Dining Room Sideboard is Complete!

I have finished the sideboard. It looks great. Take a look. It will be used for all kinds of dinnerware and serving utensils as well as be a great additional serving area for when we have guests over. And if you know our family, you know we have folks over all the time so this will be a great addition to our dining room!

If you’ve followed my posts about this project, you will notice that I didn’t end up putting glass panels in the door, but rather fabric. Also, we decided to go with rustic hardware instead of contemporary to match the style with the fabric. Our family thinks these made it look like a nice rustic piece and probably turned out better than it would have otherwise. I will have to say this is probably one of the cheapest projects to date simply because I was able to build so much of it out of scrap stock. After I built the case and face frame, I found some more spare pieces that I was able to use for the drawer and doors so I didn’t have to buy much additional wood. I hope to be able to use as much of my spare pieces of wood as possible to make some more great projects for low cost!

Dining Room Sideboard

Painting the Kitchen

The kitchen with a fresh coat of paint

 

My wife and I have not really made a lot of improvements to our new home since we moved in a couple years ago. It was pretty much move-in condition. However, it’s always nice to paint and add a few changes of your own. We have done that by changing some light fixtures out and replacing the cabinet door knobs in the kitchen and look forward to other small changes in the future. This past Monday, we made a simple yet significant update to the kitchen by painting it! It had been plain white for a while with a wallpaper backsplash that had begun to peel from the wall. Removing the backsplash and adding a nice cornmeal yellow paint made a huge difference and now the kitchen really shines along with the new cabinet knobs we replaced back in January.

Coffee Table Redo

My first coffee table, updated and improved

The first coffee table I ever made, and the second project I ever completed, was really nice. However, it really needed some upgrades using what I’ve learned over the years building furniture. So, the old coffee table got a redo.

The table was too tall for a coffee table at 21″ tall, but too short to be a sofa table (one that goes behind the couch). So it was time to cut off its legs! It now stands at 16 1/2”, much more appropriate for a coffee table. Also, the rails were too tall at 3 1/2″ so I shortened them down to 2 1/4″ which looks much better. I removed the support bars on each end that weren’t actually connected very well to begin with. Finally, I did some better joinery, using pocket screws which both provided tighter joinery as well as hid the joinery method from view. It used to just have screws joining the legs to the rails where you could see the screw heads on the outsides.

I also gave it a new (or extra) coat of finish so it looks like new!

Let me know what you think of the updates.

http://sites.google.com/site/gibsonsworkbench/projects/coffee-table-1

The coffee table in its original state

Changing Table Topper

Topper for the changing table in progress

Now that our son is getting bigger and doing a lot more wiggling, it’s time to finish the changing table with a topper that holds the changing pad stationary on the top. It’s a simple box to fit around the changing pad and attaches to the top to secure it in place.

It is painted blue to go along with the blue/green/tan color theme in the room. I was going to stain it the same as the changing table and the crib, but my polyshades stain/poly congealed on me! Never seen that one before. I would buy another pint of it, but it only comes in quarts and I don’t really want to spend that much just to finish this project. So blue it is…

Dining Room Sideboard

Case for the dining room sideboard

This weekend, I used some of the time off as an opportunity to finally get back to woodworking. I began the dining room sideboard and got a good bit of work done on it using just spare wood I had left over from previous projects. I have built the case and shelf, with face frame on the front of the cabinet. I will have to get materials to build the drawer and doors that will also go on this project, so that is where I stopped for now.

It’s been a while, but I’m glad to be back in the workshop

A New Project

This weekend, my wife and I designed the next project I plan to build. It will be a sideboard for the dining room. Since we host people at our house A LOT, this will be very useful, plus it will allow me to try a couple new skills out. I always try to use a new skill I’ve never used before on each project so I can build my skillset. The buffet will be 36 X 36 X 18 and have a top drawer and frosted-glass panel doors. It will follow my typical style of simple clean lines and have some nice contemporary drawer pull and door handles. It will be a stained project, which will look nicer with the frosted-glass doors. I’ll try to upload a design picture soon.

Work has stopped

Well, since Micah has been born, i’ve not made progress on any projects. Family time takes up all my free time these days. Hopefully I will carve out some time soon to start on a new project. I have an ever-growing list of things to build!

The next project might be a sideboard for our dinning room, a double dresser for our bedroom, a much needed bookshelf for the Bible study area, or possibly an update to the kitchen island.

Nursery is Complete!

The nursery, along with the crib and changing table, is complete. Check out my wife’s blog to see all the great shots of the nursery and Micah!

 

the baby crib completed and in the nursery

 

 

Changing Table is Complete!

The changing table is complete. Check it out

completed changing table

Changing Table and Crib Status

The changing table is nearly done. All I have left to do is put the doors on. It is already in Micah’s room and looks great! I will post a new picture once I get the doors on, hopefully in the next day or two.

I have the crib fully assembled. I basically just need to stain it and it will be done. I will post new pictures of this soon, too. Hopefully by the end of this week it will be done!