How can you furnish your home with great looking modern furniture if you’re strapped for cash in this economy? Build it yourself! I came across a great article describing how you can do just that. Using plans from Plan Canvas on Etsy.com, you can build various types of modern style furniture for your home with simple tools for very little money.

The furniture is definitely all modern in style but there are enough different types to furnish nearly the entire home. The plans include dining room sets, armchairs, side tables, coffee tables, a couch, entertainment center, nightstand, and even a dry bar. The one outdoor piece of furniture is a Craftsman style planter box.

You will not need a big set of fancy tools to build these items. According to the article, you only need a drill, screwdrivers, hammers, and possibly a circular saw or jig saw. The claim is also made on the Plan Canvas site that the projects can be completed in a few hours.

Making these plywood pieces will also cost you very little. Several of them are made economically with a single piece of plywood. For $6.99 you can build modern end tables, a coffee table, two armchairs, or a desk. For $7.99 you can build an entertainment center. For $10.99 you can build a dining room set. For $12.99 you can build a table and chairs from a design inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright. For $15.99 you can build a living room collection — and that’s the most expensive project! 

This collection of plans will allow anyone with some resourcefulness and a good work ethic to furnish their home with an impressive set of modern furniture at a low cost. In these troubled times we can’t all afford to shell out a great deal of money for retail but would benefit from a little do-it-yourself.

Technorati Tags: easy furniture, easy woodworking, woodwork projects

Are you looking for an easy woodworking project with a plan? Look no further! I found this simple project from an e-zine article by Rick Bergin. An easy woodworking project is a rustic oak coffee table that can be done in four simple steps without any nails, screws, glue, or joints.

The first step is to acquire the oak beams for the table. You will need four rough cut kiln dried oak beams, each one meter long and 120 mm x 180 mm. These measurements do not have to be exact but can be adjusted according to your own preference. You should be able to find the oak beams at any lumberyard, but you should shop around before you buy to make sure you get the best deal.

The next step is to cut one of the beams into two 430 mm lengths and make a cutout on each of them. Cutting one of the beams into two 430 mm lengths will leave 140 mm of that beam unused. After you have the two 430 mm beams, pick one 120 mm side of each and measure 25 mm from the short edges of them. Then draw a line at those points. Then, preferably using a router, make a 25 mm deep cutout in each of the beams between the two lines. If you do not have a router, you can set a circular saw to 25 mm depth, make several cuts across the lumber, and use a chisel to make the cutouts.

The third step is to finish the oak beams by sanding them with a belt sander that has a medium grit belt. The cutouts on the two support beams should be finished well so that the table beams will have a steady surface on which to rest. After sanding, you may want to apply a couple of coats of Danish oil to enhance the wood grain.

Lastly, you are ready to put the remaining three one-meter length beams onto the two 430 mm support beams. First space the 430 mm beams about 600 mm (or two feet) apart. Then, place the three one-meter beams across them into the cutout spaces. You will not need to fix them in place because of their weight. There will be small spaces between the beams. You may place wedges or dowels in these spaces to keep them in place, but that is not essential.

By getting the oak beams, cutting them to the correct sizes, finishing them, and placing them together you will have created a rustic oak coffee table that will look great in the right setting. See the plan above for help with the directions. It should be a fun, easy woodworking project to cut your teeth on.

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So you’ve made or purchased a nice piece of wood furniture. Now how do you keep it looking good? There are many different opinions and products out there, but according to Vic Tesolin, editor of the magazine Canadian Woodworking and Home Improvement, you have to be careful whom you trust. In caring for your wood furniture, there are products to avoid, a right way to clean, and a good way to revitalize the wood.

It is best to avoid most wood cleaning products on the market. Many people advertise that their products “feed” and “nourish” the wood. Tesolin humorously makes the point that the act of cutting down the tree has killed the wood and there is no longer a need to feed or nourish it. He also claims that most furniture spray products contain silicon, which is harmful to the wood because it actually attracts dust and interferes in the event of refinishing. While silicon does give wood that wet, glossy look, it also makes you have to dust more often because it attracts dust (which is good for the furniture spray manufacturers, but not so good for you). Tesolin also claims that the silicon from the spray contaminates the wood and in the refinishing process makes it difficult for the new finish to adhere to the surface.

Tesolin recommends dry dusting wood furniture with microfiber cloth and using a damp rag to remove stains. The microfiber cloth will not scratch the surface and does very well at removing dust. A rag simply dampened with water will remove most stains.

Using furniture wax made from bees wax is a good and easy way to revitalize wood furniture. The bees wax hides minor scratches and gives the wood an even sheen. It should be applied in a circular motion with a soft cloth and then allowed to set for a few minutes. Then, rub out the finish using a piece of 0000 steel wool, moving it back and forth in the direction of the wood grain. This will give the furniture a renewed glow.

Using simple products such as microfiber cloth and bees wax to clean and polish wood furniture is preferable to buying most furniture spray products. After all, you do need to know how to keep wood products looking great as well as make them.

Technorati Tags: easy furniture, easy woodworking

Technorati Tags: easy furniture

Does your laminated kitchen countertop need to be redone? Maybe it has become scratched and scuffed or you just want a new color. According to an online article, this can be an easy furniture do-it-yourself project that can be done by getting the material, preparing the countertop and laminate pieces, using wood dowels to separate the new laminate and the countertop, and trimming the laminate when you are finished.

The first step is to get the laminate material. You may find it at a hardware store and place it directly over the old surface. Measure the countertop and get slightly larger pieces of laminate that you will trim later.

The next step is to prepare the surfaces. First, you will need to sand the gloss off of the old surface so that the new laminate will stick to it. After sanding, remove the dust with a vacuum and a wet sponge. Then apply contact cement to the underside of the laminate and to the sanded countertop. Follow the directions on the cement package and keep the two pieces apart for about ten minutes. The cement should then be somewhat sticky to the touch.

Then place the wooden dowels on top of the countertop and put the new laminate on top of them. The dowels should be cut wider than the countertop and placed every few inches apart. This is done to set the top in place more easily. Then slide the dowels out one at a time, pressing the laminate to the countertop. Use a roller to press it down hard and smooth out the surface.

Finally, you will need to trim the new laminate top. You can do this with a straight edge ruler and a utility blade, a router that has a bit meant for cutting laminate, or other specialized trimming tools. Any of these may do the job and provide a smooth finish. The materials may be borrowed rather than bought if necessary.

By following these easy furniture project steps you can refinish your laminated kitchen countertops. It is a low cost way of giving your kitchen a make-over and having the satisfaction of doing it yourself.

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