could be turned into shelf pieces, but once again, that tall tower style CD shelf was in the way.

The CD shelf was really starting to test my patience.

I was about to finally toss it out when I had a eureka moment. You know, that CD shelf looked very similar in size to the space that I discovered lurking in the pantry walls.

I anxiously took out my tape measure and did an exact comparison.

The shelf would indeed fit into the wall!

Good thing we did not throw out the CD shelf (more reason for Eileen to start accepting my hoard-ish ways).

It seemed like the perfect solution for spice storage.

It was not very deep, so it wouldn’t hold large cans or boxes, but would easily hold spices and baking materials, which was exactly what we needed.

Installing the CD Tower

Excited about repurposing the CD tower into a pantry shelf, I couldn’t wait to get started. I love being able to repurpose some of the junk I keep around. It’s my justification for keeping everything. And, we really needed the pantry storage. I was tired of rooting through baskets of spices.

Preparing the CD Tower

I could have used the shelf unaltered, but I decided to make it a little shorter for the pantry.

The full height would have sent it nearly to the ceiling, which would made it a little impractical for pantry storage that high.

Cutting into the Drywall

After the shelf was shortened, I needed to cut the hole in the drywall.

I first used a pencil and ruler to outline the exact cutout on the wall. Then I used a special drywall handsaw (commonly called a jab saw) to cut out the hole.

It was a little messy working with the drywall, so I kept my shop vac close by.

After the hole was made, I inserted the shelf into the wall to get a feel for how it would look.

It looked amazing! I couldn’t wait for Eileen to see.

Affixing the Shelf

Now I needed to permanently affix the shelf.

The shelf was not resting directly on the floor inside the wall (it was a few inches above the baseboard), so first I had to attach a 2 x 4 cross piece to rest the shelf on.

I used my Kreg pockethole jig and some pockethole screws to attach both ends of a short 2 x 4 to the wall studs.

I repeated the process to attach another cross piece above the shelf to secure the top.

Then I slid the shelf in between the upper and lower 2 x 4 supports and attached the shelf permanently using some screws.

Applying the Trim

All that was left now was to apply some trim.

I actually had a lot of extra trim left over from redoing some kitchen baseboard a few months prior.

The trim I had originally purchased was too tall for the kitchen, so I had cut it shorter using my table saw. Good thing I held onto the cutoffs.

They were the perfect size to use as trim for the new pantry shelf.

It was already painted too. I secured the trim directly to the shelf using some finishing nails.

Finishing Touches

I adjusted the heights of the individual shelves to accommodate a variety of spice configurations, and then the pantry shelf project was complete.

I loaded it up with all my spices and our baking materials, which freed up so much space in the pantry. It truly was such a perfect pantry storage solution.

This was one of the more simple projects I’ve done recently for such a big reward. I completed the project in a few hours, and best of all, it was free! If you are looking for pantry storage ideas, think outside of the box. You never know what you’ll come up with:)

I’m hoping to repurpose more of my stashed finds in the near future.

Six DIY Weekend Projects That You Will Love

September 19, 2016 by Eileen Leave a Comment

With the cooler weather coming in, it’s the perfect time for weekend DIY projects. There’s something about the crisp, clean air that motivates me to accomplish more.

If you are anything like us, you are probably looking to get a few fall projects under your belt too.

The best projects are weekend ones, as I also love a project that only spans two days!

Plus, you can start and finish something amazing before the Monday morning blues set in.

From garage storage to backyard updates to kitchen upgrades, we are sharing quite a few home projects that only span a couple of days.

My personal favorite is the outdoor picnic table – it turned out so beautiful and we saved hundreds!

So, without further ado, here are six projects that you can complete over the course of the weekend.

1. Outdoor Picnic Table

Ash built this picnic table in just one day!

Imagine my surprise and delight:)

It was simple to make, and the results were beautiful. We especially love the composite decking on the tabletop and the seats, as it involved no staining or sealing – and provides a nice safe material to have meals on.

As for cost, this was a steal ($160!) compared to the cost of this type of outdoor furniture at the landscaping and home improvement stores, and it looks just as wonderful. It was definitely one of our favorite weekend DIY projects.

For a step-by-step tutorial, read Building a Picnic Table in One Day.

2. French Door Pantry

In our old house, we had an eyesore of a pantry.

It was nothing more than a nook of shelves with drawn curtains. It was nothing short of awful.

In sprucing up our house for our move, I was looking for ways to make our kitchen look less dated, without updating the counters and cabinets.

The idea of putting French doors then hit me. Ash agreed – he loves my design decisions…:)

We found a reasonable pair, installed them, and painted them white.

I couldn’t have been happier to see those awful curtains go – it was definitely a rags to riches moment!

It took a mere weekend of work, and I’m sure the nice folks who bought our house are enjoying them.

Check out the before and after along, with all the nitty gritty details in From Rags to Riches: Updating the Pantry.

3. Folding Workbench

This project was one of Ash’s favorite weekend DIY projects because he checked an item off his bucket list, as he finally built his own functional workbench.

It’s definitely a fan favorite, as it’s been featured on quite a few sites, including Life Hacker and Make.

In his post Constructing a Folding Workbench with Storage, Ash shares his plans (it’s an Ash original!) and explains not only this thought process, but all the necessary steps for you to build your own.

It only took two days, and Ash has been reaping its benefits ever since!

4. Sliding Garage Shelves

Ash and I are a little storage-obsessed. I’ll admit that I have a little Christmas stuff addiction, although I won’t even admit how many trees I have.

And, Ash, well he never throws anything away.

In his defense, he creates some really cool things from his hoard collection – including a built-in pantry shelf made from a CD shelf.

Thus, we could never have too much storage.

In our garage, we had a 20-foot corner of space between the wall and the fridge, and Ash turned this into 70 feet of space with stacked, slide-out storage shelves.

These shelves are awesome, storing some of our holiday decorations.

The slide-out feature provides easy access to boxes in the back, along with easy steps up to the top.

Not to mention, Ash created bonus shelving with the leftover wood.

If you love storage space as much as we do, check out Creating More Garage Storage.

In just a weekend, you could have yourself your very sliding storage shelves, just in time for the holidays.

5. Wooden Mower Wagon

Inspired by a trip to the strawberry fields, Ash had his mind set on building a trailer for his riding mower.

He figured he could haul yard waste to the curb more easily and even take the family on a few tractor rides.

