Pallet bench

I've only ever used pallet wood outdoors like the potting bench, the succulent pallet, and used loose boards as planter stands. I found some pallets which were made from non-treated pine and realised they would do terribly outdoors. I decided to use the boards to make a storage bench for indoor use, but it was a tough process!

The boards were pried off the pallet with a chisel, mallet and hammer. A lot of them broke in the process but I was able to save some. They were scrubbed down with bleach and detergent, washed, then left to dry in the sun. These were later sanded down to remove all splintered edges.

Dismantled pallet boards

I wanted to make something simple that would showcase the old, patterned wood. I made a simple bench frame from structural pine which was cut to size, and screwed together.

 Basic frame

Simple butt joints with some pocket hole joinery happening

I wanted the thick pallet boards to go on top as a seat, and use the other pallet boards as shelving under the bench. I found some left over bed slats in the shed which were cut to size and then screwed down to hold the boards together.

 Bottom shelf done

Bed slats holding everything together

I decided on the height of the shelf and screwed it to the legs. The structure became super rigid and sturdy as it was able to resist shear. I cooked up some coffee and tea stain to bring out the pallet wood features.

 Tea and coffee?

First coat of stain

Staining the pallet boards for the seat

The frame needed to take a visual backseat so I painted over it with flat white paint. I was going for a beachy and rustic overall look so the frame was lightly sanded down to give it a distressed look.

 Painting the frame white

I decided the coffee and tea stain was too light so I pulled out some left over 'Black Japan' stain and varnish in the shed and applied a light coat over the pallet wood. Much better! The wood was left to dry and was later given a light sand before the whole bench was given 2-3 coats of Polycrylic.

 

Painted, stained, sanded, sealed!

The wood is so pretty~

Very happy with the end result. It is super sturdy! Because of its dimensions (1000W x 425D x 450H) it is a lot more versatile than I initially thought. It can be a coffee table, an entry way bench with shoe storage, maybe even a TV bench?

 Coffee table?

 Entry way bench?

Unfortunately, Hann would never allow anything so rustic in the house. I made this bench with that in mind and am happy to let it go to a good home. So this piece is going up for sale soon :)

Jellyfish and plants

I'm happy to say I've finished writing my thesis, had it printed and submitted last month! I've been able to spend some time on unfinished artwork and projects and even started new ones!

So here is a shot of my finished jellyfish art. I wasn't too far away from finishing when I stopped but I just didn't have the inspiration to complete it at the time. There are definitely a few more art pieces coming along with the black card paper as the base. I love how glow-in-the-dark-ish the jelly fish look.

 Blub blub blub...

Another project which almost died on me was the hanging succulent frame. It suffered a lot during the heat wave as it dried out very quickly and was not shaded from the sun. Oops.

 Poor survivors

I clipped off cuttings from other plants and filled the frame back up, added more soil, and made sure the water content was suitable for the succulent cuttings. They've perked up since the weather has become more tame.

All filled up and looking more lively

I've also learned a lot more about terrarium making and am beginning to understand why some of mine died so quickly or are not doing well. It starts off with having super clean materials to put into the terrarium! I wash all my pebbles, use fresh potting mix, and most importantly, wash all my mosses. I've only ever rinsed them before planting them and this had caused a lot of problems with weeds, bugs and the like. In terms of maintenance, over-watering caused some issues with mould and gnats but I found a tip online to help with this problem. They twisted the corner of a piece of tissue and placed the tip into the soil, using capillary action to draw water out from the soil. Brilliant!

Here are some of my braver attempts at terrariums, one featuring a Hare's Foot fern, and the other, a variegated plant from IKEA.

 Looks like a tiny ecosystem in there!

Inverted a large candle jar over a dish to make this terrarium

A bit of macrame happening at the top for easy handling

Next post is about a pallet bench I've just finished making!

Thesis Write-up

Still writing. I hope I can wrap this up in less than 2 months.

It's good to have my buns keep me company at home.

Also, my sweet ex-housemate from Malaysia got married to her longtime boyfriend end of last year. I sadly couldn't make it back for the wedding. This was my gift to them, which they liked, so hurray! They are the cutest couple ever xD

Wishing them the very best of times together.

