Coldspring, DIY Furniture, Painted Furniture, Providence Acres, Rubbish Rescue

A Seven Foot Buffet Table for the Far from Perfect Patio

We bought a stainless steel tool bench table top that was dented because it was dropped in shipping for $45.00 a year ago. The top is a stainless steel sheet covering workbench hardboard and weighs 83 lbs.

I didn’t know exactly what we were going to do with the tool bench top but I convinced Mr. Math that we needed it, even if only just for the shop and it was a great deal. Now that we have the deck, I wanted a serving table/ work space sort of what they made at Always Chasing Life . I liked the casters so that we could move around where we needed it. Now that we can move from the the front porch to the back porch all on the same level it will be easy to set up as we need when we once again have groups over to the house. Since our serving table will be outside all the time it needed to be made from treated lumber or painted with outdoor paint or with rot resistant wood. This one has a bit of all that.

We are still working on a budget to get the deck done and I am still trying to get the clutter cleaned up in our storage so I tried hard to not buy anything more than absolutely necessary for this project. I knew we had some 4×4 posts for the legs a friend gave us a while back when they repacked their porch posts. I also remembered that we have scraps of cedar boards around that need to be used up. We just had to purchase 4 2X4 boards and 2 1X4 boards along with casters for the legs to help the 7 foot beast move around easily in order to put this together. I collected the scrap cedar and posts then Mr. Math bought the wood and casters.

The cedar was a variety of lengths and widths. A table saw and planer fixed that.

Mr. Math assembled the frame and I stained and painted it with materials on hand.

I knew I wanted the shelf on bottom to be able to hold things when needed but not hold water when it rains so we spaced the boards four inches apart. We cut the boards for the shelf to width, planed, and sanded most of the old paint and stain off the boards-but not all because I like letting it show through , then sealed the cedar boards with a clear outdoor sealer and finally nailed them to the bottom 2X4’s for additional storage when using it as a serving table. We did leave the center board a little wider to make the spacing work.

L brackets attached the top to the base.

The table is far from perfect just like everything back there and Mr. Math still needs to work on the dents on the top a little more but it looks good and will be useful. It won’t rust or rot outdoors, will be a good work station and food serving space, and will store right next to the house.

The Husky sign side will be the back side of the server, but it isn’t awful.
This ding needs additional love but will never be perfect. I am okay with that.
It will be parked here until the grill gets moved and the deck gets stained. Then it will be under the covered porch.

Altogether we spent about $60.00 on a seven foot long counter height stainless workspace that is far from perfect but I am thrilled to have it. I can’t wait to get everything totally put together and for us to be able to have a blow-out party once the coast is clear on the Covid front.

I hope you are staying safe, and finding reasons to be thankful in this season.

We love hearing from you.

Blessings,

Karen

Curbside rescue, Dresser, home decorating, Roadside Rescue, Rubbish Rescue, Thrifting

Burn Pile Barn Door

Today I am going to show you the amazing barn door I made from wood that was destined for the burn pile.

close up of barn door

I have an odd obsession with things saved from the trash.

I own (or it owns me depending who you talk to) a rescue dog.

lumi nose

I cheer every year when this rose blooms because Mr. Math mowed over it twice trying to get rid of it before giving up and leaving it alone.

hardy rose

I have saved several pieces of furniture from the trash or the burn pile. They are some of my favorite projects.

the finished vanity

 

Burn Pile Vanity

roadside credenza

 

Roadside Credenza

Finished Mudroom Bench

 

Mudroom Bench

My dad, the original junker in our family, had some cedar cut on his property on “halves “. Basically that means he got half of the wood and the person who cut it into lumber got half for payment. Some of the cedar had imperfections that went into the cull pile. It was wormy , or bowed or split.

cedar lumber

 

Cedar Windfall

My dad saved that wood for me. He knew I would want it. My dad knows me well, I did. There was a lot more wood than I expected , and it has been consuming almost a third of the Garagemahal for almost a year drying. I wasn’t sure what this wood would become but I knew that one day I would find a home for it.

