Category: home projects

Happy New Year!

Since my girls have moved on from their little table and are trying to eat on the couch now, I needed something to spare my couch from as much cereal as possible. Since I had an extra board and these pipe table legs available, I was able to make a cool little table for the side of the couch that turns to become a TV tray when we need it.

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Step 1: Measure. I measured the arm of my couch and decided on 21 inches for the length of the tray top (and base bottom). The board I had was 10 inches wide, which is about perfect for a plate, but you could do 12-14 inches for a little extra width. Just be aware that it will stick out farther into the room – I wanted the space for walking around. For height, my legs were 28 inches, which makes the tray a nice height above the couch arm and also leaves plenty of room for adult legs when it’s sitting in front of you on the couch. (I would probably go down to 24-inch legs like the ones I linked above if I do this again, as 28 inches makes it a bit high for kids.)

Step 2: Cut wood. I took my board to our miter saw and cut two pieces at 21 inches long. That was it.

Step 3: Sand and stain. Taking my two boards inside, I gave the cut ends a quick sanding to round off the edges and any sharp corners. Most of this leftover board was already stained, but I did have to stain the cut ends and touch up the edges.

I didn’t bother staining the bottom side of what would be the bottom board, but I did stain both the top and bottom sides of the board that would be the top tray piece.

Step 4: Position and attach the legs. First, I did the bottom board, with the unstained bottom on the floor. With this bottom board down, I positioned two of the legs so that the edges of the round bases were 3 inches in from the back end of the board. I also positioned each leg 1/2 inch in from each side.

It’s important with these legs to be sure they are tightly screwed together (the pole into each end’s base), and be sure they stand at equal heights. If one is a little taller than the other, you can loosen the screwed on base from the pole a little bit to adjust for level. I also checked for level vertically around each pole to be sure they were straight.

Once happy with the position, I screwed the base of each leg onto the board. BE SURE your screws are shorter than the width of your board so they don’t poke through.

Once the bottom was attached, I set the top board on the floor with the underside facing up. Then I flipped the legs and the attached bottom so that the legs’ other ends/bases now sat on this board. I positioned them the same way — 3 inches in from the back and 1/2 inch in from each side. I again checked for level and then screwed the bases into the board.

Once those two legs were on, I flipped the whole thing so it was right-side-up. It had a little movement from side to side, so for added stability I added a third leg right at the back in the middle of the board. (Plus, I just liked how this looked.) After measuring to make sure the base was centered, I screwed it in place on the bottom board. Then I checked to make sure the top of the tray was level. All good, I reached up from underneath and screwed the top base into the top board.

Step 5 (optional): Finishes. If you’re worried about scratching your floor, you can add furniture pads to the underside of the bottom board. I didn’t bother since it’ll often be on our rug anyway.

Also, as you might’ve noticed, I ran out of black screws. 😆 If you have this problem too, a black sharpie solves this easily.

That was it! I like how this turned out a lot. It’s rustic and kind of modern, and it fits with the look of our other decor and my other little DIY table without being an exact match.

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How do we still need more shoe storage?! I couldn’t take it anymore, and the constant pile of shoes by our garage door had to go. But this is obviously the best spot to have shoes, so we needed another shoe rack right by the door for all my girls’ shoes.

Cue the old, falling apart, outdoor table that I’ve ignored all summer.

Step 1: Take apart the table. I’m going to assume not everyone has an old IKEA table lying around for this project, but if you do, 👍. If not, the wood is basically a bunch of 1x3s, 2x3s, and 1x2s, so that’s how I’ll give instructions for assembly. But if you’ve got an old table made of slats like this, take that puppy apart and use the wood if it’s salvageable!

First, I removed all the hardware connecting the table legs, sides, etc. All of the top and hinged side sections were in good shape, so I did not take apart the slat sections – that’s what I was hoping for! The rest of the table parts like the legs and surrounding pieces came off pretty easily, and gravity helped.

Once apart, I carried all the pieces up to my garage.

Step 2: Cut pieces. I decided 8 inches wide was perfect for storing my girls’ shoes without sticking out too far into the narrow hall area. It just so happened that 3 slats equaled 8 inches, so I used a jigsaw and cut the ends to free up the first 3 slats and the ends connecting them. I did this for 4 sections that would become my 4 shelves.

If you’re using wood pieces and not a table, you can use 3 long 1x3s for slats and shorter, 8-inch pieces of 1x3s for each end. These could be attached by screwing holes on each piece where they connect, then using pegs and glue. That would give you the same thing as what I cut free – slats connected by end pieces.