Melbourne Heat Wave

FOUR days above 40 degrees celcius... FOUR!!! ABOVE 40!!

We are expecting the cool change any minute now so I am very much looking forward to that.

I feel bad for Taja and Fawn cause they have such thick fur that they can't take off. Well, iced water bottles and frozen grapes seem to help quite a bit.

Rabbit Hutch

New year!! YAY! The bunnies have been with us for 6 months =)

When I first decided to get bunnies I was intending to keep them outdoors. Lucky for them (and for me), I got them in July when weather was TERRIBLE. It was cold, rainy, windy; I couldn't bear letting them out much less letting them live out there. In the end, Hann and I had a chat and designed an indoor hutch for Taja and Fawn to live in. This was done back in September last year.

We had limited space and wanted the hutch to serve several purposes so I had to design and build it as opposed to buying ready made products. There was a good space in the dining room under the window that we could use but I've always wanted a window bench with a small platform for my terrariums and plants. So I thought, why not build the rabbit hutch under the bench?

Here are my initial designs for the bench/planter/hutch hybrid:

 Just the start of the idea

 Second draft: tiny bench space and tiny rabbit hutch (no go)

 Third sketch: Approved by Hann

After showing these designs to Hann and discussing dimensions, we set out to Bunnings to buy pine dars to build the main frame and the doors, and laminate boards to for the back, floors, and top. I got thick wire meshing for ventilation and covered the rest with perspex (Hann's idea). The perspex was expensive, but I gave the plastics shop the exact dimensions I needed and they cut everything for me on the day itself. We could see the bunnies chilling (or getting up to no good) in the hutch, especially in the top portion where they eventually made into their sleeping quarter. That top was Hann's idea too, he calls it their 'Observation deck'.

Finished hutch

 

There was an air vent under the window and the hutch was built over that. All we had to do was cut a hole out of the 'floor' of the hutch and build a box over it with an opening out the front. Works beautifully in winter and the buns sit on top when they want to warm up.

To complete this multipurpose hutch, we got a piece of foam and sewed a cover for it to make a seating area, then decorated the top platform with plants. I stuffed a few cushions on the seat for extra cosiness.

Top view

Taja in the 'observation deck'

The seat is sturdy as they come, the bunnies love the multiple exits and entrances we've incorporated, they are safe from the outdoor elements, I get to play with them all day, it's easy to clean (BIG PLUS), and my plants get first class seats to lots of indirect sunlight. This is possibly my favourite piece of furniture in the whole house.

Amateur carpentry

It's been a while since my last post. I've been really busy with uni since my PhD candidature is coming to a close, what with all the writing I have to do and pre-submission seminar to prepare. To take my mind off work, I like to make things. Whether it be a new terrarium, sketch, or small plants landscaping.

In lieu of the good weather (and extended daylight hours) I've been spending more and more time in the backyard. I first built a narrow garden bench for our housewarming last year for guests to sit on outside. We've also got a few plastic chairs to go around. No one touched the garden bench (fail). It's now doing a good job elevating my plants off the ground but I still really wanted a bench out the back. So I started looking up ideas and plans for making my own. That Anna-White website is amazing for these things.

I didn't follow an exact plan from any of the sources but they gave me ideas on how to properly make joints that look good. I had left over treated pine from my first garden bench project and the potting bench project so decided to use those to form a basic frame. I went to Bunnings to buy the rest of the material for the top (treated pine decking), and some treated pine screws. The normal screws might react with the chemicals used to treat the pine.

Here is the finished product! It's 1800 long x 540 deep x 490 high.

 Completed bench! Top view

Side view

So proud of myself *hehe* Even my rabbits approve. All that's left to do is a good clean and then seal with either varnish or furniture oil. Since completing it, it has been used as a saw horse, rabbit shelter, and tools table. So useful!

About 3 weeks ago, I made include a framed succulent garden. Like all vertical gardens, it has to sit for a while for the roots to take hold. Since it's spring/late summer, plants grow like they are on steroids so it shouldn't take too long for them to settle in.

