Author: TheDIYGirl

Budget website design – how to find it

My day job is designing websites for small business owners who don’t have bottomless pockets to have an internet presence.

I believe every brick and mortar business needs a website these days. It’s become a requirement for a credible appearance to customers and if it does nothing else, it gives prospective customers your location and contact information. If you don’t have a store, it’s even more important. The site doesn’t have to be huge, but it needs to be current and well done. It will often be the first impression a prospective new customer has of you, so it needs to be a good one.

Courtesy of The Oatmeal

I design sites for people who have never had a site before, but often for people who have a site and are paying way too much for it on an ongoing basis. There are some high-priced options being pushed so I’d like to give you some ideas on what to ask about and how to protect yourself from getting snookered. Trust me — good budget website design is out there and you can find it.

Most importantly — you will want to own all elements of what goes into your website. I’ll explain what I mean later. If you have a complete blow out with your designer, or if he or she gets run over by a truck, you want to be able to pick up your toys and go elsewhere. And I mean all your toys.

Free website design

If you do a search on Craigslist you can find a lot of offers for free websites. There are some companies who offer a free website if you use their hosting. I have worked with several people who tried the Craigslist route and ended up with hot pink sites, kaleidoscope backgrounds, comic sans fonts and terrible layout. I have worked with people who got a “free” website and were paying horrendous monthly fees for web hosting – and their sites looked terrible. I have yet to see a well done “free site”.

This is where the phrase “you get what you pay for” comes in. While you shouldn’t pay an arm, a leg, and your first-born for a website, you don’t get professional, polished, and current web standards for free.

What you should pay for

So there are no surprises, there should be three things you have to pay for: 1. URL registration (annual charge), 2. web hosting (monthly or annual), and 3. the design of the new site (one time charge). Changes later on would be an additional charge.

My personal opinion is that small businesses do better with a small designer – as long as they are reliable. Big companies charge big bucks. There are probably exceptions to this.

The flip side of this is the DIY computer generated sites that use canned images. They may not cost a lot, but I don’t think they are a good first impression to present to new customers because they look like a DIY computer generated site. Even if you’re a blogger, unless less you are talented at graphics and design I think you’re better off hiring a designer.

How much should it cost?

I’ll use a couple actual customers as examples. Customer A had an obviously canned site with the same images on each page, very little text, poor images, and lots of misspellings. For the design and hosting he was paying $114.95 A MONTH. I almost had a stroke. So in 5 years he would pay $6,897.00 for his site. Goodness. I designed a new and better site for him for under $1000 and he prepaid for 2 years of hosting at $3.99 a month or a total charge of $95.76. Even if it goes up to the normal $7.99 a month, which I have encouraged him to call at the end of 2 years and see if they’ll give him a deal, he’ll pay less than $3000 for his site over the 5 years. Beats the heck out of almost $7000.

Customer B also had an obviously canned site that was terribly outdated and was paying $19.95 for the site and hosting or $1,197.00 for 5 years. Not as heart stopping, but I thought that was too much considering it was for an ugly site. I did a new site for them and with the deal I got them for hosting they will pay around $900 for 5 years. Not a huge savings, but they now have a nice, updated site and total ownership (and therefore total control) of all the parts of the website.

There is very reasonable web hosting out there that performs very well so if you can find a designer who can do a nice job for a decent price the above examples should be possible for anyone.

Own your URL

Never, ever sign up with someone who owns or controls your URL. The URL is www.yourbusinessname.com. While a reputable designer will work with you on coming up with a good URL for your business, they should never, ever want to own it. Register the URL in your name and pay for it with your credit card. You control your URL now and always. It is the singularly most important thing about your website and will stay with you even if you have many different designers and web hosting services over the years.

Ask for references

Ask to talk to a couple of people the designer has done work for and get not only the URL of the website, but also the client’s phone number so you can ask the client questions. Ask them how long it took the designer to get the site up, how easy they were to work with, how willing they were to make changes if the client didn’t like something, how well written was the final site (was the designer okay with inaccurate information and misspellings or were they meticulous about accuracy, grammar, and spelling)? Would this client use the same designer in the future? That’s a very telling answer. Make sure the designer is a pleasure to work with before you sign on the dotted line.

