Random thoughts.

  It's a pity I haven't done anything wooden since nearly two weeks. The problem is the matura is getting nearer and nearer, the first exam is supposed to be on Friday, the second worst for me, Polish exam. The first is Polish oral, ahh it hurts me a lot.
  But, I've had some time for thinking. How far is my, I mean Polish, culture from American or British ? The more I see on the Internet the bigger abyss I see between the cultures. And the only way to show one what exactly do I mean is to show some examples.
  I watched some photos on Pinterest and ran into some ideas of using old tires as planters. Some people commented it was great, plenty of them liked it and even a couple repinned to their own beauty-lists. I understand the phenomenon, hardly anyone from Poland would, but I do. The point is, we are far away from those times when people used some thrash as a piece of practical art. It's because of 1989-minus-1945 years of communism in our country. There was nothing available in shops and people had to queue for days, just like Apple-fans queued for iPhones, but they had to do that just to get some ham or other piece of meat. What's more, they could only get a little of it, because there was a strange system of nearly-equal portioning of goods (even a toilet paper was portioned). The whole situation learned people to use some obtainable things in untypical ways. The culture that had grown on those reused tires, wooden figures and garage-made furniture made us very fastidious, so the photos, which I've seen on Pinterest, just made me thinking, why so many people like it.
  There is one strange problem connected to the whole phenomenon about which I am writing. I didn't even live in the times of PRL - communism in Poland, I haven't ever been to any communist country and I haven't ever met any conservative communist. The system had left so noticeable stamp on Polish mentality, that it will take a couple of decades to forget it and fully understand the fact which I am writing about.
  It's strange, it will always be for me. But on the other hand, people from the West must really like my country when they visit it. Hah, I remember a phrase from a game, that fits the situation very well:
"Some people call them junk, but I call them treasures."

Idea.

I've been thinking. I wondered, what's the point of running a blog like this one. Do people really want to see my projects ? Do you ? It's strange, because I very often think about basis of some of our habits and needs. I do sometimes think about the sense of people working in stress and hurry (I'm still in a high school).

I mean, if you thought about the simpliest basis of the fact that you work, your thoughts would start on earning money, go through supporting your family and, with a stroke of luck, they would end on easily forgetable idea of self-fulfillment.

  I think that's why I want to show you some of my projects, which are my own way to fulfill myself. But, here comes the question. Do you need to see that ? Do you want to see that ?

  I think people want to see some blogs and websites as Pinterest or the blog of mine, because they are eager to make things, I mean build them, give reins to their imagination. Sometimes people just want to make something. However, they don't know how (doggy sentence, sorry :)

  That's why I managed to change the idea of my blog a little, I will not only show you a finished project, I will guide you through the whole process of making it. Thanks to that, I would reach the basis of the whole immodesty I introduce through showing the furniture I make.

A little of decency.

  Right, now I'm supposed to tell you how to make one for yourselves. I won't, but don't leave ^^

  I've came by two big chunks of beech in my local woodstock and bought two oak pieces of kitchen tops on a site simillar to your Craigslist. A couple had their kitchen renovated and had two spare pieces of wood, which remained after making the top of kitchen-desk.

  So, finally with some materials "in stock" I managed to make something of it and, this time, to make something that I would put up for sale. I've realised half of the plan, because I made a nightstand, but for myself. It's the first project I made of some decent wood, not just pine that is really ubiquituous and out-of-style. I painted it with wood oil so it wouldn't loose it's natural colour, as you can see in the third photo - beech has really interesting pattern. 

  I hope you like it. I am going to make another one in the near future to accomplish my plan and earn something, maybe you will find it on Etsy, who knows (and who knows how to ship it, really? :).

The project.

  My mom asked me to make a table that would stand near our washing mashine as every time she wants to sweep floor there she has to pick everything from the floor. Some time ago I wrote that I had found some aged wood in my grandparent's barn. The wood I used here is not the one I've decribed as left by my grand grandfather, but some other chunks.

  The table, or bench, is made almost entirely of pine, except that there are two oak and about three beech laths. I used the simpliest plan of table, so the construction isn't nothing new. But I wanted the top to be something distinguishing (and I'm too lazy to make such a big table top out of some rough wood boards). So I've scraped any chicken poo of every board, planed it, cut and made the whole bench frame and top without any sanding. So here you can see the baby of my laziness and creativity. 

I still have some blue wood stain that I used in my smurfy coffe table before, I managed to use it here as well to give the table some relish.

  I'm looking forward to see some critical comments, just tell me if you like it or not. I do and I think it will do it's job.

Project - table.

A new project coming soon ...
And you can see Bell's Shop (all right, to be honest, it's my garage :)
Looks really messy (and not only in the photo).

Badum...

Ok, to be honest. I built the next project before I'd finished the last one.
Funny part is I've really finished it and now it waits to be oiled and that will happen after Wednesday, because I'm waiting for Julia to make it together. It's a little table that I will use as a bedside table, it's made of beech and oak, so it's the first project made of something different than pine.

There are some flaws and shortcomings, but let's not spoil the effect. The laptop table I should have finished some time ago is almost finished as well, but it had to be tested by my father so he would tell me what to change and what to add to make it fully functional.

To sum up, I promise to enclose some photos as soon as I finish those two projects.
But then, oh, I still have plans to make some other projects, so let's write a check-list:

• something interesting - a plant press for Julia
• a simple flowerpot for my aunt
• my mother needs a plain table for some stuff accumulated near our washer
• hm, this could wait - a planter to plant some herbs in our garden
• a rack to store bottles of wine that will 'appear' in some days, wine I made on November is already ready to bottle
• Oh damn, I would forget - I HAVE TO PASS THE MATURA EXAM :)