TV Storage Stand Tutorial

Is it possible to have DIY exhaustion? I have been working my bum off for the past two weeks on some upcoming projects and it's killing me! lol It's hard when I have been doing so much but can't share it with you all yet. But, amidst all those projects, I have one that I can show you :) This one came to mind out complete necessity. I was tired of the babe putting her little face right up to the TV. I know studies say that looking at the TV close won't ruin your eyes, but I swear it will...if anything, it'll at least give you a good headache. Plus, she likes hitting the TV with things. So, I knew I needed to raise the TV higher.

I found a couple of unused crate boxes I had made awhile ago and shoved them under the TV. Worked wonderful! But was a complete eyesore.

So, this idea has been in my head for awhile, and I finally got around to making it. I didn't want it to just be a box, I wanted some sort of function so I decided to make at least one of the doors working so we can hide the remotes and what not in it. Although as of late, it has been storage for the babe's sippy. :) I was going to make all of the doors working, but I was trying to make this as easy as possible since my DIY exhaustion was sneaking in again :) Plus, it's easy to put your hand in there and move things around to both ends so I didn't think extra holes for doors really mattered for me.

Here are the supplies you'll need. I made my measurements based on my TV so you'll need to tinker with the measurements to get them just right for your needs.
2 1x8 @ 35 inches
1 1x8 @ 36.5 inches
2 1x8 @ 7.5 inches ( make these square, so if your 1x8 measures 7.25" in reality, then cut at 7.25" etc.)
3 1x6 cut square also.
Wood glue/Nail gun/screws
Drill
Jigsaw
Paint
knobs
hinge (s)
Screwdriver

FYI, the pictures show a smaller stand than what I ended up using. On that note, make sure you measure the stand your TV sits on and have the width of this TV stand be wider than that so you don't have a teetering TV :) I had to make mine twice cuz I guessed. Not fun. So, these are the measurements for the smaller TV Stand. Mine ended up being the same length just 3.5" wider.

Step 1: Cut all your wood to size

 Step 2: Take one of the 35" pieces and find the middle. You'll then get your 6" square piece and line that up in the middle. Trace. Now draw a square in the middle of the line you just traced. This will be your cut out.

 Drill a hole in the middle big enough to fit your jigsaw blade.

 Use your jigsaw to cut out the square. If you look closely, you can see that I go in swerved lines from the middle to the straight lines. Once I'm at the end of the straight line, I'll turn the jigsaw around and complete the line to the other corner. Then start from the middle again to the next side, etc. I hope that makes sense, if not, you're on your own :)
Sand the edges.

If you want more than just one working door, this is where you'll repeat step 2 on the other doors. Just make sure they are equidistant from the middle hole.

 Step 3: Use wood glue and your nail gun, or screws, to secure the to shorter 1x8 pieces to the end of the piece you just cut out.

 Step 4: Now secure the other 35" piece to the backside.

 Step 5: Now secure the top!

 Step 6: If you are making faux doors, secure the two squares equidistant from where the middle one will be. For ease, I just measured 5" in on each side. Make sure they are in the middle. You can secure these with wood glue, screws, or nails (sorry no picture, just imagine ;) )

Step 7: Paint. Make sure you paint the real door squares before putting any hardware on them and securing them to the rest of the piece.

 Step 8: Now place the hardware on the doors. Both knobs and hinges. If you really care, you can use a hidden hinge. I didn't care that much. You can also place the hinge on top or even on the bottom if you want. It just depends on which way you want it to open.

 See. Functioning! I love this extra little place to store the remotes. You can even make these big enough if you make the doors wider to fit DVDs.

 A little better than the before, no? lol. Anything was better than the before :) It is sad that I lived with it that way for that long. I just couldn't stand the babe continuing to hit the TV with things, and that completely solved the problem...so at least now, this solved that problem and that eyesore :)

I was going to build some shelves on this side just like I did on the other side, but I'm worried about being two matchy matchy so I'm thinking this works just as well...maybe even better :) 

The total cost of this should come under $20 if you already have the paint on hand.

Model Home Monday {UV Parade of Homes #23}

Happy Monday! I'm back today with a great house. It has 8,180 square feet, 5 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms, an indoor basketball court and a super awesome basement with great ideas for kids :) Enjoy!

The front room:

The living room:

Kitchen:

This was the dining room, but I was more impressed by the table. I love this table :)

The master bedroom:

I've always wished I had a cute little closet size room in my master for a nursery, and this room had just that :) lucky!

Bedroom:

Didn't take many pictures of the bathrooms in this house since they were just hohum but I loved the backsplash in this one.

