Attention all DIY-ers! What are you working on?

[Tuckins1]

Hey all! DH and I have been doing (never-ending ) renovations to our home. I know there are lots of other people on here who are big DIY-ers too! What project are you currently working on? Post any before/during/after shots here! I think that we could really learn a lot from each other. My current project is re-building the built-in cabinets on either side of our fire place. We took them out (to do our hardwood floors) and then had to strip the old stain, sand them, re-build the cabinet itself, etc.... I am just now getting to the staining/finishing stage. Here are pics of what we have so far...

 

[Tuckins1]

More pics

 

[Tuckins1]

Still more- stain and varnish
I have to finish staining and varnishing the shelves and doors, then it can all go together!

 

[Octavia]

Nothing structural here (and I'm impressed by your renos!) but I did can peaches and peach preserves today. And I'm making drapes for our living room, but ran out of thread. I need to get some tomorrow so I can finish, maybe I'll post a photo when they're done!

 

[Tuckins1]

Nothing structural here (and I'm impressed by your renos!) but I did can peaches and peach preserves today. And I'm making drapes for our living room, but ran out of thread. I need to get some tomorrow so I can finish, maybe I'll post a photo when they're done!

Thanks Octavia! We have actually renovated our whole house, from top to bottom, inside and out. I have learned WAAAAAAYYYY more than I ever wanted to know about building/painting/tiling/roofing/etc!!!

I really wish I could sew. I always have something very specific in mind for drapes, bedding, etc, and it's always either impossible to find, or very expensive....

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Hey fellow DIY'ers! My latest project is about 80% complete. I'm building a bookcase for Aidan's nursery. I've got the main structure built and I just have to put on the trim, the back and paint it. Our table saw bit it this weekend so we need to get a new belt for it before I cut the trim pieces. I can't wait for it to be done, I'm very proud of it

 

[Nashville]

Right now I'm in the process of sanding, varnishing and painting two sets of French doors and 18 (!) sets of windows for a screened in porch. They take anywhere from 2-3 hours each, so my nights are pretty full.

 

[Tuckins1]

I would love to see everyone's handy work!! Please post pics when you are ready!

 

[dragonfly411]

Not home related, but canning as well. I am about to start putting away pear preserves for the winter months. We have a tree that throws 150-200 pears every year. The tree is seriously just loaded down. My horses are having a hay day with the ones already falling. I'll be working on that this weekend.

 

[Porridge]

Oooh lovely Tuckins!

I'm not building anything in the typical DIY sense at the moment, but I'm making electrical improvements to the house. I have two lights in my room on the opposite side to my bed - one standing lamp and a set of lights that are wrapped around a wall mirror. So right now I'm building two little circuits so that I can control all the lights from my bed by remote control. I was going to wire in a switch, but this is less work

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Tuckins, bravo on the shelves! They are already looking fantastic!

I love to hear about other peoples' DIY projects. I'm just starting to venture into some projects myself and am hoping to keep learning and taking on more.

HH, I am impressed by your bookshelf building! I knew you and DH were handy, but building furniture is sort of league of its own!

Nashville--you are going to be so glad when this project is done--sanding and varnishing for hours on end can feel so tedious. I'm actually about to refinish our coffee table and am not looking forward to all the sanding!

Octavia, I'm making a curtain for our place as well. But it's just one curtain and it's very small, so not exactly a big undertaking. In fact, I'm hand-stitching it since I don't have a sewing machine. If it turns out well, I might make a few other curtains--the windows in the old part of our house are an odd size, so we have to either make the curtains ourselves or have them cutom made.

Aside from the curtain making and coffee table refinishing, I'm trying to work on the yard. Last weekend I dismantled a planters box that was in the middle of the yard. There is a second one I need to get rid of as well, but didn't have the energy this weekend.

