Works Completed: A Toilet and a Table

Perhaps it's a strange thing to post about the inner workings of one's bathroom, but I can't help but share the completion of our compost toilet! Last week, we put the second coat of paint on and added a second toilet to our bathroom, which is still out of commission so Lars has been having quite a fun time "camping" inside the toilet box. Every morning, he looks inside…"No poop yet, Mama!" And without waiting for a response, he ploughs right in with a flashlight and some toys. 

It is such a simple thing: 

1). 5 gallon bucket under the toilet with a starting layer of leaves or sawdust.

2). 5 gallon bucket under the smaller, handled lid full of sawdust (to be added after each toilet time)

3.) Remove the 5 gallon bucket when it's 3/4 of the way full and dump it in your (this is important) humanure compost pile (not the one for food scraps).

4.) Human waste becomes viable soil once again after sitting in the compost bin for 1 year

There is definitely more detail that I would like to add one of these days for those who seriously want to take this on in their own home. We've been composting poop for about 6 years now, so there's a few tricks to making it relatively easy and sanitary. Once our humanure compost system is built, I'll go over the system in totality. Although it takes up a few extra minutes of your week to haul out and clean up, it's such a good feeling to keep what we can out of the septic system and recycling, what is considered filth, into viable earth for trees and perennials.

And now on to another project finally completed…our family table!

With about $80 of lumber and screws and a DIY guide from Pinterest, we've acquired a very lovely table that can take a beating from a toddler with a wooden toy axe or a misled craft project. The more worn and gouged it becomes, the more of an antiqued farm table it will be!

However, I shouldn't so flippantly say it was just a simple trip to the lumbar yard with little financial investment. It definitely was an investment of time and patience. Once I brought my father into the mix, asking for his guidance, since my husband really didn't want to get caught up in this project (and who can blame him since he ends up doing about 60% of the work), the table transformed from a simple weekend project into a semester of Intro to Stickley furniture-making.

Most of the Pinterest farm table projects are simple in nature, joining all the pieces with a Kreg jig. My father, on the other hand, strongly suggested that we additionally biscuit and glue all the joints, which took some time…but gosh, did I learn a lot! I feel way more competent as a builder prior to putting this table together but I also know there is so much to get the hang of, the Kreg jig, planer, skilsaw, ect. 

Now I just have to figure out how to keep all the oatmeal and applesauce from embedding in the holes and grooves of the table. All the more farm-tably, right?