ok, what ya got?

Chris Mire

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Southern Louisiana
i am sure at some point in time we've all made a thing or two for our own homes. so let's hear how many items you made and what they were.

for me, it started when we got married and moved into my FIL's rent home, the bathroom needed remodeling including a vanity...so i built a simple 50" long paint grade vanity with 2 doors and 2 banks of drawers on each side.

next we added a dishwasher in the kitchen, which took up much needed cabinet space, so i made a stand alone, buffet type storage cabinet that could come with us when we moved.

then we needed a better entertainment center, so i made an armoire ent center that was to match a certain bed we liked so that one day it could be used as our bedroom armoire. (we no longer want that bed so now it will find a new home)

that armoire needed end tables to match that would one day become nightstands in our bedroom. so i built some simple shaker style end tables with design elements to match the future bed and armoire.

then i got a nice break until we found out we were gonna have a baby, then i went back into design mode because i had always planned to make my baby's crib and furniture. so i made a modern styled crib that i had found a picture of.....LOML loved it so i was good to go. since my closet is in the baby room, he would need storage as well as a changing table for those lovely diapers. so i built him an armoire and changing table with hutch to match the style of his bed.

last but not least the wife hates clutter, namely my keys and wallet and such, so she found a picutre of a little wall unit that has cubbies and hooks. we put two baskets in the cubbies and use them for our stuff and hang our keys on the hooks, it's right by the door to the carport. i love that thing, and it was quick and easy to build.

ok, so let's here what some of you have made and why?

ps. i have pics of these i'll try to get them and post them soon.

chris
 
I built an office in my backyard, added an exterior door to my master bedroom, added a landing between the home and office...
have resawn molding for the door, shelves for speakers in the family room, etc...

My next project after finishing my bench will be cabinets in the office, that is until the biggest project of all...build a log home...:thumb:
 
Medicine cabinets for both bathrooms, one hung on the wall, one in the wall type. This is one of them



Under the counter paper towel holder



Quilt Rack




Bread Knives and cutting board


Potting Bench


Most (hmmm maybe all) of these were done for LOML, it was good practice just getting started as well.
 
Oh, I'll bite, but where to start?

a. King-sized bed wall with platform bed, twin towers, light bridge, and storage headboard (breaks down into 20 pieces for moving)

b. Bedroom entertainment center - 8' wide and 7' high (3 pieces fastened together - has to come apart to get moved)

c. Wall-mounted headboard for guest bed

d. Built-in window seat and cabinets in guest room

e. 5-drawer "tall" chest, 3-drawer and 4-drawer undercounter chests, L-shaped countertop, and closet build in craft room

f. Giant entertainment center for living room, 7' wide, 5' high (takes four people to move it - EMPTY!)

g. Coffee table, sofa table, and two end tables

h. Two lamps

i. Pottery shelves around perimeter of living room and guest room

j. Small dining table - tile-topped

k. Two built-in buffets and wall-hung china cabinet

l. Complete kitchen, comprising 7 lowers, 10 uppers, and a ceiling-hung glass-doored crystal cabinet - LOML did ALL the work, including moving some plumbing and tile backsplash work (we contracted out the solid-surface countertops)

m. Pantry cabinets, 9' wide by 7.5' tall

n. Enclosed covered patio to make a 4-seasons sunroom

o. Redwood glider

p. Built-in cabinet in sunroom for storage of picnic supplies, paper products, etc., with laminate countertop

q. Rebuild of garden shed from sill plates to shingles

r. Build of 12x16' storage shed

s. Build of 12x16 finishing room onto existing workshop

t. Getting ready to break ground for another 12x16 addition to workshop for a turning room.

Is that enough?

Nancy (106 days)
 
Hmmm, let's see...

1) Two sets of knock down shelves (32 years ago... and we still use them). Made with nothing more than a Wizard brand electric drill and a B&D circular saw (both tools long since quit).

2) Kingsize waterbed over 30 years ago and we still use it every night (using the same tools as above).

3) Set of bunk beds made 25 years ago. Yep, using the same two tools. Youngest daughter is still using them and they are as rock solid as the day I started using them.

4) Made a desk (23 years ago) out of 3/4" & 1/4" A/C plywood (yep, only used the two tools above). Still in use and one of my daughters made me will it to her. So what's she trying to say exactly?:huh:

5) Bought my 1st TS 6 years ago and built a set of night stands.

6) Numerous bowls, pens and other turnings over the last 5 years.

7) Two sets of QS White Oak bookcases for LOML 2 years ago.