As a side note, I went to an auction this weekend and had a blast! It was mostly antiques dealers, but I got a couple of items I really liked for a great price. There was a very solid oak dresser from the 1800s with these really lovely iron pulls that I should have bought--nobody wanted it even when the price went down to $50. My husband wasn't with me to help me get it in our SUV, so I didn't bid, either. Anyway, since we have several pieces of antique furniture we'd like to buy, I plan to go to a few more estate sales/auctions this summer if possible.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Thanks NEL. This was my first furniture building adventure. I'm great with refinishing/painting and other around the house DIY stuff, but I don't think furniture building is where my real talents are. It was a fun project but definitely a challenge in terms of figuring out where to drill pilot holes so the holes would all line up properly. As a bit Ikea fan I guess I took for granted the planning that goes into the placement of all of those screws and dowels!

 

[soocool]

We've been in this house for over 15 years and upgraded all the things we did "builder's grade" when we built. We've been totally indecisive when it comes to the basement. To finish or not? We've finally decided not to finish, but are putting in built in storage units around the perimeter of the stairs. We will probably make them cedar as we may store some clothing and extra linens.

Also, I am really into exercising and one area will be my "official" exercise zone. We have already placed a removable interlocking floor (great for doing aerobics) and mirrors and a ballet bar along one wall (I like to see my form as I exercise). My sister and a neighbor now come over and exercise with me. My DH will be mounting a tv screen above the mirror so we can exercise to our favorite exercise dvds.

 

[soocool]

Not home related, but canning as well. I am about to start putting away pear preserves for the winter months. We have a tree that throws 150-200 pears every year. The tree is seriously just loaded down. My horses are having a hay day with the ones already falling. I'll be working on that this weekend.

That's great dragonfly! A local farm is giving peach canning classes this month and I am considering it. My DH wants to take the pepper canning class next month.

 

[Steel]

***sniff***sniff***

Did somebody mention DIY?


This is the journey of our master bath from bare blocks to stud work, plastering, tiling and now finally painting. We were 'due' to finish last week but we haven't. We promised that we will finish it tomorrow but we both know how that tune goes. We used to be super motivated but 2 years on and the effort is waning....

 

[packrat]

Great cabinets Tuckins! Your bathroom is going to look fabulous Steal!

JD's almost done w/the back bricking on the deck, so I'm hoping to have pics this weekend. It's not like it looks hugely different from the yard pics I put up last month but still..sets the yard off nicely I think.

Then after he gets his garage cleaned/organized, which isn't so much DIY as get this done before my wife screams and pulls her hair out, he's redoing a cement walkway at my Gramma's so mom and dad can sell the house, and then a couple projects at my parents house and THEN FINALLY my bathroom can be started. New tub/surround and toilet and hopefully new sink/faucet. He'll build a vanity himself and either stain or paint it. I'll get to pick out paint color again so I'm excited. I'll be asking for help too cuz I want a certain feel and I don't know how to get it.

I've got pics of past projects to post, just b/c it's fun!

 

[dragonfly411]

soocool - I seriously thought that canning and preserves would be so much harder. I did blueberry preserves last month and it turned out to be so simple and they are delicious. We have enough to last all winter! I want to learn to do peppers, and lots of jams and preserves. I'd also like to learn to pickle. I plan on starting a rather extensive garden and want to pickle my okra.


Steal - I LOVE THAT BATHROOM

 

[Irishgrrrl]

Some of you probably remember my bathroom thread from a while back. Well, we're STILL working on it! We started the renovation over the Fourth of July weekend, so we're about a month into it now. It's taking so long because we had to rip EVERYTHING out down to the studs, and DH redid all of the plumbing to that bathroom as well as all of the plumbing to the kitchen (adjacent to the bathroom) and all of the pipes throughout the basement. But we're FINALLY to the point where paint is going up on the walls! The beadboard and trim is up (except for the baseboard, which will go up as soon as the tile is done). We went and bought our tile over the weekend and I'm SOOOO excited! We got my favorite tile that I didn't think DH would agree to, and I just can't wait to see it set!!!

ETA: Steal, I love the color you chose for your bathroom! We have almost that exact same color on the walls in our guest bedroom. It's gorgeous! And I'm such a dork . . . I saw the pic with the window in it and went "Oooh, look! There's Ireland!"

 

[Tuckins1]

Steal- Lovely job! I too know how long and hard it is to do a bathroom, but it's so worth it to have a beautiful clean space that is all yours!!

