DIY Butcher Block Countertop

I love the look of a butcher block counter top, especially paired with white painted cabinets.  This project is one more little piece of the greater puzzle that is our longestcheapestkitchenmakeoverever!  As with every other aspect of our kitchen makeover I have been looking for ways to get the look I want while re-purposing items and seeking out salvage sources for materials whenever possible.  It is my two birds with one stone approach, both kind to my wallet and kind to the planet.

In researching options for an economical butcher block style counter top I found methods all over the spectrum in terms of expense and degree of difficulty.  While I am fairly adventurous when it comes to tackling the DIY unknown, I am well aware of my limits in patience and skills set.  Two methods caught my eye that seemed doable and when I stumbled across some bundles of scrap oak flooring at Habitat For Humanity ReStore it was decided which method I would tackle.

I have taken to swinging by my local HFH ReStore now whenever I am in the vicinity because good stuff doesn't last long and you never know what items might have been marked down up to 75% off the already low prices.  It was one of these visits that I stumbled upon plastic wrapped bundles of unfinished brand new tongue and groove oak flooring scraps marked down to just $3.50 per bundle.  There were about 10 scrap planks per bundle varying in size from 12-18 inches in length.  I grabbed the four bundles that they had figuring that it would be more than enough for my counter top project.  This small counter top used 2 full bundles ( 20 scrap planks), that is $7.00 in wood materials.  Add in 2 tubes of liquid nails ($6 rounded up), a small tin of stain/poly ($6 rounded up), and you have a counter top for roughly $19.00 and I'm pretty sure that you can't beat that with other low cost solutions such as laminate or tile.  Although I must admit that I also used a thin plywood base for this project which I had in my scrap pile, so I guess the project could have cost a bit more if I had needed to purchase some plywood.

I should also mention that the base cabinets that this counter top is for were also salvage cabinets from Habitat For Humanity for the bargain of $30, the book case attached on the far right was constructed out of wood I salvaged from some cabinets that we removed above our peninsula.

Here is how we tackled the counter top:

I started by cutting a plywood base to the dimensions of the cabinets and anchored the plywood to the cabinet.

Using liquid nails I began installing the wood flooring on top of the plywood.  I chose to lay it starting in the far right corner with the groove sides to the back and right edges.  This leaves the tongue sides facing outward.  Use a hammer as needed to set the planks tight.

You will end up with some uneven edges on the left end, I trimmed those with a saw after they were set.
You might have some high low spots at the plank joints, so sand those smooth.  I sanded with a rough grit to level out the high low spots then finished off with a fine grit to give a very smooth finish.  I shaped the sharp corner with the sander to create a smooth rounded corner for safety and aesthetics.  I had originally planned to trim off the tongue for a straight edge and then add a trim piece.  My husband said he liked the shape of the tongue edge and that gave me a convenient out as my confidence was wavering as I faced the task of achieving a straight edge.  By leaving the tongue edge it gives the appearance of a decorative router edge.

After the boards were sanded smooth and wiped down with a damp cloth, it was time to stain.  I opted to go with an all-in-one stain and poly in Pecan with a satin finish.

The Pecan stain gave the oak a little more warmth and depth without being too dark.  Just the right amount of contrast to the white cabinets.

I will be adding a thin strip of white trim where the cabinet base and plywood meet for a more finished look. I am happy with the look of the white and butcher block.

Well I hope this simple and budget friendly project will inspire you to re-think how you see materials.  Flooring isn't just for floors.  Thank you for stopping by!

Salvage Headboard Bench

I am so excited to have finally finished this little bench for my backyard!

This project was another born out of distraction while visiting Habitat For Humanity ReStore in search of materials for one project or another.  It happens nearly every time, I'm heading back to the cabinets or tile and this little voice in my head shouts,"Squirrel"!  In this case a cute old worn oak headboard and footboard with a $5 price tag jumped out at me.  As soon as I saw it a picture popped into my head of exactly what it would look like as a bench and I knew I must take it home.  Like many of my projects born out of distraction, this one got tabled for a while before I could get back to it, so it sat in the garage for many months... okay about a year... in which time it annoyed the crap out of my beloved garage hogging husband.

I began by cutting the footboard so that it could be used as the sides of the bench.  Depending how deep you want the bench to be, you can either cut it in half, or take a strip out of the middle to get the desired width for the sides.

The next step was to cut wood to build a seat box.  You can use 2x4's, but I just used what I had in my scrap pile, which was slightly smaller.  Cut the 4 strips according to your desired dimensions so that the seat box can be attached to the headboard flush on the sides.

Next, you want to attach your pieces to build your seat box.  If you are using 2x4's you should be able to assemble the box with screws.  I opted to use some "L" brackets because my boards were smaller than 2x4 and I wanted to avoid splitting.  You can see that my shorter cuts for the side are thinner than the longer front and back pieces and that is because I was using wood from my scrap pile.  The thicker pieces were the leftover crosspieces from a cedar picket fence panel and the thinner pieces were once part of a sofa that we dismantled for recycling.