His vision became a reality with this custom-built wagon.

When he finished the wagon, no one but Zeus was around – so he got the first ride. 🙂

Ash gives all the details, from basic construction to assembling the axles to hooking up the hitch connection in his post How to Build a Wagon for a Riding Mower.

After using it all summer, Ash found it more helpful than he originally thought, and he’ll continue to use it this fall bagging up all of the leaves.

6. Boardwalk Pathway for the Backyard

Thinking about tackling a wooden pathway project? It’s easier than you think. With just a few hours of work, Ash created a perfect path from our patio into the backyard.

Prior to this boardwalk, there was a narrow pathway with a few uneven rocks, so this was quite an upgrade. It took a little digging, but it was completed in a just a weekend – making it a perfect weekend DIY project.

After a year, it gets used each and every day and is holding up great. Looking for a boardwalk solution, read A Wooden Pathway for the Backyard.

All of these weekend DIY projects were tackled in just one weekend.

Make your Monday a little happier next week, knowing you created something awesome during your two day break.

Creative Garage DIYs to Increase Storage Space

September 6, 2016 by Ash 82 Comments

With our garage being my workshop and our primary storage area, it was filled to the brim with tools of all sizes, boxes and boxes of holiday decorations, yard tools and toys, and so much more.

We already did a lot of DIY projects that saved space and created more garage storage. I constructed a folding workbench, which was such an efficient workstation.

In a corner that formerly was a dumping ground of yard tools, I built a sliding shelf tower, which housed all of our holiday decorations. I also had a lot of creative shelves scattered around.

With so many things in our garage, any empty area was prime real estate, no matter how small.

A Hidden Gem

The other day, some wall space caught my eye – the gap between the two garage doors.

Right away I thought that it would be an excellent place for some narrow shelves. Strange that it took me a year to spot the little gem between my garage doors that could provide more garage storage.

Coincidentally, the project I was working on at the time (the built-in bookcase with window seat) produced a lot of scrap birch plywood.

This was expensive stuff – 4×8 sheets sell for $50 at Home Depot. So I wasn’t wasting any cut offs (I was quite inventive in the different ways I reused those scraps).

My shelving idea between the garage doors would be a perfect little project for some of the plywood scraps to get more garage storage.

Planning the Garage Storage Boxes

Simple flat shelves wouldn’t suffice though. With so little space, the shelves would be small, and things could fall off easily.

So instead of shelves, I started visualizing little boxes on the wall. How nice would it be to walk in wearing yard gloves, and have a box to toss them into as soon as I enter the garage?

I took the box idea a step further and considered using French cleats for them.

This would allow each box shelf to be removed by simply lifting it. It would lead to a very modular design where the boxes could be swapped with other ones on the fly.

Rather than digging through a box on the wall to find what I need, or make repeated trips to the wall, why not just take the box shelf with me? Not only would it create more garage storage – but it also would be very efficient.

Now that’s some clever thinking, if I do say so myself.

I came up with this simple box design below:

Here’s another view of the box design, resting on the wall via the French cleats:

Building the French Cleat Storage Boxes

I was excited to get more garage storage from this wasted space – I couldn’t wait to start building. Here’s a TinkerCAD exploded diagram showing in detail how it was constructed:

Constructing the First Garage Storage Box

In the diagram above, the orange piece on the far right is mounted to the wall (to allow the box shelf to drop into and secure to the wall). The rest of the pieces form the box itself.

The wall mounted piece and the other angled cut directly above it (attached to the box) form the French cleat system. I used scrap ¾” birch plywood for the box and French cleats.

For the floor of the box, I used ⅛” thick scrap plywood. I cut all the pieces to size quickly using my table saw, and then miter cut the side pieces for that nice angled profile.

For the French cleat 45 degree lengthwise cuts, I used the table saw again.

Then I used construction adhesive, some bar clamps and my 16 gauge finishing nail gun to assemble the wood pieces into a functional French cleat box shelf.

Technically, I built the first shelf without the nail gun. I just used regular finishing nails and a hammer.

Finishing Nail Gun for the Win

With these types of shelves, the strength comes mostly from the construction adhesive (that stuff is really strong when completely dry). The nails really just hold the pieces in place for the glue to set. So that’s why I used finishing nails.

Also, I didn’t want to risk splitting the plywood scraps, so finishing nails were a good choice due to their thin profile.

As I mentioned earlier, I was in the middle of a bookcase/window seat project at the time. Part of this project involved installing crown molding and baseboard.

I remembered installing crown molding in my previous home, and having an incredibly hard time doing it with finishing nails and a hammer. So, I ended up borrowing my neighbor’s cordless finishing nail gun, and the installation was such a breeze. I just held the crown molding in place, then tap tap tap, and the nails (technically brads) were countersunk, securing the molding to the wall.

So purchasing my own finishing nail gun had long been on my wish list.

I finally bit the bullet and purchased one for my birthday to use on the bookcase project. I also got some angled finishing nails to go along with it.

They arrived in the middle of these French cleat shelves. So the shelves were the perfect opportunity to hone my skills with the gun.

Here’s a picture of me using the finishing nail gun for one of the box shelves:

I originally purchased an 18-gauge finishing nail gun (keep reading to see why I returned it).

Sidenote on Nail Guns

For those not familiar with finishing nail gun terminology, the gauge represents the thickness of the nail. I’m using the word ‘nail’ loosely because these nail guns actually fire brads, which are strips of thick wire with a very fine head.

They are great for finishing applications (like securing trim) because the heads make a very small hole and require little work to conceal. The thinness of the brads also reduce the likelihood of splitting the wood when they are driven in.

Finishing nail guns are not to be confused with framing nail guns, which fire actual nails and use substantially more power to drive them (hence also more dangerous). I used a gas powered framing nail gun in my shed project if you are interested.

Anyway, I was saying earlier how I purchased an 18-gauge finishing nail gun. Unfortunately, I was not having a good experience using it with the birch plywood. Most of the nails would fire in straight, but then bend half way and stick out the side of the wood. It was very annoying.

I did some research online and found out that 18-gauge nails don’t work well in hardwoods (like birch) and will do exactly what they were doing with me (changing direction as they are driven into the hardwood).

So I decided to return the nail gun and get a 16-gauge version instead.

The new nails were noticeablely thicker and worked perfectly for me. The gun is now a permanent addition to my top 12 list of must-have tools.

