BUT “A cabinet with no hardware is really hard to open,” said anyone who’s ever tried to open a cabinet with no hardware.

It’s also kind of like wearing a suit with no tie. Ok, that’s enough. I think you get my point.

In my opinion, whatever that’s worth, the hardware is the star of a cabinet. Most (not all) cabinets are just boring boxes with basic shaker doors. They might have a little bit of detail, but let’s face it, they’re not usually that interesting.

Making the right hardware choice can make a look. But choosing the wrong color, wrong size, or wrong location can break it.

Color

Choosing the right color is not as easy as it sounds. There are no hard and fast rules to this, but there are some general guidelines that will help steer you in the right direction.

Have a look around the room the hardware will be in. What color of hardware is on the other furniture and cabinets in the room?

If the hardware is for your kitchen, what colors are your appliances and light fixtures?

You don’t need to be matchy-matchy, but you want to choose finishes that work well together, or as my wife would say, “compliment each other”. I wouldn’t mix more than two in a room, three max. For example, if your kitchen appliances are stainless steel and your light fixtures have silver accents, you’d probably want to stick to adding either silver or black hardware.

That’s not to say you can’t do silver and gold, but just don’t do silver, gold and black all in the same room. Also, keep in mind that oil-rubbed bronze is not black!

Size

Size is also very important. Don’t put a really bulky or long piece of hardware on a smaller cabinet. For example, upper cabinets in a kitchen usually look best with a single knob. Same with the doors and smaller drawers on the lower half.

Larger drawers on the lower half could get away with longer hardware. They should both be in the same color family and style when possible.

Pantry’s could also work with longer hardware.

Location

You can have the nicest handles, the perfect colors, and then put them in the wrong location. You can eyeball it (but that’s harder than it sounds), you can create a jig (but that takes time and is still prone to error.

OR, you can get yourself one of these handy little Cabinet Hardware Jigs made by Kreg.

I’ve had this little tool in my arsenal for a while now and it definitely makes things a lot easier when you’re installing hardware!

Have a look at this video to see how it works!

And now, I’ve done a little research for you to track down some nice modern and industrial (and unique) options out there for cabinet hardware!

Do you have any other tips for choosing or installing hardware? Let me know in the comments below!

Nick

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If you’ve been following me for a while now, you’ll know that I work in a small shop. In fact, I’ve completely converted our single car garage into a woodshop. It hasn’t seen a car in years, and I’ve been slowly pushing out any other non-woodworking things like summer toys, lawnmower, and yard tools to make room for MORE TOOLS!!

The challenge is that all of these tools take up space. Some of them I use very often and some not. I don’t have much room for various workstations around the shop either, so I try to make everything do double-duty!

My latest build does not just serve double-duty, it is multi-purpose! It serves as a place to store two of my larger tools, my Kreg Foreman Pocket Hole Machine (which has been an incredible time-saver vs the K4 or K5), and my Kreg Bench Top Router Table.

It also stores all of my Kreg accessories in the drawer and any parts that accompany the larger tools. I can stick my various Kreg Clamps in the side rack that I added so that they are handy to grab when I’m assembling.

What else can this thing work for? I’ve also used it to host my thickness planer and used it as an out-feed table for my table saw. It’s just the right height (check the height of your table saw first before you build to see if it will work for this purpose as well).

I’ve also used it as an assembly station and an extension to my huge workbench (which you can also get the free plans for here).

It’s great to be able to push it out of the way when you don’t need it too. It’s been a valuable addition to the shop. I can also roll it outside in the nicer weather as a small workstation to set my tape measure, pencils, and squares on when I’m working with my saws in the sun!

So, you can grab these easy free plans over on Kreg’s DIY project site, Build Something. While you’re there I’m sure you’ll find a lot of other great ideas you’ll want to build this weekend

This post was sponsored by Kreg Tool. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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The year was 2018, and my wife, Alicia, set out to find the worlds perfect coffee table. One that fits perfectly into her design plans for our newly renovated basement. We scoured every store within a 150-mile radius, every online shop (that was within our price range), and every classified and auction site locally.

Nuthin’. Nada. Zilch.

At least nothing that was exactly what Alicia had in mind. So, if you’ve been following my wife at all, you’ll know that she doesn’t settle for anything less than her vision.

That’s where I come in.

