Category Archives: Home Projects

Home Projects to Repair or Improve

Favorite Things – Magnetic Spice tins

Posted on by February 20, 2017avatar

Since I cook almost all my own meals and rarely eat out, spices were going to be important to me when I started traveling full time in my trailer. But how to store them in an accessible way? My preference was to have magnetic spice containers so I purchased the Kamenstein 6-Piece Colored Magnetic Tin Set from Walmart since they had the best price.  Before selling the house I washed them, labeled them, and filled them with spices.  When I got settled in to the travel trailer the problem became what to stick them to. The only metal in the … Read more…

Testing spray paints on resin furniture

Posted on by April 24, 2015avatar

I’ve had six good quality resin Adirondack chairs for quite some time. I bought them for my house in Texas that was a soft moss-green with snow-white trim and the original forest green color of the chairs was perfect for the white decks on that house. I also had three forest green tables and one white table. They all held up really well on the west-facing decks that baked in 110 degree Texas summers, but I did freshen up the color on them three years ago with a coat of forest green paint. The problem in 2015 was they were … Read more…

Applying polyurethane with a foam brush

Posted on by April 13, 2015avatar
Applying polyurethane with a foam brush - The DIY Girl

In retrospect I suspect I have been studiously avoiding any use of varnish or polyurethane for fear of failure. I used polyurethane years ago, but don’t recall it being a total fail. Maybe it’s my constant battle with floating yellow lab hair. I’ve used a variety of hand applied rubbed finishes to get around using a more difficult finish. When I made the large ottoman tray I opted for water based polyurethane to avoid mineral spirits clean up. I watched a video showing how to dilute the finish with 50% water and applying with a cloth and I loved the … Read more…

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…

Favorite paint tools

Posted on by February 27, 2015avatar
Favorite paint tools - The DIY Girl

I am a big advocate of good tools for painting since they make a huge difference to how difficult it is, how long it takes, and how it turns out. Buy good tools and take care of them and they will last for years and years. So I thought I’d run down my favorite paint tools and why I think they’re essential. Paint It doesn’t matter how great your painting tools are if you’re applying poor paint. Bad paint isn’t just a pain to apply — it’s a pain to have on the walls since it doesn’t clean up (it wipes off … 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…

Toaster oven shelf

Posted on by February 19, 2015avatar
Toaster oven shelf - The DIY Girl

I hate the toaster sitting on the counter. I had the hood for the Black and Decker Space Saver toaster in Texas and loved having the toaster oven hanging, but oh my god what a difficult install. The front edge of the hood scratched up the bottom front edge of the wall cabinet and getting the toaster to actually hang from the hood was a nightmare I wouldn’t want to try again. Moot point since they no longer sell the space saver toaster oven. Some may be cringing that having the toaster oven right under the upper cabinet isn’t safe. … Read more…