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Tag Archives: patio furniture

Billiam’s Backyard and Patio Reveal!

01 Monday Sep 2014

Posted by Jean in General Farm Stuff, Grief, Home and other Repairs, Rural life, Uncategorized, Wood Crafts

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DIY, diy chair, do it yourself, garden, garden bed, hanging bed, home decor, home furniture, homemade furniture, how to handle grief, landscaping, outdoor furniture, pallet, patio, patio chair, patio furniture, storage bench, swinging bed, wood chair, wood craft, wood furniture, yard

First of all, I need to thank John. Without his help some of these things could never have been accomplished and the rest would have taken me two years instead of 6 months. Secondly, I want to thank Ana White for the inspiration to Do It Ourselves, and the little family at More Like Home for adjusting some of the plans on Ana’s page so that the projects could be built with 2x4s and for their other 2×4 projects. Thank you to the Apartment Therapy and Houzz sites for their daily decorating inspirations. Thank you to the guys at Articulate Motion for keeping us in pallets, donating a chunk of fabric, and adjusting the metal fire inserts so that they could be used in the dining table. I want to thank the DIYers out there who showed us how to make Beer Bottle Tiki Torches and inspired our hanging bed. Speaking of that hanging bed, I want to thank the wood gurus at Home Depot for putting us on a safe path on that journey. Finally, thanks to all the friends and family who cheered us on and helped us through this traumatic year.

So, here we go! This is what the patio looked like before when we were in the first week of the redo:

patiosouthendbeforepationorthendbeforeBleak wasn’t it?

INSERT FANFARE HERE!

patiotriumphpatioreflectionpatioatnightpatiodiningareapatiogardenconversationareabeerbottletorchespatiobeerbottletorches1patiotablefireinsertshangingbeddressedup

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Billiam’s List: Patio Dining Table

16 Saturday Aug 2014

Posted by Jean in Home and other Repairs, Rural life, Uncategorized, Wood Crafts

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DIY, farm, garden, home decor, home furniture, homemade furniture, landscaping, outdoor furniture, patio furniture, wood craft, wood furniture, yard

Turning back to wood after the tie-dye fiasco we had much better success. My niece will be in town Labor Day weekend and for that special event I decided to unveil the new backyard to the entire family. The only small problem with this is that the patio isn’t finished. I still needed a table and more chairs. This is a bbq event and it’d be nice for the family not to have to sit in the hot gravel. I also had wanted to build a cabinet around an existing old table, and a counter top for meal prep by the grill. If all John and I had to do every day was dink with the patio all these things might get done in spite of the Arizona desert summer. Unfortunately, John doesn’t get enough time off, and it’s way too much for one old woman in this heat. Best we’re going to do is the table and more chairs. The rest will have to wait until the temps dip back down into the low 90s and preferably the 70s.

We decided to tackle the table first. I’ve gotten so good with the chairs that I can whip out two a day by myself, even with frequent breaks to rest my back and hips. The table is too big a project for two hands and we wanted to succeed at something new to get that curtain out of our systems.

2x4s make GREAT, heavy duty, stand up to the test of time, furniture and they’re the cheapest wood buy out there. However, here are a couple of things we’ve learned about them: 1. They’re cheap because they are generally used where no one can see them and it doesn’t matter if they’re warped, twisted or bowed. You have to lay them down flat and be sure they stay flat on on four sides.  You can actually go through a whole stack of 2x4s at Home Depot in order to find twelve straight boards. 2. Once you’ve checked them thoroughly for chewed up spots, warps, twists and bows, you need to use them within a very few days or they will get warped, twisted or bowed even in the dry desert.

The plan for this table is fairly true except that we found the overhang to be less than 2 inches on all sides of the table top. You can find the shopping list, cut list and instructions here: http://www.morelikehome.net/2012/10/day-18-build-homestead-dining-table.html

diningtablecuts

The table looked like a large, fairly complex project, until we saw the cuts laid out on the ground like this. These are the boards, cut and ready for an 8 foot table. Seriously. That’s it. There are ten 8′ boards still in the garage, but if you get 8′ 2x4s you don’t need to cut them.

Because this table will be painted (I’m almost as sick of stain and urethane as I am of dye.), I was not going to waste time with a ton of pocket holes. However, if you prefer staining pocket holes are your best bet so you don’t have to worry about screw heads showing everywhere.

