Ryan's

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How to Remove Trim without Wall Damage

Here’s a simple way to remove trim without putting decent holes in your wall or pulling some of the paint and drywall paper off – it may take longer to remove the trim but overall, it’s faster than having to patch holes from your prybar or mud, sand, and texture where the wall comes with your old trim. Tools you’ll Need Utility Knife: My Olfa is going on 10 years (similar knife) I like that I can extend the blade...

DIY Pottery Barn Dollhouse Bookcase – Finishing

There were a lot of lessons from this series of projects for our daughters room. I had this wonderful thought about spraying with an airless sprayer — it was a spectacular failure. Such is life. At least you can sand your way out of those failures.. Involve the Kiddos One of the great things about this project series was our daughter’s design and finish input. We didn’t deliver on her request for a rainbow painted bookcase but we did keep...

DIY Pottery Barn Girls Desk Hack – Finishing Touches

We are so happy with the way this custom Chelsea Pottery Barn -esque vanity turned out for our daughter and the finishing touches. There was some finishing challenges and some good lessons on the journey as we undertook our first furniture project with red oak wood. See our Instructions for Building the Pottery Barn Vanity here! Time for Sanding the Vanity To clean up some of the drawer face markings from routing I put my oscillating tool to use –...

How to Build a Dollhouse Bookcase

There are great plans online for dollhouse bookcases and we wanted to build one with slightly different features – roof slope and dimensions. The inspiration is a Pottery Barn Dollhouse Bookcase. However, we wanted to put a small twist on the design – a light take on a midcentury modern style roof and a dollhouse that was 36w x 42h x 12d. Here are some handy resources and considerations when modifying the design. How to Modify the Design and Build...

How to Build a Vanity – Pottery Barn Hack

We set out looking for the perfect vanity for our daughter’s room makeover. There were plenty of options online, but none of them quite fit the space. Nichole found some inspiration in a Pottery Barn vanity (retails for around $300) but it was to small for the space. For about $120 in materials, we set out to design and build our own version. Overall our finished project was 32w x 17.5d x 29h. Here’s the Pottery Barn Chelsea Kids Vanity...

6 Steps to Build Wooden Butterfly Slat Art

In the process of updating our daughters room we decided to build a custom wooden slat picture frame with butterflies. This unique piece was easy and fun to make. Here is our design and build process. Project Design Considerations: With each project, even the simple ones, there are design considerations I go over trying to implement Nichole’s vision. To help prime your creative process, here are some design considerations. #01: Size of Wood Slats and Space Between. We opted for...

How to Make a Floating Picture Frame – Rabbet Edition

Nearly two months ago we set about creating a floating picture frame (see it here) and I wanted to spruce it up a wee bit. I invested in a proper “thumb friendly” router (like this one) and a rabbet bit set (this one). The design was to create a picture frame with no visible nails or the need to fill nail holes. Here’s the adventure and my first experience creating a double rabbet joint. PROJECT DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS #01: Measurements You’ll...

Build a backyard Firepit from Belgard Stone

Our fireplace is done! Nearly five months ago we started a backyard overhaul which added some covered space and a more permanent firepit. Our concept was to integrate the firepit area into the retaining wall and use the stone to develop a bench feature–see How to Add a Unique Backyard Firepit. Part of the challenge with this design was finding ways to soften the hardscape. While a stone bench is a thing of beauty, it’s not overly comfortable for hours....

Hanging Holiday Balls with Wire

Seems like every year when unpacking our Holiday decorations we discover that some of the clips are missing. Or, the clips that come with some ornaments just aren’t up for the task. Over the years our outdoor decorations have expanded and we like to hang oversize ornamental balls in our trees. Because we’ve had more than a few find their way off the tree and limited success with clips (or just some frugality), we’ve come up with an outdoor ornamental...

Build a Learning Tower

Learning towers are a fantastic way to have your kids help and provide a stable platform that can be adjusted to their height. It’s a pretty fantastic thing when you’re getting ready to do something in the kitchen and here comes your toddler pushing their learning tower. I highly recommend the felt pads and depending on where you store it, some side pads won’t hurt – it tends to get bounced off walls a wee bit. We built a learning...