Your resident webmaster, JJ, here. I’m going to be updating about some of the fun and interesting changes we’re doing on the site, so if you’re interested, please add us to your RSS reader.

This month we’ve added over 100 new products to the site! You can check those out by visiting our New Items Page.

With all of these new items, we’ve also had to do some reorganizing for some of our browsing categories.

First, we’ve added a section specifically for furniture that comes already finished from the factory, called our Factory Finished page. From there you can drill down to further categories.

We’ve also separated our former Dining Room category into two different categories because the number of items in it was beginning to make it hard to browse. We now feature a Dining Room category with tables and other dining items, and a separte Dining Room Chairs page.

Please let us know if you have any feedback on your browsing experience or if there’s anything we can do to make it better. We’re always working to make your shopping experience better!

This is a fun painting project with a JG879 - 8 Drawer Storage Cart with Door.

Painting Process

- I didn’t want my cart to look like a traditionally stained cart, since its purpose it to hold all of my art things, I wanted it to look creative

- I removed all the drawers and hauled the cart outside

- Lightly sanded the cart to remove any small pieces that might snag

- I spray painted the entire cart – inside and out - with a silver spray paint to give it a bit of a metallic feel

- While the cart dried, I painted each on of the drawers with a different color acrylic paint. Each drawer got around 3 coats, allowing each coat to dry before the next.

- Before purchasing the cart, I had gathered all the stickers, photos, magazine clippings, foam letters, etc. that I wanted to stick on the cart

- After all the pieces were dry, I used Mod Podge to glue each piece onto the cart.

- As you can see I have different drawers for Paint, Paint Brushes, Paper, Stickers, etc. For the drawer fronts, I used items from that drawer to make it easy to tell them apart.

- For the Pen drawer and the door face, I used Chalkboard Paint. I applied around 6 light coats of this just to make sure I had an even coverage.

Written by Kim - Customer Service Manager

A majority of the furniture on our site ships RTA (ready to assemble). This makes it both easier to ship and less likely to get damaged in transit. However, we frequently get asked questions about exactly what the assembly process is like. Last time I showed how simple the assembly for a stool was. This week I tackle the slightly more complicated JG879 - 8 Drawer Storage Cart with Door. My fiancee put it together at the same time I put together four of the stools from last week.

Shown here are all of the pieces exactly as they come out of the box. There are the wood pieces along with the hardware (screws, wheels, etc.) and assembly instructions.

The first step is to construct the basic frame. This is done by using wooden pegs along with wood glue. There are also some screws that need to be screwed in for added support.

Here is a close-up of the wooden peg being inserted. It might take some tapping to get them in place, as it could be tight. But that’s good, because it will be a good solid connection!

You can see the basic shape starting to come into place now.

With that done, it’s time to work on the drawers. Again, this is a pretty simple process. Line up the sides and insert a few screws.

Then you slide the bottom onto the drawer before putting on the final front piece to lock it all together.

The drawers can all be slid into place now.

Now the back panel goes on. This is hammered in with some nails.

Now the wheels can be screwed onto the bottom.

Also, notice how thick the back board is. It’s high quality, layers of wood, not cardboard-like material.

Finally, you can screw in the hardware for the doors.

Voila! You’re done!

The hardest part is originally identifying which pieces go where. After that’s done it’s a simple matter of a bit of glue, some nails, and some screws. Then your hobby cart is ready to go!

Next week we’re going to have a look at what a creative mind can really do as we stain this very same cart.

A majority of the furniture on our site ships RTA (ready to assemble). This makes it both easier to ship and less likely to get damaged in transit. However, we frequently get asked questions about exactly what the assembly process is like. In this entry I’m going to explain the assembly process for a JG173 - 24 Inch Cafe Counterstool.

Shown here are all of the pieces exactly as they come out of the box. There are the wood pieces along with the hardware (screws) and assembly instructions.

I’ve started the assembly of the frame. It’s really a pretty simple process. Once you have the left and right pieces laid out, you simply put in the wood connector pieces. The long one goes on the bottom and the short one on top.

A little bit of wood glue needs to be put all around the piece of the wood connector being inserted into the holes. You can see here it just takes a touch. It is important to make sure you have everything properly lined up first, though, because the glue can dry fast.

After that you can insert the entire frame into the seat, as pictured to the right.

Finally you can drill in a few screws into the connector pieces and the seat for added stability - then you’re done!

It’s really quite an easy process!

Next time we’ll look at a piece with a few more parts.