Along with these sections for the shelves, you want 2x3s for each leg of the shoe rack. I used the front and back surround pieces that I’d taken off the table, so mine had character-adding screw holes to display. 😆 I wanted my legs to be 25.25 inches tall, as this would allow me to get 4 legs out of the 2 pieces of wood I was using. (This was also the perfect height to allow my girls’ backpacks to hang over the shoe rack.)

Next, I needed little support pieces to attach to the legs where the shelves would rest and attach. The table had had 1×2 pieces of wood running under the tabletop for support, and these were perfect, so you can use 1x2s for sure. Since my shelves were 8 inches wide, I went with 6-inch little pieces so the shelves would hang over them to hide these supports. I needed 2 of these for each shelf – one for each end of each shelf – so 8 total for my 4 shelves.

Also, I needed 2 more 1×2 pieces for each end of my top shelf to add length and cover the tops of the legs. These needed to be 8 inches, just like the ends of my 8-inch wide shelf.

With all these pieces cut, I sanded everything lightly and wiped them clean.

You might notice from the picture that I had 2 little scrap pieces. I used these to help me figure out exactly how high the shelves would sit on top of my support pieces before deciding on the supports’ placement.

(FYI: There will be 2 more wood pieces to cut, but I’d wait until later to be sure of your measurements.)

Step 3: Attach supports to legs. I wanted the lowest shelf to be right at the bottom so things won’t get lost on the floor under it. This also made things easy as far as positioning.

Lining up 2 of my 2×3 legs, I made sure they were less than 8 inches apart, since this would let the shelves stick out a bit farther to cover some edges. I went with 7.25 inches apart.

With the legs lying square and 7.25 inches apart, I lined up one of my 1×2 support pieces at the very bottom of what would become the inside side of the table legs. You could use little nails or screws, but I used my nail gun and shot in 2 nails at each end of the little support 1×2.

Once that bottom support was attached, I did the same at the very top.

Then, because I wanted the bottom shelf to fit rain boots, I literally held a rain boot in the space over that bottom support – with my little scrap piece mimicking where the shelf would sit – to find where I should position the next shelf up. With that figured out, I attached a 1×2 support piece in that spot. That left one more support for a shelf, so I positioned it where it looked right and nailed on that one too.

With that one side/set of legs done, I took the other 2 table legs and positioned everything exactly the same so everything would be level and equal on either side of the shoe rack.

Step 4: Attach the shelves. Starting at the bottom for stability, I held up one side (2 legs with supports) and set one of my 8-inch wide shelves on that bottom support. I lined it up so that the back of the shelf was exactly lined up with the back of the back leg, and the front of the shelf hung over the support and past the front of the front leg a little bit. Then I nailed down through the shelf into the support it rested on.

After repeating this on the other side, I had my bottom shelf connected to both sides/sets of legs.

I did this again for the next shelf up, then the next, and finally the top shelf piece. Each time, I made sure to keep things square by holding the shelf tight against the table legs (sides) when I nailed them on.

Step 5: Add additional pieces. Because I wanted nothing getting lost under the shoe rack, I used another 1×2 to run across the very bottom, under the overhanging bottom shelf, to cover the front of the rack at the bottom. This I cut to 23.5 inches long so that it fit inside, between the legs. I attached this front piece by nailing it into the ends of the bottom support pieces. I did lay the rack down with the front side up to make this easier.

While I was at it and had the bottom of the rack exposed, I added some screws through my bottom supports into my legs, just to help out my little nails.

Standing the rack back up again, I took my two 8-inch 1x2s and positioned them over the tops of the legs, making sure they sat flush with the ends of my top shelf. I attached these by nailing down through the pieces into the tops of the legs. I was worried this might look weird, but because of all the slats going on – and running in different directions – it looks like added detail that belongs.

Lastly, I added a crosspiece to the back of the rack to help with stability. I figured out the angle of my cuts by holding the 1×2 in place and then marking lines with a pencil. Once it was marked, I used my miter saw to cut along the lines. I attached the back by nailing each end onto the back of the legs. I like the rustic detail this gives, plus you can’t really see it from the front once shoes are there.

Step 6: Stain or Paint. My wood already had stain…in places. Rather than sanding it all off, I embraced the rugged look this would add. Taking a rag dipped in darker stain, I wiped stain over the whole thing. This gave a really cool, aged effect to the wood where the stain took differently to the stained and unstained wood.