Boys room. This wall is all metal!

so was this one, and all of those are magnets.

Office. This was just one of the rooms that had a secret room hidden behind the bookshelves. Love this.

The basement. I love love love the basement. And the hubs did too, so much so that he even agreed to just seal our concrete and not do flooring. And the exposed ducts are just wonderful.

This barn door covers the workout room, and to the left is the laundry room.

How cute is this? This is just a little space tucked away in the basement where they built this for the kids.

A super cute idea for under the stairs!

And of course...the basketball court.

The wall in this bathroom is all carved wood. Amazing!

Credits:
Home Builder: Parry Homes
Interior Design: Osmond Designs

DIY Sofa Table With Faux Doors (make it in any size you need!)

 This has been the story of my life this past year since the babe was born. I start a project, and then I'm lucky to even finish it months later. Well, this project was no exception. I started this table last summer. It has literally been 1 year later and I finally got around to finishing it. I remember cranking out furniture left and right before the babe was born, even 9 months pregnant I was still doing it. Well, I guess life changes :) But, it sure did feel good to get this piece done! And it was a ton of fun doing it; I forget how awesome it is to build a piece of furniture. Love it :)

These are plans from almost every other table I have built for the most part. It is my go to furniture plan since it so easy to do and so easy to customize to the size you need for a given space.

I've been wanting this table in my front room for forever now (1 year of course :) ) but then I decided to redo the half moon table that is currently in there. It wasn't suppose to stay in there, but it met the purpose I needed so it stayed. But I'm really sick of currently. It's just too big and doesn't fit the space like I would like.

For this project, you will need:

4 1x2s cut at 29.5"
4 1x3s cut at 29.5"
2 1x8s cut at 29"
2 1x8s cut at 6"
2 1x3s cut at 29"
2 1x3s cut at 6"
1 1x3 or 1x4 cut at 27.5"
1 1x10 cut at 45"
3 1x6 cut at 5.5" (just make sure they are square)
Wood filler
Wood Glue
Saw
Drill/screws/counter sink bit
Stain
Polyurethane
Paint
Draw pulls/knobs

Step1. If your wood isn't already cut, cut your wood. Cut 4 pieces both of the 1x2 and 1x3 at equal lengths. I cut mine all at 29.5 inches. Take one 1x3 and one 1x2 piece. Stack the 1x2 on top of the 1x3 edges meeting so that it creates a 90 degree angle. Secure this in place with the wood glue.

Step 2. Do this to all the pieces. You should have 4 'legs' once you're done. Let them dry and then counter sink 1 inch screw into the top and bottom of each piece to make sure its secure. Fill holes with wood filler.

Step 3. Lay two legs down facing each other, 1x3 piece on the ground. Place a 1x8 cut at 29 inches on the top of each one. Secure each leg to the end of the 1x8 using a 1" screw. Do this with the other two legs and other 1x8. Make sure the edges are flush.

Step 4. Now measure 3" up from the bottom of the legs on both legs and make a mark. Place the 29" 1x3 on top of the 3" mark. Wood glue into place, and screw in with a 1" screw. Do this to the other set of legs also.

Step 5. Now place two sets of legs standing up, where the 1x2s are on the ground. Use one of the 1x8s cut at 6 inches and secure to the 1x2 part of the two legs on the top, right next to the long 1x8 you just secured. Then secure a piece of a 1x3 cut at 6 inches on the bottom by the long 1x3 you secured earlier. (to make it easier to secure, you may want to pre-drill the holes at an angle before securing, then your drill won't hit the sides)

Flip the table base over and secure the other 1x8 piece and 1x3 to the opposite side just like above. Now you have your table base!

Step 6: Next you just need to secure the top! Make sure you measure so that its centered on the table base. My 1x10 is cut at 45 inches.Glue and counter sink a screw on the top into the base. I did that four times to make sure it was really on there.

Step 7: Now for the faux drawers. I just used 3 5.5"x5.5" pieces of wood. These were essentially cut square from a 1x6 piece. Find the middle of the front apron, the 1x8 piece, and secure the first square directly in the middle. Then decide how far apart you want the other two drawers and secure them also using wood glue. You can screw these in too, but if you are using drawer pulls, you won't have to do this since when you put the bolt in for the screw, you'll essentially be doing the same thing. I just added label tabs to mine...and since they are non-working, I didn't care if it was just secured with wood glue :) 

Step 8: If you would like to add a 'shelf' for the bottom, cut a 1x3 or 1x4 at 27.5" and secure in between the bottom sides.

Step 9: Now fill all the holes with wood filler then sand the entire piece. Now you are ready to paint or stain! I stained the top of mine Provincial and painted the bottom white. Coat with poly.

Step 10: After painting is when I added the tabs for the doors, you can add the drawer pulls here also. I liked this look a little better this time around, and since the drawers don't work, I didn't really care if there were pulls on it or not :)

Okay. So, now to make this customizable to the size you want:

• To make it taller or shorter: Add or subtract to the length of the legs made with the 1x2 and 1x3.
• To make it wider or narrower: Add or subtract to the side aprons, both bottom and top (these are the ones from above that measured 6"). You'll also want to make sure that your top piece will fit on the narrower or wider base.
• To make longer or shorter: Add or subtract to the front and back aprons ,both bottom and top pieces (the ones that measured 29" above).

I've changed this size up for these plans so much, that I made a bench out of it once using the exact same technique, and all these other tables: sofa table, cottage side table, a bench, and another entry table.
 

My Home Before and After 5 Years (My 5 Year Blog Anniversary!)

Today marks 5 years I've been blogging. Five years!! I created this blog as a creative outlet for my random decorating ideas and crafts and it has grown to be so much more than that. It's so funny to go back and look at my first projects...embarrassing also. I'm surprised that I still have this blog after such horrible posts and projects lol. But hey, at the time that's what I was into and what I wanted to share :)

It's fun looking back at how much has changed in blogging in the past 5 years. It's crazy!  Also, fun to see how much has changed in decorating. When I first started, decor was all about a Tuscan look, richer darker colors and tones and now it has moved to bright and vibrant colors. Also, photography has changed tremendously and is a huge part of blogging now as it wasn't so much before.

I know today I usually share a model home, but I decided that since today is exactly my 5 year blog-iversary, I would rather share with you the transformation of my house over the years...before and afters. It is so much fun to see how my decorating style has changed and continues to change. Many of these pictures have 'befores' even before the before and many many iterations of the rooms in between the before and after. And even today, some of the 'afters' have already changed a little bit.

Just a back story. We moved into a home 5 years ago in April. We moved from a 700 square foot apartment to 3500 square feet. We started out with just a bed, two dressers, a couch, coffee table set, and kitchen table. That's it. And that's the main reason why I started blogging -to chronicle the journey of decorating my house on a very small budget starting with almost nothing.

Here's my front room. Close your eyes if you need to on the before picture...boy oh boy. Why did I like this?? lol. This is at least decorated, for the first year or so, this room was just a storage room for randomness since we didn't have any furniture for the room until we scored this sectional for $400. 

 Our living room has been through it's fair share of updates and re-updates. Here's my take on the Tuscan idea. Isn't that fireplace tile hideous? Ugh. And the random alcoves I hated sooo bad! The after makes me so happy :)

 Here's another view of the living room when I moved the sectional in here at the beginning. Horrible photography, yes...probably took it with a $25 camera :)

 My dining room was another full blown Tuscan theme...reds, yellows and oranges. I am so glad I updated the wall and changed out the decor. Since, I have even changed out the chairs with some upholstered white ones, which I have yet to show you :)

 Our master bedroom...oh boy. This decor was straight from our apartment. I don't know what else to say about it lol..I think the picture sums it up. :) The after is how it is currently and I still love it, although I have some huge plans for it...again! I'm so over the beige and white...I need color.

 Our master bathroom has had just small changes, mainly decor. Here's a snip of a little corner:

 The nursery used to be a guest bedroom. I'm not sure why I loved brown so much...it's like the main color in every before picture. This is a horrible before, sorry, but the only one I have. The after is just a complete oasis. I love this room so so much.

 My office...it was complete and total chaos before I moved any furniture in here. Just a random place to put all my craft and office stuff. You may remember me actually converting into a guest room/office combo. But, since then, I have realized how much I need the office and guest room separate just to contain the chaos...the two do not fit in one as much as I wish :)  So, it is now a dedicated guest bedroom.

 The guest bathroom is still one of my favorite makeovers. It only cost $60. Tuscan theme of course for the beginning, and bright and cheery in the after.

 And last on our list for today is the laundry room. I really really want to move this laundry room into the basement. There just isn't enough room in this cramped space to house the laundry and all of the stuff the inevitably gets piled in there since it's the pass through from the garage to the main part of our house. It drives me nuts. But, it has seen it's own little makeover also...just enough to make it functional for the time being.

 It's been so fun going through these before pictures. I haven't seen some of them in quite awhile and often times forget where I started with this whole process.

It's been a very quick 5 years...can't believe how time flies! I have met so many good friends and companies through this blog and am thankful for each and every one of my readers. You guys are the reason why I keep going and keep this blog up. You are all the best! Here's to another 5 years!