We want to make every square inch of our small place functional and special, so here's a few projects to that end.
The closet situation was dire after moving in:
Yes, here's me literally airing my dirty laundry on the internet. We knew we needed something that we would actually use, so I took off the annoying sliding doors and built a closet with more functionality.
A fun feature: the shoe rack slides out and to the right to reveal yet another shoe rack.
I like to browse furniture I can't afford to learn more about what makes a given "high end" piece feel that way. Is it the materials, design, craftsmanship, history? Or is it just overpriced from a fancy brand?
I think a lot of outdoor furniture is kind of tacky and falls towards the second category. But I got inspired by the design of a teak outdoor sofa I came across, which had a subtle hover effect and fit the vibe I was going for.
Teak was cost-prohibitive so I went with mahogany. It's a decent outdoor material, I love its color and could actually afford it.
I decided to make an internal frame with pressure-treated 2x8 which all the fascia connects to - this helped me create the subtle "floating" look. The vertical back supports are the only structural mahogany pieces. Since the only contact points with the ground are via the pressure-treated frame, I think it will last a long time.
It doesn't shed water well with all the flat pieces. To avoid warping and algae, I cover it in the winter.
No garage means no place to put bikes. I decided to repurpose this 20 sq ft of ugly plants by the entrance as a storage box.
The challenge: I didn't want to lose the planting space. So I opted to build a "living" roof. I learned a lot about how these are made from cross sections of commercial projects I found online.
My approach:
The drainage system consists of a french drain which empties into a catch basin (the same basin our roof's gutters empty into). The catch basins around our complex are all made of weathering steel which naturally rusts. I decided to match this aesthetic and added similar steel as trim. I normally wouldn't have used this material, but I think it was a good exercise in considering the context in which your piece lives. And I like that the steel will age beautifully alongside the cedar and the plants.
Since I wanted the door to be as big as possible for easy access, I overbuilt a cantilevered entrance with a small steel beam (the beam was unnecessary but fun).
Clearly it's not quite finished - I slapped together a door for winter. I'm going to rebuild the door system, reorganize the inside and fix the siding this spring.
Coming soon :)