Usually, I get a detailed description of what she’s looking for and I (try to) turn it into a reality. Think Joanna Gaines and Clint Harp-eske requests. Like this Restoration Hardware Inspired Printmaker’s Coffee Table, or Corner TV Stand I built.

But, the coffee table she had in mind had a metal base and that’s a problem because I have no idea how to do metal work. None.

I suppose I could have found someone locally to make the base for me, but I had an idea…

What if I could make the wood look like metal? Hmmmm. Plus, it would be safer with two small kids walking and crawling around. Wood is a little bit more forgiving (sometimes) than metal.

So, I teamed up with our friends at Kreg to come up with a plan for this coffee table. The base of the design is simple and easy to assemble with your Kreg Pocket Hole Jig. The real work is in the preparation of the wood for the base.

First, finding the right wood is key. I used framing lumber but I purchased 2 x 10’s and cut them down to an actual size of 1 1/2″ x 1/2″.

Why didn’t I just buy 2 x 2’s you ask?

Well, here’s a piece of advice for you. When you buy 2 x 2 lumber it’s typically finger-jointed. That means it’s weaker, more susceptible to warping, and has a lot more imperfections. Find the straightest 2 x 10’s, with the least amount of warping and visible imperfections, such as cracking and knots, and cut those down to 1.5″ strips. I don’t think I’ll ever buy 2 x 2’s again…actually I know I won’t because it yields much better results.

Next, routing all of the edges using my Kreg Router Table and then sanding all sides as smooth as possible and using a matte/flat black spray paint are the keys to what makes this look like real metal. The smoother the finish, the more it will look like metal!

The design Alicia and I came up with had a thicker top. At one point I contemplated adding a storage component to it. The top would lift up and you could store magazines and remotes inside it. But, with two small kids, I like to limit the number of places they could get their hands caught. I still used plywood to give it the illusion of a thicker piece of wood on top, but with the price of plywood.

You could easily adapt this plan to add some hinges to the top and a bottom inside the top to add storage.

If you want to give build this coffee table, you can hop on over to Kreg’s DIY project plan site, BuildSomething.com and get it for free! While you’re there, you will find a lot of other great DIY project plans for all skill levels!

Tag me on a picture of your completed coffee table on Instagram @thediyhubs, we’d love to see it!

This post was sponsored by Kreg Tool. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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We also need the ability to close the basement door completely at night where the cats sleep. So we had to come up with our own baby and pet gate plans. I’ve had a lot of people inquire about this gate, so I whipped up these free baby & pet gate plans!

If I cut a hole in the door and put a typical cat door in, it would ruin the door, plus we liked to keep it open during the day to allow the air to circulate in our the house.

So, I had to come up with a custom plan! The first step for this build is something you likely never thought you would have to do in your life…measure your cat(s).

Our old boy Finnigan was tipping the scales near 20lbs. I needed to make sure that they could actually fit through the hole. Even weirder? I had to measure our baby’s width to make sure she couldn’t fit through the hole.

You will find that this is a very simple build. I know what you’re thinking…a baby gate at the top of stairs is not supposed to swing out over the stairs, but it’s the best way to make it work with the existing door in place.

So I put a double lock on the stair side, a gate latch and a sliding latch for security. I also put spring hinges on it so the gate will automatically close behind me. If there is any way you can avoid having it swing out over the stairs in your home, please do so.

FREE BABY & PET GATE PLANS

NOTE: These plans accommodate a 32″ door opening.

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See our full disclosure policy here. Thank you for helping support our blog.

(CLICK ON IMAGES TO VIEW LARGER VERSION)

SHOPPING & CUT LIST

 ADDITIONAL SUPPLIES

• 1.25″ 18g Brad Nails
• 1.25″ construction wood screws
• Self Closing Gate Kit
• Surface Bolt
• 80 / 120 / 220 grit 5″ sanding discs
• Gorilla wood glue
• Wood Filler

TOOLS REQUIRED

• Jigsaw
• Drill
• 5″ orbital sander
• Mitre saw
• Circular saw

STEPS

1. Create the base frame by following the diagram below and secure with ample wood glue and 1.25″ brad nails.

2. Add the 1 x 6 x 24″ pieces to the back side, creating a half lap joint and secure with ample wood glue and 1.25″ brad nails.

