DIY Rustic X Projects

Well, we have been quite busy this summer. Quick update, I successfully defended my thesis and graduated with my Master of Science degree last month. We also moved to a new house and now G is starting his last year of his bachelors degree. So we've been a bit busy. 

But in the midst of the craziness, we were able to find time to build a coffee bar, coffee table, and two end tables using Ana White plans. It took us about 5 days to build everything, paint and stain, and get it into the house.

First, the coffe bar. We modified the Ana white plans for a sofa table. We added a few inches to the height and instead of using 2x12s for the top and shelves, we bought interesting pieces of composite wood. I stained the composite wood using minwax espresso, but it turned out darker than we wanted.

So, as shown above, my husband started to sand down the top and we ended up LOVING how distressed it looked. After everything was put together, we put on a few coats of polyurethane and it was good to go. 

All done! Now to see it in the house!

After the success of the coffee bar, we started on the end tables. The directions were easy to follow. We used 2x6s instead of 2x12s and saved some money. It did cause the bottom shelves to have a few small gaps between the boards, but we were fine with that. 

After putting the end table together, my husband sanded it and I began to paint and stain as he built the next one. 

I decided to stain first, because I like staining better. I taped off the areas that I didn't want to get messy. Next, I primed the rest of the wood, let it dry and then applied a high gloss paint. 

Finally, when we finished the end tables, we powered on the the coffee table even though we were a little burnt out on building things. 

Everything came together and looked perfect in our living room. I couldn't be more excited that for under $150 in supplies we managed to build 4 large items. Love it. 

The links to the plans for each item we built are below. 

Coffee Bar (cut the width in half)

http://ana-white.com/2012/05/plans/rustic-x-console

End Tables

http://ana-white.com/2012/08/plans/rustic-x-end-table

Coffee Table

http://ana-white.com/2012/07/plans/rustic-x-coffee-table

Do Life Together

One of the things I hear our pastor say a lot is to "do life together".  I really like that. It's simple and to the point. We weren't made to do any of this alone, nor should we ever feel alone.  Our church makes it easy to connect with people via small groups based on interests.  The past few small group semesters, G and I have been members of a group called "Date Your Mate".  It's engaged and married couples of all ages that get together and do fun dates and just get to know each other.  It has made such a difference to know that there are always people there to hang out with and to pray with and to get to do life with. One of the things I've learned over the past few years is that we should actively and intentionally build up and encourage the people in our lives.  I know life gets crazy and busy and schedules conflict, but make sure the people that are important to you, know that they are important to you.  I know that the next couple months (read years) will be a crazy adventure, but I know that with the amazing people I have in my life, everything will be okay even if those people aren't just next door anymore.

I had to say goodbye to one of the best friends I made while in graduate school on Friday.  She valiantly defended her thesis in March, graduate this past weekend, and headed home to the Northeast. Over the past two years, she became one of my important people.  You see, two years ago when my husband and I moved here, we knew nobody. Not a soul. We were hours away from either of our families and all we had was each other.  As much as I love my husband, girl time is still a very needed thing.  Thankfully, at grad school orientation, I made fast friends with K.  We bonded over our sorority girl roots and going into graduate science programs. Over the next two years, she became my best girl friend here.  I cannot imagine my life without her now. As I sit here, still in denial that she's gone, I can't help but be grateful that our paths crossed even for a short time. God puts people in our paths to help us, to encourage us, and to challenge us. K did all of those things and I am so thankful to have someone with viewpoints different from my own to give me a fresh perspective on things. Even though I am going to miss having her here, I'm glad she's just a phone call or Skype sesh away.

Our entire lives are spent starting relationships with people and building those relationships.The people we are with and the support that creates can last a lifetime if you allow it. We all need people. We need people to lean on in the tough times, give us strength and build us up.  We also need people for the good times when something wonderful happens and you can't wait to share the news with them.  I'm so blessed to have found wonderful people to do life with, especially with the craziness that always seems to be looming.  As I'm stressing out trying to finish a rough draft of my thesis today and worrying about not finding a job yet, I received a  simple, "You can do this!" text from 600 miles away that made my mood instantly change and the day that much more bearable.  Life really gives me millions of things to be thankful for.

Find your people, build them up with encouragement, and do life together.