Backyard Patio: Tree stump to Day Bed

You know what I realized as I set out to write this post? I completely skipped out on showing you how we turned the stump into a bench in the first place! So this post got twice as long, oops...If you aren't caught up on all the backyard going-ons, I've been trying to tidy up this project for a bit - you can read up in these posts.

So you've seen this picture in some of my updates:

Well as much as I wish that bench would have magically appeared on it's own, it didn't. We had to get real crafty on it, and it was no easy task. Here's what we had interrupting our deck:

Big ol' stump.  Whoever cut it down decided keeping the stump & building a deck around it was a better idea than removing it.  So we inherited it, and after brainstorming for weeks we got hooked on the idea of a large, outdoor daybed/couch type dealy.  The first hurtle was figuring out a seat.

(Now, if you like this idea but don't have your own stump, you can build this over any frame. Even two wine barrels would work. Or just four sturdy legs.Or two piles of pallets secured together to be the right height. Anything.)

After Ralph leveled out the bumps as best he could, (Sander with 80 grit paper!) it was time to devise a sturdy seat.  We played around with some spare wood, seeing what arrangement they needed to be to maximize space.  Plus we were trying to see if we needed to build some sort of frame, etc. Some boards didn't make the cut:

Well it turned out the simplest idea was the best, and building right on top of the stump seemed strongest. After cutting our boards to size and placing them on the stump, we flipped the whole thing over face down (keep the same order in mind!) & braced them with more spare wood.  I made sure to pre-drill some pilot holes so the deck screws wouldn't split the 2 x 2 braces in half.

These wood screws are the best, they come with that little star bit. I was skeptical, but they work amazingly better than a standard philips:

I used the same wood screws to screw down into the stump.  HERE IS ONE OF MY MISTAKES. When the platform we had just build was one piece, we set it on the stump. Amazingly, all was level! So I started drilling down into the stump, and as wood does, things twisted and turned creating a few uneven moments in our lives.  I suggest, if YOU are working on a stump, to look underneath and add some wood shims where needed. This would have solved everything. EVERYTHING!

But in the name of progress, I carried on, adding some custom legs until most things were level:

There was still the tiniest bit of unevenness in some areas, which is unnoticeable when you sit on it. This, helped me decide to make the chunkiest seat cushion on the planet.

Then I sealed the whole thing is the Spar Urethane from our bar project.

Now you are all caught up! It's time to get some arms on this puppy! I've said it before and said it again, sometimes you have to be flexible and let your project be your guide.  The original plan for arms & a backrest was the oh-so-popular Pipe & Flange construction. (Like these).  BUT!!! Do you know how expensive pipes can get? It's the flanges that are the worst! So the total, without lumber, for the pipes on this couch was $180.  I bought it, sat in the car in shock for a second, and then returned it. Yes, I was that horrible person in the return line with like 800 tiny pieces. If this was going to be some gorgeous shelf inside our home, OK - I'll spring for it. But this was to be armrests. Hidden by pillows. OUTSIDE. Not worth $180 in my book.

Our new plan, was to not be lazy and figure something out with the 2x4's we had on hand. This brings out cost down by like $170. Seriously down to like $10. 

I imagined & then designed this shape:

This, would be, an armrest, that also acts as a back brace. Now, it will make sense in a few photos, but it's on it's side here.  The bottom longest side matches the depth of our bench, and the height of the armrest is about 14" (front).  The top of the armrest is the same length as the bottom, minus the thickness of the backrest. The backrest is the piece that sticks up past the rest.

All pieces were cut with 45 degree angles.  I added wood glue, the corner clamp, and shot some nails in using my nail gun that I bought for our downstairs bathroom ceiling project.  Because I'm paranoid, I still shot some wood screws down into the 2x4's after. If you think yours will get heavy use, throw some "L" brackets on the interior of this puppy.

So you need two of these. Identically the same. Then you just place them on your surface, and measure the length you want the back pieces.  Start chopping your spare wood:

Once my pieces were cut, I laid the armrest / backrest on their backsides, and starting playing around with board spacing:

I used a spare 2 x 2 to evenly space the boards before I glued & nailed them in as well:

Once everything feels secure, stand it up. If things feel wobbly, lay it back down and reinforce with either more nails or some wood screws.  Everything can be painted afterwards.