3. Secure the boards 1.625″ apart for all gaps EXCEPT the center space will be 1.5″. You can cut out the area at the bottom of the center boards for the pet door either before or after you secure them. Use ample wood glue and 1.25″ brad nails to secure. I also added a couple of 1.25″ screws to the top and bottom of each board for added strength.

4. Trim out the opening for the pet door cutting down some 3/4″ pieces to the sizes on the diagram below. Secure using wood glue and 1.25″ brad nails.

5. Add a 1 x 3 x 32″ piece to the top, flush to the front of the gate, and secure using wood glue and 1.25″ brad nails.

6. Choose a piece of trim that suits your style that is at least 1 1/4″ in width. Attach it with wood glue and 1.25″ brad nails to the top front of the gate. Then fill nail holes, sand, and paint or stain it.

7. Remove the casing from the door jamb and install the Self Closing Gate Hinges underneath it. Mount the gate to the hinges, leaving about 1/2″ clearance between the floor and the bottom of the gate.

8. Then attach the latch from the kit and add a surface bolt for extra security. Both should be installed on the stair side that is not accessible by your toddler. You’ll have to reach over the top to open the gate each time, but it is the safest method.

We did find that there were times we wanted the gate to stay open when our toddler wasn’t around. For that, we used this cool magnetic door stop!

If you build one of these for yourself, please send me a pic. I love to see it!

DISCLAIMER:
The DIY Hubs and it’s owner are not liable in any way for injury or loss (whether physical, emotional, monetary or any other kind of loss) resulting from any inspiration, ideas, directions or information gained from this website. We advise you to always follow manufacturer instructions, take appropriate safety precautions and hire a professional when in doubt. By using DIY information from our site, you agree that you do so at your own risk.

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I used to draw everything on paper when planning a project. There’s nothing wrong with that at all, in fact, I still do it from time to time. But I have found that I’ve gained a lot more efficiency in my shop thanks to some of these apps. It’s simple…when you have a well laid out plan, things go quicker and you waste less material.

This post contains affiliate links where we make a small commission on any purchase you make, at no extra cost to you.
See our full disclosure policy here. Thank you for helping support our blog.

If you’re not currently using any of these, give them a try and see if they can help you too!

Cut Calculator – $6.99 – iPad Only

Alright, so this one could be a game changer for some of you. It’s all about efficiency and minimizing waste, and isn’t that what we all strive for? Whether woodworking is a business or a hobby, no one likes to spend more than they have to!

I used to use Sketchup to layout my plywood and board cuts. It took a lot of time and since we’re talking about efficiency, this was a waste of just that. There had to be a better way of doing it, right?

I came across this Cut Calculator App for the iPad. You throw in you all of your cuts on various material sizes (and it factors in your kerf!) and BOOM it outputs an optimized plan!! What’s better? You can even make it factor in wood grain or ignore it!!!!!

You can then print, PDF, email, or iMessage your plan. If you get your sheet goods cut down at the lumber store, this is a MUST-HAVE!

The diagrams are straight forward and make it really easy to maximize your sheets. I have even gone into the lumber store with these diagrams and had them cut some of the sheets down to size for me…partly because my car doesn’t fit a full sheet in, and also because it’s just a lot easier to handle.

Fraction Calculator + Decimals – Base App Free – iPhone/iPad

So, I’m no mathematician…in fact, it was my weak subject in high school. It’s a wonder that my day job and my woodworking hobby revolve around math and fractions. Turns out, I was just a bad student…I’m pretty good at math after all!

I found this app a while back and it is incredibly handy. I use it more often than I thought I would. As woodworkers, we typically work in fractions like 3/8″ 1/8″ 5/16″. So when you grab your calculator you always have to convert that fraction to a decimal first. Do you ever find yourself converting a fraction to a decimal on the calculator before you actually do your calculation? Well this takes that extra step away. You can input the actual fractions and get a result in the form of a fraction! It also shows the decimal format of the number below once you hit enter in case you need it.

Say WHAAATTT?? You can add, subtract, multiply and divide fractions right on the calculator? YES, it is a great tool!

The base app is free, and that’s all I’ve ever really needed! The paid version enables you to convert a decimal to a fraction, but in reality, how often do you need to do that!

MagicPlan – Base App Free (Purchase your plans for $2.99 each) – iPhone/iPad

This app is free to use, but then to export to a PDF or JPG you have to purchase one floor plan at a time, or you can subscribe if this is something you’ll be using all the time.

