White Wood Workshops...in the GTA

I haven't shared much about a big part of my life...my White Wood Workshops...

since I started this blog in 2007 I have been asked to share or to teach building and DIY, I think it is in my nature to share...share new finds, new skills and my passion for DIY...that is why I started a blog way back when... it was to share my projects with others to inspire others to try diy projects and just for community...I guess not a lot has changed...

After being literally asked for years I had the opportunity to start planning workshops for a local shop, that didn't work out but I did co-found a workshop brand with another local builder but we decided to go our separate ways and do our own thing, it was for the best...we just had different visions for the workshops moving forward...I think I was certainly meant to be doing my own White Wood Workshops as a secondary aspect of my White Wood Studio business...I always wanted to keep an open mind to how white wood would evolve...I just want to create and now creating with others just fills me up in the best way.

 I was searching for a one of a kind project...that is hard to come up with these days with Pinterest and all... it seems like everything has been dreamt up already...but when I look for inspiration I am hoping seeing others projects will inspire something new....I want to create useful beautiful things....
I have had a metal breadbox and I love it but it never held enough bread...so I decided it was a perfect workshop project...and it was.

 Ryobi power tools has supplied White Wood workshops with more tools than I could have dreamt of and it makes the workshop experience a dream...I want to keep the workshops quite small under 10 to give that real hands on experience, I want everyone to have access to all the tools to make the process fun and educational.

Some people wonder why they would want to pay to attend a workshop instead of just doing it on their own, it will obviously cost less....yes that is true....what I provide is the instruction, the tools, the space and the materials...and I take the work out of DIY....I give you everything to make each project a success and you can leave the mess with me...I do the shopping, I do all the prep and all you need to do is show up and and have fun...

So bring your friends, come alone and even bring your spouse...everyone is welcome...

                     Custom farmhouse clocks are the most popular, they are so fun to customize...

How lucky am I to meet great passionate people right here at my home...lucky

I feel so blessed to be able to open my home to new people eager to learn and flex their creative and DIY muscles...

Thank you Ryobi Canada for helping us bring DIY to the masses...

This is a sponsored post, Ryobi provided me with the tools but I have been a fan for years and years..Ryobi is and will remain my go to brand for cordless power tools

how to add a furniture detail to kitchen cabinets

the kitchen is coming along nicely...I love the blue that I painted the island and adding the shiplap has really made a huge difference to the whole feel of the kitchen...its Huronia by Para...

much like in our last kitchen I wanted to add some bases that look like a furniture detail...I will eventually get around to painting the perimiter cabinets but for now I will focus on the island...and the details were lacking so I made some easy changes...

here is the island how it looked when we took posession... the top is made from old pews {super cool} but it was a very orange tone that we did not like...I like the wood but not the colour so I took it off and sanded the bottom and stained it and made it the top and now we love it....and I really think that sticking cabinet doors on to the ends of cabinets is kind of strange so I knew that wouldn't stay long...

as you can see we have new windows...and they are AHmazing....and addin the open shelving really gives it that open feeling...

the next step was to remove the decorative doors and to add shiplap v-groove...

and paint out the trim on that windows...boy was that the right thing to do...

I then painted the new wood Huronia by Para in a melamine paint...which has been such a nice paint to use, it goes on beautifully and covers so well...but that is as far as it went from July until Oct...I've been moving at a much slower pace over the last year....there is a lot going on in my life so when I can get to it I tackle my DIY but it is not like it used to be...quick quick quick....

it's truly amazing that making a few changes can even make a huge difference...I thought we had to strip and restain the floors but now that they are the only warm wood they look quite nice...they have a lot of character... I can't mop them as they are rough but I will remedy that over time... a good sand and some poly and they will be great... 

 although the other side of the island is still off white....and may be that way for a while.. I can live with that....because from where I sit right now it looks pretty good...so I can live with slow going progress.

here are some great examples of furniture foot details from my Pinterest Kitchen board  you will find these photos and the links for them and lots of other beautiful kitchen inspiration...they were the push I needed to add this detail to our kitchen.

I built this simple and easy furniture detail and I'm going to try to explain how you can do it too....
I used 1x 4 " select pine I ripped it to the height I needed it to be to fit under the cabinet into the kickplate area and cut it to the width that I needed it to be, then I drew on the design I wanted for the cut out...and I cut out the shape...

here is a photo from our last kitchen ...I think you can add this detail to just one area or the whole kitchen but it just adds so much style and it is a very inexpensive simple detail...

 I used my new Ryobi band saw which made this job really easy but you could use a jig saw or even a coping saw...if you don't have a band saw...

the center cut is the hardest piece to cut, but it is doable with a table saw...this would be a very hard clean cut to make without a table saw...you just make most of this cut by bringing the wood down carefully onto the blade....

I added wood to the back of the detail piece as shown, I just did a butt joint and used my Ryobi airstrike and brad nails...it is now square and ready to install into place...I added filler pieces behind to afix this detail.....so it is 4 pieces of wood, that is it...

what a difference...

I am testing how well this paint will adhere to these very smooth painted doors...if all goes well I will be painting the entire island and adding new hardware...if you would like to see a good tutorial on how to paint kitchen cabinets click here 

                                            I hope that maybe this was somewhat helpful...till next time...

