Glad I didn't toss this gem!

The Home and Garden outdoor furniture we had was wonderful but we came home one day to the glass tabletop shattered in a million pieces all over the patio. There was no way I was just going to discard the whole set, so I decided to do a little DIY to give my table new life.

Here's the original:

(I wish my backyard looked like this)

Materials:

10- 2x4x8's non treated and I picked out the "good" looking ones

some sort of support boards (I used 2 1x2x6 foot boards, but I might suggest going with 2 1x4x6's instead)

1 1/4" exterior deck screws

metal jigsaw blade

Preparation:

The original table has metal "tabs"that were supporting the glass table top. These will need to be cut off. I purchased a couple of blades for the jigsaw that cut through metal. I tried to cut off as much of the tab as possible right to the inside edge of the table. Most of the tabs, though, still had 1/8 to 1/4" left, so this will need to be factored into the length of the boards cut. 

I figured out that I was right at 36" (a nice even number) and only 1 board of all of them was a snug fit. To make measuring and fitting easier, I turned the table upside down and laid the boards in place as I cut them. I was mindful to make sure that the "pretty side" was face down so that it would be the surface board when you turned the table over. 

It took a total of 19 boards, cut at 36" each to fill the space perfectly. The table length (inside the frame) was 68 1/4" with a little room at the ends where the tabs were cut off. This meant that there needed to be a very slight amount of space in between each board- so small an amount, in fact, that I used a piece of thin cardboard and it was the perfect amount of spacing. 

While it is laying upside down and fitted perfectly, this would be the time to run support boards along the length of the tabletop (they are not shown above). I put 1 screw in each support board into the table top (11/4" exterior deck screws actually) and then on the end boards, I put 2 screws so that the table wasn't able to pivot or move much. This worked well, otherwise you'd have 70+ screws in the thing and, frankly, I think that affects the integrity of it all. 

Due to the structure of the inner frame of the table, the corners of the new table needed to be cut off so it gives it an angled look. Just a little bit of character added to the already charming feel of it all! 

Once finished, I put a Minwax finish on it- not gonna lie, I saw this is the "get rid of it" pile at Lowes and a quart was 3$, so score... It's not the most awesome color for this project, but I knew ultimately I would put a dark shade over it for that rustic feel, so I went with it. If all else failed with the look, I could just cover it with a darker shade. 

So this is the finished product. I took a dark walnut stain I also had in the garage and brushed over the lighter shade and thinned it out. I tried to alternate the brush strokes from one side of the table to the other. Ultimately though, this is supposed to look rustic and weathered, so there should be little continuity to it to give it that feel. 

When the grass comes in (it's dormant right now) and I pull out all the cushions, I'll be excited to post a picture with the table all "decorated and blog worthy".  Stay tuned... and stop throwing stuff away! This went from 'eh' to 'wow' for just about 30$ and an hour and a half of your time. 

Platform Bed

My weekend project consisted of this brand new platform bed to fit the brand new KING sized mattress that I have been wanting to upgrade to for years! I used 1"x8"x8' select pine boards to complete the sides and legs. I connected them using pocket holes. The center support is a 2x6" and the slats are 1x4" and neither have to be the best "show" wood considering they are hidden.

** I would suggest considering how to disassemble the bed for moving. The way I connected everything will require it to be moved in one piece. **

The headboard is wider than the bed is. The purpose of this is that I will be installing wall lamps directly onto the headboard to provide lighting. I used the same 1x8" boards and attached them using the 1x4" remnants from the support slats of the bed frame.

The finished bed is amazing. The colors of the wall and the bed are perfect together. I wanted a custom bed, of good quality, that didn't cost a fortune and that's exactly the vision that was realized here. I attached the headboard to the wall using a french cleat, that you can make yourself or you can by from Home Depot or Lowes. 

I finished the room with a couple of side tables mounted to the wall. I wanted clean lines and no place for the clutter that bedside tables usually attract. Once the lighting is mounted to the headboard, the space on the tables will open up. (see finished pic above)

All You Need Is A Hammock And Some Friends

There is nothing I have come to hate about camping. When I first started adventuring out into the woods, I had a fear of the unknown- the wildlife, the difficulty of the hike, the unpredictable weather- but I have come to develop a healthy respect for all of that which has displaced my fear quite a bit. What I have come to appreciate about camping is the solitude, the serene beauty of the landscape, the welcoming feel of the wilderness and just how big the world outside of my city really is.

