Friday, March 27, 2015

Hammarp Time By: IH guest

We wanted a nice built-in for the den in our new house, and have always been fond of butcher block countertops, so we decided to build around the Hammarp (nee Numerar?) oak offering from Ikea. Our floors are also of oak.


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The original plan was to build the piece around Ikea kitchen cabinets as the base storage units, but in the end we felt that the MDF finish of the cabinets would clash with the white wood trim, and make it feel less well thought out. And of course, the cabinets would still have been MDF… with all the usual associated cons.


We sketched up a plan, taking into account the length of the wall (156”), and the maximum length of the countertop (98”); we didn’t want to have two pieces of countertop butting up to each other with a noticeable seam, so that was the big driver in dropping the height on the right hand side. It then made sense to add a computer desk area above the right hand section, partly for practical reasons and partly for visual interest/balance.


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The base was built of a frame of 2x6s on their side – one for each side of the structure, the same height as baseboard – and secured to the walls only, in case we ever want to take the unit out and show no evidence on the floor.


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The cabinet boxes were built of 3/4″ finish-grade plywood. We polyurethaned them and then screwed and glued to the base and wall. I bought a Kreg pocket screw jig which was very convenient for being able to screw the boxes to wall in a well-hidden manner. Note that we had always planned to create a built in for this room, so the whole wall has a plywood liner beneath the drywall for easy attachment.


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The countertops were cut to width and length, as called for, and glued and screwed from underneath. Meanwhile, we hung a tv in the center of the wall to make sure it fit in with overall design.


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The cabinet boxes were then faced in 1×2 primed pine – a little glue and nail gun.


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At this point, we could go ahead and build in the computer desk. Same idea as the rest of the structure – 3/4″ plywood for structure and 1×2 primed stock to finish off. We chose this to be standard 30” desk height.

To finish, the baseboards were attached to the face – again, preprimed pine stock 1×6, same as the regular baseboards in the rest of the house. The whole thing was then caulked around the painted seams and between the counter and the wall.

Finally, the countertops were treated with danish oil and an office-desk style hole/cover was cutout for the computer cabling.


Hammarp built in


The room as it stands now – more or less moved in. The piece is rock solid and works great for the space. We’ll eventually add built-in shelves above.


Hammarp built in


Materials list (more or less):

2”x6” x8’ – 4 of

3/4″ finish grade plywood 4’x8’ – 3 of

1”x2” x8” – 6 of

1”x6” x8” – 2 of

2 x Hammarp countertops @ 98” length

Minwax Polycrylic water-soluble “polyurethane” – 1 pint

Caulk – 1 tube

Construction adhesive – 1 tube

Screws

Finish nails

Paint

Danish oil

APPROX TOTAL COST $700 ($400 of which was the two countertops)


Tools used:

Circular saw

Miter saw

Jigsaw

Hand saw

Pocket screw jig and drill

Speed square/straight edge

Screw gun

Caulk gun

Compressor/brad nailer

…but you could certainly do it with less than the above.


Comments/footnotes:

1. We had originally planned desk part to be counter height (35-36”); as it is now, it’s only about 2” taller than the main unit, so from some angles it can look like it was supposed to be same height but we messed up… In hindsight, I would drop the main cabinet a couple of inches to give a greater disparity in height (or revert to counter height computer desk).

2. We could probably have made this work with only one countertop piece (and at close to $200 each, it would be a significant savings), had we been more judicious about depths. However, the plan was never for this to be cheap… it was for it to be nice and functional. Also: I will use the leftover pieces of countertop elsewhere in the house – a similar window seat is planned for another room.

3. Potential savings on the $700 cost above: Make your design less deep/shorter/whatever, in order to be able to use only one countertop or to be able to use two shorter countertops, etc.; use sheathing grade plywood and sand/paint instead of poly.

4. The biggest challenge for me was trying to visualize the layers in 3D, trying to figure out what needed to be flush and what needed to have a set reveal. As you can see from the plan, we deviated slightly, but we always knew we’d be figuring some stuff out on the fly. The whole project took two people two half days to complete (poly had to dry overnight, so it was a logical time to break for the day).


By Peter Campbell


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Thursday, March 26, 2015

TJUSIG + JONISK = Coat rack and Torch lamp By: IH guest

Turn a TJUSIG coat rack and JONISK floor lamp into a Torchiere. Also a bunch of Zip Ties to tidy up the lamp cord.


Too bad the JONISK floor lamp has been discontinued. Such a Great Lamp.


Coat rack and lamp


Here’s what you need…


TJUSIG coat rack

JONISK floor lamp

Zip Ties


By Bernard Manansala


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NORNÄS chest of four drawers reconfigured By: IH guest

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It’s just another way to assemble the NORNÄS chest by putting it on a vertical position and cutting the shelf and legs.


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Photo: IKEA.com



nornas


By Florian


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Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Keyboard stand/side table By: IH guest

DIY Keyboard stand


Keyboard stand


My son had been given a keyboard several years ago but it wasn’t used very often because we didn’t have a good spot to keep it. Most keyboard stands were either flimsy or expensive or ugly or all three. I found the legs and a piece of chipped “as-is” shelving with a little bit of scrap lumber glued to the shelf to give the screw threads some more material to bite in to, to make something that looks nice and coordinates with some vintage chairs that I have.


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It doesn’t take up much space and creates a very nice inverted step terrace. A stand would’ve cost me at least $40 and I put this together for about US$15. The legs of the table are adjustable which is nice because of my floors being from the 1880s they are not very level. I might modify the table to be able to hide the cord through the rear leg or something like that so I don’t have to see the cord.


~ Ian Adams


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Variera drawer mat becomes a tablet case By: IH guest

DIY tablet case


Materials: VARIERA drawer mat


I think that Variera drawer mat is too nice to only put it into a drawer… so I decided to use it in a new way:


I cut a rectangle out of the mat, I bent it in the middle and I hand sew the sides using some fishing wire.


Then I put inside a case made from IKEA’s fabric and I made a closing system through two rings of elastic band.


Very simple, anti-shock and water resistant!


IKEA Variera tablet case


Easy DIY tablet case


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By Alessia


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Tuesday, March 24, 2015

A Stone Farmhouse With Room to Roam By: Grace Bonney

A Stone Farmhouse With Room to Roam


I always wonder, when it comes to older homes, what the original owners would think of the present-day families living inside. I imagine some of them would be surprised to see how we live and decorate today, but when it comes to this beautiful stone house in Western Massachusetts, I feel confident that the original owners would be thrilled to know who is living there now.


Artist Emily Billings and software engineer Max Shay recently moved from a small, fifth-floor apartment in Boston to the tiny town of Cummington, MA (population 800), where they now rent an incredible home with a rich artistic history. Their new house used to be the home of The Cummington Press (an influential literary printing company) and the Cummington School of the Arts, which housed artists like Diane Arbus, Helen Frankenthaler, Willem de Kooning from the 1930s until the 1990s. The basement still holds the remnants of a darkroom and the main house originally held both a printing press and a photo studio. The barn next to the house dates back to the 1800s and once held the school’s painting studios and wood shop and a tiny building deep in the property’s woods was once devoted entirely to sculpting. The home’s history of such incredible creative energy and talent makes it the perfect place for a young, artistic couple to work and live.


Emily and Max are taking their time decorating their space and are excited to let their home evolve as they live there. Their goal is to fill their space enough to make it welcoming and comfortable, but not too much to distract from the architectural details and history of the home. I can only imagine how inspiring those views are for both Emily and Max’s work and I’m thrilled that we get to take a peek inside such a special place today. xo, grace


Photographs by Max Shay




















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