This app helps you create professional floor plans by just using your iPhone’s camera alone. It’s actually pretty accurate considering it is done by AR (Augmented Reality).

It’s worth a try if your using it to calculate the square feet of a room or calculate baseboard trim requirements. You can also use the floor plans it produces and layout furniture, add doorways and windows.

It’s very functional overall even with the limited ability to export on the free version.

I wouldn’t rely on it for exact precise measurements, but it is definitely a helpful tool!

Give the free base version a try!

Board Feet Easy Calculator – Free – iPhone/iPad

Who buys lumber by the board feet?

You know how you sit in the lumber yard with your phone out trying to remember the formula?

I know, it’s really not that hard…just (LxWxT)/144.

But this app just makes it a bit easier and calculates the cost of it for you especially if your working with numbers that are not rounded to the nearest foot.

Just input the required fields and even enter a price in the optional field and BAM, you have a cost!

The app’s completely free so there’s no risk in giving it a shot to see if it would help you at all.

MaxCut – Windows Desktop Only

This program will only work for you Window’s users out there, but it is very similar to the Cut Calculator iPad app above. This one is free.

It’s got a lot of the same features, but works only on desktop. I actually prefer this one if I had to use one or the other, but it’s not mobile friendly obviously.

It maximizes your cuts and you can re-optimize them based on criteria that you can change. You can also tell it to follow the grain direction or ignore it for each cut. You’re plywood game will never be the same after using this app.

This is another free program, but only works on Windows desktops.

SketchUp – Browser/iOS Desktop/Windows Desktop

I have to say that this is an awesome piece of software, but it is not intuitive off the bat. You’ll probably spend a lot of time watching YouTube tutorials to get the hang of it. But, once you do, it will change your game.

Once you get onto using SketchUp to design your builds, you will not look back. I rarely build anything without first drawing up a plan on this program. I find that it saves me a lot of time during the building process. It takes away a lot of the guesswork, and trying to figure things out on the go.

You can use the online browser version SketchUp Free or download the desktop versions. The newer Pro versions will require you to purchase a licence, but you can still download SketchUp Make 2016 for free in the download archives!

You can create accurate plans which will lead to less material waste, less wasted time, less return trips to the lumber yard and a great sketch of the final product so you can sell the idea to your wife…or clients…

Let me know, are there any other apps that you use on a regular basis on either mobile, tablet or desktop that you can’t live without?

The post Handy Woodworking Apps appeared first on The DIY Hubs.

So where’s your TV? I’m not asking which room, but rather, where in the room is it located? Do you have a rectangular TV stand in a corner taking up lots of extra room?

There are a lot of TV stand options in the marketplace if you want to put your TV flat up against a wall or mount it on a wall. But there aren’t a lot of solutions out there if you want to put your TV in the corner of a room. And the ones that are out there are still pretty bulky. TV’s are slim and light nowadays, so you don’t need a big bulky stand to go with it. Plus, why buy when you can build?

So I thought I would design one that would look good in any room. Designing it for a corner really does free up a lot of floor space! 

This post was sponsored by Kreg. All opinions and thoughts are my own, see our full disclosure policy here.

It nicely tucks away and maximizes the space of your room. We don’t have a lot of square footage in our living room, so this corner unit really helps us reclaim some space!

The great thing about this plan is that you can customize it and dress it up if you’d like. You could add some hardwood planks on top and stain them a rich color, or you could add/change the trim on the doors to give it a completely different look or give it some cool hardware.

The cabinets on each side offer some always convenient storage space for magazines, books, DVD’s (do people still buy DVD’s?), remotes and other odds and ends that you keep close to the entertainment unit. You could also use them as recharge stations for your mobile devices.

The optional door on the bottom is great to hide devices that you might not want on display all of the time. For example, my parents STILL own a VCR. My three-year-old has no idea what this monster machine even does. I tell her it’s a time machine…because it kind of is. You can leave this door off and use it as additional display shelving if you don’t have anything you’d like to keep out of sight.

If you’re not comfortable or confident making inset doors, you can always make the doors larger than the opening by 1/4-1/2″ on all sides so that they become overlay doors. When you build inset doors, you need to make sure that your openings are 100% square. So if you’re looking for the easier way out, you may want to consider doing overlay doors.

