Built in Shelves and Window Seat

It is my first full week off school and I dove into a huge project head first!

Well I didn't really need more shelves in my office but I was bored and I wanted an excuse to go to Restore. 

So I asked Ray if I could make a dining room table.  I've been seeing some cool tutorials on Pinterest and a couple shows on HGTV have built some cool dining room tables.  Well he convinced me not to (for now.  I'll eventually build one!) After talking we decided that I could build these built in shelves and the window seat.

*Warning this post is LOADED with step by step pictures!*

So my first step was to head to Restore the Habitat for Humanity store.  We have quite a few of them around KC.  People take their old or leftover building materials here.  Its like a thrift store for big house items. I knew I wanted to make these shelves out of old doors so I headed to Restore. Click here to see if you have a Restore near you!

Here is a picture of all the things I bought at Restore:

I got:

two bi-folding closet doors- $10 each

two 7 foot shelves- $2 each

a bunch of small shelves- $0.50 each

one gallon of Sherwin Williams paint- $6

(The spindles are for another project)

It turns out I needed another long board so I ran to Sutherlands and bought one for $9 which felt like a fortune compared to what I just bought! I also ended up going to Restore two days later to get a couple more boards for shelves. I guess I underestimated the amount of shelves I needed! Overall I only spent about $50! 

*Here's a quick pic of my shopping buddies for the day!*

The next thing to do was to get started! I measured how much room I had on each side of the window for shelves.  I turns out my windows are not centered in the middle of the room which drives my OCD self CRAZY! Oh well I can't move the windows! 

I had 22 inches on the left and 17 inches on the right.  I cut two boards at 22 inches and two at 17. Then I started to put together the boxes that would hold the shelves. 

 The first thing I did was start the screws into the wood so I wouldn't have to worry about holding the screws.

Then I braced the long side up against the wall so I could push on it without it scooting away from me. I did this on both sides and the top and bottom. 

 And voila- finished box! You can see I put two L brackets to hold it up against the wall.  I didn't want to load these down with books and risk it tipping over. 

I then did the same thing with the right side box.  

The right side box was thinner so I decided I would put one of the doors on it- just because it looked cute!

The doors already had hinges on them but I replaced the screws with longer ones so they were sturdier. 

So here is one of my DIY fails for this project.  When I originally screwed the hinges into to side of the box I didn't have the door open all the way.  Once I got all of the hinges on, the door wouldn't open all the way! You can see in this picture how far the door opened:

Oops! So I had to take the hinges off and try again! Here is what it looked like once I got it fixed!

Next up- Shelves.  I measured the inside of the boxes form left to right sides and cut as many shelves as I wanted for each box.  Then I went to my scrap wood box to help me attach the shelves.

I always keep the little extra pieces from my projects just in case. 

Typically I would just drill through the sides and into the side of the shelf to attach them.  Well for these I couldn't do that.  I didn't want to drill through the side that was made out of the door because I didn't want a screw to show.  The other side was up against the wall and I couldn't get to the outside of it.  So instead I made supports- little shelves for my shelves to rest on- shelf shelves!

This is what I used my scrap wood for.  To figure out where I wanted to place my shelves I measured 13 inches from the bottom then I used a level to make my straight line and ensure that the shelf would be level. 

I did this on both sides and screwed in my shelf shelves.

Now here is one problem I run into often, especially in tight spaces.

When I screw into the wood, it pushes away from whatever I'm screwing into instead of keeping it flat.  I've found that this is because I do not have enough pressure behind the drill. So you pull the screws back out and try again with more pressure behind the drill.  The second time is usually easier and it goes in.

So next I put the shelf on top of the supports I screwed in. Now I wanted the shelves to be very secure since I would be putting heavy books on them.  So I reinforced them two ways.  First I put a line of Gorilla Wood Glue where the shelf would sit.

Then once the shelf was on, I secured it with a screw going through the shelf into the support.

Once I got one shelf in, I just kept measuring and going up! 

Here's what the two side shelves looked like once all the shelves were in!

This is the part where I needed to go get more shelving from Restore.  

Next step was to measure between the two shelves for the bench.  I also measured from the floor to the height of where the bench would be, which was right under the window. 

So I cut one piece that was 64 inches and two that were 22 inches.  Here's how I put them together.

First I used scrap wood to make supports- shelf shelves- like I did earlier to help support the bench. I measured 22 inches up and used the level to make sure they were straight. 

Then I put the bench on and put the two 22 inch boards under it to help support. 

I screwed the support boards to the bench with one screw. 

I then measured between each support so I can add shelves. I did this the same way I added the shelves on the sides.  Here's what it looked like once the shelves were in!

Muca immediately loved it because she had one more spot to sit and look out the window! She was on the bench before I could even get it screwed down! 

 Remember that $6 gallon of paint I got at Restore? Well it turns out it is really nice paint! Quick drying, non yellowing, oil based paint from Sherwin Williams.  It was a mis-tint and originally over $30 for the gallon! So I prepped for paint! I needed to cover the carpet and we have drop cloths and tarps but they're really dirty and end up making a big mess anyways so I hit up the dollar store and bought a plastic table cloth.  Then when I'm done I can roll it up and throw it away!

Last but not least I had to make the curtains and bench cushion.  This was the only part I forgot to take pictures of.  I went and raided my grandma's fabric closet.  The bench cushion is just a rectangle stuffed with polyfil and when I ran out of that I ripped open an old pillow and used its stuffing. 

The curtains are just two rectangles with a big hem at one end for the curtain rod.  

Here's what it looked like before:

And here is the final product! 

