DIY Console Table!

I've been eying some fabulous console tables for our formal living room lately, but none were quite the right shade and they were all pretty expensive ($400-$600) for a piece of furniture that hardly serves a function. With those things in mind, we decided to DIY! Since this DIY is almost all carpentry based, it fell into Ross's jurisdiction, so I'll let him walk you through it, step by step. I love the finished project though!

So first things first, here's what you need if your wife is going to make you build her a console table.

Materials:
1'-6"x4' (1) 1/2" Plywood
1'x4' (1) 1/2" Plywood
4"x1"x12' (2)
2"x1"x12' (2)
2"x4"x8' (1)
Wood Glue
Wood Filler
Wood Screws
applique (optional)
2 table legs
Sand Paper
Paint (1quart)
1 1/2 inch threaded lug
2 1/2 inch threaded bolts

Tools Needed:
Miter saw
Sander
Router
Drill
Paint Brush
6 wood clamps

Project Cost:
Approximately $100

I first glued and clamped the 4" wood to the plywood on three sides. I let the wood glue dry for an hour on each piece.

Next I made the 4 corner pieces of the feet by using the chop saw to make 4" squares and using the router to make a trim profile shown below.

I then attached the legs to the base plywood as shown below.

Next I routed a 1/4" deep square into a piece of plywood to connect the two legs into the top piece.

Here is a picture of me routing it.

I then attached the legs using wood glue and 4 screws with pre drilled pilot holes.

This piece was then screwed into the top of the table.

Next Whit and I attached the applique using wood glue and clamps.

Because the bottom legs came to a smaller point they needed to be screwed to the base using a 1/2 threaded lug. I attached these to the bottom of the legs by drilling 7/16" holes into the bottom of the legs and using wood glue to get them into the leg. I then hammered them in and used 1/2" nuts to drive them in.

With the lugs into the legs I drilled holes into bottom piece and bolted the top and bottom together. Next we sanded and prepped the wood for painting.

I filled in gaps in the wood with wood filler.

Next came painting.

 After Whitney painted the table, she used the electric sander to distress it. Distress to the extent you see fit, or don't distress it at all for non-antiqued furniture.

Here are pictures of the final piece completed and painted.

For about $100, we consider it a worthwhile effort.

Front doors, master bathroom tile, banisters and EXTERIOR PAINT!

Woohoo! So many fabulous construction things happening on BDH Lane! As many of our neighbors told us, the last few weeks are a flurry of activity and definitely the most exciting part of the construction timeline. Here's what has gone down over the last few days:

This is our checkered tile master bath floor and master shower. I'm thinking that the idea to checker these tiles may have been the best idea I've ever had. Shout out to our fabulous design consultant, Yosra, who knew how to angle the tile for maximum effect and drew the super descriptive drawings to help the tile guys understand her and my vision. Also, props to the tile guy and gal! They've been working 12ish hour days on the tile throughout the house. Yay BDH team! PS - I don't think the green duct tape is permanent.

Here are our new front doors! They'll be stained dark brown before too long. Oh, and the long black thing on one of them is the weather stripping, which, if they're anything like my husband, they taped to the door so they wouldn't lose it. I love the way the light comes in on the foyer floor (but I'm thinking I hope it doesn't bleach the hardwoods over time).

Here are the banisters in progress. I'll post more pictures as these get finished up. An Italian contractor is crafting the banisters on site. It's really cool to see him work. I want to replace the pickets down the road with big iron scroll pickets (a la Khloe and Lamar Odom's house), but those pickets weren't available through our builder.

Here's the tile in one of the guest baths.

Last but not least, here is our new exterior paint job!! There's a HILARIOUS story about how I noticed that the outside was finally painted, but it's way too long for the blog. Ask me in person. But this is such an exciting moment! I wish I could have seen it better and taken better pictures, but as you all know, I'm a working barbie and I couldn't get out to the house until about 6pm, at which point it was pretty dark. Better pics to come - promise!

Thanks for always sharing in our excitement barbs! <3 you all! xox

Cabinets!!

Long alas, the BDH got its cabinets installed today! I have been dreaming about our kitchen cabinets for months, particularly our island, and today we finally got to see the real thing! The perimeter cabinets are antique white and the island cabinets' color is called java. We added the oven hood, spice rack and set of three pot drawers (in lieu of standard cabinets in that spot) to the standard kitchen. We also added the glass cabinets on the end of the island, and I'm proud to say that I already almost have enough cream & black china (a lot of which is black and cream diamond harlequin patterned) to fill them!

Here are some pictures of our newly cabinetted kitchen:

We still need our granite, flooring and the black chandelier over the island, but the cabinets really help me visualize the finished product!

Here are our master bathroom cabinets. I love my little vanity spot. I have a white skirted vanity chair for there already, which I found at Goodwill for $30! :)

 Here are the french doors that lead into our master bath:

 Here's our newly drywalled shower. You can't tell by this picture, but there's a light inside at the top. Right now it's set to be a recessed light, but I'm toying with the idea of putting a small chandelier in there. Half of me thinks the idea is nuts, the other half of me thinks its the best idea I've ever had.

 They also started to frame the rail for our spiral staircase today:

Exciting times at the BDH! Finally, the girly, pretty items are getting installed. More updates soon!

xox

Cabinets, Trim, Window Panes & Molding!

Now that the BDH is done with drywall, we've finally moved on to the girly, pretty things, like molding and cabinets! Our interior doors are being installed already, our cabinets have been delivered but not yet installed (hopefully any day now), our window panes (which are really deep and look great!) are being installed already, our doorway trim and molding are partially done and our granite is set to be installed next week!

Here are some pictures of all the pretty goodies!

Sorry for the boxer butt in the picture above! It was dark and I didn't realize he photo bombed.

Here are all of the kitchen cabinet boxes. There were so many that they couldn't all fit in the kitchen, which is why this first picture was taken in the garage.

We couldn't resist opening one of the boxes (we put it back when we were done, obvi). These are our springhill square maple antique white glaze cabinets. The island cabinets are springhill square maple in java, both are by Yorktowne Cabinetry.

Here is our exterior stone, which was delivered last week but hasn't been installed yet.

Oh, and here are some pictures of the completed drywall before the trim, molding and cabinet work started.

Family room:

Standing in the formal living room, looking through the entrance to the wine cellar at the hall and a guest bedroom and the family room:

Standing in the library looking into the formal living room, foyer, and dining room:

Standing in the dining room, looking at the foyer, formal living room and library (aka the reverse of the last picture):

The foyer:

The dining room:

Back staircase:

In the master sitting room looking into the master:

Upstairs hall (my current fave spot thanks to the arches):

Last and kinda least, here's our back porch, which was finished last week: