Take a good look at the lovely things in the photos of this NYC home. What if I told you they were the handiwork of two young roommates, created on the cheap, in the middle of their rented apartment, with the use of ONE (and only one) power tool, a drill? Impressive? Yes! Welcome to Jeremy and Ralph's House of DIY …
The Project: Handmade Reclaimed Wood Dining Table
The Materials: Church floor joists from Build it Green NYC, legs from IKEA.
The Story: Having never made furniture before, we lacked the resources and experience to join the three large pieces of wood. The original design which we were inspired by connected the three planks by hidden biscuit joints. Since our only tool was a drill, we were able to improvise by using thin perforated steel bars underneath the planks.
The Project: Pipe Fitting Bookshelves
The Materials: Gas pipe from Home Depot, 1x12" 8' planks of pine from local lumber yard, stained to look antiqued.
The Story: Trying to build furniture with no prior experience, without proper tools, and inside a poorly ventilated apartment. The living room was a wood-shop for approximately three months, constantly covered in dust, and often smelling of veneer/turpentine/wood stain.
Origami Tessellations Wall Art
Materials: Posterboard from Staples. Only $5 to make one sculpture!
The Story: The origami tessellations had a tendency to collapse under their own weight. When sleeping at night, it would fall on me, or sometimes the orange sculpture would fall on guests sitting on the couch. The sculptures went through about four iterations before we found a design that could support itself and stay intact.
The Project: Craigslist Credenza/DJ Booth
The Materials: Beat up 1970's Craigslist credenza, lots of sandpaper, wood filler and stain
The Story: The credenza — once a wreck — was restored and houses a vinyl collection and two hidden speakers underneath a "DJ booth". The biggest challenge was balancing the aesthetics and acoustics of the DJ booth. Keeping the speakers outside of the booth would have been an eyesore. However, they are placed inside, on either end of the credenza, such that when the doors are opened slightly, they reflect sound back to whoever is playing with the turntables.
Check out lots more of Jeremy and Ralph's DIY and design skills in their House Tour: Jeremy's Endless Energy and Resourcefulness
Images: After - Jill Slater/Apartment Therapy, Before - Jeremy and Ralph
Veronica & Keith's Handmade Chic 
Before & After: A Bathroom Goes From Pinky Peach to Sleek and Chic
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Hunslet Dinner Plate
A Beginner's Guide to Superb Stir-Fry: Quick, Healthy Meals from a Wok
Easy Pitcher Cocktail Recipe: Strawberry Basil Margaritas
Comments (55)
This space is genius. The bookshelves and the dining table combination acts as a library, dining and living. You both have a great eye.
The origami piece wow.
I love these guys! I want to know how they made the origami wall sculpture. The dining table really works so well - the reclaimed wood planks and sleek legs. Genius is the bookshelf though. Fabuuuuulous.
Now THIS is inspiring. The bookcase is a genuine work of art, the table is beautiful, the credenza is a darn miracle. To see how much you made of such simple materials is all the encouragement I need to keep recycling crappy particleboard into shelves, to get as much rejuvenation out of a simple can of paint as I can, and to keep improvising until I get it right. Reading this reminds me that beautiful design IS within reach for people like me who aren't made of money. Jeremy and Ralph, you RULE!
Wow, amazing. Any way you'd share detailed directions on how you did the origami project? I LOVED that. Every project was so very cool. Well done, guys!
Amazing work and incredibly inspiring. You two should be very proud!!
DITTO TO ALL THE ABOVE..GREAT JOB! THE BOOK SHELVES REMIND ME OF MY 2 PHILIPPE STARCK 1ST EDITION ETAGERES FROM 1984...AND LUV THE ORIGAMI PIECE N GOLD-THERES MONEY TO BE MADE THERE!
OH AND THE ART WORK ABOVE THE CREDENZA....NICE...8-)
There are several excellent examples of how less can be more in this Tour. The net effect is a simple, earthy elegance.
Do try to avoid posting staged and posed pictures. They often show dangerous practices when, almost certainly the real job was done safely. Drilling a substantial hole in a shelf board that is hanging so far from the edge of the table it is sitting on guarantees a teeter-totter unless someone (or a clamp) is holding the other end of the board.
Please tell us about the beautiful painting above the dj credenza.
Holy crap. How can I meet these guys, shake their hands, and score a few hours of Q&A time with them?
Brilliant!
Please, please, pleeeeeez explain/show how you made the tessellated artwork.
Pretty please...with sugar on top?
It would be so utterly, fabulously cool to make an installation for my ceiling.
Beautiful!
Thank you for the inspiration. I have seen many reclaimed wood tables that I have wanted but were either too big or too expensive or something. Now I'm thinking of making my own! Now...where to buy the reclaimed wood...
Really impressive! I join the chorus of "how did you do all this?", and OMG, it is fabulous! I'm seriously knocked out (and totally jealous).
great stuff.
I love the stories of failures before the final triumph
Love it all!