We began with a basic frame to hold the table top. Just a big rectangle with the side boards attached to the ends of the front and back boards.

diningtableouterframe

Into this outer frame, we added 4 support boards.

diningtableframefinishedThe plan for this table calls for two legs at each corner. This adds to the stability when you find a team of percherons to drag this massive table from one place on the patio to another because it’s not about lifting it, and it also adds a bit of architectural interest to a simple design. Because the extra set of legs attach to the table top (this time we did use pocket holes) and to the leg support board, we added them to the frame last.

diningtablelegsOnce we attached the leg support board and the stretcher, we could attach the second set of legs, and all but the table top was done.

diningtablelegsstretcherThis shot of the table top part of the build is interesting in a couple of ways. 1. Like duct tape, baling twine has a billion uses around here. In this instance, it is being used as a simple twist style clamp to hold the boards together at each end so they could easily be screwed into the frame, and also because we waited too long to use these boards and a couple of them became slightly bowed to the side. This straightened them right up and kept them from moving while the boards were attached. 2. That legitimate store bought clamp you see on the left was used to tame the boards that were twisted and warped when we left them in the garage for a couple of weeks after purchase. Because there was little room for the boards to attach at the outer edge of the table top, we did drill pocket holes about every 15 inches so that the boards could be attached not just to the frame, but to the adjacent boards as well.

alwaysneedhaystring

Several views of the finished table. Once the chairs are completed all the wood furniture will be sent to the barn where we will learn how to use the paint sprayer.

patiodiningtablefinishedpatiodiningtablefinished3patiodiningtablefinished4We got a late start on this table which added to the heat exhaustion problems. Because apparently aliens have developed an insatiable taste for 2 1/2″ screws, John had to run to town for a bucket load and we didn’t start cutting until a little past noon. The patio temperature had us both running and dunking in the pool every time our clothes dried out which was about every 20-30 minutes. I personally guzzled 3 liters of water and a gigantic fountain diet coke in 4 hours and still got a heat headache. In spite of plastering spf 80 sunscreen on my skin, I still managed to burn red, or I guess it could have been bake red. But, in spite of the heat we managed to get this table done from cutting to ready to paint in a little less than 5 hours. That’s how simple it was.

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Wood Patio Table/Work Table DIY

20 Tuesday May 2014

Posted by Jean in Home and other Repairs, Uncategorized, Wood Crafts

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DIY, do it yourself, home decor, home furniture, homemade furniture, outdoor furniture, patio, patio furniture, wood craft, wood furniture

Our back patio is approximately 48 feet long by 12 feet wide. One end is open and the other end adjoins a wall. Having such a large patio is great on one hand because of the outdoor space it provides. On the other hand, however, that’s a long space to fill up! Our back door leads down onto the patio at about the halfway point. Being an entry way to the outdoor room the patio will eventually be, the steps will naturally bisect the space into two halves. Rather than trying to tie the entire long patio together like some sort of banquet hall, it seems natural to me to make two areas.

The grilling  and main dining area will be on the north, open ended side. The sitting, socializing, and sipping tea or cocktails side will be the southern end with the wall. I thought this a natural set up because aftah all, that’s what we do in the south, we sip sweet tea or cocktails and socialize. Actually, my real reason is that the grill should, of course, go on the open ended side of the patio so that the smoke can waft out and away from the patio, and go up the street to make my neighbors drool.

pationorthACK! Don’t look at the mess. This is why people never see pictures of the north end of the patio when I’m out there taking pictures of the pretty plants. This is the end with the big grey plastic monstrosity holding the pool tools and toys, the grill, and a table where we pot plants. Consider this the before picture and try to imagine an outdoor kitchen and dining area here instead of the current clutter.

patiosouthThis is the south side of the patio, with all the pretty plants, and Belle the barn dog who is currently being employed to keep the rabbits and squirrels from devouring the pretty plants. She’s a bit of a micro-manager when it comes to supervising the projects though. This area and the garage are being used as work spaces for our projects. This patio is closed due to construction

The southern end of the patio has that big blank beige wall, and a tiny door to the master bedroom in the corner. I have planned to build a seating area with two storage benches and two chairs, but I hadn’t decided what to do with the big blank wall. Briefly, I considered painting a mural. Then I remembered that I would have to live with whatever I painted. That caused a cringe. As I was surfing through decorating and DIY websites, I came across the use of mirrors outdoors.

