Modern Doll House

Ever since I first saw this doll house on Made by Joel I loved it. I also appreciated that it would be an incredibly simple sort of doll house to make. Unfortunately I just have the time for even such a simple doll house so I had to fake it. I put together this house for the kids this morning from two old CD/DVD storage boxes. I just glue, clamped and 20 minutes later voila! Hopefully they will continue to enjoy it and it can be supplemented with less hastily improvised furniture.

Another table

Here is another wood working project, this one a bit less nice. I took a solid wood door which had been turned into a desk and turned it into a modern style play table. Basically cut the door into 3 pieces stuck them together and threw in some screws. I didn't even counter sink. At some point I might go back an countersink sand and pain but considering how hard my kids are on furniture for now I will leave in a state where I don't care what they do to it. Using a 1.75" thick solid core door means that this is an extremely heavy, extremely sturdy play table. Good thing because my kids had broken off 2 of the previous, less sturdy, table's legs. Once again sorry for the poor quality camera phone photos.

New dining table

Recently I discovered the amazing and inspiring blog, Knock-off Wood. I have always felt that every one can (and perhaps should) attempt wood working at some point in their life and this blog proves me right. Ana, a stay at home mom, takes her inspiration from expensive retailers like Pottery Barn and West Elm and then proceeds to create plans and instructions for inexpensive, sturdy and easy to build "knock-offs". For example her latest plan is for the Addison bunkbed from Land of Nod. This bed retails for $1,300 but with Ana's plans you should be able to build it for (her estimate) $50, I think lumber costs a tad more where I am but one could still build it for a fraction of the cost.

Long story short, I am now mildly obsessed with building furniture and this table is the result. Sad thing is we don't particularly need any furniture, but I didn't let a little thing like that stop me. We have a perfectly good dining room table, sturdy, not unattractive and maybe only a tiny bit larger than strictly necessary but when I saw this plan I decided I had to make us a new table anyway, if for no other reason than to prove to myself I could make it all by myself, I also really like this table. However, I did decide to make some modifications because I just can't help myself. First I toyed with the idea of making it an extending table but then I got lazy and changed my mind. Then I decided to make a small square table because our table is used by only 4 people 90% of the time. I also decided to make the table top a bit differently, I am not sure why.

As you can see Ana has her table top recessed into the apron. I decided to place mine on top of the apron, once again I am not sure why. However, this change did allow me to ditch the 2x2 supports Ana used. This is a good thing, not because she was necessarily wrong in using them but around here 2x2's are incredibly soft and worthless at providing any measure of rigidity or stability. Because my table is smaller (33"x33") and the table top is on top of the apron I was able to support the top with the apron alone. In the picture below you can see that I replaced a 2x2 with a 3" wide scrap of 3/4" plywood to provide the bracing of the end of the apron interrupted by the legs. This worked out very well and I am quite happy with it, the table is solid as a rock and weighs almost as much as one. In the picture you can also see that I attached the side aprons to the legs with pocket hole screws. I mostly did this because I hadn't gotten to try out our pocket hole jig yet, but you could easily screw the legs to the side apron from the outside. All together I think this table took me less than 4 hrs to cut the wood and assemble it.

I left the stain/paint color choice up to Oli because he was headed to the hardware store anyway and he came home with a can of ebony stain. We ended up cutting the stain about 1:1 with paint thinner and this is the result. I think the table maybe looks a tiny bit less yellow in person but this is a fairly accurate representation.

I am now in the process of applying the last few coats of pure tung oil as a finish. I love tung oil as a finish for a number of reasons. First we have tons left over from finishing our floor so it is free. Second it is non toxic and low VOC so I can apply it in the house with rug rats running about and not worry (except about them spreading the oil where I don't want it) which is great because it is too cold to apply a finish outside. Third tung oil soaks into the wood unlike surface finishes (ie polyurethane) this means it doesn't chip, or dent, or flake. Fourth it is very tough when applied correctly and it is practically idiot proof to apply, no worries about brush strokes or overlapping layers. It also gives a matte, natural looking finish with very low sheen. It is important to distinguish between 100% pure tung oil (non toxic) and the tung oil finishes most commonly found at hardware stores which have additives (check the ingredients). These "unpure" versions might be as awesome as the pure but I have not used them and I can't vouch for them. I bought mine here and I recommend the store I bough mine at, which has excellent customer service and a good price.

Soon it shall be done and we will see if it is as fun to use as it was to make. I am in the process of making some matching stools, the extras of which will double as side/coffee tables. However, I hit a bit of a snag today when I remembered that the chop saw won't cut the 2x8's I chose to use for the seats. So they will have to wait until I can use the skill saw without worrying about munchkins running about.

Supplies:

3 - 2x6 - 10' or 2 - 14' boards (I have found that the 10/12/14' boards are much nicer than the 8' boards)

2 - 2x4 - 10' (there will be lots extra but if you are thing of making a bench or stool or anything else extra 2x4 can be handy)

scrap ply wood

1 1/2" wood screws (to attach braces)

2 1/2" wood screws

square/torque/star head screws are much nicer to work with than phillips (less likely to strip)

a counter sinking bit is a good idea to pre drill holes and prevent splitting

wood filler

stain (we used the 1/2 pint size cut 1:1 with mineral spirits LOTS left over)

Nice but not strictly necessary - clamps

I highly recommend using clamps, especially when attaching the top. They just make things work nicer. For this table 2 - 36" would do the trick, three should cover any situation.

Cut list:

legs 4 - 2x6 - 28.5"

table top 6 - 2x6 - 33"

side apron 2 - 2x4 - 30"

end apron 2 - 2x4 - 22"

end braces 2 - 3/4" ply - 3" x 30"