Dabbling in Carpentry

Because I am addicted to reading blogs about food, home, and decor, I have a list of blogs that I look at on a regular basis. One of those is Knock Off Wood.

Let me just tell you that it is an amazing resource! Anna, a wife and mother who lives in Alaska, basically builds her own furniture and creates furniture making plans that mimic furniture from Pottery Barn, West Elm, and others. You should totally check it out! She has new plans up almost daily. If you go to the site, you should check out the "Plan Catalog" to view all of them. You can click on "Brag" to view finished projects by people who have followed her plans.

In the beginning, I was completely gung-ho for building furniture for our entire house. Bryce was a little skeptical. He was thinking more of all the necessary tools and materials to build those. I do fully appreciate his logical thinking, because I tend to be more of a dreamer with a little less reality :) He was very much impressed with her furniture plans, and we finally decided to try one of the most simple projects she had: a bench. We headed off to one of my up and coming favorite places, Home Depot, bought some supplies, and were off.

It only took maybe an hour or less to put it together. During that part, I just handed him tools and watched. The finishing took a little longer, which was my job. I distressed it using a hammer and sanding it down generously to round out the edges. Then I stained it, filled in nail holes, and finished it with a couple coats of polyurethane to seal it.

Voilà!