As our business has grown, we've needed to acquire more knowledge and tools to be able to manage everything that we juggle, from finances, to planning, to keeping up with the kids on social media ? Finding resources and phone or web applications has been a humongous help to us. So, we made a list of the ones we use most often to keep us going.

We love living on our 1-acre property in a big neighborhood because it allows us to have our privacy and space yet stay connected to our neighbors and their families. Since we do most of our projects in our garage or driveway, especially when it's warm, we get the chance to meet so many neighbors as they take walks or play with their kids. It's an awesome opportunity to build connections and share our story. 

Last summer, one of our neighbors trusted us to learn some new skills in order to build him a solid wood aquarium stand for his new fish tank. So as his hobbies during the pandemic grew, so did ours and we are so grateful!

The blog outlines our basic process, but you can purchase a PDF version of the plan for this aquarium stand for the details to build your own.

This fish tank stand was the first full custom piece that we've built from scratch. It turned out to be pretty great and we're pleased considering how many learning curves we faced. Now that I'm finally writing the blog for it almost a year later, I can say that we've learned so much more since we did this piece. You can see some of those new skills in our Empire blog too. 

Our dining room has become a compilation of various projects over the past year. It has become the showcase for a completed line of designs built with blood, sweat, and tears. And also dark walnut wood. 

With each project, we were able to move from furniture and décor we purchased on Craigslist during college and in our early years of marriage to having unique pieces that share our story. Our hope is that others can learn from us, create spaces that tell their story, and utilize functional home décor pieces that fit their budget, needs, and personal design preferences. 

Sydney likes the presence of plants and the growth they represent, even if she can't seem to keep them alive. We love the contrast of wood tones and subtle natural hues. If either of those things sounds like you, then this DIY hanging succulent holder is the project for you. It's quick, easy, simple, and beautiful. Plus, it's easy to add your own personal touches based on your preference for wood grain and plants. 

We like the idea of creating a versatile space without having to continuously spend large sums of money on home décor. It is already hard enough to find designs that fit both of our styles anyways ;) 

Our home has limited open wall space, so we wanted this large wall to be a beautiful accent in our dining area. Building DIY floating canvas frames was just the right fit for us. The best part for us is that we can order canvas prints when there is a sale and rotate them with the seasons or put up family pictures. Plus, we needed to avoid the gallery wall trend because the two toddlers in high chairs in our home have an itch to touch anything in their reach with their ooey-gooey hands. 

We have always liked the look that a serve stand provides to a dining room. As you have probably seen at your local TJ Maxx or Marshalls, there are many options out there that may or may not work for the look you are going for. We decided to put a contemporary spin on the concept to provide an option that you can do yourself at home if you have the tools needed and are willing to take on the challenge. Another aspect that we like about this design is that you can use different wood species to better fit the exact style you are looking for. 

Our neighbors are so supportive of our work and often come to us for help with their projects. We worked on this Ashley Furniture dining table for one family. This pub-style dining table had been well-loved for many years, and the family is working to move from warm brown tones in their home to cooler gray tones. They wanted to update their table with a new finish and a stain color that would help them transition their space as they update their home. We chose to make a custom stain for them to blend the warm and cool tones together to help with a seamless transition. 

As the number of projects that we are working on and the complexity of some of our projects increase, we needed a solution to keep us organized while allowing us to store a lot of material. This lumber cart is the result of looking over several lumber cart plans available on the internet and determining what was the best solution for our needs. We hope that you will find this post to be informative and provide enough information to help you build your very own lumber cart for your shop needs. 

We have a PDF version of the plan for this Lumber Cart for sale in our online shop.