This is a great project on how to build a root cellar or a secret underground bunker if that is what you want. For those unfamiliar with the term, a root cellar is an underground room that acts like a natural refrigerator, maintaining temperatures in the mid 30’s F in the winter and mid 50’s in the summer. Root-cellaring is a saving technique for ordinary winter storage of fresh, raw, whole vegetables and fruits that have not been processed to increase their keeping quality.
The root cellar is a way to hold these foods for several months after their normal harvest in a cold, rather moist environment that does not allow them to freeze or to complete their natural cycle to decomposition in the fall. Click the link below to see how to build you own root cellar.
superimpose architecture has designed an exclusive members club and hidden wine cellar for a wine enthusiast. the project is situated at the top floor of one of beijing’s latest and most high-end tower developments, the genesis community. genesis beijing is a mixed-use development combining a hotel, offices, gardens and a museum by japanese architect tadao ando. the member’s club will only be accessible to a private and selected group of members.
the member’s club is where the client organizes gatherings and stores and consumes his valuable wine and tea collection. chinese based design studio superimpose architecture‘s project is divided by a central element creating two distinctive worlds: the client’s office space and the private club. associates enter through a hidden pivot-door into the exclusive club that instantly offers spectacular views over beijing’s embassy and financial districts. the golden stainless steel central element subtly reflects the skyline and naturally forms a backdrop of the entire member’s club.
the client organizes gatherings and stores and consumes his valuable wine and tea collection
a segment of the central divider is constructed with dark-mirrored glass which reflects the skyline and hides the ‘sky cellar’. this piece has been designed to be a reinterpretation of the traditional wine cellar. members access the hidden exclusive area through the automated sliding glass doors. the 25 sqm cellar stores up to 500 bottles of wine from six famous regions around the world — bordeaux, rhone valley, burgundy, napa valley, mosel and barolo. during day time, the mirrored glass doors hide the wine cellar and protects it from direct sunlight. the mirror doors allow members to admire both the wine and skyline whilst being inside the cellar. at sunset and during evening hours, it lights up and reveals the 500 wine bottles to the main space.
the 25 sqm cellar stores up to 500 bottles of wine from six famous regions
an abstract representation of the six wine regions is installed underneath a glass floor with automated light. superimpose architecture has designed the maps and constructed them by using concrete ash mud for the topography and stainless steel for the rivers. within the stainless-steel shelves, an acrylic base is being used and designed in such a way that it allows for multiple storing positions of the wine bottles. bottles can be displayed and stored either stacked or inclined to display the bottle etiquette. at the same time the acrylic base allows for an optimized light distribution inside the wine cellar.
bottles can be displayed and stored either stacked or inclined to display the bottle etiquettethe collection consists of wine bottles from bordeaux, rhone valley, burgundy, napa, mosel and baroloan abstract representation of the six wine regions is installed underneath a glass floor with automated lightduring day time, the mirrored glass doors hide the wine cellarthe member’s club will only be accessible to a private and selected group of membersthe exclusive member’s club instantly offers spectacular views over beijing’s embassy and financial districts
Home office decor is a very important thing that you have to make percfectly in your house. You need to make your home office decor ideas become a very awesome and comfy decoration. Because everything on your office will affect your productivity everyday. That’s why you must have a very comfy home office decoration.
Before you continue reading this post, you also have to know about how to decor a living room wall that you also can apply to your home office decorations.
So, just enjoy the pictures.
home office bookshelf
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This white colour will give you really good eceperiences. Because the white colour s a very cozy colour that you can use in almost all of the furniture.
That’s why you can easily use the white colour.
home office furniture
This kind of desk and chair will give you simple thing to do. This furnitures are also really simple. Because you dont need do many things to get some of accessoris link a pen or a book. You will get it easily.
When I was a kid, my grandmother had a charming wind up music box that plucked the tune “Edelweiss” when you opened the lid. I was so fascinated by the mechanics inside the little box that I had spent a lot of time watching the movement turn.