*this post has been sponsored by Ryobi tools...but I only recommend using products that I fully believe in and use myself.

My dining room makeover from start to finish...built-ins, floors, DIY doors

I wanted to create a post and a quick link for my dining room project, a one stop resource of posts in case someone could benefit from all this info in one spot...
Here is a reminder of how things started when we moved in almost 3 years ago...bland nothing but windows and high ceiling going for this room...

Feel free to see how this journey went during the 7 weeks of progress...all the links are below...

plans
day 5
face framing
base cabinet tops and diy counters
diy doors
diy shaker doors
priming and painting
week 5
adding upper shelving
week 6
from sketch to reality
built-ins are complete
the final reveal

thanks for stopping by...

Ryobi cordless Airstrike brad nailer Review

Last July shortly after attending the Power into spring blogger event for Ryobi I was sent a Ryobi airstrike brad nailer... lets just say I was really excited I had heard so many good things about this tool and I was so excited to give it a try.

I wanted to really try it out before I shared a true review...and let me just say after using it for the last 5 months it is a winner...not even once I have I plugged in my compressor in the last 5 plus months.

I really put this tool through its paces...it took a while since in late June I sprained my ankles badly so I was forced to take a long DIY break...but in late September I tackled a major makeover of a built-in for a friend of mine...you can see that project here

As you can see it was an extensive makeover project..the only nail gun I used was the airstrike cordless brad nailer for this project.

After this project I started my dining room and my very labour intensive chevron floor...now for whatever reason I am not good at working a flooring nailer, I just can't get a hang of it...so the majority of our pine floors I have installed were done so with a brad nailer...this Ryobi cordless nailer made this job wonderfully easy...no cords to deal with and no loud refills of the compressor to tollerate...I am won over...but it wasn't hard it was a pleasure to use.

You can only imagine how many nails I used to lay this floor...I have no idea but it was a lot.

See more on the dining room project,check out these posts below
plans
day 5
face framing
base cabinet tops and diy counters
diy doors
diy shaker doors
priming and painting
week 5
adding upper shelving
week 6
from sketch to reality
built-ins are complete
the final reveal

For the rest of the built-ins in the dining room the Ryobi cordless nailer is all that I required...my opinion on this product is that I love it, wouldn't want to live without it...if I was asked I would recommend you would be happy if you added to your collection of tools..it is the perfect DIYers nail gun.
editied*
Ok I have been reminded there may be some issues with this nail gun that you might want to hear about, someone asked " is it heavy ?"...compared to a regular brad nailer it is heavier but I adapted very quickly to it's weight, there is a bit of a delay when you push the trigger but that's not a bad thing for me personally it wasn't a problem I was more diliberate when nailing and I didn't have as many miss aims as I normally would, and I was able to get into tight spots like on narrow wood up against my wall, no problem there, overall I think it is a good nail gun and if I hadn't been given the one I have I wouldn't hesitate to buy one for myself...there were many early years of DIY where I struggled with hammer and nails & if this had been available it would have saved me a lot of frustration.
Oh and what model do I have...this one 

So big thank you to Ryobi for giving me this Airstrike to try out I give it a 10/10 it is my new favourite tool.
Of course you can find all Ryobi tools at Home Depot.

Plugging away at the dining room makeover...DIY DOORS

I thought I should probably do a little update on my dining room project as things really took a leap in the right direction yesterday...DOORS

 Slowly but surly I am still working away at the dining room, I am not letting it take over my life so it is going slowly but I am OK with that , there is no rush.
I had to dry fit the solid tops I made last week just to see how they would look in place, they look just as I had hoped, victory.

 So excited to see the wine cooler in place hopefully very soon...perhaps in a week or two if I'm honest, this family keeps me busy.

 Things were really looking up now that I was able to dry fit some of the doors. I had considered having custom doors made but I figured I would just go ahead and build my own like I did for the laundry room sink cabinet.... Just simple shaker doors, this was going to save me about $260 at least ...that's a lot of $$ to put towards oh the marble I want for the middle section. Shaker doors are kind of pricey to have made and mitered corners are even more expensive.

I made this door 2 years ago and it is holding up very well, so I figured it was worth trying again, this time I used pocket holes and that kept things simple and it worked well so I'm sticking with that, simple and cost effective.

I swear it looks as though my Ryobi tools are product placement but I swear they are just always around...you are welcome Ryobi...feel free to send me any Ryobi products to repay me....wink wink.

What a difference a couple of weeks makes.

I decided to use this sureply which is a flooring underlayment if I am correct....the side rails of the door frame are actually pine flooring I ripped down to 2.5 " , the groove perfectly fit this material so it was fine by me...all of the built-in will be painted so it will be fine. So far I think these doors have cost me about $30...well that's not bad at all is it?

Of course I was 2 small doors short of flooring so I will be off to the lumber yard this morning to finish this door part of the project.

Next I have to do a lot of sanding then priming and I should decide on harware becasue my origional idea isn't going to work after all...I would love a contemporary brass knob but they seem hard to find around here.

I just have to show you this beautiful tree in my yard, it's one of the only trees around still with its leaves and this orange is so stunning in person it is spectacular.

I hope you are enjoying this fall...I think some snow is in the near future which makes me sad... oh well that's my issue...thanks for stopping by.