Category Archives: Home Decor and Crafts

Home Decor and Craft Projects and Tutorials

DIY ledge shelf Headboard

Posted on by May 29, 2015avatar

I’ve been wanting to change my bedroom for months and have gone through so many iterations of headboard designs that it was getting ridiculous. I wanted it to be coastal. I wanted to be able to build it alone and get the materials home in my Xterra and most importantly I didn’t want it to cost all that much. I really should have name my site the FRUGAL DIY Girl… Plan Once I had arrived at the plan for the bedside tables I could move forward with the headboard. The open style of the tables meant I could have a large, … Read more…

DIY Industrial adjustable bedside tables

Posted on by April 13, 2015avatar
DIY Industrial adjustable bedside tables - The DIY Girl

I’ve done a lot of searching for ideas for a new headboard and side tables and ran across this image on Better Homes and Gardens: Let me count the ways: I loved the pedestal open bedside tables instead of something closed and solid. I loved that the headboard was rustic and wider than the bed so it served as a frame. I really loved the lights mounted on the headboard but that’s a whole other issue to be tackled later. The table base I did a little looking around the internet and found these at Beekman 1802: Oh my. They even … Read more…

Bed legs alternative to bed frame

Posted on by April 13, 2015avatar
The DIY Girl - universal bed legs

After spending months researching alternatives to a bed frame I stumbled across universal Bede’s at us-mattress.com. With all my research, how had I never seen them before? Here’s their description: Are you tired of metal bed frames limiting the space underneath your bed? I don’t blame you! Here’s a tip – get rid of that metal frame and experience the new generation of mattress support! These bed legs are made from 100% recycled plastic and are available in four different heights so you can customize the amount of storage space under your bed. The Universal Bedlegs System easily attaches to … Read more…

DIY rustic living room table

Posted on by April 19, 2015avatar

I have planned on making a living room table following the same design as bench I made for the entry. You can see the details on the bench here. I think it’s only fair to point out the reason I make “rustic” pieces — it’s because I don’t have the tools or the know-how to produce a finely crafted piece of furniture. Rustic fits me and my style better anyway. In designing it I had to start with the top and then back into the measurements for everything else. I wanted the top to be between 32-34” square. I decided … Read more…

PVC dog cot picture gallery

Posted on by June 1, 2015avatar
PVC dog cots - The DIY Girl

I wanted to post pictures of some of the pvc dog cots that have been made. If you have used the tutorial to make a dog cot I would love to post pictures of your project and pets as well so send me an email. I’ll add more images as I receive them. Kristin in Ontario Kristin ordered a couple slings for her dogs Keely (fox red Labrador mix) and Ranger (brindle boxer-Wheaton terrier mix). The captions are Kristin’s from Instagram. I had to resist the urge to download 50 pictures because they were all so cute. Here is a link … Read more…

Cutting metal bar stool legs

Posted on by January 28, 2015avatar
Cutting metal bar stool legs - The DIY Girl

I moved from a house with a bar height bar to a counter height bar. I have great sentimental attachment to the bar stools I have to the point I don’t really care if the “go” with the house and decor, I can’t part with them — too many memories when I look at them. Maybe you found a great deal on bar stools with metal legs at a thrift shop but they are too tall for where you want to use them. There is a remedy. Research I found a good starting place with an ehow article How to Cut … Read more…

DIY floating shelves over toilet

Posted on by November 23, 2014avatar
DIY floating shelves over toilet - The DIY Girl

I have a house with no linen closet, but it does have a room for the toilet. I removed the towel bar that was over the toilet because I couldn’t see what good towels would do there since it was so far from the sinks and shower and badly wanted shelves or a cabinet for linen storage. Here’s the before picture. The problem, that doesn’t show in the before picture, is the exhaust fan that’s not that far from the back wall that I felt eliminated the possibility of a closed cabinet — so that left DIY floating shelves over … Read more…

DIY rustic bench seat

Posted on by November 23, 2014avatar
DIY Rustic Bench Seat - The DIY Girl

This was a test project and if this DIY rustic bench seat was successful my next project was going to be a new table for my living room made basically with the same plan. This was going to be a “rustic” bench seat partly because you can’t get 4 x 4 lumber without knots so that dictated the lumber for the rest. Clear pine wouldn’t go with knotty legs. I thought it odd I ended up spending almost as much on screws as I did on lumber but I used self-tapping, quality screws that were easy to put in without pre-drilling. … Read more…

DIY ledge shelf

Posted on by October 21, 2014avatar
diy ledge shelf - The DIY Girl

This turned out to be a huge post. The text is details for newbies if they want to do their own  shelves or you can skim through the pictures. Right this moment I am reeling from the total beat down hanging the largest 60” shelf turned into. Don’t get me wrong. These shelves are easy and so awesome to custom fit exactly to the space you want them. Now having made several – and I am new to woodworking – I don’t think buying a ready-made ledge or coat hook shelf is a good buy. Not when you can make … Read more…

Water based poly over oil based stain — can you?

Posted on by September 17, 2014avatar
Water based poly over oil based stain - The DIY Girl

While finishing my new pine ottoman tray I was faced with a predicament: The only stain I liked was Minwax Wood Finish Classic Gray 271 and the only polyurethane I had was Minwax Water Based Wipe-On Poly. I really like the poly and wanted to use the stain/poly combination on several pieces so I had to find out if it would work. Research I found a post on DoItYourself.com that supposedly came from Minwax. It was about floors, but I figured if it worked on floors that take so much abuse, it would work on my tray. I received this response … Read more…