I decided I wanted to do a modern-day maker’s riff on the old mechanical music box. I asked around for some advice on how to do it and got a lot of great suggestions such as using an Arduino Wave Shield, an MP3 trigger board, or my favorite idea, one of those electronic musical greeting cards. But I happened upon a $6 knockoff MP3 player that started playing songs when you flipped a switch on the side. When I opened it up, I was delighted to see that I could easily stop and start the music by opening and closing the circuit between the battery and the MP3 player’s circuit board.
Using a snap action switch inside a cigar box, I was able to control the music by opening and closing the lid, just like with a mechanical music box. The main difference being that my MP3 player would start the song over again after closing and reopening the box, which didn’t bother me. I found a pair of cheap speakers that had a headphone jack so that I could easily plug them into the MP3 player.
MP3 Music Box
I wanted to be able to access the MP3 player as a data drive and charge it up without awkwardly plugging a cable into the MP3 player directly, so I added a panel mount female USB B jack to the back of the box and plugged it into the MP3 player inside the box. Loading songs into the music box becomes a cinch when you just plug the USB cable from your computer into the back of the box and then drag the files to the drive.
The MP3 Music Box makes a great, customized gift for anyone. You can see in the video that I turned mine into a Wii Remote box and added 8-bit video game style music to it. You could add romantic music if you make the box for your partner for Valentines Day, or lullabies if you make it for a child’s nightstand. Whatever it is, there’s no doubt that this whimsical electronic music box will surprise and delight the recipient.
NOTE: I originally published this post in 2014, but it has been so popular that I’m sharing it again! It’s now three years later and this compost bin is holding up FABULOUSLY! The only thing I have had to do is replace the chicken wire with hardware cloth; our giant pitbull mix keeps nosing the bin trying to get at the kitchen scraps we compost, and the chicken wire wasn’t strong enough to keep her out. But the hardware cloth is working great!
One of my favorite things about owning a house is having a back yard with room to garden! Getting the garden planted was the first thing I did as soon as the snow melted; there are still boxes left to unpack from the move, but our garden is planted and thriving!
The second thing I did was build a DIY compost bin! I love the idea of reusing food waste; it keeps it out of the landfill, and my plants will absolutely love the rich soil! I know there are tons of pre-made compost bins that you can buy from a hardware store, but I had specific ideas about how I wanted mine to work, so I built my own!
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I had a lot of fun designing this DIY compost bin! My mom is also an avid gardener and I spent a lot of time talking to her, my dad (the woodworker), and my aunt and uncle who just finished building their own compost bin about what makes a good compost bin. We decided the following things were important:
Easy to add things to the top of the pile, preferably being able to open the lid with just one hand since you’ll be holding the compost bucket from your kitchen with the other
Lid has to latch to keep the critters out (my parents have crazy stories of their years long battle with the raccoons and rats in their area that kept getting into the bin!)
Easy access to the bottom of the compost pile to get out the soil that has finished composting (this piece also has to latch because of critters)
Bottom of the bin that sits on the ground also has to be critter proof, so nobody tunnels up from the bottom
Open and airy enough to allow for good airflow, and to let bugs and worms in to speed the decomposition
Sturdy enough to hold up to the crazy Chicago weather
So I finally came up with a design that met all the criteria above!
How To Build A DIY Compost Bin
4-6 hours (time spent doing stuff)
0 hours, unless you need a break! (time spent waiting around)
4-6 hours (total project time)
This is the design I came up with in SketchUp. The entire thing is covered in chicken wire or hardware cloth to allow airflow (even the bottom so that critters can’t tunnel into the bin from below). The lid has two latches and is covered with corrugated polycarbonate to protect it from the weather. (Note: if you don’t mind rain and snow and ice getting into your compost pile you can just cover the lid with chicken wire instead.)
The front panel is split in two and the bottom portion lifts up so that you can scoop out the compost from the bottom of the pile when you’re ready to garden. And the bottom panel also latches to keep critters out.
The materials list, lumber list, and instructions for building this compost bin are below. At the bottom of the post there is a “Print” button that will format the instructions for printing. You can also download the scale drawing I created for this compost bin by clicking here. I used SketchUp to create this drawing, so you’ll need the SketchUp program in order to open the file. Luckily, SketchUp is free and you can download it here!