I was really pleased with how it turned out!

 

I hope you enjoyed this post.  

A year or so ago I would have never tackled this project but this just goes to show that if you dream it, you can do it! :D

4th of July Wreath

Summer is finally here!! 

I say that because I teach first graders and our school year is FINALLY over.  We went until June 11th which is abnormally long for Missouri!

So now that summer has come around I have a lot of projects in the works. Here is one I just completed:

Ray's family celebrates the 4th of July bigger than they celebrate any other holiday, including Christmas! All of the family comes over.  We swim in the pool, eat great food, and shoot off lots and lots and LOTS of fireworks! 

I made a wreath similar to this for one of my friends a month or so ago and I thought it would look cool in a red, white, and blue pattern. So I headed to the store.

Things you will need for this project:

a foam wreath

tulle rolls

a wood letter

acrylic paint/ spray paint

a hot glue gun

For the first wreath I made I got the foam piece at Michael's and it was around $9.  I got the second foam wreath at Walmart for $5.  Same wreath! 

The rolls of tulle are cheapest at Hobby Lobby if you go when they're on sale (which is like every other week!) 

So first you need to cut strips of tulle.  I lay mine out on the table.  They're about 12-14 inches long. You need to cut a lot of these.  I used a little more than a roll of white tulle for this one wreath. 

Next you start tying the tulle to the wreath one piece at a time.  This is a normal double knot.  Just like the first step I teach my kiddos when they're learning to tie their shoes.  I hold the wreath in between my knees so I can get the knots facing out. 

For this particular wreath I did a pattern- 5 white, 5 blue or 5 white, 5 red. Since the blue tulle was sparkly and a MESS, I did it all at once. (I would not recommend buying the sparkly tulle.  Once you get it tied on you have more glitter on yourself than the tulle!) Since I did all the blue at once I had to squeeze the white in so I used a piece of tulle to tie back the blue. 

Once all the tulle was tied on I painted the letter.  Ray's family name is Sales so I chose the letter S.  I sprayed it with grey paint that I had in the garage.  Then I hand painted the stars with acrylic paint.  When it was all done I sprayed it with glow in the dark paint just because its fun!

Last step is to find where you want the letter and put two big drops of hot glue to secure it to the wreath. 

And there you have it!

Here is the wreath I made for my friend a while back using the same process:

*Sorry it is sideways, not sure why that is.

On this wreath I also added a giant purple flower! 

I hope you have fun making your wreaths!! :D

Built-In, Custom Shoe Racks

When I had finally convinced Ray to let me create my dream closet room, I decided that I would take the original closet of the room for my shoes. (Yes I can fill an entire closet full of shoes!)

HomeDepot has pre-finished closet shelves in many sizes. This is what I used to create my shoe racks. This way I didn't have to finish them.

First I measured the width of my closet.  The top board would go the entire width of my closet.  

I knew I wanted a side for my boots so I took my tallest pair of boots and measured them.  This is how I got the shelf height for the right side of the shelves.  

I then measured the height of my tallest heels.  This is how I got the shelf height of the left size of the shelves.  

Once I got the wood, I first cut the top long board.  Then I cut the middle board that would support the top shelf and the other shelves would attach to it also.  

Now these shelves are really nice looking but once you screw into the small edges of them, they tend to split.  So instead of screwing into the edges I created a ledge for the shelves to rest on.  I used some leftover plywood that I had lying around. You can see these pieces in the picture below.

Once I had the top and middle pieces in and the plywood pieces attached, I cut the remaining shelves and just slid them in.  Here's what the finished project looks like. 

I added a shoe rack that I already had from target on the top left side and filled it in with shoes.  There almost wasn't enough room! But now my shoes are all organized and easily visible! 

Check out my other blog post to see the entire finished closet room here.

Crafty Origins

Lots of my friends think that I have to be the crafty one in my family, but that is not the case.  My grandma is the Craft Queen.  I spent all of my summers (and any other times I could) with my Grandma Sandy.  By the age of three I figured out how to sneak the phone away from my parents and hit speed dial number two to call Grandma.  

Her main hobby is sewing and quilting but she has many other talents.  She built and restored dolls, she created ceramics, and she painted.  We were always doing something crafty when I was with her. She taught me how to sew when I was two.  Grandma Sandy sat me on her lap.  She would run the foot pedal and I would guide the fabric. I made my first quilt when I was seven.  I never really got into the quilting side of things.  I was way too impatient to hand quilt, and this was way before she got the machine quilter! 

My mom always says that the crafty gene skips a generation just like the green thumb gene.  My great grandma was not very crafty but could grow anything.  So is my mom. My grandma and I can hardly keep any plants alive (especially me) but we're super crafty. 

So since my Grandma Sandy is the one who has inspired all of my crafty-ness I wanted to recognize her!

These are pictures of a quilt she recently made for my dad.  As she was making this quilt, my Pappoo (grandpa) decided he needed one too. So she actually cranked out two of these babies!

This is a quilt tribute to Route 66.  

Each panel is HAND EMBROIDERED!! Again, I'm so not patient enough to do this!   

Every time she completes a quilt I am amazed! She makes them like they're no big deal.  I asked her to make a quilt for a silent auction at my school.  She had the top of it done within two days and had it quilted within a week! I swear she has more hours in her day than the rest of us!

She also made the quilt for my bedroom.

These are just two of the many quilts she has created.  There are hundreds more where these came from!

So thank you, Grandma, for my crafty gene and teaching me everything you know! 

I love you!

This is my mom, me, my Grandma Sandy, and my great grandma.

Here we are with my daddy and my Pappoo.