Making a $10 Bench

I came up with a simple bench design that you can make from a 1x12 pine board that's 8' long - which costs $10 right now (in Oregon). You could also make this from a 2x12. Here is a picture of one that I distressed and stained...

It needs another coat of stain and then a couple applications of sealer.

Here is the simple "cut diagram":

- The top is on the left at 32"
- The legs in the center at 16"
- The apron and bottom stretcher are cut out of the right piece at 29 wide.

This design allows for a little bit of scrap, which I use to attach the top.

I made 4 of these today to go into our home theater:


Here they are with the first coat of stain.


These are obviously not fine furniture, but will be great for holding food, books, etc. They can also be used for sitting when we have a bunch of people over.

New Home Theater Furniture

They delivered the furniture for our home theater today. We bought a very large sectional and ottoman, plus two recliners. These, plus the existing couch and love seat, fill up the room.

This sectional seats 6 or 7 people:

Here are the matching recliners.


This picture shows them from the back of the theater room.


We bought all this from Pacific Lifestyle Furniture, and I have nothing but positive comments about them. I felt like we purchased very good quality furniture at a price on par with Costco (about 1/2 the expected cost), and the delivery was right on time. They are obviously a low overhead operation that keeps prices low. I found them on craigslist.


My disclaimer: I am not paid for advertising for this business. I am giving a positive review for people I was happy to do business with.

My new blog: Hammer and Saw

I recently started another blog: Hammer and Saw, focused on woodworking and furniture.



Up to this point, I have kept my furniture projects in with the remodeling stuff. After reviewing it, I think the content and audience will be somewhat different. Also, this allows me to use tags that are focussed on various woodworking topics.

Anyway, if you get the chance, take a look and comment.

TTF

Reuse: Game Table

I made this game table from our old dining room table a few months ago. The dining table seated six without the leaf, and I modified it to be square and seat four, which is better for playing games. This involved cutting down the top pieces and the side aprons.


It was very similar to this table, except it had a green base.


It has one of those fold out leaves, and I decided to make that into a chess board. I added compartments on the sides of the leaf to hold the chess men, and painted a board.



Here it is folded out.


Even though this was an inexpensive table (cheap!) we used it for a number of years when our kids were young. It took some repairs, but it hung in there and stayed solid. It was nice to re-purpose it to be used for games, puzzles and homework.

Chess Tables

Here is a picture of a chess table I built. The design is very simple - made of pine, heavier mass, and slightly tapered legs.


The chess board on top is flat black paint, which was applied before finishing the piece with Polycrylic. The drawer holds the chess pieces.

This table has more of an arts-and-crafts feel, being it is made of cherry and has a simple design. I built this for a school auction.


The chessboard top is made of tiles that kids from the school created (my DW owned this part of the project).

Bookshelves with Inlaid Slate

I built a set of two bookshelves a while ago, and I am getting around to posting the pictures. They are what I would call "Northwest Rustic" style, with wood and slate combined.


Here is one of the sets put in place...


These pictures are from our previous house. Right now the bookshelves are in our living room, but will eventually move out - we are doing that area in French Country / Cottage style. These look a bit too "mountain lodge" for the room. They will likely end up in the theater room.

Book Table Finished

My DW finished painting the book table I made for her. She chose a black semi-gloss paint, and the finish turned out well as shown in the picture.


Here is the inspiration piece I used to desgin this table (sold by Ballard Designs)




Obviously this piece is much larger and open. I used the "X" pattern and edge details, on a smaller scale. I decided to make the sides solid, since the tipped-back shelf was not at the same angle as the "X", and wouldn't have looked good.

[Link to previous post]

Building a Book Table

My DW had plenty of help in the kitchen for Thanksgiving, so I decided to spend a couple of hours in the garage. She has been wanting a book table, and I had some extra pine from the closet organizer.

Building this is pretty simple - its a basic bookcase with the trim pieces applied. It is constructed with finish nails and glue, plus a few screws to make sure it stays solid. The screws holding the bookcase in place are located under the "X" pieces.

I primed this with my paint sprayer (brushing would have been quite a bit of work). My DW is going to paint this - I am suggesting black, but she is still deciding. Here is a link to other painting she has done.

A good resource for this type of furniture is Ballard Designs.

Thanksgiving Table

Here is a picture of the table I made for Thanksgiving. My DW needed to seat 16, and we wanted to do it all at one table, which is set up in our living room.

The table is 12 feet long by 4 feet wide. It's made of 2 sheets of OSB (each cut to 5 feet) with furring strips screwed around the underside of the edge to stiffen it. This is sitting on top of 3 small plastic tables.

My DW put table cloths and runners to togther to set it up.

Detail on how to build this on eHow...

Arts & Crafts Tables

I built this coffee and console table set about three years ago. They are currently sitting in our living room. The basic design is arts and crafts - I found the inspiration in a Pottery Barn catalog. The structure is meant to look heavy and solid.

The wood is cherry, left over from a mantle project. I decided to add tile to the tops for more interest.

Master Bedroom Furniture

I built this four-poster bed and armoire about four years ago (shown in our old house). This was my first venture into "romantic" furniture as opposed to designs based on arts & crafts. My DW really likes french country style, and this seemed to be a good fit. She made the toile bed covers, which still look new.

I basically scaled a picture out of the Ballard catalog to get the design and dimensions. I built the end tables out of the left over wood with a simple matching design.

I designed this armoire myself. I wanted one that had full-length doors, giving it an older look. This one has a maple interior, with fixed shelves. It is purely for storage - no TV.

Click on the title link for the full set of photos