The work of doers ! I look forward to seeing more in the years to come
Yeah... I love this place... just LURV it! I love it as much as I did the first two times it was posted on AT (august 17th and october 27th)... aaaaaaand all the times this house was used in other posts...
I guess new houses to post about are hard to find, eh?
Repetitive post is repetitive
Well done, very well done guys. I really love everything you did here, cordenza, bookshelf, dinning table, wall art and all. I'm very impressed and glad you guys are done, so now you can relax. A party maybe? ;) lol
What is the name of the IKEA legs used on the table?
very clever space..
an amazing post in a sea of uninspired posts recently.
love it!
How did they make those poster board sculptures? With a scoring tool? Did they have to glue pieces together then spray paint it?
I love this! I want to be friends with them and go to their place.
Wow. Thanks for this post.
I bow to the Gods of DIY.
truly impressive creative thinking!! I don't know where to start with my compliments - the origami sculpture jumps to mind first but then is thrown out by the reclaimed table, and then the pipe shelves... sheeeesh. Can't wait to see what you two come up with next.
trully inspiring!they should elaborate more and spread their diy wisdom!
Daaaaamn! Now that's some sexy DIY.
These guys should be on HGTV!
That bookshelf is AMAZING!
Amazing! I'm moving into a new rented apartment and I totally want to try making those pipe shelves. GREAT WORK!
I'm obsessed with the shelves. I might have to take a stab at it myself.
www.applejuiced.tumblr.com
Hey guys,
Thanks for the compliments.
First, I'd like to say. Painter Tim, you're exactly right, that photo was staged. I think it's funny you were able to tell, but yes, the real work was done in a much safer manner.
Secondly, credit for the bookshelf design must go to The Brick House Blog:
http://www.the-brick-house.com/
You can find a bookshelf tutorial there.
Idea for reclaimed wood table was from here:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Reclaimed-Wood-Table/
The only difference was that we left a rougher finish and couldn't make biscuit joints due to the lack of resources. So our construction was significantly more simple. Legs I believe are called Moliden by Ikea.
And a tutorial for the origami sculptures is provided in video form with fun accompanying music:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrCjrhkvTgQ
If you want to contact me with questions, I can be reached at jrc3286@gmail.com
I enjoy chatting about interior design so reach out to me if you're inclined.
-Jeremy.
I'm foaming at the mouth over that table.
I haven't looked through a house tour on AT in a long, long time but this one is just REALLY INSPIRATIONAL. great job jeremy and ralph for doing so much with reclaimed objects, and I'm totally stealing that bookshelf idea for our basement redo!
I LOVE e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g. So jealous...
I can't watch the video. Anyone else?
^. perhaps a problem with copyrights
if the video doesn't work, try this link
http://vimeo.com/16718882
WOW...it looks amazing!!
This totally rocks! Especially the table - Oh yeah!
This space is awesome and these are great projects but isn't this a total REPEAT from recent-ish past?
think we should all pitch in and buy 'em some more tools!
Thank you, Jeremy C!
Yes, it was a copyright problem but I could watch it with Vimeo.
Pretty cool directions, thanks.
Just goes to show that good ideas and imagination-along with patience and perseverance- are the most important ingredients in beautiful and functional design.
All good, but the shelves are pure genius. This is an idea I'm sure to steal eventually. Thanks.
Since many of us have not been here reading posts everyday, I really appreciate repetitive posts when they are good posts. There is a case in point as to why "good things bear repeating" is a cliché. My life would have been less full without having seen this post. I have been looking at farm tables for over a year and found all of them either too large or too expensive. This example is a wonderful inspiration. Now to find some church floorboards....
is that "sungka" i see on the dining table? a Filipino piece. very nice. i love the whole project!
Fantastic! More posts like this, AT!
Holy Wow Batman! Great job, great eye. Totally inspiring post guys!
Wow. Awesome. Wonderful. Inspiring. Cool. I don't know what else to say!
All so very inspiring! Love the bookshelf! Great job.
This is AMAZING and very inspiring. Did they go to Pratt or Parsons?!?
@Not a Gallery - do you have pics of the lighting???
So nice to see such a well-designed place that took creativity and resourcefulness, and NOT just a checkbook.
Love it!
"an amazing post in a sea of uninspired posts recently.
love it!
posted by aprilheartsaaron "
LOL that's because it's a REPOST from like a year ago. I'm really beginning to worry about the quality of the posts here on AT if the only really good ones are from months or years ago...
This was a great example of DIY at its finest. My only (somewhat grouchy) comment is that these kinda grungy dining room tables seem to appear in every AT post lately!
In love. From another modern DIY in Spanish Harlem, I LOV your creativity and hard. Dying to know where your apt is! LOL
The origami art. It's amazing. Just amazing. I'm running straight to the craft store. Well, maybe in half an hour. So excited! I really admire your creativity and resourcefulness. My entire place is CL and DIY. :)