This weekend, we decided to head down to Brevard, NC where Pisgah National Forest is easily accessible and the trail system massive. This has to be one of my favorite little towns honestly. It's home to something like 200 waterfalls and it's just nestled into the woods so quietly, it still holds onto most of it's quaint small town charm. I usually have "7 jobs" on these hikes. Most important one is usually planning the route. So I broke out the trusty map and went to work. I'm not a fan of out and back hikes (there is SO MUCH to see that you don't have to double back on anything) so I decided on a shuttle hike leaving out of Black Mountain and ending at Turkey Pen Trailhead. Trailheads were about 7.5 miles apart as the car goes, but the hike ended up being 12.5-13 miles the whole way.

We stayed at the beautiful Davidson River Campground on Friday night, thanks to my "bestie in the westie" Meredith for snagging the last walk up first come, first serve campsite. Car camping isn't this group's favorite thing, but when you are driving in from Raleigh, NC and need a sure place to rest the night before a long hike, you take what you can get.

Saturday morning, we headed over the base of Black Mountain and the Black Mountain Trailhead. Wouldn't you know that on that very morning a huge endurance mountain bike race had started? Lucky for us, we hit the trail at the right time.

Before I get into the trail description,  I want to say this. This first part of the trail is not easy. It's not even moderate. It's difficult. It's 4.5 miles straight uphill. There's nothing about the first part that was pleasant, actually. And that's just being honest. I was dreading my decision to start at this trail. Not even gonna lie. So... we started at Black Mountain and ascended 4.5 miles up to the summit of Black Mountain. Near the top, it intersects with the Turkey Pen Gap Trail. Right at the intersection there is a small campsite on the left, suitable for 1-2 tents and has a small fire ring. We continued past the junction of the two trails to the summit of Black Mountain for a view and lunch stop. This is just a little ways past the intersection of the two trails. It was a "tunnel" of rhododendron that we walked through.



The view was stunning. What you are seeing here is the view from a small rock outcropping at the top of Black Mountain. It was quite windy and cold up here, but we bundled up and got some food in our bellies. From the picture on the right, you can see Looking Glass Rock (middle of the picture).

 

After a long rest, some photo ops, and a packless exploratory hike along the ridge, we saddled up and headed back down the mountain to continue our journey. We took a left on Turkey Pen Gap trail and were very pleased to find that for the next 3.5 miles, there was a mix of uphill and downhill terrain. For this I was thankful because I wasn't ready for any more ridiculous climbs.

At the junction of Turkey Pen Gap Trail and Wagon Road Gap Trail was a small campsite. We turned left down Wagon Road Gap trail and descended about .6 miles to the junction of this trail and the South Mills River Trail. The scenery really changed on this trail. I wish I knew the names of all of the foliage, but I know there was quite a bit of fern growing in this area, which I think is really pretty when the sunlight pokes through the trees and hits it.

About a half mile down the trail, there is a large campsite on the left suitable for a small village. The small stream that runs alongside the trail here sort of dives in and out of the thicket, but it is accessible if water is needed. We dropped pack here, left a hiker behind and headed a little further to see if anything else was available in the way of sites. We got to the junction of the Wagon Road Gap Trail and South Mills River Trail and hit campsite gold mine. This campsite was large and flat with two fire rings and was about 20 yards from the beautiful South Mills River. We immediately dropped pack and hung the hammocks, thankful for a place to put our feet up after ~10 miles of up and down hiking.

 

There are quite a few dead hemlocks at this site which made for ample firewood BUT be careful about where you hang your hammock and your liable to pull one straight out of the ground from the roots. Yes, that happened to us and my tent, dog, and I were almost crushed! You would think that your engineer friend would know not to hang a hammock from a dead tree, but this was not the case.

The next morning, we lounged around for a while as we knew that we had less than 3 miles to the Turkey Pen Gap Trailhead to end our shuttle hike. Immediately after leaving the campsite we headed northeast (turned right) on the South Mills River trail and hit the first of two footbridges we would need to cross on our way back. The first 1.5 miles of this return trip was a flat and fast and there were plenty of riverside campsites to choose from.

 

Made it to the Turkey Pen Gap Trailhead to complete the shuttle hike and headed for our post hike beer and food!  All in all, a great trip. I wouldn't recommend the first 4.5 miles to a beginner hiker, but we made it work and thoroughly enjoyed the whole weekend.