Now it looks like a bench!  With this technique you can easily, and cheaply, add a back to many different surfaces. Upon closer inspection:

Since we had a mix of wood, old & new, redwood & pine, we decided paint was best. We used an exterior paint here, since this would be outdoors.  We used or paint sprayer that connects to the air compressor, but if you don't have that, consider painting your pieces before assembly, and touching up afterward.

You can see the left side is sticking up a bit, this is because one of my boards was acting squirrely and twisty, but I knew it would settle down in a bit. And it did! After lining the backrest into it's permanent spot, more deck screws went down the bottom sides of the armrests into the platform.  Then we staged for fun:

See that lovely giant cushion? Haha... well it got SUPER fluffy when I had it on it's side for the day, so we were forced to nap on it to get it back down to normal. What a pain....

No pillows:

 Pillows:

I joke about this area looking like a Southern Mexican restaurant, because it got super colorful on us. I guess neither Ralph nor myself can say no to color. With each project we had that moment of "what do we paint this?" and the answers were almost always something bright.  I'm amazed we got as much white in there as we did, but I think it really ties things together nicely & adds a sweet trim.

Ok so NOW it's our cantina patio I think....:

Now there are still little details to this zone I'm finishing, but for the most part I think the big stuff can be considered done!

Before:

After:

Oh, Happy first day of October!

-Jesse

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Modern Stool Makeover

Hello World! Well, I'm waiting for the sun to come out so I can shoot some pretty shots of the backyard bench that we FINALLY finished! I'm so. so. SO happy to be done with that thing. It was the biggest hurtle back there, and with it out of the way I feel like I can do whatever I want. I'm free! If you want to travel back and see what I'm talking about, hop over here.

But in the meantime, let me share the easiest little makeover on the planet, whose technique can be applied to so many pieces of furniture.  It has a modern look that's easy to achieve. Piece of cake as they say. (Is cake easy?)

Start with a simple piece of furniture. Pretty much anything made of plywood is likely to have very simple edges. Here's mine:

A certain stool from IKEA called Frosta is made of flat edge plywood, and is pretty common to find in the thrift shops. Or, I guess, Ikea itself. My stool here I SWEAR is from a daycare furniture set. I worked in daycare for 1,000 years - believe me, I know this stuff. It's super glossy plywood furniture.  I found this beast in our local thrift shop, for $1. I'm guessing it was too rough to make it home with anyone else. Lucky me! Just look for something flat, with flat edges. That's the best.

In the spirit of keeping it clean & modern, I painted all the interior legs white.

White used to  be a rare color choice for me, but I've really come to appreciate it lately & I'm hooked.  I'm using a plain white gloss paint, the gloss also helps down the line when you're staining, you can quickly wipe off any drips.  While your painting the interior flat edges,  don't worry too much about getting on the main edges. If anything, you WANT to overlap a little.  Because you can do this after:

Using a fine sandpaper (#220) on my sander, I gave a quick, flat swipe down the sides to remove my overpainting issues.  See how clean that got?

Up next, Pre-Stain the areas of the stool you're going to stain:

Love this stuff. I never used to use it, and then when I finally tried it? Worth it! You only have to wait about 15 minutes before you can start  the real deal. I'm using, Dark Walnut of course:

Just make sure that the pre-stain conditioner you are using is the same type as your stain. In my case, both are oil based. If your stain is waterbased, use a water based conditioner. Makes sense.

Stain the top & the legs.  I have a pile of old T-shirts, and I just cut a good square out and I dip right into the stain. That's my favorite way to stain wood, I'm not the biggest fan of the brush method - but to each their own.  Also, the T-shirt way helps you cleanly stain the edges:

That's my lil T-shirt square. just a tiny dab, and carefully stain the edges.  If you have any drips on the white, quickly wipe it off with another square of T-shirt that DOESN'T have the stain. Faster!

Let it dry, give it a coat of your favorite clear coat (I use Minwax Polycrylic, Satin in this case)

That's it! This is the perfect addition to our wildly colored patio, and ties in the white from one of our tables, the white in the rugs, the white in the banister behind the barstools, and as you'll SOON see, the white backing on our big bench/daybed thingy.