 Frame made of merbau decking off-cuts, wire mesh to hold everything in

 2 weeks after the cuttings were planted, growing well!

 I also made a crate of sorts from pine off-cuts. The wood is untreated so it can't stay outside. It's useful for carrying lemon harvests though. For now, it's got a bath towel lining it and has become a day bed for the bunnies!

Fruit crate? (Ignore the long grass in the background)

Other projects involve sewing (gasp!). I don't know how to function sewing machines very well but I'm slowly getting there. I like cushions =) But I don't like the big square ones we often get from shops. They are also often pricey, with designs and colours I don't really fancy. So I decided to make my own (I DIY almost everything nowadays). First off was to get pillows. From IKEA. I got the GOSA VÄDD stomach sleeper for AUD5. It's a sleeping pillow, yes. But cut it in half, and pushing the stuffing to one side more, I get two huggable rectangular cushions.

 Two pillows cushions for the price of one!

As for the covers, I saw an idea from a blog (can't remember which) where they reused old button-up shirts. I found two for AUD3 each at Camberwell market and got to work. I cut out the bottom half from the shirts so the pocket doesn't come into view. They were cut to size, sewed up and ready to go. No extra zippers, fasteners required.

Shirt-cushion covers straight out of the wash

Completed cushions with their covers

I'm currently working on some planter stands and a barrier to stop the rabbits from entering the living room and chewing up all our wires. Glad that holidays are coming up so I don't feel guilty about not going into uni. Until next time, enjoy the festivities.

Bunny sketches

Having the buns around is a joy. But there are also times when they would misbehave and chew on a random electric cord or scratch and bite our sofa. When I approach them, I usually have the intention to give them a good pat but they are not always in the mood. So picky these two...

 They haven't grunted at me yet so that's a good sign!

 Occasionally I will just sit and watch them go about doing their thing. There was once when Fawn got a strand of hay stuck just at the top of her nose. I just sat there and laughed at her as she struggled to get it off. I did eventually lend a helping hand!

 Some more random sketches to end the post =)

Rabbit cuddling

Some friends came to visit the buns a while back. Since Taja was being a bit of snob and refused to be picked up, I offered Fawn for cuddling instead.

Serena was new to holding rabbits, since she didn't have any hands free for patting, well, she used her cheeks :D

My new potting bench and other furniture making adventures

My adventures with refurbishing/building furniture from the ground up has come a long way. And I don't mean assembling IKEA furniture! My first has got to be that little bedside chest of drawers my sister picked up from the side of the road which I later painted and replaced the handles.

And then there was this monstrosity which took way longer than expected to put together and weighs a ton.

Over the past few years I've gotten a bit bolder and more adventurous. Built a simple garden bench, put together an in-built shelving system for my sister's wardrobe as well as my own.

When I saw two pallets lying on the curbside late last year I knew what I wanted to do with them! One I made into a vertical pallet garden:

The other I dismantled to make a potting bench. I made sure the pallet wood would hold outdoors i.e. left it out in the sun and rain for a few months with no sign of rot =) I could tell it was treated pine cause it was soft and it smelled like paling fence wood when I was sawing it.

The dismantling tools: hammer, chisel, pry bar

Lovely aged wood ready for use!

I wanted a top shelf for the potting bench so I had to buy extra lengths of treated pine for the back. None of the wood from the pallet were long enough. I based this frame on tutorials from different websites like Thrifty Decor Chick and Ana White. Everything was pre-drilled and screwed together with treated pine screws. After a few checks for squareness and height adjustments, the frame was complete!

 Basic frame done

For the horizontal surfaces I decided to get cypress-pine pickets. I've read that cypress-pine lasts very well outdoors, but more than that, they look fantastic.

 Cypress-pine for the work surface

 Pretty!

All I had left to do was to screw them down neatly and make a top shelf with the remaining pieces of cypress-pine. Viola!

 Finished product

 Large working surface for potting and drying nice curly branches for other projects

Top shelf for smaller and lighter pots

I've also added castors at the bottom but they are a bit flimsy at the moment. If I have the time I might fix that but for now, I'm very happy with the end product.