Kreg has a handy cabinet door tutorial on Youtube that you should check out! It’s an alternative method for creating the doors to what I’ve offered in the plans, and 

Alright, so now you’d like the plans? Well, have you ever been to Kreg’s DIY Plan site BuildSomething.com? This place is chock full of awesome DIY plans, from beginner to advanced. I’ve come across so many great ideas and have gotten so much inspiration while browsing around.

Oh, and if you need some great tips and tricks, you can always check out Kreg’s Youtube channel for some awesome tutorials!

Head on over by following the link below to get our free plans and I’m sure you’ll bookmark a few others to add to your to-do list!

Give it a shot and let us know how it turns out. We always love it when our readers send us pics of projects they’ve used our plans for!

Nick

The post Corner TV Stand | Free Plans appeared first on The DIY Hubs.

I’ve made this with and without ground beef, and it is hearty and filling, and when you omit the beef it is actually really really healthy! I mean, as long as you don’t overdo it on garlic bread, which is basically required with this chili.

Surprisingly, it’s a really quick and easy recipe to make…you can’t mess it up…seriously, if you do, don’t ever cook again.

It’s chock full of vegetables and flavor. Perfect for a weeknight dinner, Super Bowl party food, or pot-luck dish.

I’m not going to yammer on any longer….go make this Chili. You won’t be disappointed!

Ultimate Chili

2018-01-22 07:40:09

Serves 6

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Prep Time

10 min

Cook Time

30 min

Prep Time

10 min

Cook Time

30 min

Ingredients

1. 1lb lean ground beef
2. 3 tbsp olive oil
3. 1 medium onion, diced
4. 4 cloves garlic, minced
5. 1 green pepper, diced
6. 2 medium zucchini, quartered and chopped into 1/2" chunks
7. 1 cup button mushrooms, halved
8. 1/2 can pineapple chunks, drained (you can put as little or as much as you'd like in)
9. 2 cans diced tomatoes, with juice
10. 3 tbsp chili powder
11. 3 tbsp sugar
12. 1 can beans in tomato sauce
13. 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
14. 1 can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
15. 3 cups bean sprouts, washed

Instructions

1. In large pot, sautee ground beef until cooked. Remove from pot and set aside.
2. Add olive oil and onions to the pot and sautee until onions have turned translucent.
3. Add garlic, green pepper, zucchini, mushrooms, diced tomatoes, pineapple chunks, cooked beef, chili powder and sugar to the pot. Stir well, bring to a boil and cook for 10 minutes or until zucchini has just become slightly tender.
4. Add beans in tomato sauce, red kidney beans and black beans. Cook for 5 more minutes.
5. Add bean sprouts and cook 3-5 minutes so that the sprouts stay crunchy.
6. Serve with some seriously good cheese, and some extra garlicky garlic bread and enjoy!

By Nick - The DIY Hubs

The DIY Hubs https://thediyhubs.com/

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As a relative newbie woodworker, I overlooked the importance of personal protective equipment. Sure, I always protected my eyes with safety glasses (because other than telling me not to cut my fingers off, this was the main concern that came from my mom) but I figured that I didn’t do enough woodworking for it to affect my hearing or lungs.

Well, I was wrong. Earlier this year I was building a fairly large sideboard buffet for our dining room in the shop and it was the dead of winter. It was so cold and I was spending late nights with all doors and windows closed, cutting, sanding, drilling. I didn’t have any sort of dust collection system to draw the fine sawdust out of the area. I didn’t really think that one project could affect my health, but it did.

As I was working on this sideboard, I wasn’t wearing respiratory protection. I didn’t think anything of it at the time, but as I was finishing the project I started having this strange sensation when I would take a deep breath in. I thought maybe I was getting a cold, but this continued for quite some time, and a cold never materialized.

Then I came across this stat about dust inhalation in a shop setting from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). They recommend that the average amount of fine dust in wood shop air be no more than 1 mg/m³ over a 10-hour shop session. For a small shop, like one in a garage, 1 mg/m³ is less than the size of a 1″ screw of dust for the entire volume of air in the shop! Say what??? And it can cause nasal or lung cancer according to the CDC!

Ok, you’ve got my attention CDC.

You know how slivers get caught in your skin? Well, to a certain extent, the same thing happens to your lungs. These microscopic dust fibers are sharp, not soft and round, and they work their way into the deepest depths of your lungs. Every time you breathe in fine wood dust it causes some measurable loss in your lung capacity…some of it permanent. Ok, I really don’t like the sound of that.