You could paint your rack, obviously. That would look nice too, though I’d suggest a darker color to help hide dirt from the shoes.

Step 7: Set in place and add shoes! The rack fit great in the space – not too big, not too small. I really like how rustic but detailed it looks because of the slats and old screw holes and such. It looks old but in the right way now. 😂 And, most importantly, the girls’ shoes aren’t in a pile!

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This project was one of those little things that’s been an eyesore forever, and I finally found a way to make it pretty. Since I did an entryway bathroom door makeover (and still love it), I decided to use a similar look to cover our ugly, old doorbell chimes cover on the wall facing that door.

Step 1: Measure the spot and cut wood pieces. First, I measured the existing cover and decided to go with a new cover of 7×11. That would give me a little wiggle room for placement. I also needed to come out about 3 inches from the wall.

Using spare 1/8 inch plywood pieces, I cut a front piece at 7×11 using my miter saw. (This wood is thin enough that you could easily cut it with a hacksaw or other small saw.) Then I cut 2 side pieces at 3×7, and my bottom piece was 3×11.

To attach these pieces, I found some little 1×1 wood pieces and cut 4 to about 6 inches each. These go on the inside corners, so they don’t have to be perfectly even or pretty.

I sanded all of these pieces lightly to remove any rough parts.

Step 2: Assemble pieces. I used my brad nailer, but you could use little nails and a hammer or even wood glue, if you have more patience than I do.

First, I attached a side piece to one of the inside corner pieces. I made sure to line up the long edges so the side piece would cover the corner piece, but I didn’t want it to overlap because the front piece would do that, hiding the side piece from the front (see picture). I also made sure to leave a little room at what would be the bottom – this would let the bottom piece fit in place so the side piece would cover/hide the bottom edge. And, I left about an inch of space at the top so the corner piece wouldn’t be visible at all from the top.

Next, I took the front piece and also attached it to the first corner piece, making sure it lined up to cover the edge of the side piece. (Again, see the picture for a visual of how all this lined up. The picture is from the bottom, showing the little bit of room I left for the bottom piece.)

(You may note from the pictures that I used nails that were too long, but these were easy to bend back. Again, you’re not going to see the insides of this little box you’re making. So, if you don’t have small enough nails, no worries.)

With that one side and front piece on the first corner, I nailed on the other side piece and corner piece, lining them up the same way.

Next, the bottom piece was pretty easy because it fit right at the bottom of the 3-sided box I’d made. This bottom piece also helped me be sure everything was square, because I squeezed the front and side pieces to sit right tight against the corners of the bottom piece. One little nail at each end into the corner pieces was all it took to hold this bottom piece in place.

From there, I could easily add the last 2 corner pieces at the back of my open box. These I made sure to place flush behind the side pieces so they didn’t stick out. I nailed them into each side first, and then I used my bottom piece to again made sure everything was square. One little nail from the bottom piece into the ends of these corner pieces held them in place.

This created a “box” with an open top and back.

Step 3: (Optional) Add decorative parts. Just to add a little visual interest, I cut 4 pieces of 1×2 down to 7 inches, used my miter saw to create 30-degree cuts at the ends, and nailed them over the ends of my cover. This created some curves and made the whole thing look less “boxy,” plus it helped cover the nail holes and edges, making the whole cover look a little nicer. You don’t have to do this, but I liked it.

Step 4: Stain or paint. I debated between painting this cover green (like other accents in our living room) or staining it, but I ended up using the same dark walnut stain as the door nearby – the door that gave me inspiration in the first place. I’m glad I used this stain because the wood looks surprisingly nice stained, and the color looks great against the plants I used in the final step.

Step 5: Hang the cover. Because this cover is so light, I was able to just use command strips on the back of either end. I placed mine on the 1x2s along the back, but you could use the back corner pieces instead if you didn’t want to add the 1x2s.

After climbing on a stool to reach high enough, I did check to make sure the cover was level before pressing the command strips to stick on the wall on either side of the existing chimes cover.

Step 6: (Optional) Add greenery. You could leave the cover as it is – it looks nice alone as a wood cover. But, I really like how it looks after adding a few strands of fake greenery to hang out – it looks like a planter! I didn’t have to secure my fake plants at all because they tucked down around the existing chimes cover, and they hang down over the wood in a way that the leaves help hold it in place.

That was it! This looks so much better than the old, off-color doorbell chimes cover.

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