Get bottom line price before

Never go on a pay as you go basis. Get a total published on the web price and what all is included in that price.

Don’t get sucked into high monthly fees

I have talked to people who have unknowingly gotten sucked into ridiculous fees. I feel there are big companies who feed off people who simply don’t know any better. If someone wants to charge you over $100 a month for a simple 5 or 6 page site, walk away. Heck, if someone tells you you’re going to pay $20 a month, keep shopping. I regularly set people up on reputable, reliable hosting services that charge less than $90 for THE FIRST TWO YEARS TOTAL. 24 months for under $90. I really recommend locking in the great price for 3 years if people can afford it.

The price will go up to something like $7.99 a month after the initial period. Call the sales office and ask what the best price is they can offer if you extend another year or two. You may not be successful, but it’s most certainly worth a try. Hosting services know there are many options out there and the good ones work to keep your business.

Warning: If you are currently with a service that charges a big monthly fee for design and hosting they will most likely make it as painful as they possibly can to cancel and transfer your site elsewhere. It will not happen overnight. It may take many phone calls and long periods spent on hold with lots of hoops to jump through. The effort is worth it to pay less per month and have ownership of your site.

Pay for your own hosting

This is another thing you should own. The designer may need to help you get set up. I call and chat with the hosting service and they are happy to then handhold a new customer through the sign up process. You will have to share the login and password with the designer after you sign up or set up another user, but it should be registered to you and paid by your credit card so you are ultimately in control of your site.

Cost of the website design

One of the first questions a designer should ask it is what your budget is for a new site. If they don’t respect the number you quote then check with more designers or rethink your budget. Budget website design shouldn’t mean ugly design. Be willing to pay a little bit more if that’s what it takes to have a great site.

If you need a site with a home page, about page, a contact page, a couple of product or services page find someone who will do it for around $150 a page. It’s initially a few hundred dollars up front, but it’s a cost that should last you for a few years.

If you don’t know how to do it, make sure setting up all required email addresses is included in the price.

Find out how much they will charge if you want something changed in the future.

Google and Bing

Make sure the designer registers your site with google and bing webmaster tools. I also suggest brick and mortar or service companies be registered in both Google and Bing Places. You can do this yourself but ask your designer if this stuff intimidates you.

Update your site

At some point all sites look old and dated. Web standards evolve and styles change. If all the information is still valid find a designer to update your site so it looks current. An old-fashioned site isn’t the first impression you want people to have of your business.

You can contact me through this website or at Gale at Winding-RoadDesign dot com if you have any questions. I’ll be happy to help if I am able — even if you’re using someone else for web design.

I will update this post as I think of more things.

Visit me at my day job at Winding-RoadDesign.com

October 13, 2014
New media cabinet and TV wall mount

Having moved into a house with next to no storage I needed a big piece of furniture for the living room to store media, electronics, and other things.

I lucked out and stumbled across this cabinet which is the base for a huge china hutch. It was very dark pine, 72″ across, weighed a ton, and cost $50.

Cabinet as purchased

It may look great in this picture but it was badly beaten up with scrapes and gouges in the top and front that weren’t repairable in its current finish. This was okay since I wanted it to be white anyway.

I filled the damaged areas with wood filler and sanded them smooth.

Beginning work on cabinet

Now for the idiot mistake. I painted the first coat on the cabinet thinking I had grabbed the can of primer. Do you believe it? It was so hot and humid in the garage and I was so miserable that I did an entire coat before it dawned on me that it was semi-glossy and not flat like primer. I had grabbed the cabinet paint can instead of the primer.

I debated what to do, but I have to admit the intense heat and humidity in my garage was the deciding factor. I couldn’t force myself to sand it off and start over so I’m going to find out what happens when you sand and degloss pine furniture and apply paint without primer. I’ll let you know how that turns out but from what I read it may take a year or two to fail.

Because of no primer coat it took me FIVE coats of paint to cover the dark brown. Maybe I should have sanded that first coat off.

I bought some glazing gel and added black acrylic and wiped it on the detailing and then wiped most of it off — all I was going for was the details to being accented. So this is what I ended up with.

I am really happy with how it all turned out. Oh, and I spray painted all the hardware black while I had it off.