Protecting the point of entry (your mouth and nose) should be your LAST line of defense. Why did I say last? Well, you should ALWAYS be wearing a mask, but you want to make sure you do everything you can to minimize the fine dust in the air before it even reaches that point.

Here are five ways to help protect yourself from fine dust:

1. AIR FILTRATION MASK

We’ve all used the basic disposable masks before and they are terrible! They don’t fit well and make my safety glasses fog up. They are for people who don’t sand and work with wood very often.

I had seen several guys and gals on IG wearing these RZ Air Filtration Masks that look comfortable and stylish (face it, we all want to look kinda cool when we’re building), so I wanted to give them a try for myself. RZ was kind enough to provide me with one of these. I would have bought one for myself, but hey, I’ll take what I can get.

This M2.5 mask is even better than the original. It’s got adjustable straps to fit around any head comfortably which is awesome. I like to think I don’t have a big head, but I do have a hard time finding hats that fit well…so maybe it is a bit bigger than normal.

The lightweight, breathable mesh is great to allow some of the hot air you’re expelling from fogging up your safety glasses. I found that if I put my glasses a bit further out from my face they didn’t fog up at all! It also comes with a handy storage case and you can always order some additional replaceable filters and exhalation valves.

Whether your doing woodworking, spray painting, suffer from allergies while doing outdoor work, this should be your go-to mask.

And did you know that once you stir up a 5-micron spec of dust, it can stay airborne in your shop for up to 30 minutes before it settles again? That’s a lot of time for it to find your lungs. Sometimes take my mask off between processes, and now I know that this is a no-no as well! You should be wearing it all the time in the shop.

2. DUST COLLECTION WHILE WORKING

We all know what a mess woodworking makes in a space. When that blade hits the wood it’s like a small explosion of tiny particles that fly into the air and float around for a while before settling down.

To cut down on that, you can go with an expensive system that will take a big bite out of your wallet, or you could just hook up your shop vac directly to your tools. BUT what if you could find a happy medium?

Using a shop vac on its own is not ideal, and here’s why. Think of the vacuum as your lungs. You don’t really want the fine dust to reach the inside of the vacuum and rely on the filter to catch the particles. After a short amount of time, the filter will quickly clog up and you will lose suction power. You can always buy a new filter, but that can get expensive over time.

The other reason it’s not ideal is that the filters won’t necessarily catch ALL of the particles. Even the best HEPA filters will still allow some fine dust to blow out the back of the vacuum and circulate throughout your shop, throwing it back into the air.

Consider teaming your shop vac with an inexpensive and effective cyclonic system like the Oneida Dust Deputy to harness the power of gravity and centrifugal force…and its name sounds cool. This system is awesome and I have personally used it for almost a year now. It prevents all of the sawdust and debris from entering the shop vac at all. The Dust Deputy allows the shop vac to perform at its peak at all times. It also saves on filters. I still haven’t seen any dust or debris make it inside the shop vac.

3. PORTABLE AIR CLEANER

I really hope my wife is reading this…because this is on my wishlist! Birthday list, Christmas list, Anniversary list…or maybe I just need to start coughing more around the house and blame it on the dust in the shop air!

This is perfect for a smaller shop or garage because it’s portable, small and the right price! The Shop-Air Portable Air Cleaner (made by Shop-Vac) is a great starting point and doesn’t require much investment to keep your the air a little cleaner in your shop. It can capture particles as small as 0.5 microns. Most shop dust is around 2-5 microns, so this will definitely help.

4. WORK IN AN OPEN AREA

I know this sounds like a no-brainer, and many of us don’t have the luxury of living in a climate that lends itself to working outside all year round, but if you have the opportunity, work outside whenever possible when you’re creating any kind of dust.

Even when it’s raining, I move my saws as close to the edge of the garage as possible and open the door. A lot of the sawdust and fine particles will shoot outside instead of being trapped inside! You should still be using a mask, but at least there won’t be quite as many particles floating up in the air and getting stirred up again later.

Another handy tip: if you have a large fan, point it from the back of your shop toward the open garage/shop door to keep the dust from wanting to fly back in!

5. KEEP A CLEAN SHOP

I have to admit that I spend a lot of time cleaning the shop. I don’t know if this is just an OCD thing, or what, but it gives me such a satisfaction to clean up every night before I go in, and then at the end of the project I do a big cleanup before I start the next one.

