The first step to creating a serious home workshop — whether it’s in your shed, basement, or garage — is obtaining an affordable but sturdy workbench. Simpson Strong-Tie has more than 65 years of expertise developing connectors to build safe, strong homes, so imagine the result if you applied our connector solutions to your new workbench.
Looking to refresh and declutter a space in your home or workplace? Building your own leaning ladder bookshelf is the perfect solution! This bookshelf can house books, audio devices and knickknacks without taking up too much space.
Having a flat, raised surface to hold your computer or laptop is essential for any desk or workspace. It can help make sure your computer won’t overheat and minimizes your workstation clutter. Another great benefit of having a computer stand is its ergonomic convenience. It allows you to adjust your computer to a comfortable height that is level with your line of sight and helps prevent posture as well as eye strain.
Adorned by luscious vines, a garden arbor can add shade and style to any backyard garden. This latticed arbor helps nurture your climbing plants by giving them room to grow high where there’s plenty of sunlight and oxygen for the intake.
Enjoy the outdoors from your garden with this large and comfortable bench. This is the perfect upgrade to your backyard — a fantastic do-it-yourself project that comes with step-by-step instructions to make it a summer breeze to build yourself.
With the weather warming up, you’re probably looking forward to enjoying some sun with a cold drink in hand. Our build-it-yourself mobile cooler allows you to host outdoor gatherings in style and will keep your refreshments chilled for hours so your guests can help themselves without continued trips to the house. Stay cool and party on.
Excited to start some gardening projects, but don’t have a dedicated space for repotting all your plants? Look no further than this outdoor potting bench plan. This plan can help you easily build a sturdy potting bench that’s perfect for all your gardening projects. It’s a great place to house your gardening equipment and offers a large surface area to pot your plants.
Cultivate your inner green thumb and create a symphony of tastes and colors in your backyard. This raised garden bed is the perfect place to nurture fruits, vegetables or your favorite flowers. Even better, this raised structure allows you to optimize your plants’ growth by choosing your preferred soil and controlling its moisture levels. Build one or more of these stylish raised garden beds to add to the beauty and productivity of your outdoor space.
Simpson Strong-Tie marketing copywriter Sean Krainert made the decision to go tiny after realizing it fit with his minimalist lifestyle. Discover more about the tiny house movement and take a tour of his tiny house.
Looking to enhance your outdoor space? Make the most of meals and get-togethers in your yard by adding a picnic bench — a great, low-cost project that will give you extra seating and table space for barbecues, dinners and parties.
While many people like the look of galvanized metal connectors on their DIY projects — as we have shown with the Simpson Strong-Tie® Rigid Tie® RTC connectors on our DIY standing desk and heavy-duty workbench — others prefer a painted look.
Every so often a homeowner tackling a new project will reach out to ask why their lumber doesn’t fit the connector. We sympathize. Lumber size can be confusing, especially when someone is first getting started with DIY woodworking. Nearly every single time this question comes up, it comes down to “nominal” dimensions of the purchased lumber.
It’s no surprise that with so many of us stuck at home for most of 2020, there’s been an increased interest in DIY projects. Homeowners have been using the time to build everything from desks to alternative dwelling units. That interest is reflected in where we see visitors going on our website. We’ve seen a significant increase in the number of people downloading free project plans and an especially high interest in free pergola plans.
One of the nicest outcomes of the COVID pandemic has been the reduction in commuting time for people who have shifted to working 100% from home. With less time in transit, many people have had to figure out how to work effectively from home.
So, you’ve decided to build a chicken coop for your yard — congratulations! But now you’re probably thinking, “Where do I even start? What materials do I need? How many chickens can I put inside?” Simpson Strong-Tie has partnered with the backyard chicken experts at Chickens and More to answer these questions and many more.
Free pergola plans by Simpson Strong-Tie will help beautify your backyard while providing your family and guests with shade to relax in. These pergola designs were developed by Simpson Strong-Tie engineers, so you can be confident that not only will they look great but they’ll be safe, strong structures. We’ve set out to create a diverse selection of architectural styles to make it easier for you to find the structure that best enhances your outdoor space.
Many of us have found ourselves spending more time at home this summer trying our hands at do-it-yourself projects or making long-overdue home improvements. Simpson Strong-Tie has a helpful DIY website filled with inspirational photos and free project plans. Many of those projects, like our free pergola and garage shelving plans, were produced in house by our engineers. Others came from the creative minds of brand ambassadors we’ve had the pleasure of working with over the years, like the Rogue Engineer and Jen Woodhouse.
When we started planning a high-quality video for our new Outdoor Accents® Avant Collection™ of decorative hardware, we knew we wanted a well-known and talented social media Influencer to help us show off the versatility of this new line. Our marketing team’s first choice was DIYer and brand ambassador Jen Woodhouse.
Your backyard might be the envy of all your neighbors, but sometimes a person needs a little extra privacy. The reasons for backyard privacy are endless. Maybe you don’t want your neighbors peeking in on your hot-tubbing, or maybe you’ve built a little koi pond for quiet meditation. Whatever your reason, we've got you covered.
When your company is in the business of building safer, stronger structures, you’re sure to have more than a few employees who are handy with a hammer (and a screwdriver and drill). This winter, our Pleasanton engineering department decided to put those design and carpentry skills to the test for the greater good.
Did you spend the summer sitting in the backyard dreaming about adding a covered patio or a pergola? Assuming you’re handy, maybe you even spent time thinking about bypassing a local contractor and doing it yourself (well, yourself and your BFFs, who’ll work for burgers). Naturally, as the summer crept along and your dream turned into an itch, you probably found yourself looking at do-it-yourself websites to see if you could, in fact, do it yourself.