Note the little piece of fleece under the Roku box? That’s the only piece of electronics I want outside the cabinet and I didn’t want it to put dents in the new paint so I have fleece under it until the paint has a month to cure. Never every rest things on newly painted furniture for the first month. Mark it on your calendar when it will be safe.

TV mounting bracket

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Now the big deal to me is the TV wall mount I bought to get the TV off the cabinet and on the wall. It was only $25 and it’s a rock solid bracket and installation.

What few negative comments I’ve seen on it are in regard to the little level that’s included with the product. My advice is never, ever use these tiny bubble levels. Everyone should have a decent level so they can check anything they hang on the wall.

The bracket comes with a little long handled Allen wrench so you can adjust the bracket once it’s installed. Since I was doing this solo I took my best guess at the angle I needed and had the screws locked down before the thing went on the wall.

I really, really didn’t want to drop my television so this project made me a little nervous. I guess I should point out that as I am not a huge fan of TV I only have a 32″ inch flat screen. A larger screen would definitely up the difficulty of this project and require more than one person.

While it fits very close to the wall I have since been able to reach behind and connect a coax cable for an antenna. The low profile look is so nice.

I never would have thought you could get a good TV wall mount for $25 and doubt I will ever have a TV sitting on a stand again.

October 7, 2014
DIY Miter Saw Cart using Ana White plans

I’m not going to do a tutorial on how to build a DIY miter saw cart since Ana White provides some of the best plans and instructions on the internet. I ran across the miter saw cart evidently done by Lady Goats on her site and loved the idea. The one by Lady Goats is pictured below.

Source: Ana White

Materials to make it

Since the cart is constructed from one sheet of plywood I thought this was going to be a totally cheap way to have a cart. Then I was told rubber won’t last long in the Florida heat and I should get polyurethane wheels so they will last. The poly casters at Home Depot are $8 or $9 a piece. Yikes.

I tracked down the cool locking brackets at Home Depot for $12.99 although I had to order them since my local store didn’t have them in stock. The online ad referenced “pair” so I ordered 2 pair. Think again. It’s $12.99 per bracket, not $12.99 per pair, so it would be $52 for brackets alone. Scratch that idea.

I decided to use strap hinges that ran $4 each and leftover lumber to prop up the side tables. That got the roughly $130 project cost down below $100.

Warning about height of plans

Since I don’t have a table saw a friend offered to cut the plywood for me. He was kind enough to go with me in his pickup so he could even carry the 4′ x 8′ sheet for me. He’s an extremely experienced woodworker and has been very generous with his time and advice.

So when I voiced repeated concern about the 36″ height of the side pieces and the 5″ wheels I felt obligated to defer to his opinion that the height would be fine. I kept pointing out countertops are 36″. Add the caster and the height of the saw and I was worried I was going to end up with a miter saw tower and I’m 5’3″. He insisted we follow the plan and cut the sides 36″.

This shows the casters on the bottom and the strips I attached so I could prop up the side tables.

Whoa — is this baby tall. I’m dealing with it, but I don’t think it will be long before I build a little platform for me to stand on so I’m at a better working height. I can’t change the cart since I glued it together.

So think it through before you cut the side pieces and make sure you make the cart a height that will work for your height.

Propping up the side tables without locking brackets

There are lots of pictures on the Ana White site that show options to the expensive brackets. I angle cut 2 x 4 scraps and attached 1 x 2 to the outside of the sides and the underside of the table extensions. This will work fine for me for now. Who knows? Maybe someday I’ll spring for the nice locking brackets.

In retrospect I should have staggered the strips on the cart and the underside of the table so they don’t hit each other when the sides are down. It would make the sides store more closely and save me a little space. When it cools off I will probably move them (I didn’t glue them) and cut new pieces of 2 x 4.

Finished but no saw yet

Finished cart with saw

Even though it’s tall for me, I really like the cart. It rolls out so easily and I’m working in no time. When I’m done it’s easy to tuck away.

October 3, 2014
Cleaning paint brushes and rejuvenating them with Murphy Oil Soap

Just a quick post with a tip on cleaning paint brushes.