8) Currently working on a storage case for my DVD collection... been working on it for 4 years now. Okay, so I'm a little slow. I got all busy turnin' stuff.

Oh, this doesn't include remodelling three houses, building two garages, and five storage sheds of various sizes. :wink:
 
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I like this thread. I have been feeling like I am not accomplishing anything lately because of money and time shortage. This got me thinking about all that I have built!

Arts and crafts bench and coat rack (minus the hooks in this photo) for laundry room


Maple top coffee table for the Living room



Bed made from some old doors. ;)



Laundry Room Armoie' for my wife


Matching Overheads for the Laundry Room


All of which are shown on my web site.
 
ok, here are most of the pieces...

the cab for the kitchen....i used this piece to practice making the doors for the armoire that would match the bed. it's made of beech...i don't have pics after the finish. first time i made tapered feet, i made it waaay harder than it needed to be.

cabinet.jpg

feet.jpg

then they armoire. first time..and last time for that matter that i made crown on the table saw. it actually was very easy, just haven't needed to make anymore. it is also beech (disclaimer, not my design, the bed had a matching armoire..i copied it best i could)

armoire.jpg

crown.jpg

then the tables to match the armoire. i made the bottom shelf a grid to echo the doors on the armoire. i also used full extension guides side ways on the bottom of the drawers. it works, but it has more deflection than i wanted. but it's ok.

table.jpg

table2.jpg

and lastly for now the crib, which i also copied from a photo

crib.jpg


i need to find pics of the baby armoire and changing table hutch.

thanks for sharing everyone....except for that cobbler guy...:D
chris
 
here is the baby armoire and the changing table...they are stained even though they look painted in these pics, i used an olympic stain called mocha brown and got it as dark as i could. these two are all my design.

i put the blum tandem with blumotion soft close guides on these and also added the blumotion to the doors. helps when he's sleeping and mommy needs to put away clothes. will also keep him from slamming his lil fingers in there.

babyarmoire.jpg

hutch.jpg

chris
 
Oh, man. Ouch! It's hard to separate the story of what I've built from the story of the shop. First, Doorlink wanted a bed. Queen size, high off the floor, with a canopy above and storage below. All I had at the time, literally, was a skilsaw and a drill. Got it done.

New house. Gutted the kitchen. Needed shelves to turn the laundry room into a partial pantry. She ordered some cabinets, I installed them and built the rest. Refrigerator cabinet, double oven cabinet. Huge island. She wants a gas grill on the island, so run a gas pipe up from the basement... through the tile floor I'd just laid. more power to run the vented hood I installed. Make a pot rack to match the copper pipe. By then I had a table saw, and a planer, and a jointer. About that time, Joseph wants a real room, instead of a sectioned off part of the basement. He came up one day and said "I'd really like a door!"

Cool. Drop the kitchen. Strip all the walls in Joseph's area. Patch the cracks in the cement block, frame it, rewire, insulate, drywall. Did I mention the new floor and cieling? Oh, and a desk, and bookshelves, and a closet, and a tv cabinet, and a sleeping platform. And a new wall, with a door... ;) Oh, and a new window, glass block. By then I had a bandsaw. Serious number of new tools, mostly tailed handhelds, but a few handtools too. And the trim and molding in the kitchen still wasn't done. So I got some stuff for a router table. Made a workbench. I was making the doors, and going to fit them, when she said "can you help me carry this bucket of water downstairs?"

The other side of the basement was a mess. Strip the drywall and paneling. put down a new tile floor. "William, the deck feels a little unstable out back." Shore up the deck, it'll hold a few more years. Start framing in the basement walls so they'll hold insulation and drywall. Almost done with that, should finish tonight. Then rewire, insulate, drywall. Need to make a bunch of builtins, it's the boy's gameroom, and we have a huge storage problem.

Did I mention 2000 sq feet of wall to wall shag carpet ripped out? And all those floors sanded and refinished? And every single wall and cieling repainted? And a garbage can corral, and an armoire for my clothes cuz she took up all the closet space? And two bathrooms redone, one with storage where the old oven used to be?

But the best thing I ever made was a little ladder for James when he was just barely one, and learning to walk. The biggest problem he faced was that he couldn't get up on the bed from the floor. The first time he climbed it, he got to the top, and started clapping, he was so excited. Solved a big problem in his life... ;)

So now it's back to the basement and kitchen. I've got a workbench set up in the basement this time, based on a rolling mitersaw stand. Needed a hammerdrill to anchor the footers. Who knows what's next? Makes me tired just thinking about it... :huh:

Worse, all I really want to do is play on the lathe!

Thanks,

Bill
 
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