What’s the best nail gun for a DIYer?

Depending on the type of woodworking project you’re doing, sometimes you’ll need a thinner nail (higher gauge) and sometimes you’ll need a thicker nail (lower gauge).

Unfortunately finishing nail guns can only fire a single gauge, so you’d need multiple guns to accommodate different nail gauges. This is obviously very expensive, and may not make financial sense for you unless you’re a dedicated contractor.

So, 16-gauge is a good compromise because a majority of the projects a typical DIYer works on can be satisfied with that sized nail gauge.

This has held true for me ever since purchasing the nail gun too. I’ve used it for everything from crown molding to shelves to quickly tacking on temporary supports for concreting wooden posts. It’s also my favorite tool, and well-worth the investment.

Finishing Up the Boxes

With the finishing nail gun, construction of 5 box shelves went by very quickly. I only made 5 because I ran out of scrap wood large enough for box shelves. The remaining smaller scraps had another destiny.

Five French cleat boxes were perfectly adequate for the space allocated though and would definitely create more garage storage and organization.

Here’s a picture of the completed French cleat boxes resting on the wall (they are empty below, but filled today will all sorts of goodies):

After this was completed, some of the remaining birch plywood scraps got used for another project.

Get More Garage Storage with These Ideas

I was going finishing nail gun crazy and just wanted to keep tap-tap-tapping brads. So, I ended up making an incredibly useful battery charging station for my cordless tool batteries.

The garage storage station consisted of four L shaped shelves fixed to the wall, with two triangular supports each.

Here’s a picture of the empty shelves on the walls so you can get an idea of the design:

Here’s what the shelves look like actually being used. This little nook helped get more garage storage and organization.

The shelves created more garage storage – enough space for 4+ battery chargers, extra batteries and a host of accessories.

I got creative and tacked on an empty plastic nail box to store stationary-like pencils, markers and scissors.

I’m most proud of my measuring tape holder though. I was always looking for my measuring tape and needed a dedicated location for it, so I mounted a metal strip to one of the shelves, and the measuring tape just clips onto it.

It’s in the perfect location too. Whenever I need a measuring tape, I just open the garage door and grab the tape off the holder. When done, I just snap it back on the holder and it’s there for future use.

Here’s a picture showing my measuring tape holder:

A Lot of Storage for a Little Effort

So that’s it for this round of more garage storage shelving. I constructed five French cleat boxes in the lost space between the double garage doors and added some bonus shelving too. Not only did I create more garage storage but this storage added another level of efficiency to our garage.

I completed everything on a Saturday with no additional cost to me because I used all scrap wood. Although I benefited a great deal from the finishing nail gun I purchased around the same time, it could have been done with just regular finishing nails and a hammer.

Stay tuned for future shelving ideas as inspiration strikes. I hope this article brought you some inspiration to get more garage storage too.

Constructing a Folding Workbench with Storage

July 18, 2016 by Ash 62 Comments

Need a functional workbench but don’t have the space? Make a DIY wall-mounted folding workbench with this step-by-step tutorial.

Digging through my scrap wood collection (see how I store my scrapwood), I came across some pieces of pegboard from our previous home that I had forgotten about.

I had just relocated a lot of garden tools to the shed, and there was an empty wall in the garage that would now be perfect for the pegboard.

After mounting the pegboard and hanging up some tools, the wall still looked a little empty. I had a vision of mounting a heavy duty folding workbench to the wall.

This was the perfect location, and if the workbench folded, we could still fit the car in the garage.

Moreover, I was also in desperate need of a good workbench. I had been using the driveway and garage floor for all my projects.

The lack of a completely flat and level surface made projects more difficult. So I embarked on this bucket list project of building my own folding workbench.

Installing the Pegboard and French Cleat Shelves in the Garage

Before I made the DIY folding workbench, I wanted to prepare the wall. The wall would consist of pegboard and some creative French cleat shelving.

Mounting the Pegboard

First off, the pegboard needed to be installed above where the DIY folding workbench would go.

I had to create a slight gap between the wall and the board to allow the hooks to be inserted.

I used some scrap 1 x 3 wood leftover from a prior project to create the gap.

Using my table saw, I cut the wood in half lengthwise to make 1 x 1.5 strips and screwed them to the studs behind the drywall.

Here’s a picture of the wall showing the mounted strips in preparation for the pegboard:

Then I hoisted up each 2 x 8 pegboard sheet and screwed them into the wood strips, using washers to secure the board. It all just seemed too simple, and I needed more of a challenge.

After, I hoisted up each 2 x 8 pegboard sheet and screwed them into the wood strips, using washers to secure the board.

It all just seemed too simple, and I needed more of a challenge.

Adding French Cleat Shelves

I then remembered some French cleat shelves I recently built in between the two garage doors. We had wasted space in between our two garage doors – just a small vertical space. And, we use every bit of storage space over here, so I mounted vertical French cleat storage boxes/shelves.

French cleat shelves are portable shelves that are very sturdily mounted to the wall – and can be removed from the wall by simply lifting. I like to use wooden boxes to mount on the French cleats because they are so practical for building.

I love French cleat shelves, or modular shelves, because they are so practical for building – you can take the box shelf off the wall and into your workspace very easily.

So I quickly made 4 shallow box shelves and rigged up a French cleat system for them underneath the pegboard.

You can see in the picture below I used some old beadboard for the bottom of the French cleat shelf bxoes.

Here’s a picture of the French cleat shelves, along with the pegboard and my fancy tool collection. You can just lift those French cleat boxes off whenever you need:

Creating the Folding Workbench Design

With the pegboard and French cleat shelves installed, I could start on the DIY folding workbench.

To come up with the design, I first did a lot of research on existing workbenches, especially folding ones.

I was initially considering one that folded up to cover the pegboard when not in use.

A nice feature of that design was that it left below the pegboard intact. So, I could make use of the space for shelving in the future.

I ended up ditching that idea because it would hinder my ability to get tools off the pegboard when the table was folded up.

The extra space below the pegboard was not worth that inconvenience.

Thus, I decided my workbench would fold downwards.

Many fold-down tables I came across had built in legs at the front that swung down. I wanted to make my table free of legs to give a more roomy feel, and also allow easy access to the floor when the table was down.

Sweeping up a sawdust covered floor is a lot easier with no table legs in the way. So finally, all my research culminated into a custom design, which I created in TinkerCad.