Not quite sure why I tried it or if I read it somewhere, but after painting with a brush for 10 hours and finding a mess of dried latex paint on it I decided to let it soak overnight in Murphy oil soap. I didn’t even submerge it — I had a small rectangular plastic dish, coated up both sides of the brush with straight Murphy Oil Soap, and let it sit. When I walked by I squish the bristles to make sure the soap was thoroughly coating them.

I washed the brush the next day. I always use a nail brush to brush away from the ferrule to dislodge any gooed up paint. The dried paint just whisked away and the brush was spotless in no time. Every bit of the dried on paint was gone.

When the brush was dry I couldn’t believe how the bristles felt — the bristles were like when it was brand new. I purposely used one of my dad’s old brushes the next time I painted so I could use the Murphy Oil Soap on that. Same results. Not only was that old brush really clean, but the bristles were soft and supple.

If you have gunked up brushes you should try soaking them Murphy Oil Soap!

Brush on left is my new one. Brush on right is my dad’s and has been used over and over for years. Both were just cleaned with Murphy Oil Soap.

September 30, 2014
DIY Ottoman Tray for $27
After moving I decided to use my large ottoman as a coffee table so I needed a good size ottoman tray to put on it. I about went into cardiac arrest when I started finding large ones on-line for $80+. No way that was happening so I decided to make my own. This is a great beginner project due to its simplicity.

A friend had loaned me a Kreg jig to try so I thought a DIY ottoman tray project might be the perfect test. The gray stain was also a test since I would like to use that on a few pieces of furniture.

When looking at the total cost below I wouldn’t really include the cost of the stain in this project since I had to buy a quart and barely used a smidgen on the tray. The boards were knotty pine common boards.

Cost

Cutting List

I measured the ottoman and wanted a tray 28″ x 18″. The 1″ x 4″ is actually 3/4″ x 3 1/2″ so that changed the 18″ to 17 1/2″ which I was fine with. I cut:
- 5 boards to 28″
- 2 boards to 17 1/2″.
Assembling

I used the Kreg jig, but you could just as easily glue the edges and clamp the 5 boards together until the glue dries since the ends would hold the tray together. I drilled 2 pocket holes in the bottom side of 4 boards, glued the edges and then screwed all five boards together one at a time using clamps to hold everything in place while I put in the screws. This gave me a 28″ x 17 1/2″ solid board made from the 5 boards. Since the pocket screws are on the bottom of the tray I didn’t both to fill them with plugs. I did have to clean up the drill holes however.

I have to find out what I did wrong that would cause the wood curling around the pocket holes. I had to clean up all those splinters by hand.

To minimize screw holes I positioned the end pieces, glued them, clamped them tightly in place, flipped the tray over and used my nail gun to put small nails into each end board from the bottom. In retrospect I wonder if I should have screwed it from the bottom because after staining and finishing one corner of one end piece has lifted slightly from warping. It’s not bad though.

Using pocket screws to connect boards

At this point I picked out the hardware since I wanted to drill the screw holes for the handles before staining and finishing.

Finishing

I am switching to a coastal decor and wanted a weathered gray finish on the pine boards and black hardware. See my post on testing weathered gray wood stains — I used Minwax Wood Finish Classic Gray 271 and love the color. See the brown knots and grain that still show through the gray stain? This is exactly the look I was going for so I’m very happy with the stain.

2 coats of stain

This is an oil based stain, but I wanted to use the water based poly finish that I already had. See my post on how to apply a water based poly over oil based stain.

3 coats of poly and handles attached

I wiped on 3 very thin coats of poly to protect it and added the handles when that was dry. Sorry — no pics of it in place since I haven’t recovered the ottoman yet. Right now my living room is a blend of how I want it to be (coastal cottage) and how it used to be and the mismatch isn’t good.

I love this DIY ottoman tray, along with how much it cost, and that I now have a solid surface on the ottoman I’m using for a coffee table. But I thinks it’s clear I need some mentoring on the use of a Keg jig.
September 26, 2014
Water based poly over oil based stain — can you?

While finishing my new pine ottoman tray I was faced with a predicament: The only stain I liked was Minwax Wood Finish Classic Gray 271 and the only polyurethane I had was Minwax Water Based Wipe-On Poly. I really like the poly and wanted to use the stain/poly combination on several pieces so I had to find out if it would work.

