Barefoot Adventures: DIY Deck Box

Have I ever told y'all that Matt and I enjoy building things and doing DIY projects? I think I may have mentioned it a time or two ;)
Recently I made an offhand comment to Matt about needed some form of storage/organization for the kids outdoor toys. The next day while I was at work he sends me an email with the plans for this Deck Box and before you know it, we're on our way to Home Depot to get the project started!

Why do we choose to build things rather than buy them when we can? Well, for one thing, we both enjoy doing it and these projects have turned into one of our biggest hobbies. For another thing, I'm all about customization. Being able to pick the exact size, wood, color etc really makes me happy and it's much easier to find the plans we need and adjust them, than to try to find a store that sells exactly what I want. On top of that, what beats spending a weekend and $50 to make a deck box that sells in stores for $180-250!

This is the closest box I could find to what we have, and it costs $180-$200 depending on the store

Ok so the plan that we followed is by Ana White and you can get it HERE. What I love about her plans is that they are straightforward, require basic tools and come with a shopping list up front!

We walked away from our supply run with everything we needed and only had to spend $50 on the project! Of course, we spent more money, but taking Matt to a home improvement store is like taking a kid to a candy shop!

It's trips like this that make Matt give me a sidelong look and mutter, "I miss my truck". Sorry love! Next car purchase can be a new truck. In the meantime, we get to play tetris with building materials.

Once we got it all home, Matt made the cuts to the wood and noticed that with the shopping list there is enough extra wood for a few spare pieces, in case you make a mistake somewhere. After the cuts, he decided to take a break and work on the rest when the weather was cooler. The middle of the afternoon is NOT the time to be doing physical labor in the Texas Summer. Unless of course, you want to sweat off a few extra pounds!

The entire project took us three afternoons, so if you've got the weather and the patience, you can probably knock it all out in a day and a half (I add the extra half day because of the time it takes for the primer and paint to dry).

The instructions are pretty accurate, the only things I would add are:
1. The purchase list gives you more wood than necessary
2. It took us 3 cans of spray paint primer-

Once the cutting and assembling were done, Matt tapped out and it was my turn to contribute!

Safety first, folks! But seriously.. No body wants sawdust in their eyes!

Cutest helper ever.

I decided to go with grey paint instead of a stain because I wanted some color but we are moving pretty soon and since we don't know the color of our next house, grey seemed like a pretty good neutral color that will go with anything!