Here are the TinkerCAD diagrams of the table in the up and down position:

As you can see in the diagrams of the DIY folding workbench, I planned to have the table supported with 3 wall mounted legs.

Each leg would rest on hinges, allowing them to swing inwards and lay flat against the wall.

With the legs folded in, the tabletop (also resting on hinges) would fold downwards to lay on top of the legs.

I really liked this floating workbench design and was eager to start work on it.

Constructing the DIY Folding Workbench

With the design finished, I was excited to start the DIY workbench I had always wanted.

The workbench construction consisted of 3 main parts – tabletop, legs, and wall mounts. Once completed, I would need to secure the pieces to each other with hinges.

So first I started with the tabletop.

Building the Workbench Tabletop

For the DIY floating workbench tabletop, I opted to use several planks of 2 x 8 and 2 x 4 wood for the top, much like a picnic table.

I liked the look because it blended in well with my existing garage shelves (including a sliding shelf behemoth I made a few months ago).

To assemble them together, I used a number of techniques.

First, I drilled 10 pocket holes along the length of each board. I used the Kreg Pocket Hole jig to precisely drill all the holes.

Then I applied construction adhesive to sides of the planks, clamped them together tightly and fastened them to each other with 2.5″ pocket hole screws.

Wood Clamp Tip

If you’re really getting into some woodworking projects lately and don’t already have a variety of wood clamps, I would strongly recommend getting some. For years, I never had the need for any.

Then about a year ago, I had to borrow a neighbor’s 3ft bar clamp to help hold some warped wood in place while I drilled it down. I was hooked ever since.

Now I’ve accumulated a host of clamps ranging from 3″ C clamps to 3ft bar clamps. For the bar clamps, I always try to get them in pairs because many clamping scenarios are better with multiple pressure points.

A lot of bar clamps also convert to spreaders, which let you “spread” a certain distance between two pieces of wood (never thought I’d use that feature, but trust me, you’ll run into a scenario where you’ll want to pry apart two pieces of wood).

I’ve also got a few 90 degree clamps, which are a godsend for building bookshelves (or any other scenario where you need to secure two pieces of wood perpendicular to each other).

I even use an awesome Kreg face clamp to keep two pieces of wood perfectly flush for joining (also use it for the pocket hole jig to keep it in place as well).

Alright, enough rambling about my love for wood clamps.

Finishing the Workbench Tabletop

Finally, I ran 3 perpendicular 2 x 4 supports underneath the tabletop for additional strength. These supports also serve as stops for the swinging legs, so the spacing of them was actually determined by the positions of the legs on the wall.

Here are pictures of the top and bottom of the DIY folding workbench’s completed tabletop:

The floating workbench’s tabletop was very heavy but sturdy.

The surface and edges were a little rough, so I planned to sand it down in the end and then route the edges with a rounding over bit.

Constructing the DIY Workbench Legs

Each leg consisted of 2 pieces of 2 x 10 planks, cut to 27” in length. I secured the planks to each other, similar to the table top (with pocket holes and wood glue).

I did notch the corner of each leg structure with a 45 degree cut for a nice angled design.

This would give me more leg room, and also eliminate a pointed edge to get snagged on.

Here’s a picture of one of the legs being worked on. The DIY folding workbench was already becoming very handy, even just resting on some sawhorses:

The next task was to bolt 2 x 4 mounts into the wall studs. I used 3.5” lag bolts for the fasteners, and made sure they were perfectly level.

I completed the wooden mounts:

For the horizontal 2×4 (that the table top will hinge to) that connects to each vertical support, I used 5 fasteners to secure it.

I used 3 lag bolts to attach to each vertical support and two 6″ TimberLok screws in between the vertical supports to attach it directly to two additional wall studs.

For the lag bolts, it was essential that they were flush with the surface of the wood.

Up until recently, countersinking lag bolts was not a clean and easy task for me.

This was until I bought a set of Forstner bits that made the task a breeze.

Unlike regular drill bits, Forstner bits are specially made to cut flat bottom holes to precise depths.

Here is a picture of one of the bolts up close countersunk with a Forstner bit (note the gap around the bolt head to allow room for the socket spanner):

Finally, with the 3 main project segments completed (table top, legs, mounts), I could start attaching them to each other with hinges.

Prior to a Home Depot trip for all the lumber, I stopped by the local Habitat for Humanity Restore.

I was in luck because I picked up 12 used door hinges for a mere $3. Home Depot was selling a pack of brand new ones for $23.

I highly recommend the Habitat stores if you happen to live near to one. They can sometimes yield big savings for your DIY projects.

Definitely give the Habitat for Humanity Restore website a look to see if they have a location near you. You’ll definitely save!

Attaching the Workbench Hinges

Attaching the hinges went on fairly easily. I used three of the regular door hinges for each leg. Then, I used 3 heavy duty hinges for the table top.

Here’s a picture of the workbench legs mounted with some hinges. Once again, I used a level to ensure accurate alignments:

I positioned the table in place, and attached it to the wall mounts with the 3 heavy duty hinges.

I used two types of fasteners for the hinges. For the wall mount connection, I used four 1/4″ lag bolts per hinge.

For the table top connection, I used Simpson 1.5″ structural screws (these screws are amazing for all sorts of projects due to their anchoring strength, so I always have some on hand in the garage).

To prevent the doors from accidentally swinging shut while the table was down, I attached a small bolt lock on each leg to lock them into place.

Here’s a picture of one of the heavy duty hinges used to fasten the table top to the wall mounts:

Here is the bolt lock in action to secure the swinging legs.

Note the rectangular notch I had to make on two of the legs to account for the heavy duty table top hinge when folded inwards:

Final Touches on the DIY Folding Workbench

The floating workbench was practically complete at this point. The tabletop just needed a good sanding, and the edges needed a nice routed cut.

I used a 3/8″ radius round over edging bit with my plunge router.

Here’s a picture of the tabletop corner once routed (looks very professional, doesn’t it?). I love the look that routing gives:

Finally, I finished the DIY wall-mounted, folding workbench.

Confident in its strength, Eileen and I both sat on it to prove that it was a sturdy design. The table did not even budge.

The folding workbench was just the beginning of our garage plans.

We also installed an exhaust fan for ventilation in the garage. I added a boxing station too – that stows away when not being used!

And, if you’ve been following along, you know about my love for technology. I built and mounted a garage computer (from scrap wood) to help me while I’m building!