This drawing file is copyright by Practically Functional LLC and is for personal use only. Please do not redistribute this file or use it for any commercial purposes. (But feel free to link to this post so others can come download the file for themselves!)
Lumber/Cut List:
We used untreated cedar for our compost bin; it’s slightly more expensive than treated lumber, but since I plan on using this compost in our edible garden, I want to make sure the compost doesn’t leach any chemicals out of the lumber as it sits in the bin.
You can make the following cuts yourself, or if you buy your lumber from a major hardware store, they’ll usually make the cuts for you if you ask! We went to Home Depot, picked out a few boards, and a super nice employee made all of the cuts for us while we continued shopping for the other supplies we needed. Just take this cut list into the store with you and they can do the rest!
2×6 boards (two 12′ boards and three 10′ boards), cut into the following pieces:
15 – 2×6 at 3′
2 – 2×6 at 3′ 3″
2×4 boards (one 12′ board and one 10′ board), cut into the following pieces:
7 – 2×4 at 3′
2×2 boards (two 12′ boards), cut into the following pieces:
2 – 2×2 at 3′
2 – 2×2 at 1′ 3-3/4″
2 – 2×2 at 3′ 1/2″
3 – 2×2 at 2′ 9″
Materials:
I’ve created a list on Home Depot’s website of everything you need to make this compost bin. I entered the correct quantities for this project, so just click “Add To Cart” to add each item to your cart and you’ll have all the hardware you need! Click here to see the DIY compost bin hardware list.
15′ of 3′ tall hardware cloth (I originally used chicken wire, but after a few years our giant pitbull mix wore it out in places by nosing into the bin and trying to eat kitchen scraps!)
box of #8 2-1/2″ deck screws (I love square drive screws because they’re so easy to drive, but if you don’t have a square drill bit, you can get these same deck screws with a Phillips head drive)
3′ x 3′ corrugated polycarbonate panel (I used a large panel, cut it down to size, and pieced it together to get 3′ by 3′)
I’ve also created a list of all the tools I used, in case you need to pick up a few for this project. Click here to see the DIY compost bin tools list.
pencil
(Note: I used the handheld staple gun pictured for this project, but it kept jamming and the whole chicken wire part took about as long as the entire rest of the build. When I replaced the chicken wire with hardware cloth I used my AirStrike cordless stapler and I got the entire bin covered in under 15 minutes. The handheld staplers will work, but if you can get your hands on an AirStrike stapler, those things ROCK!)
Sides of the bin
Start by building the sides of the bin. You will need the following for each side:
5 – 2×6 at 3′
3 – 2×4 at 3′
1 – 2×6 at 3′ 3″
Lay out all three 2×4 boards so that they are evenly spaced across 3′ of space. Then lay out three of the 3′ long 2×6 boards perpendicular across the tops of the 2×4 boards, evenly spaced again, so that you end up with a square grid.
Pre-drill two holes at each end of each 2×6 board. Pre-drilling your holes helps keep the wood from splitting as you drive your screws. Once your holes are drilled, square up the boards using your carpenter’s square, and then attach the 2×6 boards to the 2×4 boards using the 2-1/2″ deck screws. It’s super important that all of your boards are square before you attach them, otherwise your compost bin is going to be lopsided!
You’ll use the other three 2×6 boards to help reinforce the grid. The 3′ boards will go along each side and the 3′ 3″ board will be the bottom of each side, as shown in the photo below.
Remember that the vertical 2×4 boards are on the “inside” of the compost bin, while the horizontal 2×6 boards are the “outside”.
Stand the grid on its side so that the 2×6 boards are standing vertically, and place one 3′ 2×6 board on top of the grid, lining up the long edge of the board flush with the “outside” edges of the 2×6 boards (as shown in photo below).
Pre-drill holes into the middle of the 3′ 2×6 board. You want the screws to go into the 2×4 board, not the 2×6 boards; this will give you a stronger attachment. Drive 2-1/2″ deck screws to attach the support board to the side of the grid.
Flip the grid over and repeat for the other 3′ support board on the other side.