 

[packrat]

I don't know how easy it is to tell, but on the right side, all that white is the side of the upper and lower cabinets. Wasn't anything there. And the ugly white counters. Ick. We put wainscoting on the bottom and then wallpaper on top, and then just had a microwave cart and the dogs bed there. But, then I thought it would be nice to have extra storage, so JD and dad fancied it all up. The counters are laminate, nothing cool like granite, but they aren't scratched and ugly! They added counter along the wall there and then put in a cabinet on top for me to display my roosters and chickens-they put the glass in too. And then the bottom cabinets too, and this is also our current paint scheme..this is the 4th so far in 9 years. When we replace the rest of the kitchen cupboards, the microwave will be going above the stove, and then I'll have a bit of extra room there.

 

[packrat]

And this the dining area of the kitchen when we bought it. Ugly. We did the wallpaper on top and wainscoting on the bottom there too. At the time, the computer room was upstairs, but then the kids came, so we moved it downstairs which was a big pain in the rear w/a 3 year old and a newborn and trying to work from home. I asked for a nice computer area along the wall on the right. We painted the wainscoting and trim.

I know none of this is really new, we did it 2 years ago, but still wanted to share since we don't have anything else to show!

 

[Tuckins1]

Nice work Packrat!!

 

[hawaiianorangetree]

Nice DIY projects everyone!

We spent the weekend DIYing our kitchen floor and our bedroom. We used the wodden floor in the bedroom to relay in the kitchen. We DIYed the kitchen last year and then everything sort of stopped but we are back in to it now. Next will be the splashback.

 

[hawaiianorangetree]

Since we pulled out the wood floor in the bedroom to use in the kitchen we thought we might as well paint before the carpet went down.

I don't think i got the colour matching completely right but it will do for now. My husband is calling it the bat cave because it is so dark. ha ha

Today i am shopping for a new fan, possibly new bedside lamps and new blinds for the window.

 

[packrat]

Great job! The floor looks so nice in the kitchen (I can't wait to do it to our house!) and I really like the color of the feature wall in your room!

 

[Tuckins1]

HOT- Love the floor and the bedroom! Looks great!

Irish- Yes, I do remember your bathroom DIY. Still working on it? You must just be doing finishing work or decoration, right?

 

[hawaiianorangetree]

Thanks packrat and Tuckins! We (I) had a lot of fun on the weekend, it has given me the bug to get in to all the other things i want to do!

Anyone else out there have any DIY projects on the go?

 

[Tuckins1]

I am almost done with my cabinets. I will have some new pics later.

 

[Irishgrrrl]

HOT- Love the floor and the bedroom! Looks great!

Irish- Yes, I do remember your bathroom DIY. Still working on it? You must just be doing finishing work or decoration, right?

Tuckins,

Yes, we are FINALLY doing finishing work! YAY!!! DH is currently painting. He has one coat of paint on the trim and beadboard already. He needs to paint the upper half of the walls and do at least one more coat on the trim and beadboard. Then, he can lay the tile and install the baseboard. After all of that's done, we can put the sink and toilet in! It seems like this has taken forever, but it's really been only about a month or so since we started. Since DH has only been able to work on it in the evenings and on weekends, I guess we're right on schedule. We're getting soooo close! I can't wait!

Next up is the kitchen, but I don't even want to think about that yet!!!

 

[Tuckins1]

HOT- Love the floor and the bedroom! Looks great!

Irish- Yes, I do remember your bathroom DIY. Still working on it? You must just be doing finishing work or decoration, right?

Tuckins,

Yes, we are FINALLY doing finishing work! YAY!!! DH is currently painting. He has one coat of paint on the trim and beadboard already. He needs to paint the upper half of the walls and do at least one more coat on the trim and beadboard. Then, he can lay the tile and install the baseboard. After all of that's done, we can put the sink and toilet in! It seems like this has taken forever, but it's really been only about a month or so since we started. Since DH has only been able to work on it in the evenings and on weekends, I guess we're right on schedule. We're getting soooo close! I can't wait!

Next up is the kitchen, but I don't even want to think about that yet!!!

I feel ya!! I can't wait to see the finished product... But I do understand the apprehension of the kitchen reno! Let me see if I can dig up some before, during, and after photos of our kitchen DIY. Good luck to you!