We also added a DIY screen door from our garage leading into our mudroom.

Eileen painted the garage walls. She found two gallons of high-quality blue paint at the Restore. And, she painted the wooden pegboard a much nicer color. Stay tuned for an updated picture!

For the future, I have cabinets I found at the Restore to mount to the wall, and I’d love a rolling workspace too one day.

Time and Cost

Lumber and materials costed around $150. I completed the entire project over the weekend.

Overall, the DIY folding workbench was a much needed addition to my garage workshop. I will be using it a lot in the very near future.

We are already enjoying how much space the floating workbench saves. We love that we didn’t compromise any of our garage space while also finally having a place to work.

If you are in need of a workbench or are looking for a folding solution for your workspace, this DIY folding workbench is completely do-able and you will love the results.

Three-Year DIY Folding Bench Update

Three years later, the folding workbench is holding up great! It looks just as great as the day I built it.

We are loving how easily the workspace converts – as we can quickly get the car back in the garage when we need to. I wouldn’t have made any changes to the original design or construction.

I have done a lot more garage projects since but nothing beats the workspace that this folding workbench provides.

How to Install Shed Siding and Roofing (Phase 2)

May 22, 2016 by Ash 11 Comments

Learn how to build your own DIY shed with this tutorial. It will cover how to install shed siding, how to lay the roof, and how to paint and prime the exterior.

Everyone has been asking for the nail-biting continuation of how to build a shed, so here it is – part two of how to build a shed from scratch.

If you missed the first part, check out Shed Project Part 1.

In the first DIY shed post, I went over how I decided upon the shed design (it definitely changed a few times), how I prepared for the shed construction, and how to build the floors and walls.

I started on the shed’s foundation with concrete blocks. Then, I worked my way up through the shed floor and got the wall frame standing firm.

I even shared some tips on how to save money on your DIY shed. So, be sure to check it out if you already haven’t.

In this post, I’ll be sharing how I did the siding, roofing, and priming and painting. And in the last post, I’ll cover how to build shed steps, ramps, and doors.

Back to the DIY Shed

My long-awaited dream of building a shed from scratch has come a long way.

In our first home, I built a metal shed over the weekend, and it did the job.

Yet, it was nothing like the beauty I was working on now. I had sketched out the design on post-it notes, and it was amazing seeing the sketch become a reality.

After a short break to work on some side projects around the house, it was time to continue building the shed so I could move the riding lawn mower out of the garage and finish up building my dream shed form scratch.

How to Build a DIY Shed from Scratch

With the shed wall frame in place, it was time to install the exterior siding part of building the shed. It was getting exciting!

Installing T1-11 Shed Siding

I used T1-11 plywood siding for my DIY shed.

Why T1-11 siding for the DIY shed?

T1-11 siding is very popular wood paneling siding for sheds.

T1-11 plywood is thick enough to be used as the actual wall itself (versus using a thinner plywood sheathing and separate siding).

Also, T1-11 siding (similar to the T&G plywood used for the floor) also has special grooved endings to help the sheets overlap and make a tighter seal at the seams.

Installing the shed siding for your framed structure does more than just enclose it.

At this stage, the framed walls were still wobbly and were not square with each other. The shed siding corrects all of this for you.

When you install the first piece of shed siding onto each wall panel, you use that first piece to align the edge of the wall panel.

Once the wall panel is aligned with the shed siding, you nail them together and that wall panel is squared and locked in place.

Too Soon for L-Brackets

Remember earlier when I said I used L brackets to tightly secure the 4 wall panels together, and it backfired?

Well, prior to installing the shed siding, my shed wall panels were not wobbly. They were held very firmly in place because of the L brackets at the corners.

It took me a few minutes to figure out why the walls were not budging when I tried to line up the edges with the shed siding.

So I had to undo a lot of the L brackets from the corners to get the shed siding to install correctly.

Once the shed siding was up, I reinstalled the L brackets.

As for the window openings, I initially installed shed siding that covered them up completely.

Once the shed siding was securely in place, I used a mini circular saw to cut out the opening.

I highly recommend a compact circular saw for your tool collection.

It’s much more convenient than a full sized circular saw and also very precise.

Spacing & Wall Stud Note

I made another mistake related to the shed siding too. The wall studs in the panels are spaced 16” apart (pretty common construction standard).

The 16” spacing starts at one end of the wall panel.

Yet, depending on the length of the wall panel, it could end abruptly, forcing you to place the ending stud at an arbitrary distance.

When installing the shed siding, you always have to start on the end of the panel where the 16” spacing begins (not where it ended prematurely).

Starting on the correct end of the wall panel ensures that every 4 ft wide shed siding sheet ends on a wall stud.

I luckily did this for the 3 sides of the shed.

However, the right side of the DIY shed, I did not start siding on the correct end.

Because of this error, I had several pieces of overlapping siding that did not have a wall stud behind it.

Lack of a wall stud at the seams meant there was no way to tighten the overlap between the shed siding sheets and left a gap for rain and bugs to come in.

So rather than re-siding that wall panel, I left it as is, and installed some additional wall studs to nail the seams into.

Rain Water Puddling

As I mentioned in the first post, I worked on building the shed all by myself.

Since it was a solo project, it took me longer to finish because it was just me building it, and I have a day job.

During this time, we had our share of rain.

Therefore, I had an issue with heavy rain water causing parts of the shed siding to swell and bulge and pull away from parts of the foundation before I could finish getting everything up.

After it had rained, I noticed that there were 2 slight dips in the flooring around the edges of the shed foundation that caused rain water to puddle and remain there.

In that same area, some of the shed siding was bulging on the outside.

Tip to Prevent Warping

I did some research and found out that unprotected T1-11 plywood siding will start to warp if left exposed to standing water.

So this puddling water was warping my T1-11 siding.

My solution was to drill a few tiny holes into the center of the floor dips to let the water drain.

After the next rainfall, I checked the shed and there was no more water puddles.

My T1-11 plywood siding has never warped since.

As for the existing bulges in the shed siding, I could not leave them like that because it would let bugs in.

So I used a bar clamp to force the shed siding back into place, and secured it with a few nails.

Problem solved – what a great trick, right!?

I’m hoping these tips and tricks help you from making these mistakes when you are building your shed from scratch.

Shed Roof Construction

With the plywood shed walls finally up, I could start working on the shed roof.

