Portable and Demountable

DIY collapsible summer cottage bed

With the approach of the summer-cottage season, this bed in disassembled form can be taken to your country plot even by suburban train or local bus: its parts are easy to dismantle and reassemble. The bed consists of a headboard and a footboard, two side rails, two support panels that serve as legs, and two Read more…

Stocking up on water

Underground concrete reservoir for garden watering

Any garden or household plot, as a rule, yields a return and delights its owner when there is a sufficient amount of… water. If there is a natural source nearby or a central water supply, the irrigation problem becomes simpler, but in most cases one cannot even rely on a source. In a hot summer, Read more…

Extending a balcony out of thin air

DIY balcony glazing: orangery-style extension

For small apartments, a balcony is a substantial addition to the living space, but it is neither all-season nor all-weather. To provide those conditions, the balcony must be protected from precipitation and wind — that is, at least glazed, which was not the case in houses built in the Soviet era. Fitting out balconies at Read more…

Automatic Curtain

DIY cord opener for curtains on a wooden rod bar

The various curtains and drapes popular with homemakers on windows and interior doors, consisting of two sliding panels, are often hung for greater decorative effect on wooden rods with large rings. If the material used is dense and heavy, opening and closing such curtains by hand is not so easy, and with abrupt efforts the Read more…

Building an entryway

DIY hallway coat rack cabinet — design and build

When making a hallway coat rack cabinet, I proceeded from the layout features of an old-built apartment. In my case, in particular, opposite the entrance door there is a door to a storage room, so the cabinet in plan has angled side cuts that allow the doors to open freely. The dimensions are given for Read more…

Bedside table

DIY bedside table for a bedridden patient

“If I fall ill, I will not turn to doctors; I turn to friends…”, wrote the poet Ya. Smelyakov. But life shows that one has to turn both to doctors and to loved ones, because it is often impossible to do without their help, especially for a bedridden patient. If bed rest drags on, it Read more…

Chair and step ladder

Chair-stepladder from chipboard: design and assembly

Whether you need to reach into a loft, hang curtains, or drill holes for them under the ceiling — quite a few household chores require using a small stepladder. And if there isn’t one at home, we start piling up substitutes from available furniture, which is fraught with falls and serious consequences. Those who have Read more…

Three-tier sauna heater

DIY sauna stove heater: three-block welded steel design

Having decided to build a sauna on my country plot, I read a fair amount of relevant literature. Not everything in the proposed stove designs appealed to me. I wanted to simplify the construction, make it more practical from a manufacturing standpoint, and at the same time improve its operational qualities. As a result, I Read more…

Fruit guillotine

Homemade guillotine secateur for slicing apples

Tasty, fragrant apples and pears. And they are not lacking in vitamins. But keeping these fruits until the next harvest is a problem — and sometimes a serious one. Drying, pickling and jam-making, and other methods of preserving come to the rescue. Moreover, according to gourmets, the value of products prepared for storage increases noticeably Read more…