Plus it's handy for a short person like me. Whenever a light bulb goes out on our string lights, I can hop right up all by myself.  The rest of the time, it's a cute little floater stool that offers a seat, anytime anyplace.

Flashback....

If yours has screws in the top like mine, and they bother you, you could always screw them down a little farther - fill them with wood putty - sand & stain. I, didn't really care about them, and left them.

OK I'm off to photoshoot the backyard, can't wait to show you! Have a great rest of your week & a wonderful weekend, get out there and enjoy the days before winter hits - yikes!

-Jesse

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Quick DIY Secret Mossy Hiding Pail

Well I guess not so secret anymore now that I've blasted this all over the internet.  Oh well, I guess if you come to my house you'll know this secret spot & head straight to it. 

Good thing for me that I don't keep anything in it! Yea, I've always had some weird obsession with hiding places. I used to hollow out books, just because it was cool. And then I'd put them on the shelf. Empty. I don't have anything to hide really, no gold coins & cash burns a hole right through my pocket.  But, during this fail-fix I couldn't resist the opportunity.  

It all started during that long winded downstairs bathroom redo, one of my accessories was to be ferns. I chose ferns, because that room is "light challenged" and I figured they'd fit right in. Look how they did:

Mind you, this is not a case of not having a green thumb, I have a bunch of healthy plants that will tell you otherwise - I gave this puppy everything I had, and he quit. Fast forward to problem #2 - I used a wood bucket.  Even though I had the fern in a separate plastic pot for drainage (I thought I thought of everything!), and sealed the heck out of the bucket, the water seeped on through.  But whatever, we all have fails & new things sprout from those, right?

I wanted to rush out and buy (see what I mean about the cash problem) something else to go here, but in an effort to try and use-what-I-have-around-here, this is what I came up with. And it's what I should have done in the first place. (sorry lil fern...)

Step 1: Paint the bottom half of the bucket. This was dual purpose, it hides the horrible water damage to the bucket, and looks all color-blocky.  Unsuspecting people will think this was the plan all along - good!

Step 2: Raise up the floor so I don't have to literally fill this bucket with moss.  This is where the secret hiding spot came in at the last minute! I hoard keep all those jars from finished Bath & Body works candles & freeze the wax out (freezing the candle is the easiest way to get the wax out - just take a butter knife to it to crack out the wax). They are super handy, and this one fit perfect:

A little newspaper padding to keep it steady......pop the lid on....

Step 3: Fill her up with moss! This is my favorite moss, it's about $26 on Amazon (find the link here) for a HUGE box of it, but you can find smaller packs too.  I use it all the time, I cover the soil in my other houseplants with it, just to make them even cuter. Because, why not? Back to the bucket:

Done! Much cleaner. I love that fluffy lime stuff. I still get my touch of green in here without having to buy a fake plant, and a hiding spot too. Again - because, why not?

From failed to fixed in like, 15 minutes. And it didn't cost me a thing since I had it all here.

Back to work on the backyard brick patio for me...  enjoy your summer!

-Jesse

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Spotlight: DIY Waterproof Painted Bottles

A long time ago I posted a spotlight article featuring DIY Vintage Mason Jars using just a little paint & glue. The finished look was really great, but the only drawback was you absolutely could NOT get them wet. Fine for dry decor, but that leaves fresh flowers completely out of the loop.  And if I'm going to be able to justify stockpiling cute bottles, they better have double use, right?  Well, I came across today's featured article & knew it deserved an immediate shout out.  Check out these beauties:

Source

Problem solved! These are waterproof, and while I haven't tried them myself - the comments on the original post seem to suggest that all is well.  If you're like me you probably have the urge to save every cute bottle or jar you come across, and now you have even more justification for your hoarding...

Source

Check out the full tutorial on My Design Folder, and let us all know if you try it.  It looks so easy I'm almost skeptical... this would be a great use for one of my favorite bottles, (remember these?) from a cold brewed coffee called "Chameleon" I think... the shape is adorbies.  I admit, sometimes I buy the product because of the bottle shape.. (ever seen the Rain Vodka bottle? Look out!).

Anyway, I'm back to making state patterns for the string art peeps.  I only have 47 left! Oh man...