This was a big milestone for my DIY shed project as it meant the “drying out” period could start.

his was when water stopped entering the interior, and it could soon become usable space.

It was also a huge milestone for me in the fact that I had been able to build the shed from scratch thus far.

The DIY shed was looking great, and I wasn’t looking back.

How to Build Roof Trusses for a Shed

The shed roof required a number of trusses to be built.

The trusses are the shed roof framing, which are the triangular supports mounted on top of the structure that the roof sheathing or plywood is nailed into.

I had to build thirteen individual shed trusses to span the length of the shed.

Here is what the shed trusses look like up close:

In building trusses for a shed, I followed the directions in the shed plans to construct them.

Tool Tip

My miter saw really came in handy for building the shed roof, as there were lots of angles to cut.

Where each segment of the truss met another segment, I sandwiched that part between two pieces of plywood and nailed it together securely.

I read a great tip online about constructing the shed trusses.

Similar to the framed wall panels, I built them on the floor of the shed.

However, this time I use the shed floor to make a jig for each truss.

I needed each of the trusses to be identical to the next. So I built the first truss carefully on the shed floor.

Once completed, I screwed scrap blocks of wood in the floor at strategic parts around the truss.

I lifted the finished truss up and a perfect jig remained on the floor to construct the next one.

I didn’t have to spend time measuring and aligning the truss segments.

Next, I just placed each segment into the jig and secured them with the sandwiching plywood.

The blocks of wood screwed into the floor meant that the truss would be a perfect replica of the original one.

How to Attach the Shed Trusses

Attaching the shed trusses to the shed structure was not as simple as dropping them onto the top and nailing them.

Because of how they rest on the framed walls, there was not much surface area to work with to nail them down securely.

I did some research online, and a common technique was to just toe-nail the truss to the shed.

The technique is to drive some nails into the truss at an angle to penetrate both the truss and the shed structure.

I tried this, but I was not comfortable with the connection it made. There was too much movement, and it did not feel safe to leave it like that.

So I kept brainstorming what I could use for a better connection.

My solution was to use L brackets on the sides of the trusses and heavy duty 6-inch TimberLok screws driven in from underneath at an angle.

The screws were what really did the job. The L brackets really just held the truss in place so it was easy to drive in the screws.

I love TimberLok screws.

With all the extra TimberLok screws leftover from the shed, I use them in so many projects now.

I used the TimberLok screws in my folding workbench and sliding garage shelves) that require a really strong fastener.

Here is a view of the trusses from outside:

How to Install Roof Sheathing on a Shed

With the shed trusses made, next came the shed roof sheathing.

I used ½” 4×8 OSB (oriented strand board) plywood for the shed roof.

The Hulk

The trickiest part of this shed building step was actually getting the plywood sheets onto the trusses.

I would recommend getting some help for this part of the shed construction.

The shed roof sheathing was very heavy and large to do by yourself.

I was very eager though to get the roof on. Unfortunately no one was around at the time to help.

I went through several failed attempts to get the sheets up by myself.

Eventually the technique that worked for me was to lift each plywood sheet up and in between the trusses. This required quite a bit of strength.

Needless to say, I was very sore afterwards, but it was worth it.

Prior to lifting up the plywood sheets, I had screwed scrap siding into the overhanging part of the trusses.

Doing this gave the lower trusses an edge.

This ensured that when I dropped the sheets onto the trusses, they would not slide off the bottom and fall to the ground.

One by one, I lifted and nailed each sheet down to the trusses in a staggered pattern provided in the plans.

Here’s a picture looking up into the trusses after the plywood sheathing was laid down:

Installing the Drip Edge on a Plywood Shed

With the plywood sheathing nailed down, I installed a drip edge on the overhang of the shed.

A drip edge is specially shaped metal flashing that helps keep water on roof away from your structure, and not run down the side.

Here’s a close up of the metal drip edge on the plywood DIY shed:

Laying the Roof Paper

After the plywood sheathing came roofing felt paper. The roofing paper came in a large roll that I cut into 16 ft segments.

I started at the bottom corner of one side of the shed roof, and worked my way up.

I nailed the roofing paper into the trusses using roofing nails with large plastic caps in the heads.

The caps really gripped the roofing paper without tearing it.

I also liked that the caps for the roof were bright orange.

It helped me locate the trusses after the paper went on.

It’s important to try and keep your weight above the trusses to avoid doing damage to the sheathing.

I covered both sides of the roof with paper and left the apex for last.

There was a little gap between the roofing sheathing at the apex where the two sides of the roof met.

I was a little worried about leaks, so I thickened up the felt paper by applying two layers on the apex.

Here’s a picture of the apex with the extra layer of roofing paper. There are some shingles installed already, but I’m getting to that next:

Installing Shingles on the Shed Roof

After the felt paper, I moved onto the shingles.

I’ve always wanted to work with shingles, so I was really looking forward to this learning opportunity.

After a lot of roofing research, I felt confident to proceed in knowing how to put shingles on a shed.

Coincidentally, part of our home’s roof was being replaced at this time by a roofing contractor due to a leak.

So I talked to the guy for a little bit and he gave me some useful tips and confirmed that my plan for the shed’s roof sounded solid.

This was perfect because I like to be extra sure of myself before embarking on a new task – hence all the research I did for building this shed from scratch.

I bought 25-year asphalt 3-tab charcoal colored shingles from Home Depot.

I estimated I needed about 6 bundles of shingles. They are sold in packs called bundles, and each bundle covers about 33 square.

The individual shingles are rectangular in shape with 3 tabs (as seen in the picture below):

The black line running across the center of the shingle is a tar line.

Shingles overlap one another, and when the sun heats up the roof, the tar line softens enough to adhere to the overlapping shingles.

Applying Starter Shingles on the Shed Roof

To begin installing shingles on the roof, I first had to apply starter shingles.

Some shingle bundles come with special shingle strips called starters. These lack the 3 tabs and are just one continuous strip.

Because shingles always need to overlap each other, the first row of shingles on a roof needs a special starting strip.

Otherwise, the tabs would rest directly on the felt paper below and expose it to the elements.

What if my shingles don’t come with starters?

Actually my shingle bundles did not have any starters, so I just made my own.

I used a utility knife and cut off the tabs from a few shingles. I cut just below the tar line. Very simple!

