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Home Made Easy – Episode 13

In episode 13 of Home Made Easy, we put our DIY skills to bed by looking at raised garden beds, a storage trunk and bedroom organisation.

Part 1 – Gardening

Raised garden beds are great for bringing definition to a garden. Building your own can be easy as 1-2-3!

Tanya’s Raised Garden Bed DIY [1]

[2] [3]

Material:

  • Corrugated sheet
  • Pre-cut timber
  • Angle Grinder OR Metal Cutter
  • Gloves (and protective gear if using angle grinder)
  • Aluminium edging
  • Potting soil mix

Steps:

  1. Start by cutting your corrugated iron to size.
  2. Place corrugated sheet on top of the timber that will support it, to determine where you need to drill pilot holes through the corrugated metal.
  3. Secure the corrugated metal to the wooden timber slats, using wood screws.
  4. Once the front of your corrugated garden box is secured, move on to adding the two sides in exactly the same fashion.
  5. To secure the corrugated planter into the soil, move it into its final position and hammer it into the soil. It helps to have the wooden ends cut at an angle to ease the timber into the soil.
  6. Finish off the corrugated garden box with some aluminium edging (secured either with screws or an adhesive).
  7. Fill up with potting soil mix (potting soil, organic fertilizer and bone meal).
  8. Plant up!
Watch the video [1]

Part 2 – DIY

When it comes to an organised bedroom, a storage trunk can be just the solution you are looking for!

Building a bedroom storage trunk [1]

[4]

Materials Tools
Wooden planks Drill and drill bits
Wood screws Mitre saw
Wood Glue Router
Varnish – Matt gloss Sander
Stain
Paint – White
Steel wool
Brush and roller set

Steps:

  1. Determine the size of the storage trunk to fit your application: e.g. 1.0M (L) x 400mm (W) x 400mm (H).
  2. Prepare all wood cuts to the desired length using 100mm wide wooden planks:
    1. Front and Back: 8x 1000mm
    2. 2x Sides: 8x 400mm
    3. Bottom: 4x 1000mm
    4. Top: 4x 1040mm
  3. Using wood screws, create the first layer of the frame by joining the planks in a rectangular shape. Repeat this step to obtain 3-4 layers.
  4. To create the top of the storage trunk, join the 1040mm planks using cross bracing. Optional: Router edges
  5. Stack the rectangular framework to determine the exact height, and cut 8x planks to this length. Join 2x pieces at right angles to form 4x L-shaped braces that will support each corner.
  6. Before assembly, sand and apply varnish to the 4x corner braces to enrich their natural look and allow to dry.
  7. Whilst the corner pieces dry, stain each layer of the rectangular framework.
  8. With the framework dry, apply light brush strokes of white paint using a dry brush to create a weathered and distressed look.
  9. Once the paint has dried, sand with steel wool to further distress the project.
  10. Attach each of the 4x corner braces to the rectangular framework by securing from the inside to hide screws.
  11. Attach the trunk lid using a hinge.
  12. Mount decorative hinges and trunk decals.
Watch the video [1]

Part 3 – Décor

To create a serene bedroom, it is vital to have an organised one. If you ensure that everything has its place, you can spend more time relaxing and less time tidying up!

PVC Pipe Shoe Rack [1]

Shoes can be your best friend, unless they are taking over your cupboard! A PVC pipe shoe rack will keep your shoes organized and on display (whether against the wall or in your wardrobe).

[5] [6]

Materials Tools
20mm thick PVC pipe +- 9m PVC Pipe cutter
T piece fittings with inspection backing and screws x 10
Pencil and tape measure
PVC cement glue or general adhesive
Spray paint primer for plastic material
Spray paint finish of your choice
Drop sheet
Turpentine and a rag

 

Steps:

  • Measure the space where you want your shoe rack to fit.
  • Write your measurements down to refer to when cutting your PVC pipe to size, taking into account the added width of the T fittings. For this project a length of 700mm x 6 giving two bars for each shelve of the rack. 150mm to 200mm for the pipe cross bars x4 depending on the size of the shoes. For this project the first shelf height pvc bars were cut to 200mm in length, with two shorter lengths to join the cross bars and then the other vertical pieces of the remaining shelves where cut to about 100mm. These measurements are subject to change depending on your space and shoe dimensions.
  • Cut all the pieces needed to build the rack by using a PVC pipe cutter and making light pencil marks using a pencil and measuring tape. Hold the pipe with the pencil mark at the correct measurement in the “opening” of the PVC pipe cutter.
  • Continue to clamp until the blade slices its way through the PVC pipe, giving a clean cut.
  • Start building and fitting the T pieces on either end of your long length bars that form the rack lengths.
  • Next fit T pieces on either end of the cross bars x 4 – these cross bars give width and sturdiness to the project
  • Fit the vertical pieces perpendicular to the T fittings on either end of your length pieces (700mm x 6), continue to fit all the pieces together like a puzzle
  • Once the rack is assembled, remove any marks or left over sticky glue form the barcode stickers using a rag and turpentine. This helps prep for a flawless paint job.
  • Move the rack to a well ventilated area and cover the ground with a drop sheet. First apply a coat of plastic primer to ensure a suitable surface for your top coat to adhere to.
  • Once primer is dry, continue to spray the rack in your desired spray paint finish- give two coats and allow to dry. For this project we used a dark metallic finish to give the pvc pipe a more industrial look.

 

 

Marble-look tray [1]

[7]

Materials Tools
Rectangular piece of wood pre cut to size. Cordless drill
Scissors, ruler and pencil
 2 x cabinet handles of your choice screws included
Counter sink hand tool and screw driver
Marble print self adhesive vinyl paper
4mm drill bit for wood

 Steps:

  1. Measure out where you want the tray handles or cabinet handles to sit, make marking and transfer those measurements to the opposite end of the tray so that the tray handles are accurately opposite each other.
  2. Once you are happy with your placement of the handles, hold firmly in place and trace out the bottom of the handles where the holes should go to secure later.
  3. Using a scrap piece of wood under your piece of wood for the tray, hold down and drill holes using your drill with inserted 4mm drill bit. Once the first set of holes is drilled move on to the other side of the tray.
  4. Turn the tray on the underside and use the counter sink hand tool to carve out millimeters of wood around each hole to counter sink the screw head used to secure the cabinets. Double check to see if the screw head is counter sunk into the wood so that your tray wont wobble on surfaces.
  5. With all holes now drilled you can now wrap your base of tray in the marble look self adhesive vinyl paper. Follow the instructions on the vinyl paper
  6. Cut the paper to size, similar to wrapping a present and trim off excess paper here and there and continue to wrap and smooth down the air bubbles with a soft cloth. The entire base of the tray should be completely covered.
  7. Go back with your drill and gently pierce where the holes where covered up with the paper.
  8. Secure the handles on either side of the tray using a screw driver.
  9. Optional step, to cover the back end of the tray simply cut one final square piece of vinyl and stick on to the back should you wish to really finish off your marble-look tray on the underside too.
Watch the video [1]