Then rotate the grid 90 degrees so that the 2×4 boards are standing vertically. Place the 3′ 3″ 2×6 board on top of the grid, lining up the long edge of the board flush with the “outside” edge of the 2×6 board so that the entire “outside” surface of the grid is flush. This 3′ 3″ board will become the “bottom” of the bin.
Pre-drill holes into the 3′ 3″ 2×6 board so that you have 2 holes lined up with each of the short ends of the vertical 2x4s. Drive 2-1/2″ deck screws to attach the support board to the bottom of the grid.
Flip the grid over so the 3′ 3″ board is on the bottom, and you have made one side of your compost bin! (The photo below is shown from the “inside” of the compost bin; the boards are all flush on the side facing the fence, but they are not flush on the “inside”, which is totally fine!)
Repeat the directions above to make the other side piece.
Back of the bin
For this part, you need:
3 – 2×6 at 3′
Once you have two sides, rotate them 90 degrees so they are standing on their side edges; the 3′ 3″ bottom boards should be standing vertically. Then lay three 3′ 2×6 boards across the two side pieces to make the back of the bin. (See photo below; the “bottom” of the bin is facing the camera and the “top” of the bin is facing the fence)
Pre-drill two holes at each end of the 2×6 boards, then square the boards to the sides of the bin and drive 2-1/2″ deck screws to attach the “back” boards to the two sides.
Stand the bin up on its bottom boards, and your DIY compost bin is 3/4 complete!
Front of the bin, plus hinged door
Next we will add some support to the front of the bin, and build the hinged lower door for easy compost access. For this part, you need:
Lay out the 2×2 boards into a rectangle so that the entire length of the shorter 2×2 boards is sandwiched between the ends of the 3′ boards. The entire rectangle should be exactly 3′ long and 1′ 6-3/4″ tall (the 1′ 3-3/4″ boards plus 1-1/2″ on either end, the width of the 2×2 boards).
Pre-drill a single hole through both ends of the 3′ boards. Then square the joints and use 2-1/2″ deck screws to attach the 3′ boards to the shorter boards.
Attach a flat corner brace to the bottom of each corner. This will help support the joint since you only have one screw holding each corner together.
Once you have the 2×2 door frame built, set it aside.
Flip the bin over so that it is laying on the back boards and the open front is face up. Pre-drill 2 holes into each end of the 3′ 2×6 board and place the board on the “front” of the bin, flush with the “top”. Square the board and attach it to the “front” of the bin using 2-1/2″ deck screws. (see photo below)
Set the 2×2 door frame on the bin so that three sides are lined up with the sides and bottom of the compost bin. Place the 3′ 2×4 board on the “front” of the bin, about 1/4″ above the door frame. Pre-drill two holes in either end, square the board to the bin, and attach using 2-1/2″ deck screws. (see photo below)
Attach the door frame to this 2×4 board using the two door hinges.
Attach the gate handle to the front of the door frame at the bottom.
Then attach the latch post safety hasps to either side of the door to hold it closed. I attached the “post” part of the hasp to the door frame itself, about 3″ up from the “bottom” of the bin.
Then I lined up the hinged latch part of the hasp with the post, and attached the hinged latch to the bin frame itself.
Repeat to attach the hasp on the other side.
Top of the bin and hinged lid
Next you’ll build the lid and top of the bin. For this part, you need:
Rotate the bin back to upright (bottom boards on the bottom). Place the 3′ 2×6 board across the bin, at the back. Pre-drill two holes in either end of the board, square the board so it is flush with the back of the bin, and attach using 2-1/2″ deck screws. (see photo below)
Build the lid frame the same way you built the lower door frame. Lay out the two longer 2×2 boards, and put the three shorter 2×2 boards in between the longer boards, evenly spaced. Pre-drill a single hole in the longer 2×2 boards at each joint, square each joint, then attach the frame using 2-1/2″ deck screws. (see photo below)
Attach flat corner braces at each of the four outer corners of the lid, and attach the two T-plates at the joints in the middle of the lid.
Attach the lid to the 3′ 2×6 board using the two door hinges.
Attach the gate handle to the top of the lid at the very front.
Then attach the latch post safety hasps at the front of the lid to hold it closed. I attached the “post” part of the hasp to the lid itself, at the front, about 3″ in from the sides of the bin. Then, same as with the lower door, I lined up the hinged latch part of the hasp over the posts and attached the latch itself to the front of the bin.
