Hammer Time

As I mentioned earlier, Deric got nothing but tools for Christmas this year. They're technically his gift, but  its also a gift for me because I'll get to reap the benefits of them! (We also got gift cards to Lowe's, so we're all set!) I've already pinned enough furniture tutorials that I figured I should create a new pinboard for them. We've gone back and forth over what we he should build for our first project. There's so many things I want that I keep changing my mind.

From my Pinterest board, here are a few of my inspirations.

I've been dying for a bookshelf. All our books are crammed into one of the back bedrooms and I'd love for them to be more accessible. Over the summer, we thought we'd be able to get an old and amazing bookshelf from my grandparents' barn, but U-Haul wasn't very cooperative so the bookshelf will have to wait. In the meantime, I'd like to build one that we can use until we get the antique. You can never have too many bookshelves--eventually we'll need somewhere to put kids' books!

I love how the back of Elizabeth's bookcase is painted, and I like that she grouped her books according to color. When I was a kid, I grouped my books by height-- started at the top with short books and made my way down to the tall books. I remember my aunt asked me once if I wanted to group my books by the authors' names and I thought that was an awful way to arrange my books. ;)

Moving on..I also want end tables for our living room. We've got two but could really use one more. One of our end tables doesn't have any storage underneath, which is a bit of a hindrance. This table would be great because of all the storage.

here

This parsons table is from West Elm. It'd be so simple to make and much cheaper than the $200 price tag!

I'd love to have a console table. No idea where it'd go (yet), but I'd find a way to use it. It could double as an entryway table for guests and as extra storage + counter space in the kitchen during special occasions. (Thanksgiving this year proved to us how badly we could use extra counter space!) I'd like open shelving to slide in baskets and buckets and whatever else.

here and here

In our mudroom, we've got a system sort of like the picture below, but our shoe cubbies aren't nearly as pretty or as durable as this bench. We can't sit on ours and they don't hold as much, so this bench would work well. The bench looks fairly simple to make, so that's a plus.

 

here

We've got three pallets (left over from the roofers) in the garage that will probably get used as well. My favorite idea for pallets is this coffee table.

from here

We talked about possible projects again today and our game plan for now is to start with shelving for the dining room. Its quick, easy, and inexpensive, and it'll be a good project for Deric to get used to his tools. From there, we'll move up to bigger projects. (We've already got two shelves in there from Ikea but I underestimated the length of the wall when I was at the store, so our puny shelves could use some help.)

We may copy the Ikea shelves so we can put them all together, or we may move the Ikea shelves to another room and put a different style in the dining room. It all depends on the price of lumber--we're gonna stay within the limit of our gift cards for this project. :)

here

I realize that I've got way too many furniture ideas for one husband, but I plan to help him any way I can...which usually means staying away until its finished. :) We're both excited to be able to build our own furniture. We've wanted bookshelves, etc. for awhile but could never justify the price tag that comes with it all, so building it ourselves will help us conserve our money.

We're planning to get started tomorrow, so here's to a productive Saturday!