How to Build a Rolling Storage Bench

HGTV's Carter Oosterhouse shows us how to build a movable bench with wheels and open storage.

Materials and Tools Needed:

Plywood
3-1/2"x1" pine trim
Narrow crown staples
Casters with screws
Stain
Tape measure
Pencil
Pneumatic stapler
Clamp
Screwdriver
Paintbrush

Steps:
1. Cut the plywood down to size. You'll need three large pieces to serve as the box frame of the bench and four smaller dividers to fit inside the box to create the open storage.

2. On one of the long pieces, measure and mark four equally-spaced lines, beginning with the two side pieces along the edge. When the four perpendicular pieces are in place, you'll have three equally-sized cubby holes.

3. Glue and staple the four dividers into place along the marks. The two side pieces should overlap the edge of the long piece.
4. Place another long plywood board on top of the perpendicular boards so that it meets at an angle with the first long board. Glue and staple it into place.
5. Flip the unit over and attach the final long piece so that only one side of the dividers is exposed. This will serve as storage cubbies.
6. Secure clamps on to the unit to hold the pieces together tightly while the glue dries.

 

7. Now the framework is done, it is time to decorate the bench. Add 3-1/2"x1" pine trim with mitered corners so the pieces fit together flush. Glue and staple the trim along the top with a 3/4" overlay to comfortably hold cushions. Continue adding pine strips along the exposed edges. (Tip: Hold a 3/4" block up to the trim as you nail it into place to make sure the pieces are lined up consistently.)

8. Screw casters on to the bottom of the bench for mobility.
9. Stain or paint the piece as desired. Add cushions and you're done.

Top 10 Rules for Spring Gardening

Help ensure your garden's success by heeding these dos and don'ts from HGTV.

Work the soil only when it's moderately dry.
Tilling, walking on, or cultivating the soil when it's wet leads to creating something akin to adobe: the whole structure of the soil is destroyed.

Provide drainage.
If your soil is too wet to work, use raised beds to enable earlier planting in the spring. The soil in raised beds dries out and warms up faster than the surrounding earth.

Check seed packages for the number of days to harvest.
Plant cool-season plants such as peas, onions, Swiss chard, spinach and lettuce in early spring so they mature before hot weather arrives. Delay planting warm-weather crops until you're safely past the last spring frost and the soil has warmed sufficiently.

Know your zone.
Whether you use USDA or Sunset zones, choose your plants not only for cold-hardiness but for heat-tolerance as well. Example: Peonies don't bloom where winters are mild.

Ease your transplants into the garden.
If you've started seedlings indoors, expose them gradually to the conditions they'll have in the garden: start the pots off for only a few hours in a sunny place, then gradually increase the amount of sun exposure before installing the transplants in the garden

Use Mother Nature to feed your plants.
The best amendment for your soil is one you can make yourself: compost. If you don't already have a compost pile, start one now.

Water deeply.
Your veggie garden will need about an inch of water a week; if enough rain hasn't fallen, water till the top 6 inches of soil are wet. Simply wetting the soil's surface with daily watering doesn't reach most of the root zone and is harmful to plants. Saturate the soil around the base of tomato plants and avoid getting the foliage wet to reduce the chances of foliar diseases.

Rotate your veggie crops.
Grow them in different spots every year. Tomatoes are especially vulnerable to diseases that may linger in the soil or in plant residue.

Synchronize pruning chores to bloom time.
Prune summer-blooming shrubs, such as abelia and butterfly bush, in early spring. Buds form on the new wood that emerges the same year. Later, cutting spent flowers on your butterfly bush will produce new flowers.

Hydrangeas are the exception to the pruning rules for summer-flowering shrubs. Mophead hydrangeas — and others that flower in summer — need to be pruned in fall. Fall-blooming hydrangeas such as H. paniculata are pruned in late winter or early spring.