Now you have the framework of your DIY compost bin completely built!
Adding hardware cloth
The next step is to add hardware cloth to help keep the compost in the bin and the critters out! For this part, you need:
Tip the bin backwards so it’s resting on its back boards. Using your staple gun, staple hardware cloth across the entire bottom of the bin. Be sure to put staples every 3″ or 4″ to make sure it’s held on well and no critters can burrow in between the staples.
We found the easiest way to do this was to leave the hardware cloth on the roll, and slowly unroll it as we attached it. Once the entire bottom is covered, use the wire cutters to snip the hardware cloth free of the roll, flush with the edges of the compost bin.
Then stand the bin upright and add hardware cloth to the inside (you could do it on the outside of the bin, but it isn’t as pretty and it doesn’t contain the compost as well; stuff can slip out the gaps between the boards, so it’s better to attach it on the inside). Again, the easiest way to do this is to put the whole roll inside, start in one corner, and slowly staple and unroll as you go. Make sure you attach hardware cloth to the lower door frame as well, as a separate piece so you can still open the door.
Feel free to go heavy on the staples! You don’t want to leave any spaces for rats and other critters to get in, so staple away!
Note: The photos show us using chicken wire instead of hardware cloth, but like I mentioned before, our giant pitbull mix kept nosing the bin to get at our kitchen scraps, and the chicken wire slowly started to fail after a few years. I replaced it with hardware cloth and that’s holding up great, so I suggest using hardware cloth in the first place!
Covering the lid
Once you have hardware cloth everywhere, it’s time to cover the lid! For this part, you need:
Take your 3′ x 3′ piece of corrugated polycarbonate and attach it to the top of the lid frame using the 1″ wood screws. There’s no need to pre-drill these holes; the screws are short enough that they shouldn’t split the wood, and the screws will drive right through the polycarbonate without issue.
Our piece of polycarbonate was not actually 3′ wide, so we had to layer two pieces next to each other. We overlaid two pieces so that the corrugations fit nicely together, and used DAP clear silicone sealant to hold the pieces together. Then we added our wood screws about every 3″ or so around all four edges to hold the polycarbonate in place.
We also added a few wood screws in the 2×2 in the middle of the lid frame, just for good measure!
Installing the bin
The last step is to find a place for your DIY compost bin, and “install it”! For this part, you need:
The bin itself is really beefy and strong, but we added a few fence stakes just to be extra sure that no critters could tip it over, or that the strong summer storm winds wouldn’t knock it over.
First, find a place for your bin.
You want it to be near your garden so you don’t have to carry the finished compost very far, and you need to make sure you have room to open the lower door and pull out compost from the front. You also want to be sure to keep the bin at least 6″ away from all fences and structures on all sides. This is so that you don’t get any critters nesting in the nice, dark, warm spaces between the bin and your garage or fence!
Once you have your bin placed, drive a fence post into the ground at each of the four corners. If you have a fence post driver, use that; otherwise a hammer and a scrap block of wood will work!
Drive the stakes about a foot into the ground. Then attach them to the bin itself using 2-1/2″ deck screws through the pre-drilled holes in the fence stakes.
And you’re done! Stand back and enjoy!
I absolutely LOVE this compost bin! It’s really big, which is great, because I plan to do a lot of gardening! The compost that I’m starting now won’t be ready until next year, but that’s ok! At least for now it means I get to recycle our food waste instead of throwing it away, and it’s fun watching the waste slowly decompose into compost!
Does that make me weird? Tell me I’m not the only one out there who celebrates worms and bugs in the yard!
It’s easy to turn the hasp posts with one hand and open up the lid, which I really appreciate. It would be a bummer if I had to use two hands to open the lid every time I took the food waste outside to add it to the pile!
I turn the compost bin about once a week, and it’s decomposing nicely in this bin! Even though the hardware cloth has 1/2″ holes, it’s holding everything in really well, and it definitely allows air to flow through the bin, which is great.
The whole bin is exactly what I wanted, which is why I designed and built it myself in the first place!