Have a great day!
     -Jesse

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Spotlight: Fan of Succulents

Get it? A Fan of Succulents? Because these are old fan covers! Now you see it, huh?  My sister Denise sent me this super cute planter the other morning and I fell in love! Pinned that right away. What a perfect succulent planter!  And surprisingly - I have actually brainstormed in the past uses for old fan covers, who knew I'd have enough dead fans to actually think this over?  I'd seen people make them into snazzy fruit bowls before, but really - you only need maybe one of those.  These? You could go on and on with this project and have them all over the place.

For the full project tutorial, pop over to Rancho Reubidoux.

I think you could do this with newer fan covers as well, as long as they are metal. Just pop any plastic parts out, and either give it a fresh coat of spray paint or distress it and let the weather do the work.  The metal will age well regardless and look really killer with the succulents. I wonder if you slightly sanded a the paint off the metal, then left the cover in a tub of water for a few days, what would happen? Anyone done this?

What do you think of this idea, you like? I love it. Next time I see a fan at a garage sale, that puppy is coming home!

Thanks Denise for sending the idea!
Got an idea to share? Submit it here.

Entered the String Art Giveaway? It ends Thursday! Click here for details.

     -Jesse

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DIY Easy Bird Feeders

I love birds!  There, I said it.  And for some reason, I feel like it's my responsibility to fatten them up.  No joke - when we moved here I felt bad for not having a bird feeder out. Like every chirp would just pierce my heart, "we're starving".. Ok that's a little dramatic, but making a feeder DID stay on top of my to-do list for that reason.         And here it is!

From thrift store salad bowls to cute modern bird feeders, these babies can be done in a weekend.  Probably in a day if you start earlier than me.  Read on!

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9 Space Saving Herb Gardens

Hello! Been by your local nursery lately? Yep - the baby plants are arriving by the truckload and I want every last one of them to come home with me.  Every year since the dawn of time I've had a vegetable garden, and since we're in a new place this year, it's time to start fresh.  I'm not exactly sure what part of the yard gets the most sun, but I DO know that our front deck gets blasted for about 4 hours a day - which to me means it's begging for an herb garden.  Which, being right off the kitchen, will be extremely handy! So I've got a blank slate, and took a minute (OK, two hours...) to trudge through the internet and find some pretty neat planter ideas.  All of which either have DIY instructions (yay!) or could easily be figured out how to make. Here are my 9 favorites.

For me, vertical really gets my attention. I want maximize my planting space without sacrificing the whole deck, take a look at this beautiful planter wall that's been incorporated into a pergola:

Source: Susan Cohan Gardens

Or  how about something hanging? This example is for indoor plants, but I can see adapting this for the outdoors fairly easily. Longer pieces of wood to hold maybe 2-3 pots per shelf, and perhaps a way to anchor the bottom to the ground so they don't fly all over in the wind...

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DIY Picnic Blanket

Spring has sprung! It's official, and though I can't speak for the rest of the country - out here in California, it's showing!  This weather get me into major planning mode and I start thinking up all the fun things we need to do this season.  Actually, once the time changes I spring into that mode - and start reserving camping spots and prepping for hikes ASAP.  All this talk reminded me of an awesome picnic blanket project I saw on Design*Sponge last fall, this is a total afternoon project:

The pattern is great, and this uses one of my favorite mediums: spray paint! And an old sheet. Perfect little picnic set up.  Stevie & Ashley provide a well written tutorial over on Design*Sponge - swing by and get the details.

Our house is starting to get a lot more sun now, and it's really exciting to see that the front deck right of the kitchen gets BLASTED for about 4 hours... I could totally see us deck-picnic-ing on a big blanket like this, soaking up the rays... here's a photo that was taken about noon...just the beginning:

Glorious sunshine, and a huge cat. Let's just say, she's "permanently pregnant", heh.. you can see that even though it's a big towel, a large blanket would be ideal.  I'll have to think of a way to make it padded..any ideas?

What projects & activities do you have planned now that spring has sprung?  An early start is a great way to make the most of it... Enjoy!

     -Jesse

 Up next: Learn how to give an old dresser an entirely new look:

  

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Not done with me yet? Perfection... keep reading:

Rain Gutter + Table = Built in Cooler

Succulent Furniture

DIY Wooden Welcome Mat

Warm weather, I can't wait!

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