Nailing Down the Shingles

With the starter strips made, I nailed them to the bottom edge of the roof. I made sure the tar line was on the bottom.

I made sure to extend the shingles about an inch off the edge of the roof. This overhang is important to prevent water from running off the shingles and down the siding.

I know that the metal drip edge was installed below to prevent this. Yet, this was just an extra measure of protection.

Tabbed Shingles

After the starters were installed, I was ready to install the regular tabbed shingles.

I overlapped the starter strip with the tabs from the other shingles.

Then I drove 4 nails per shingle just below the tar line. Two at the ends and two above each tab slit.

I worked my way across the shed roof to complete the first row.

The last shingle in the row needed to be cut. Yet, I left it intact for now, with plans to cut all the excess later.

To start the next row of shingles, I had to offset the first shingle. This way the tab slits rested on the middle of a shingle tab below.

If I did not offset the starting shingle, then the tab slits would line up with the slits in the row below. This would increase the potential of water seeping through the shingles unto the roofing felt.

So using a utility knife, I cut off about 1/6th of the shingle.

I continued this process row-by-row until I got as close as possible to the apex of the roof.

Then I hopped over to the other side of the shed’s roof, and repeated the whole process. (Installed the starter shingles at the bottom and working my way up).

Here’s a picture of the shingles so far:

Finishing with a Ridge Cap on the Shed Roof

The last step to finish installing the shingles on the DIY shed roof was to cover up the apex and form a solid ridge cap.

Once again, I had to cut the shingles to make special pieces for the apex on the shed roof.

Just like the starter strips, I cut off the tabs below the tar line.

Then I nailed each strip across the apex, perpendicular to the rest of the shingles on the sides.

As I worked my way across the apex, I overlapped each strip so each overlapping one covers the tar line on next one.

Here’s a picture of what the apex looked like after installing the shingles:

Here’s a picture after installing the shingles on the roof of the DIY shed (Eileen just put on a coat of primer on the siding too):

Priming and Painting the DIY Shed

Speaking of primer, Eileen took care of all of the painting on the plywood shed – from choosing the color to the last brush stroke.

And, painting the DIY shed was certainly a project by itself.

The shed took a lot of paint which we greatly underestimated.

Here I was thinking how far a gallon of paint went on drywall when repainting a bedroom.

Needless to say, a gallon of primer barely touched the surface of the raw plywood siding on the shed.

The plywood soaked up so much of the paint.

So, we went back and purchased a 5-gallon bucket of Zinnser brand primer.

Eileen ended up painting the shed with 3 coats of primer. It took a really long time. She used both a roller and then a brush to get in the ridges.

After the primer, Eileen went on painting the shed with 2 coats of grey exterior paint.

I definitely recommend using a paint sprayer as it will be a huge-time saver.

Tip for Choosing Exterior Paint

Just a note about choosing exterior paint for any outdoor project.

You definitely want to either get a sample of your paint color and test it, or take the paint chips outside – and make your decision under the light of the sun.

The sun makes the colors look completely different. Outdoor and indoor light are not quite the same.

You’ll notice this if you’ve ever used the same paint indoors and outdoors, so definitely be sure of your color.

The grey paint on the shed really made it pop. Yet more importantly, served as a thick protective barrier for the siding against water.

So in total, the shed required 5 coats of paint (primer and paint), taking about a week or two to complete. She worked in the free time she had too.

It was well worth the time and effort though. Since Eileen did the painting, I could keep working on other shed tasks.

Doesn’t the shed look great?! Eileen and I were so pleased with its progress and was happily working on the next shed tasks.

Next Up on the DIY Shed

With the shed now primed and painted and looking great, next up was building a ramp for the riding lawn mower, building shed steps for the storage entrance, building doors, and installing the windows.

To keep reading and to see how the DIY shed turned out, check out the final post – Shed Project Phase 3 (Building Steps, Ramps, & Doors).

This last post is great because I show you easy ways to build the steps, ramps, and doors! The DIY shed doors were custom built with a pretty cool design.

You can even apply these to other backyard projects too.

A Space-Saving Kitchen Spice Rack

March 29, 2016 by Ash 42 Comments

I love to cook, and I use a lot of spices – from sweet Hungarian paprika to spicy Jamaican jerk seasoning.

You name it, I most likely have it.

Eileen, on the other hand, loves to bake – so on any given day, we have all the ingredients to make anything chocolate chip bundt cake to spicy Bahamian chicken.

Unfortunately, with such a large spice and baking collection, it was getting very difficult to find something when we needed it.

We were storing all the spices in a corner cabinet, and they took up the entire cabinet. We tried everything for organization – a spinning rack, a mini spice organizer – nothing seemed to save us space or time.

When making a meal, I would have to dig through everything to find what I needed. And Eileen wasn’t happy when she was looking for cinnamon or baking powder, and it was shoved behind the seven spices I used the night before for taco seasoning.

Planning the Spice Rack

Shortly thereafter, we were having dinner at a friend’s house and saw their spice solution.

They were utilizing a 6-inch gap between their fridge and the wall to fit a movable spice shelf, mounted on wheels.

I thought it was such a brilliant idea. I googled the idea later that night and saw it was a very popular spice storage solution.

There were lots of incarnations on Pinterest. I was set on incorporating a similar design into my kitchen, but I wanted to take it up a notch.

I didn’t like the wheeled shelf design. It would limit you to one massive shelf. Also, without some type of track system, I thought the shelf would be wobbly.

After some thought, I settled on 2 independent spice shelves mounted to the wall on drawer slides.

Aside from the drawer slides, I had enough scrap wood in the garage to build my design.

I didn’t really plan this project out much (aside from basic measurements of available space), mostly winging it as I went along. Nonetheless, the sliding spice rack turned out well.

How to Build a Sliding Spice Rack

I started off building one of the shelves. First, I fabricated a box with ¾” thick boards and nailed a hardboard composite backing. I then made some compartments for organization.

I averaged the sizes of my spice jars to determine a good depth and height for the shelves.

Here’s an early picture of the shelf unit:

Determined to re-use scraps from the garage, I attached some wood trim to serve as fences to prevent the spices from falling out.

Also, I couldn’t just attach the drawer slides to back of the shelf structure in the picture above.

I had limited space between the wall and the fridge, and fitting the spices with a drawer slide behind exceeded my available width.

So my solution was to mount the drawer slides above and below the shelf, being almost flush with the shelf backing.