I then attached the seat box directly to the bench back (headboard).  I measured and attached it to achieve a 17" standard seat height.

 

Next step, attach the footboard sides fastening it to both the sides of the headboard and the seat box.  I chose to add some additional "L" brackets to the underside of the seat box and headboard/footboard pieces for added support.

Lastly, I cut some scrap boards from the kids old play structure to form the seat top and fastened them to the seat box.

Finally, the fun part!  I used Rustoleum outdoor/indoor paint in Maui Blue to give this little salvage scrap bench a fun pop of color.  I used one yard of outdoor fabric in a fun print to sew a seat pad cover,which I then stuffed with an old queen size mattress pad.  

This was a very quick and budget friendly project. Total spent was only $33

- headboard/footboard $5

- scrap wood $free

- paint $16

- fabric $12

- mattress pad for seat filler $free

Thank you for stopping by and I hope this post will inspire you to get out there to your local salvage store or garage sales and tackle your own upcycle project.

 

Salvage French Door Arbor

Doors, doors, doors!  What fun it is to rescue a lovely old door, or pair of doors, and give them new purpose.  I also love how an arbor frames a gate, drawing ones eye and inviting them to come and see what is on the other side.  So, why not an arbor made of old doors?!

Again, I am urging everyone to visit their local building salvage stores and see what fun projects you can come up with giving new life to something old.  I found a pair of 24 inch wide French Doors at my local Habitat For Humanity ReStore.  These beauty's were only $8 each.  So, add in another $4.50 for some 2 x 4's and you have a sturdy and attractive arbor for less than $25.  That is a big savings over the typical lattice arbors you see sold in big box stores.

Here are the lovely doors that I started with.

I then measured the thickness of the doors.  This would be the thickness of the notches I would cut into the 2 x 4's for the top.  I also measured the width of the 2 gate posts to determine how far apart the notches should be on the 2 x 4's.  Once I determined the total width of the top connector beams I miter cut the ends of the 2 x 4's at a 45 deg. angle for a little flair.  My apologies for not getting a picture of this next step, but I marked off the size I needed the notch to be ( the thickness of the doors) and made several straight cuts only half way deep, setting the 2 x 4 on it's side and using the miter saw.  After making several cuts close together I used a chisel and hammer to remove the remaining wood in the "notch zone".  This is how it looks when you are done.

If you are going to paint your top connector beams I suggest you paint them before assembly as I did.

I laid the doors on their sides and attached the top beams with screws to the top of the door. Please ignore the expert photo with finger in the way, you get the idea ;-)

Then set the arbor up in place.  Due to the weight of the doors, I suggest that you get some fencing brackets and anchor the arbor to the gate posts for extra stability. 

So inexpensive and so easy!  Now I need to plant my climbing roses and wait.  In the meantime I will just have to imagine it covered in beautiful orange and red roses.

Thank you for stopping by, now get on out there and rescue an old door and have some fun with it!

Tiered Herb Garden

Happy Earth Day!

Today was a beautiful sunny day in the Pacific Northwest and in honor of Earth Day I felt it was justified to keep work work to a minimum today and get outside for some fun work.  What better day than Earth Day to build the tiered herb garden I had floating around in my brain.  I have had a pile of perfectly good salvage  timber from the kids old play structure beckoning.

Step 1.  Build 3 boxes in graduating sizes.  If you're lucky like me and you have lots of "helpers", careful turning your back as you might find that they have decided to squat in and accessorize your boxes.

Step 2.  Evict the squatters.

Step 3.  You want to use some 4x4 cut to the same height as the large box to help perch the middle box, I cut 3 4x4 pieces.

Step 4.  Add a wood bottom to the middle box.  I did this because I don't want to fill all of the voids with dirt.

Step 5.  Stack and secure the middle box positioned however you want.  I opted to line up all sides in one corner.  Sorry I didn't get a picture of this process, but you can see the final picture for the way I stacked the boxes.  I also secured the flat back sides with some metal straps attached to the bottom and middle boxes for extra stability.

Step 6.  Secure some gardening plastic or whatever else you want to use ( I used a scrap piece of weed barrier) to the bottom edge of the middle box and wrap around support 4x4 to create a void under the middle box.  I then filled the bottom of box with our home grown compost and then organic garden mix soil.

Step 7.  Stack 3rd and smallest box using the same method as the middle box using 1 scrap board on end to support the corner in the middle of the planter while resting the other edges on the middle box below.  I did not add a bottom to the top box.

Step 8.  Add compost and soil to the middle and top boxes.

Step 9.  Plant your beautiful herbs.  I dedicated the entire top box to Rosemary because you can never have enough Rosemary.  I dedicated the bottom box to my Italian herbs, 2 types of Basil, Italian Parsley and some Oregano.  The middle tier is my variety pack with Peppermint, Chives, Parsley, Cilantro and Thyme.

Step 10.  Water and enjoy the beauty!