Remember how I mentioned that a 5-micron particle can float around for 30 minutes once it’s been stirred up? Well, this is why you keep your shop as clean as you can. Every time you pick something up, use a new tool, move a piece of wood, you are sending old dust particles into the air and potentially into the depths of your lungs!

Keeping a clean shop really does help, and what’s better than working in an organized and clean shop when you’re starting a new project!?!

Vacuum with your Dust Deputy/Shop-Vac combo, use a wet cloth to wipe down tools and surfaces. I know what you’re thinking…I don’t have time for that! Oh yeah, well tell your lungs that…they might disagree!

Protecting your lungs is just as important as your eyes and ears. Make sure you keep that a priority from now on if you aren’t already!

Got any more tips to share? Let us know in the comments below!

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If your kids are really young, I would pre-cut the lumber. But if your kids are old enough, why not let them try out a miter box and hand saw as long as you’re keeping a close eye on them.

If you’ve got some scrap wood laying around you could probably just rip some down to make the elements you need for this DIY rustic wood joy sign…and aren’t we all looking for ways to use up that leftover wood from our bigger projects??

I’m not very crafty…this is about as crafty as I get! If you want to make this project even easier, check out my note at the end of the steps…

DIY RUSTIC WOOD JOY SIGN

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WOOD:

1 – 1″ x 6″ x 15″ piece of wood (we used pine)
1 – 7/16″ x 11/16″ x 4′ piece of wood (we used pine)
3 1/2″ wood letters (found mine at a dollar store, but could also get them from Michael’s)

SUPPLIES:

Wood Glue
Gel Stain (we used Grey)
White Craft Paint
Foam Brush
Paint Brush

TOOLS:

2 Clamps
Miter Box & Hand Saw or Miter Saw

STEPS:

• Cut the 7/16″ x 11/16″ x 4′ piece into the following lengths for the frame:
  • 2 x 15″ pieces with 45-degree angles on each end
  • 2 x 5.5″ pieces with 45-degree angles on each end
• Apply glue to the back of one of the 15″ frame pieces and align it with the edge of the main board and clamp in place.
• Apply glue to both of the 5.5″ frame pieces and secure in place with clamps.
• Apply glue to the final 15″ frame piece and secure in place. At this point, you can make any adjustments to ensure all of the corners are square before the glue dries.
• Lay your letters out on the board to determine the best spacing, then apply glue to the back of each letter and secure in place.
• Allow to dry and give it a light sanding around the edges.
• Apply the stain color of your choice using a foam brush applicator and allow to dry.
• Using a small paintbrush lightly apply white craft paint around the letters and then wipe any excess off with a paper towel. This will help highlight the letters a little more so they stand out.
  *Note if you aren’t comfortable cutting angles, you can just cut them at a 90-degree angle, but the 5.5″ will need to be cut at 4 1/4″ instead.

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This past weekend at our family’s cottage, the bathroom door suddenly stopped closing all the way. It was probably due to the changes in the humidity and just threw everything a wee bit off of alignment. So it was a little hard for anyone to get any bathroom privacy, especially with a toddler running around to whom the concept of privacy is still a bit foreign at times.

My mom’s brilliant idea was to put a small water bottle in the bathroom that we could put in front of the door. Yeah, mom, that’s going to work well!

It was time for The DIY Hubs to stand up and save the day (picture me standing up from the sofa with a Superman pose).

Upon inspection, it appeared that the strike plate was no longer in alignment with the lock latch assembly. Sounds fancy…but all I mean is that sh*t didn’t line up. But it didn’t need to move over too much. How was I going to do that when there was already the existing hole there? I couldn’t simply move the strike plate over and screw it in.

I don’t have all my handy tools at the cottage, BUT I managed to find two things I could use…toothpicks and glue. Grandma and grandpa looked at me funny when I walked through the living room with a bottle of glue and some toothpicks (you can also use wooden matchsticks or wood golf tees) and headed to the bathroom. But it worked.

I squirted some glue in the existing screw hole and shoved a bunch of toothpicks in, one at a time until they were firmly inserted and the hole was filled. Then I snapped off the excess parts of the toothpicks that were sticking out and let it dry. After letting it cure for a bit, I was able to place the strike plate anywhere and screw in without any issues.

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