I found a home for some when The Social Planner’s son bought a FEMA trailer that he and his dad are gutting and turning into a cool home for this single guy who works on yachts in a very expensive bayside community.

fema trailer turned to solar powered rv dubbed emergency response studio 14   From FEMA Trailer to Solar Powered Studio and Home

You might check out what people are doing with these trailers online.  They were filled with formaldehyde when they were built for families after the hurricane decimated New Orleans and were dumped by the government as soon as possible.   You can pick one up for a couple of thousand dollars now but they need all the junk on the inside removed.

The look he is going for is rustic industrial. I can’t wait to get some shots of the inside.  Right now the kitchen is done but everything else is under construction.

We made the door quickly out of some of the cedar.

First we sorted out the wood and put it out on the floor to look at and move around then cut them all to length.

cedar door cedar planks sawdust cedar boards

 

Next we clamped the wood and added a board at the top, bottom and across diagonally to make a Z.

clamped cedar barn door

z barn door

 

Here it is finished.  The door has five coats of polyurethane on all the door and seven inside the crevices.

the finished barn door close up of the door close up of barn door

It is going to look amazing in the trailer along with this piece that is going to be a counter once it is coated with bar coating.

cedar counter

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

Thank you for reading my blog.  I appreciate hearing from you.

 

Blessings,

Karen

cedar lumber, milk glass, reclaimed wood, Texas

Cedar Windfall

Guess what I got this weekend?  I got a load of gorgeous cedar lumber!  I am so excited about doing some projects.

cedar lumber

My dad had cedar trees on his timber property that a guy wanted to buy from him.  Dad went in halves with the guy.  That means that the guy did all the work on the cedar in exchange for half the wood.  My sweet dad had him cut some of the wood for me to use from a few of the trees and surprised me this weekend.  It is so pretty.  I hate that it is outside right now, but will soon be safe inside the Garagemahal.

Project # 1 is going to be a bench for my mom and dad’s covered porch at their property.  The top is going to be a 2″ thick slab with rustic legs that I am going to attempt to build all on my own.  I will have my hubby acting as tutor, but I really am wanting to do more actual construction on my own.  I am learning that I can do more than I think I can.  Here is the inspiration piece:


source: Follow Your Heart

You think I am up for it?  I sure hope so. If not, it will still make a great story for you guys to read.

Project #2 is beefing up our mantle in our suburban home.  The fireplace is beautiful but the mantle is so shallow that I cannot decorate up there and it it is way too fussy a fireplace for me.   I have to “line everything up in a row” if I am going to put anything on the mantel right now. I am going to add a wide cedar top board and frame out the fire-box with cedar something sort of  like what you see below.  I may add cedar to the hollowed out area too… not sure.  I am going to use the wormy cedar on the sides.  It looks so cool.

burb home fireplace

I want it to be reversible when we sell the house and I think that we should be able to remove this.

Cedar Mantel – Project of the Week | The Wood Whisperer
Source: The Wood Whisperer

cedar wormy close up

cedar wormy

Project # 3 is going to be my personal favorite.  I have a huge natural edge slab that is going to become a bench for our suburban home and a shelf for the lake house behind the wood burning stove once we get the rusted tin up.  Man I cannot wait until we get the fascia boards done and the porch painted so we can get started on the inside of the house!  I am so very ready but I know we have to do some outside maintenance work first.  Boo.

Live Edge Oak and Elm slab bench, table, TV stand Natural wood

Source: Art Fire

Live edge floating shelf

Source

cedar natural edge

Project #4 is going to be using the bark part of the tree (peeled) to make some shelves for our lake house master bedroom.  I want four or five of the thin shelves on the wall for my milk glass collection.  I think I can beat $72.00 for two of them.

Source: Etsy

cedar log ends

After that all bets are off but I will bet that a table will be made from the milled lumber for sure.  The wood I have at the house is just a sample of the wood coming my way.  woo hoo!

What would you do if you were given a load of beautiful cedar boards?  I am open to suggestions.