Make every day Earth Day! Re-purpose, Re-cycle, Re-use.

No Dig Potato Farming

Spring is in full swing here in the Pacific Northwest and I finally got out in the garden to prep the beds and start planting.  One of my projects this Easter Weekend was to plant a potato bed.

This will be my third year of growing potatoes and I have decided to try a new technique.  My first attempt at growing potatoes was to plant them in some potato sacks that I bought at my local feed and garden store.  They didn't work very well and while the harvest was very tasty it wasn't terribly plentiful.  The second year I grew potatoes I decided to grow them in a raised bed and while I did harvest more and larger potatoes it was kind of a pain to get every last tater out of the bed.  This year I am losing a bed because I am planting 10 asparagus crowns so I wasn't sure I wanted to lose another to potatoes.  I debated if I wanted to build some potato boxes I saw on Pinterest, but then I found a no dig method of growing potatoes.  I decided to "dig" a little more online and settled on a method that would require no building of new beds or boxes and no digging to plant or even later to harvest... easy peasy.

I started with a nice clear area on top of the bark chips where our play structure used to sit.  I covered the space with a nice 3 inch thick layer of our home grown compost.

I then laid the potatoes directly on top of the compost layer with the sprout sides facing upward.  I spaced them about 1 to 1.5 feet apart.

Next I covered the potato/compost layers generously with straw.

Lastly, I added a thick layer of fresh lawn clippings to help weigh the straw down and to provide an extra added mulch layer.

Each year I try some new crops and/or new techniques in the garden and some flop while others render exciting results.  I will keep you posted on how this little experiment goes.

Old School

Speaking of distractions... well this fun little project was an unplanned one.  As is often the case, I pay a visit to my nearby building salvage store for materials for one project and I get distracted by something cool and then a new project is added to the already ridiculous project list.  I mean, really... how could I resist?

This little guy was such a find, $50 at my local Habitat For Humanity ReStore and it reminds me of the exact kind of desk I sat in once upon a time (okay, circa 1978) at Elmhurst Elementary School.  It even came with a bonus vintage wad of gum inside.  As soon as I saw this I had to bring it home for my little budding 6 year old fashion designer to use as her drawing desk.  The compact size won't take up too much space in her already cozy room.  When she saw it she was so excited and off to Home Depot we were so she could select a color to paint the metal.  Of course, she would pick the most obnoxious pink they had... but that's okay as it is her special desk for her room.  You are only a 6 year old girl once, so super bright obnoxious pink it is!

First thing to do was to sand the wood desk top and seat to get rid of decades of grime and scratches... and gum.  Once sanded, I taped up all the wood pieces so I could prime.

                                      

Next, 2 coats of Rustoleum Berry Pink.

Once the paint was dry I removed the painters tape and applied 3 coats of clear matte water based poly.

I have a Berry Happy little girl and this was a fun fast project.

DIY No Sew Fabric Window Shades

If you are like me you get a vision in your head of how you want something to look, like a window treatment, and then either can't find anything in stores that fit your vision or the custom options are just too budget busting.  This is the story of my life.  

The generic shades that came with our house were on their last leg when I started to tackle thelongestcheapestkitchenmakeoverever.  I wanted a window treatment that packed a punch, not more generic white blinds.  Pinterest was a wonderful source of inspiration and I saw a few different ideas to make fabric shades and I opted to go with pull down shades instead of a roman shade.  I saw a couple of different methods using the inexpensive vinyl shades like they sell at Home Depot.  The first option that I tried said to glue the fabric directly onto the shade and this sounded a little easier than the other option which had you cutting off most of the vinyl shade and just gluing the top 12 inches of shade.  I also figured that by keeping the vinyl intact it would provide a nice clean backing.  After completing the first shade and mounting it in the window frame for a test drive I quickly found that the weight of both the fabric and the vinyl were too heavy for the roller shade mechanism.

So, I then tackled shade #2 using the second method of cutting off the bulk of the shade and attaching the fabric to only the top 12 inches of shade attached to the roller mechanism.

I started by laying out my fabric and the shade over top to see where to cut the fabric.  I didn't measure anything, I just eyeballed it and left about an inch slack on each side of the shade.  

Next step was to cut off the vinyl shade leaving only 12 inches of shade attached to the roller mechanism.  I then used hot glue to attach the shade to the underside of the fabric.  You want to make sure that the roller and fabric are attached so that the print side of the fabric is on the inside of the roll.

The next step is to take the flat stick piece that come with the shade to weight the bottom and attach it to the bottom edge of the fabric with hot glue.  Once the glue is dry fold it over and glue it again so that you have a smooth clean edge at the bottom.

The last step is to fold and hot glue down the sides so that you get a clean finished edge.  You could use no sew iron on hemming adhesive if you prefer, but I just used hot glue.  Here is the final result, happy colorful and functional no sew window shades.

Thank you for visiting my post.  I hope you will be inspired to ditch your boring old blinds and personalize your space with some happy fabric.