Several years ago a friend gave me a large framed mirror that she could no longer use. I knew I could use it, I just didn’t know where to hang it so that it would reflect anything in my house that I wanted to see twice every time I came in the room. When I saw the patio mirrors on the internet, I knew just what to do with the big blank wall. I can’t just have a big mirror on the wall, so we’re building a small table that I can use to work on the patio projects. Once the patio projects are finished, I will paint the table and place it under the big mirror, and fill it with plants, candles, and whatever pretty stuff I think might be safe there.

patiotablejoiningWe decided on this simple project not only because it is functional and I needed a table, but also because we wanted to practice our pocket hole joinery technique before moving on to more complicated projects. We first pre-drilled all of the necessary pocket holes for the frame boards. After that, joining the pieces went faster than assembling any furniture I’ve ever bought in a box.

patiotableframeThe completed table frame is also much sturdier with our pocket holes than anything I’ve ever put together out of a box. The screws hold fast without using glue!

patiotableWe were going to use pocket holes to attach the table top and the only thing that stopped us, as usual, was that we didn’t have enough screws. Instead, we drilled in from the top to attach the boards. If this had been a project I planned to stain, I’d have probably waited and bought more screws, but because we’re leaving it unfinished to use as a work table and, in the end, will be painted, I’ll just fill the shallow holes around the screws before I sand and paint.

You can find the plans for this project, along with 30 more things to do with 2x4s here: http://www.morelikehome.net/2012/10/day-30-build-2×4-craft-table.html

 

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The Patio Storage Bench DIY from Billiam’s To-Do List

17 Saturday May 2014

Posted by Jean in Uncategorized, Wood Crafts

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Tags

DIY, outoor furniture, patio, patio furniture, storage bench, wood furniture

Work continues on the patio in fits and starts and something always seems to pop up as a road block to completion of projects. Tools break, we run out of screws (for my birthday I’m asking for at least two boxes of screws in every size known to hardware stores), we don’t have the right tool, a project has to be completely rethought (the hanging bed) and we don’t have the right lumber, we run out of time, high winds, other chores have to be done, boy you name it and it can, and will, get in the way of the fun patio projects. When working on a budget as tight as mine is, however, the problem that crops up most often is how to find less expensive alternatives to what we need.

We had started this storage bench two months ago. My son got the frame built, I sanded the reclaimed cabinet doors and, once they were attached to the frame, I painted the bench with one coat of yellow and one coat of green, re-sanded it all, then stained and then applied 3 coats of spar urethane. It was time to upholster the lid. That’s where the project ground to a halt.

storagebenchBecause this bench will be on the patio and exposed to the Arizona heat, sun, and desert dirt, I had to be careful what I used to upholster the lid to provide comfortable, attractive and functional seating. If you have an unlimited or at least a decent budget you can find outdoor upholstery materials, but my budget is such that I need to find seriously inexpensive or free materials. The project ground to a halt because foam sheets and fabric marketed for outdoor furniture use is too expensive for my close to zero budget.

After a good bit of research and a lucky insight provided by my son who makes ragtops for cars, I discovered much about foam and alternative upholstery fabrics. I learned that polyurethane foam is naturally mildew resistant and it is marketed for a number of uses. The uses it is marketed for seem to be the driving force behind the prices, even more so than the dimensions. I have discovered this phenomenon before when a 20 gallon plastic bucket at the feed store cost me almost 20.00 and I subsequently found the same type and size bucket at Lowes for 8.00. The only difference in the buckets were that one was marketed for use with pampered horses and one was marketed for use in household cleaning.

Armed with my new knowledge, I went to Walmart and found polyurethane foam bed toppers. They’re only an inch thick, they have a molded pattern on one side but are completely smooth on the other side. While the thickness and the molded pattern were unsuitable for my needs, the sheets of foam were the size of a full sized bed and only 11.00 each. I could work around the thickness problem and the pattern for that price! I walked out of the store with two of the full sized foam bed toppers. All I needed to find was the weather resistant fabric.

Enter my son who makes ragtops for cars at a local fabrication business. I was showing him the projects we had going and explained the problem with this bench when he told me of the properties of the canvas cloth used for convertible tops and sliding ragtops. The material is highly flexible, has to be extremely durable and it also, of course, can’t let water in to the interior of the cars. BINGO. The choice of colors is pretty limited, although I suspect you can find it online in almost any popular car color. The colors most often used, however, are black, tan and grey. Grey wouldn’t go well with the bench color and I am trying to move away from desert beige, so I chose the black. The fellows at the fabrication shop graciously donated a piece of their canvas cloth that was large enough to cover the bench top with enough left over to upholster a couple of ottomans.

benchupholstery1First, I cut the mattress toppers in half, then stacked three of those halves to make a 3 inch thick foam pad, with a smooth side facing up as well as smooth against the lid. Then I laid the lid on top and trimmed around the edges, leaving just enough overhang to prevent anyone feeling the edge of the plywood while seated. This doesn’t have to be a perfectly straight edge, just as near as you can manage. Once the fabric is pulled taught around it, the foam will, to a fair degree, conform.