Research

I found a post on DoItYourself.com that supposedly came from Minwax. It was about floors, but I figured if it worked on floors that take so much abuse, it would work on my tray.

I received this response from Minwax…
SUBJECT: Minwax Water Based Polyurethane Over Minwax Wood Finish Stains

You may apply the Minwax Water Based Polyurethane over a fully cured Minwax Wood Finish Stain (oil-based). Please use the following guidelines:

To ensure the color fastness of Minwax Wood Finish prior to applying Minwax Water-Based Polyurethane:
1.) Allow final coat of stain to dry 8-24 hours (Dry time is affected by your ventilation, temperature, and relative humidity).
2.) Wipe down the stained surface using a soft, lint-free cloth dampened with 100% pure mineral spirits. If the stain is cured and inactive, the mineral spirits will not affect the color. You should not have any color pick-up onto the cloth. The mineral spirits will remove any active/excess stain from surface and help the stain to cure out.
3.) Allow the mineral spirits to evaporate/flash off the surface.

Once the stain color is set and cured (passed the color-fast test), apply 3 coats of the Minwax Water Based Polyurethane per label directions.

Sincerely,
Consumer Affairs

The test

I did as the post suggested — I allowed the tray to dry overnight and then used a microfiber cloth to wipe it down with mineral spirits. Again as suggested, I allowed it to “evaporate/flash” for a couple hours. My cloth had picked up just a tiny amount of color so I thought it was okay to go ahead with the poly.

Tray after “flashing” with mineral spirits

The results

The poly went on over the oil based stain beautifully. I put on 3 thin coats, of course this worked out to 6 coats since I had to do the bottom and then the top, attached the handles and am very pleased with the finished tray. The satin poly gave it a really nice finish and feels rock solid over the oil based stain.

Tray after 3 coats of poly

I will continue to use this combination of water based poly over oil — I’ll report back if I run into any problems.

September 26, 2014
Cabinet hardware – great stuff at great price
Being the frugal person that I am, I have been doing a lot of searching both online and in stores for a good deal on nice cabinet hardware for my bathrooms. Both bathrooms have builder’s grade cabinets and no hardware. I’m currently painting the cabinets so I’ll need the hardware when I’m finished. I’m also going to be building some shelves for the master bathroom that will have hooks, so I need a bunch of those too and store prices are ridiculous. I would like these projects to come in on budget.

For the record I am NOT sponsored by Gliderite. Heck, I’m not sponsored by anybody and will happily tell you when somebody’s gives me something for free. I’m sharing this because when I find a good deal I like to share it.

Previous cabinet hardware deal

I had found a good buy on hardware at Overstock.com last year. At least what I thought was a good deal. Now I’m kicking myself. I ordered 10 packs of Gliderite hardware for $29.95 and thought I’d hit the jackpot. Sorry Overstock, but I won’t be buying from you again.

When I got the hinges last year for my Shaker Cabinet Update I found some of the packets were missing screws. I called Gliderite directly and talked to a very nice customer service person who apologized for the inconvenience and simply shipped me 10 sets of hinges no questions asked. I don’t run across that kind of service much anymore and prefer to give my dollars to companies who treat you well.

Gliderite cabinet hardware

This time around I went directly to the source and found Gliderite.com and got what I think is an incredible deal.
- Cabinet Hardware Knob Round Ring – Satin Nickel (Pack of 10) $11.95
- Classic Bin Cabinet Pull – Satin Nickel (Pack of 10) $19.95
- Satin Nickel Large Robe/Coat/Hat Tri-Hook (Pack of 10) $19.95
They don’t charge for shipping within the US. I placed my order on Sunday and got an email by midday Monday that my order had shipped. $51.85 for 10 knobs, 10 pulls, and 10 triple hooks? I thought the hooks alone were going to end up running me $50-70 so needless to say I am thrilled.

I love a good deal so I thought I’d share it. FYI — I once again called customer service to see if they sold a template for drilling holes in the door and drawers (I really stress over this job). They don’t have one, but had suggestions and once again were incredibly nice.
September 23, 2014
Wall Anchors – my new favorites

I have recently had appallingly bad luck with wall anchors. I was hanging shelves in my sewing room and most of the wall anchors I tried were a complete disaster. I tried toggle bolts, molly bolts and some new contraption and they were all awful. My wall ended up looking like Swiss cheese from my failed attempts and left me with a lot of drywall to repair.

