We have been eating outside more than inside most days thanks to my amazing husband.
When the snow melted, we started playing outside for hours a day. It was hard to finish our homeschool year with the days becoming so outstanding. We did finish our school year though this past Friday, and we are thrilled summer is here!
Once we started playing outside so much, we started dreaming of an outdoor table. We searched and scoured the internet on what would be the best deal and table for us. After comparing the price tag of buying a table verse making our own, we knew we had to get out our tools and Ryobi Compound Miter Saw and build our own. We could save so much money.
We found the this table on Remodelaholic created by the geniuses at Kruse’s Workshop to be the perfect table for us.
Matt started the process and did an amazing job.
The poor guy worked in what was our garage that had turned into a left over moving boxes storage unit and work shop mess.
I jumped in when I could, but Matt did this table pretty much by himself at night after work or on the weekends. I’m so thankful for this man of mine.
Once the table was built, we had to try it out. We bought some chairs from Ikea to put down the sides, and I love how they work with the table. They are thin, so we get three down the side and they don’t distract from the beauty of the table either.
After one coat of wood conditioner, one coat of stain, and three coats of indoor/outdoor spar urethane, the table was complete! We were thrilled to start using it!
I can’t count how many meals we’ve eaten on this table already. I will often work on something at it as well, while the kids play in the yard. It’s perfect.
You can see the full table here, while Reagan dances in the rain.
We are so thankful for our new house and how we have been making it home. As soon as I get some of the rooms clean enough, I will take some pictures for a new home tour!
With our move and school year behind us, I hope to pick blogging back up regularly. I miss you all! Thanks for journeying with us.
When I was a little girl, I wanted to be a librarian. Visiting used books stores and using my baby-sitting money to buy books was one of my favorite things to do. Today, I still have a lot of those books. My Baby-Sitters Club series I know is a hot commodity. I just hope Reagan likes those books too or I have saved them all these years…to just save them.
Supplies needed for each shelf: (The length of wood or the amount of each item is up to how long your shelf may end up)
The shelf seemed a little crooked at first. Keep in mind you are working with wood that could be warped, so look for the strongest/flattest boards when picking up your supplies. This can take some time and patience. Big box store wood is usually crappy but if you dig through the pile you can find some good pieces. Also, keep in mind the boards may settle a little once there is weight on them. Finally, once all of your shelves are in place and staged, it is very difficult to spot minor imperfections.
We placed our shelves the same 18″ apart. This step is totally up to you. I wanted room for tall books, decor, and to still see some wall which is how we came up with our distance. Matt completed the same process on the two lower shelves. Once we had the pipes in place, it was easy to tell how long our boards needed to be cut. We cut them and placed them on the pipes to be sure it was what we wanted.
This is where we realized the pipes we had bought did not look right. We started with the 10″ black iron pipe, but ended up returning them for the 8″. If you buy the 8″ pipes than you wont have the large gap in your shelves. What we also realized is that the threads on the pipe will not screw all the way into the flange or the cap. Below you can see the difference in using the 10″ inch and 8″ pipes. Of course you could purchase 2″ x 10″ wood to give yourself a wider shelf. That’s what I love about this shelf system, it’s totally customizable.
I was not sure what kind of color I wanted to make the shelves, so we tested a few out. Since this room is a little smaller with only one small window, it tends to feel darker. I painted the walls a light, light blue and decided to keep the shelves light as well. I thought if the walls and shelves were lighter overall, I could add pops of color for fun but still brighten the room up a bit in the overall feel. I ended up going with Rust-oleum’s Driftwood Stain. I love it!
I used a sponge brush and painted the boards. I let the stain sit for a while and then I used an old t-shirt to rub the excess stain off.
Once the stain was dry, we put the boards in place. I loved the look, but decided I wanted one more shelf. I opted for it to not go any lower, so the kids were not at arms reach. We did something a little different and ended up turning around the corner and adding another shelf out of the middle of our current series.
I love how it turned out! I even got most of our books out on the shelves in the process. I plan to switch out the books in the basket (on the floor) with new ones from the shelf or kids room, so our kids can be regularly reading/looking at books but not having to try to get them off the shelf themselves.
I’m so excited at how fun this little corner turned out while still being very functional. We rocked all three of our babies in that rocker, and now it’s in a room where we hope to love on more kids that come into our home.
When you walk in our front door, this room is immediately to your right. I love that it looks like a fun, welcoming spot. We all love to sit in there already. Matt called it my library the other day, and my heart smiled. This room will hopefully get lots of use.
What do you think? Do you have a place in your home that could use some fun, industrial type shelves?
I have a problem.
My boys don’t really fit in them now, but I could not stand to take them to Goodwill. As I sat staring at them, I was inspired to try to make shelves!
He used some small scrap pieces of wood to help stabilize the seat from not moving. He used wood glue and screws to keep it all intact.
This next part was just genius. He used a 1/2″ drill bit to carve out three little slots in the top of a little piece of wood that he screwed to the wall. He then screwed three little screws into the back of another piece of wood that he attached to my new shelf. These three screws sunk into the drilled out holes on the wall. This technique created a sturdy, strong attachment of my shelves to the wall. It does not shake at all. Perfect!
I love the new shelves. They were the perfect addition to that little narrow wall in between the corner and the window.
Do you have any little chairs that would make cute shelves? Or better yet, do you have any sentimental things that you too are trying to repurpose or save before they hit the donate pile!?
When I started dreaming of how I wanted to create my Reagan’s new bedroom, I knew I wanted lots of color, texture, patterns, and fun. I pictured fun color with pops of natural elements and black and white contrasts thrown in. What I did not take in account was my daughter having an opinion, and she had one.
It was really bright. I had to try to envision the end result. I kept thinking this seems like a nursery for a pink ballet themed room. I just kept playing in my head “I love my daughter, I really love my daughter” as I painted every stroke. I fought that picture in my head with what I knew the end result could be.
I was so excited when I saw that Royal Design Studio Stencils had so many fun, girly stencils. I fell in love with the 
This stencil was so simple in the fact that I did not worry about it looking slanted when I stood back. Based on the pattern there was no fear of my stencil going crooked. What was a little more tricky was lining up the stencils, and that was only because the connecting pieces (petals) were smaller.
I decided to use gold as the accent color for this stencil because it’s fun and also subtle. I wanted the wall to ultimately look purple but also fun and a true accent wall. The stencil created that look!
The process wasn’t fast enough for this sweet, exited girl.
I love how this room can grow with her. It’s so fun now, but it can also last for years. I joke with her now about trading rooms. What I love most though, is she loves it as much as me. She calls her wall her golden flowers.
As I painted this room, I realized I really didn’t want to spend the paint or time to paint her closet. It was a clean light gray. It looked fine and was in good shape. There was really no need to paint it except that it would have this harsh line that might look like I took the lazy way out in not painting it, whenever the closet doors were open.
By doing this technique the wall looks intentional (not like a lazy mom), and it’s also a fun element all on its own! I really love it, and now I want to go back and do the same thing in my boys’ bedroom.
What do you think of all the color and splashes of fun? Does it make your heart go pitter patter as well?