Somebody call the doctor, I''ve been bitten by the DIY bug!

[princesss]

So is anybody here a DIYer? I''ve recently discovered Knock-Off Wood, and I''m feeling really inspired. I really dislike particle board, but felt like I was too broke to get the nice stuff. Well, it turns out that if you''re not afraid of a little hard work (and I''m too broke to be afraid of hard work), you can make gorgeous furniture pretty easily. And to top it all off, it turns out that I can get Home Depot to take care of the part I''m most scared of (cutting). I smell actual, grown up bedroom furniture in my future.

So are there any other DIYers here? What''s the biggest project you''ve ever attempted? If you could make anything, what would you make?

 

[D&T]

It feels so good to complete something yourself and be proud of it. My biggest project was a curved pony wall in the front of my house, and flagstone porch. We had a cookie cutter home, with no front porch but with a huge roof overhang perfect for a porch so I wanted to add a little something to make it slightly unique. Off I went to home depot asked what I needed to build a pony wall, and went to town, I completed the project without the help of DH. Had extra exterior paint that matched and looks like all one piece built altogether

 

[Steel]

Hi Princess,

I imagine the particle board is like our MDF? If so my hint is to be careful of any routing or fancy work as the fibres show through paint

. But it is a great DIY tool. Happy making.

DH and I started DIY in our first home. We needed to extend the kitchen and were quoted something like €600 for a full height cabinet. Then they said they wanted €25 for 1 hinge they forgot to quote for and we lost it. We DIY''ed out first kitchen then and never looked back.

By the summer we will move into our self-build (meaning physical labour - only hiring in for jobs that were outside out abilities like the roof, walls, sparky and plumber). You name it - we have done it!

DIY is great, but on the downside we are so tired and cannot wait to have a day off.

 

[jet2ks]

Welcome to the big world of DIY.

I have refinished and built furniture, completely gutted and redone a bathroom, built fences, repaired and replaced plumbing and electrical, and most recently built a large storage shed/workshop--everything from foundation to roof. Projects in the plans right now are a new patio, redoing a fence, replacing a driveway and pulling up carpet and refinishing the hardwood floors in a couple rooms.

If you are willing to learn and work, DIY home improvement can be fun and a way to save a lot of money. It is just a matter of making sure to think safety first, recognize your own skills and limitations and being willing to ask for help when you get stuck. Oh, and not beating yourself up if something doesn''t go exactly right. It helps that my dad was a DIYer and I worked at various times in HS and college for a plumber/electrician, a carpenter, a general contractor and a guy that does painting, plaster and stucco.

Have fun with your projects and we look forward to seeing pictures.

 

[vc10um]

Oooooo, Princesss, that sounds like fun!

I''m a big DIY-type, but because we rent a condo right now, on the second floor, with no real space to do much of anything, my DIY is rather limited right now. However, when the wedding rolls around, I plan to DIY a lot of my stuff, as well as my house, when SO and I finally get enough in savings to get to that...

 

[packrat]

JD built Trapper''s captains bed last Summer, and he''ll be making one for London and for us at some point. He''s also going to do the wall behind the bed-floor to ceiling cabinets, and we''ll sell our bedroom furniture. The room is small and we need all the space we can get.

We do our own landscaping, and this past fall we almost finished expanding the brick patio in back-it will go around a tree and it''s going to look so cool! This spring, w/our tax return, we''re *hoping* to turn the back patio into an enclosed porch, wall it and insulate it, put windows all over. Like a 3 season room but something we can use all year.

JD and dad made curio cabinets for me out of unfinished kitchen cabinets. They also did my whole computer area, added glass shelves and everything-looks so pretty!

I help w/easy stuff, actual construction stuff is their job. Mostly I come up w/the projects and then bat my eyes until they do it.

It''s fun to do your own projects-and it''s gratifying when others enjoy the outcome too. It makes me smile when people come over and when we go out in the backyard they stop and say "Oh wow".

 

[princesss]

Wow, we''ve got a bunch of handy PSers!

Steel, yeah, to my knowledge particle board = MDF. I refuse to use it. I know people say it''s fine, but I just prefer solid wood.

I just found out that Home Depot will cut the boards for me, which is super exciting. Now I won''t have to wait to get saw horses and learn how to use a circular saw to make the console table I want. Woohoo!

I''m really excited about getting to DIY things. I just like knowing how to do things and be able to do for myself (though I''ll leave plumbing and electrical work up to the professionals). BF is kind of excited that I could, conceivably, come up with a real reason for him to get a jigsaw. He promised we''ll make the bed by summer, so I''m pretty happy right now.

 

[Bella_mezzo]

I love to DIY--half way through the project I am ready to kill myself or my DH, but at the end we''re all really happy

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

I''m a big DIY''er, my latest craze is picking things up on the cheap from CL and refinishing/repainting them. It really gives them a new life!

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Princess, have you seen the blog about people who take Ikea pieces and doctor them up? It''s awesome, I just wish I could remember what it was called...

 

[HVVS]

Date: 1/17/2010 7:41:52 AM
Author: Hudson_Hawk
I''m a big DIY''er, my latest craze is picking things up on the cheap from CL and refinishing/repainting them. It really gives them a new life!

Back when I lived in the city, I did this. Out here in rural poverty dump, there isn''t much to pick from. Before CL, there were thrift stores, Goodwill, Salvation Army, various city "missions" that ran thrift stores. I love estate sales, tag sales, and yard sales in affluent areas and historical districts. Every weekend, I''d make the rounds of tag sales and estate sales. I picked up all kinds of vintage furniture and actual antiques and refinished furniture as a hobby. I never found much that was exceptionally valuable, but I did get some fantastic ''30s/''40s vintage solid wood furniture to mix in with my actual antiques and inherited pieces. Any old solid wood furniture tends to rise and fall in popularity every so often, but holds its value well.

So much new furniture isn''t solid wood anymore, so I''d never buy it except for a cheap price for some temporary use.

Also, with those sources that I mentioned, if you are in an affluent area you can pick up nice things cheap and sell them on eBay. I haven''t done that for the past 4-5 years because I live in Poverty Dump and there just isn''t anything but unsalable junk here. The market is down, but in 2004-2005 I had no problem selling about $15,000 worth of used stuff of all kinds on eBay and various places on the ''Net. I didn''t have to work very hard or spend much money to do it. I''d say about 35% to 40% of that was clear profit after fees and shipping expenses.

 

[luv2sparkle]

My hubby and I have done many DIY projects! We have done all kinds of things, well mostly him. I have refinished quite a few pieces of furniture though. It makes it hard for
me to sell the house and move though. We walk around and go ''oh remember when we did this''. We had to leave our first house with our oldest two children''s hand and
feet prints in the patio we poured and built. We tried to cut them out but we had made the slab too thick! When we moved in there were 7 orange trees in that back yard!

When our house now was being built we put all the kids names and birthdates in the concrete when it was wet too. I''m not leaving.

 

[Kunzite]

Date: 1/17/2010 7:42:54 AM
Author: Hudson_Hawk
Princess, have you seen the blog about people who take Ikea pieces and doctor them up? It's awesome, I just wish I could remember what it was called...

It's called an Ikea hack. We just did our first Ikea hack with the Besta litter box like this one: link. It came out great and now we can put that darn litter box anywhere.

ETA: Oh, and I just want to add that we weren't as mean as the people in the link... we didn't put the shelf in!