benchupholstery2The next step was to lay down the fabric and measure to see how much I would need to cover the lid and the foam. You will want to pull the fabric taught on each edge before you mark your cuts and have a firm, unwrinkled cushion when done. Using a staple gun, staple the edges first and save the corners for last. Corners take a little patience but there are a lot of techniques on YouTube to help you manage them. You’ll need to make several pleats to get around the corner and make it look neat. The number of pleats/folds you’ll need to make on your corners depends mainly upon the type of fabric and how much of that fabric has gathered at the corners while stapling down the straight edges. Staple each pleat down until you have a nice tailored corner.

benchupholstery3Turn it all over and admire your handiwork!

benchupholstery4Take it outside and attach the hinges. An exacto knife to cut through the fabric under the holes of the hinges helps here so that the material doesn’t pull and get tangled in the screws. Just lay the hinges over the material where they will be attached and make a few slices in the holes with the point of the knife. Don’t sit there trying to cut out a perfect little hole, an X sliced through works just fine. Then, have a seat on your lovely, comfortable new bench. Enjoy a glass of tea and try to pretend that there are no other building materials junking up your patio chi. Congratulate yourself on ticking one more project off the list that will end when you have a beautiful and relaxing, junkless patio one day.

 

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Billiam’s List Patio Furniture

08 Tuesday Apr 2014

Posted by Jean in Uncategorized, Wood Crafts

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DIY, do it yourself, home furniture, ottoman, patio furniture, storage bench, wood craft

My husband was a big man. He was 6’4″ tall and weighed 300 lbs.  We wanted nice patio furniture, but couldn’t find a thing that we thought could handle over about 200 lbs. We decided we would have to build our own and that project went on his To-Do list. We had built shelves, we’d stained and installed our own baseboards and we’d built our own storage chest ottoman. We’d built them together, but he was always the brains, strength and know-how behind each project.

I decided to tackle one of the building projects he’d wanted to do and my son, John, and I made another storage chest ottoman, using the old one as our guide, for the den.

IMAG1082

After we got that basic box and lid figured out, we got cocky and started making plans for all the great furniture we’re going to build. I also started looking at Craig’s List for less expensive materials because even though building that ottoman was less expensive than buying a good quality one, it was still too expensive for me to continue buying all the materials at Home Depot. I checked Craig’s List twice a day for 3 days before an ad appeared. An elderly man was selling a side yard full of all size lumber for 60.00. Soon I had a side yard full of lumber in my pick up truck and on the way home. While we were making plans for that lumber, another ad appeared on Craig’s list. This time a fellow was selling used cabinet doors 2.00 ea. I took one look and called. Came home with a pickup bed completely jammed full of oak cabinet doors of varying sizes. With some of the smallest doors I made this planter box.

cabinetdoorplanterdoneFirst I sanded the old cabinet finish off, then painted with green house paint on the frame, painted with Behr Apple Butter paint on the insets, then sanded over the whole thing again to expose some wood. Then I went over each door with Min-Wax Espresso stain and let it soak in for about 10 minutes before thoroughly wiping the stain off. After that cured and dried I applied 3 coats of Spar Urethane to hold up in the AriDzona heat and sun. We put casters on the bottom so we can easily roll it out of the way or into a different spot after it’s filled with wet dirt and plants.

Then we got really cocky and decided it was time to try building a storage bench. We used the same paint/stain technique and used larger cabinet doors. This required a little thought because we were trying to build the bench to fit the cabinet doors, so none of the online plans we had found earlier on were useful to us. We plan to build at least one more of these benches. They will have cushioned tops, much like the storage chest ottoman, but the cushion and cover will have to be of weatherproof materials. We believe we have a handle on a brilliant weatherproof cushion cover (brilliant in all ways, including cheap to free), but need to find an inexpensive source of mildew and mold resistant foam. See the post about the Techno-clutter for another great use of the reclaimed cabinet doors and lumber.

storagebenchThe other project we’ve done so far for the patio is a coffee table made of four inexpensive craft store crates and a square of reclaimed plywood. I stained the crates with Mission Oak stain and gave them 2 coats of Spar Urethane.

cratecoffeetablefinishedI still have oodles of wood and cabinet doors left. Plenty for another bench, a picnic table, a surround to hide our messy bbq grill, several more planter boxes, a nice wooden bench with a back, and several other projects that are rumbling around in the back of my mind. All for about 160.00 thanks to Craig’s list, some elbow grease and ingenuity.

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