I attached a piece of 2×4 to the top and bottom of the shelf to serve as a mount for the slide.

I then attached some plywood to the front of the shelf and screwed on a handle.

Then I mounted the two drawer slides to the wall, and attached the shelf. The slides were attached directly to wall studs.

I also had to make sure that both slides were equally level. Any discrepancies in the slide angles would most likely result in a jamming drawer.

Here is a close-up picture of the mounted shelf with some spices in it (notice the repurposed wood trim):

Here is a picture from the back, showing how I attached the drawer slides to the DIY spice rack:

I built the second shelf much like the first. However, I increased the height to make the most of the available space.

After mounting this shelf, I painted the front facing plywood, blending in to match the color of the kitchen (see pictures below of the completed spice rack).

Using the DIY Spice Rack

The sliding spice rack turned out great. We adapted the top shelf for our most frequently used spices, while the lesser used ones ended up in the bottom shelf.

Whenever we needed a spice, I just pulled out the appropriate drawer and located it instantly – very different from before!

I should mention too that the corner cabinet that previously held all of our spices was now completely empty, giving us more space for all those pesky tupperware containers.

Anyone have a good storage solution for those?!

Time & Cost

Building the spice rack took about one weekend, and the total cost was less than $50 because of all the scrap wood I used (my estimate is about $70 if you are buying all the wood from the store).

The spice rack became the hit of many parties.

Our friends were always asking about those mysterious handles next to the fridge, and were amazed when the handles revealed a plethora of spices.

Our next door neighbors noticed the spice rack when we were moving out of the house and were fascinated with it, saying, “Forget all those updates you did, this is what sold the house!”

(As an aside, we replaced that dingy pantry curtain with French doors before we moved, check it out here).

If you are looking for a solution to your spices, building a sliding spice rack could be the answer 🙂

How to Make a Built-In Bookshelf

March 10, 2016 by Ash Leave a Comment

To put it simply, Eileen has more books than anyone I’ve ever known – books from her childhood, books from college, books of poetry – some she’s read and some she just likes to collect.

But long story short, she was running out of room storing them on a wobbly old shelf – in double rows, and then there were the boxes in the closet.

Eileen kept telling me that she had the perfect spot for a built-in shelf, so I pulled out a Post-It note and sketched out a basic design with measurements.

Planning the DIY Bookshelf

First, I planned out all the cuts I needed for the DIY bookshelf and put together shopping list for Home Depot.

I wanted to make a very sturdy bookshelf with minimal visible hardware. So I opted for dado joints and a center support column. Also, I decided to use pine for the lumber.

I did lack the proper tools for making dado joints, so I added a plunge router to the shopping list.

This was going to be my first router project, and I was looking forward to it very much.

Constructing the Bookshelf

After cutting all the wood planks to pre-measured lengths, the next step was to mark all the grooves for the dados.

Dado joints are the simplest joints there are but are very strong and perfect for bookshelves.

They are just grooves cut into the vertical support planks on both ends of the bookshelf, where the horizontal shelves slide right into and rest.

My pine lumber was ¾” thick. So, I needed to use a router bit of the same thickness for the grooves.

After the grooves were outlined on the two vertical support planks, I secured the planks side-by-side to prepare for the routing.

The grooves on the two support planks needed to be in perfect alignment. Therefore, I screwed the planks together from underneath with some strips of scrap wood.

It was important to keep the planks firmly in place to prevent shifting as I cut the grooves.

Routing the Dados

Finally it was time to use my plunge router.

I did a few practice cuts on scrap wood to get the feel for it and was now ready for the real thing.

For each groove, I affixed a straight piece of wood to act as a jig for the plunger. Without this guide, it would have been impossible to cut a straight line.

Below is a picture of the plunge router and some grooves already cut.

You can also see the outlines I made for the uncut grooves, as well as the strip of wood I used for a guide:

Here’s a close-up view of the dado groove. You can see how smooth the cut was.

The router bit went through the soft pine like butter, making a very professional cut:

Assembling the Pieces

With all the dados cut, assembly of the shelves could begin.

With the help of a rubber mallet, I inserted each shelf into its corresponding dado joint and secured each connection with two screws on the outside.

Here you can see how perfectly each shelf fit into the dado:Assembly of the shelves was almost done at this point.

Next came the center support column.

As you can see in the background, I did my work in my man cave. We didn’t have a garage to work in – hence the chaotic background and poor lighting.

Finishing with Wood Putty & Stain

Construction of the DIY bookshelf was completed at this point. All that was left was to fill the screw holes with wood putty and apply a wood stain.

Eileen stained the wood with two coats of a dark MinWax stain.

Securing the Shelf

The final step was to secure the bookshelf to the wall in the office.

I used some metal L brackets to attach a few shelves to studs in the wall. I strategically placing them so they would be hidden from view.

Also, I had to remove some of the wall baseboard trim so that the shelf could fit flush against the wall.

Below are pictures of bookshelf bolted securely to the wall.

I wasn’t too happy about the electrical outlet at the bottom left being partially blocked by a shelf. However, it was too late to do much about it now. The outlet wouldn’t be visible anyway because of the books.

Here is the completed bookshelf with actual books. We later replaced that old wooden door to the room with a white six-paneled one – but we don’t have any pictures of that.

There was no sagging at all with the weight of the books.

Eileen finally had her library organized on this built-in DIY bookshelf. I use the word ‘library’ because who else has enough books to make an Irish Classics section?!

Years later, the shelves remained perfectly straight, thanks to the dado joints and center support column.

Fast forward a few years, in our new house, I made another DIY bookshelf – a bookshelf with a window seat, using the background I had from designing this shelf.

It’s Eileen’s absolute favorite.

From Rags to Riches: French Doors on the Pantry

February 12, 2016 by Eileen 57 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 Make Storage Bins from Cardboard Boxes

February 4, 2016 by Eileen 112 Comments

How to Make Storage Bins from Cardboard Boxes Post Preview: Learn how to reuse cardboard boxes for storage. With just a few easy materials, you can make these DIY cube storage boxes that are perfect bins for clothes, toys, or other items.

Before our son was born, we found a great changing table with open shelving at a budget-friendly price.

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 pre-made fabric storage bins.

Since I was 7 months pregnant with my first and 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 organizer 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 cubes 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 – I used this contact paper

To make these DIY 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 DIY Storage Bins from a Cardboard Box

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. Four 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!

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