10 Tips for Living Green

Small changes made by individuals can add up to big changes for the environment. Everyone can do it. We can choose to lessen our environmental impact with these easy suggestions. 

Here are 10 to get you started:

1. Get a High-Efficiency Showerhead
A high-efficiency showerhead saves up to 3,000 gallons of water per person per year. You'll also save $50 in energy costs and 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide per person per year. The showerheads are specially designed to conserve resources while still providing like a luxurious-feeling shower. Sink-aerator attachments also save major amounts of water and are very inexpensive.




2. Recycle Water in Your Bathroom
Use devices that allow you to reuse sink water for flushing your toilet. Or keep a bucket by the shower or the tub and fill it with the cold water that comes out before the hot water kicks in. Then take the bucket outside and use it to water your plants.

3. Compost
Use a compost bin to turn your food and lawn wastes into rich mulch. It's a great way to reduce your trash production, and next year you'll have rich compost ready to go for spring planting.

4. Buy Green Power From Your Utility
Most utilities charge less than $5 per month extra. Not only will your power come from a renewable source, but you'll use the power of your spending to show utility executives and government officials that we need more investment in renewable-energy projects.

5. Improve the Efficiency of Your Existing Water Heater
Tankless and solar water heaters are great, but simple changes to your existing setup can cut your energy bills and carbon emissions by 25 percent or more. Reduce the temperature of your water heater to 120 degrees, wrap it in a water-heater insulating blanket and insulate the first 3 to 6 feet of hot and cold water pipes. These inexpensive changes should take you less than an hour to complete.

6. Use High-Efficiency Outdoor Lighting
A typical 100-watt floodlight, if used for six hours a day, can consume up to $40 of electricity over the course of a year and produce upwards of 400 pounds of carbon dioxide, depending on where you live. For starters, replace those floodlights with compact-fluorescent versions-they're just as bright and use a quarter of the energy. Next, replace low-wattage halogen landscape bulbs with LED versions. They cut energy use by over 80 percent and can last for 10 years or more. Finally, install motion sensors on any nonessential lights. New versions just screw right into your existing light socket.

7. Replace High-Use Indoor Lights with Compact Fluorescents or LEDs
With high-quality light, sizes for almost any fixture and even versions that are dimmable,  compact fluorescents have it all. They're more expensive than normal light bulbs, but between the energy savings and their much longer life spans, they pay for themselves in less than two years. And consider LED bulbs for non-dimmable circuits (especially for holiday lighting). They're true energy misers and will last for as long as you live in your house.

8. Load Up the Washing Machines
Make sure you run the dishwasher and the clothes washers only when they're full. Clothes washers are huge energy and water users, so make sure you're doing full loads (or adjusting the water setting) whenever possible. And most of us use far more water (and soap) than we need to when hand-washing dishes, especially when compared with high-efficiency Energy Star dishwashers. So save your time, water and power by putting those dishes directly in the dishwasher after a meal.

9. Drive Smarter
Simple changes in our existing driving habits can improve fuel efficiency by up to 25 percent. Drive at or near the speed limit, keep your tires inflated, make sure oil and air filters are clean, and step on the gas and the brakes carefully. Driving like a drag racer may be fun, but it has a substantial environmental cost.

10. Avoid the Daily Waste of Fast Food and Shopping
Next week, keep track of how much trash you generate by eating out and making trips to the store, I guarantee you'll be amazed. All those bags, cups and containers really add up and are stuffing our landfills to capacity. Bring your own plastic or metal boxes to your favorite take-out joint. You'll save resources and save them money. Use reusable shopping bags whenever you go to the store. Say "no thanks" when the pharmacist or the fast-food clerk tries to put your one or two items in a bag. Use reusable cups for coffee, soda and other beverages. And reuse some of the extras at home -- keep extra napkins and reuse plastic cups and cutlery.

Resource:  HGTV.com.  Jason Pelletier is a certified auditor with Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design.