All I want is an easy to use anchor that it strong enough to hold things and I can install with pinpoint accuracy so things end up level. I like level. Crooked makes me crazy. Swiss cheese makes me crazy too if it’s on my walls.

Bathroom hardware

I painted my guest bathroom and decided it was a good time to move one towel bar and the toilet tissue holder to better locations. I cringed. That meant more hollow wall anchors/potential failures. With very nice freshly paints walls I didn’t want Swiss cheese again.

I hated the kind I was using so I started researching to see what other people like. I found this funny little video from a guy who I assume is in Australia:

I went to HD and bought the kind he demonstrated. I got a 4 pack of E-Z Ancor Twist-N-Lock 75 Medium Duty #8 x 1-1/4 in. White Nylon. It took me minutes to successfully re-install the towel bar and toilet tissue holder in perfectly level, firmly attached beauty. I was sold. But I was out of anchors.

I was at Walmart and picked up Bulldog Auger Anchors. Same basic thing and I hung a bracket for a three tiered hanging basket in the kitchen that is perfectly straight and currently loaded down with fruits and vegetables in about 5 minutes. No swiss cheese, no cursing and swearing.

These will be my go to anchors for anything that doesn’t have to hold a ton of weight. Of course, if I’m hanging shelf units I’ll be back to my nemesis molly bolts. Why don’t I same capable of putting molly bolts in level??

September 19, 2014
PVC dog cots – measurements for small dog cot

I was approached by a reader to assist in coming up with measurements for a smaller dog cot for her dogs. Donna was kind enough to send pics of her puppies and the cots so I could post them. Aren’t they cute?

Donna built the PVC frame using 1″ pipe: the long sides of the PVC were cut 24″, the short side of the PVC were cut 18″.

Donna told me that when assembled there was 22″ and 16″ of the PVC exposed between the corners so that had to be the width of the finished slings

Donna told me the circumference of the 1″ pipe is approximately 4 1/4″ so that’s what had to be added to wrap around the pipes.

I came up with cutting the fabric pieces 18″ x 35.5″ and 24″ x 28.5″ and Donna told me that working out perfectly once the 1″ side hems and the loops to go around the pipes were sewn. That means you only need 1 yard of fabric to make each set of the small dog slings.

Follow the step by step for the large dogs PVC cots subbing in the smaller PVC and fabric measurements.

These are the cots Donna made — she did a beautiful job!

Email me if you have questions, but I may have to defer to Donna’s expertise since I haven’t actually made the smaller size cots.

September 16, 2014
PVC Dog Cot Slings for sale – both sold

I have 2 dog cot slings for the large dog cots with PVC pipe sides that measure 32″ and 26″. One sling is khaki and the other in nutmeg. Both are made of 100% duck cloth and washable.

I had someone contact me asking me to sew the slings for her – even nagged me over Memorial Day weekend about getting them done – and then refused to ever send payment. Sigh. Does this fall under “no good deed goes unpunished”? Due to this I am rescinding my offer to sew slings for people in the future.

Each sling is $35. $10 for fabric, $20 for labor (they each take 2-3 hours to measure, cut, iron, and sew), $5 dollars for shipping.

If you’re interested either leave a comment or send me a message from the contact page. They need a good home with a dog who will appreciate them 🙂

Update October 19, 2014

The nutmeg sling went to Crystal in Ontario, Canada who is starting a dog kennel and will be using one as a template to make a lot more. I am really tickled about this since I’ve always thought the dog cots would be perfect for kennels.

I have people emailing me about the remaining khaki sling so I suspect it will be gone soon. I will consider sewing more, but due to the time it takes and the increase in the cost of fabric I would charge $40 a set. I checked duck cloth at Joann yesterday and there are a lot of colors in stock so if you’re interested I will check if they have a color that will work with your dog and decor. So if you don’t own a sewing machine and would like to buy the standard size slings for large dogs send me an email through comments or from the contact page.

Update November 24, 2014 – the khaki sling sold also.

September 16, 2014