DIY pergola build with LINX Pergola

Thanks to LINX Pergola for sponsoring this post

The perfect DIY pergola system doesn’t exi— just kidding, I totally found it, y’all. The most important part of this build was finding the right bracket system. I knew I wanted something simple, modern, and DIY friendly and when I came across LINX Pergola, I was immediately intrigued. Not only did LINX have the brackets that fit my vision, they also had their STIX engineered hollow timbers. They work perfectly with the brackets, are lighter than standard lumber, and can be used to hide cords for lighting.

Using LINX took a ton of guesswork out of building a pergola, the instructions were easy to understand and follow, and it was also super easy to create something totally custom because of how versatile all their different brackets are.

Lets go through how I designed and built my pergola.

Materials + Tools:

4 LINX UNIFIT base brackets
4 LINX TRIFIT corner brackets
2 12ft STIX 6x6 timbers
6 8ft STIX 6x6 timbers
1 gal Behr semi-transparent stain in Slate
4 36x96in Wild Hog fence panels
2 6ft Wild Hog Hog Tracks kits
3 8ft cedar 2x4s
6 2x4 joist hanger brackets
16 1/4 x 4 1/2in concrete expansion anchors
Impact Driver
Rotary Hammer

I knew I wanted enough space for a sectional and some lounge chairs on our patio, so I wanted a pergola that was about 8ft by 12ft. Because the posts are 6x6, that added 1ft to the total length and width of the pergola, and when we poured our concrete patio, we made it an additional foot larger to give 6 inches of space on the outside of the pergola.

With the fencing and furniture having a lot of very warm wood tones, I didn’t want the pergola to disappear into the background, so I stained the timbers an off black color, the color Slate in Behr’s semi-transparent deck stain, to complete the modern look.

Once all the wood was stained, it was time to start assembling. You start by sliding the corner brackets onto the ends of two opposite side beams, then slide in the other two side beams to one of those to create a U shape. Finally, close up the U shape by sliding the final side, and secure with the provides screws. LINX includes all the screws as well as the driver bits, so you don’t have to worry about finding the proper screws.

At this point you can install a shade cover if you want (LINX has shade covers that work perfectly with their system), but I wanted to create a gridded roof for my hop plants to climb on during the summer. I used Wild Hog fence panels along with their Hog Tracks to seamlessly integrate the fence panels into the pergola. I installed three cedar 2x4’s across the middle to support those Wild Hog fence panels.

Now, the exciting part— getting this bad boy raised up! This is a step you definitely want to have help with. For a pergola with 6x6 lumber I’d highly recommend having at least 4 strong people, and you’ll want two 6ft ladders. First, you raise up one side at an angle to slide in the posts into the brackets. Then you’ll go to the other side, raise that side up so you can slide the ladders under to support it, then two people will climb up the ladders and raise the pergola high enough that the other two people can slide the remaining two posts in. Then, you’ll position the pergola in place (one person on each leg of the pergola, lift the pergola and carefully move it to its final resting place).

Securing the pergola will depend on what it’s sitting on. If it’s a deck, you’ll use the base brackets to attach it to the deck, since we put it on a concrete patio, we used concrete expansion anchors to secure it. If you’re not sure the best way to secure it, you can look up your local building codes.

That’s it! It’s a really simple plug-and-play installation, and with all the different bracket configurations, there’s a ton of options for creating something completely custom. Check out LINX’s instagram to see a bunch of ways that people have created their own custom designs! I’ve got some of my own ideas scheming up in my head for some custom creations!

DIY Coffin Charcuterie board

I was perusing halloween decor at Target and spotted a coffin shaped charcuterie board and immediately got the bug to make one for myself. Could I have bought it at target? Sure, but why buy something for 25 bucks when you can spend a week making one with scrap wood you have in your garage?

I had some nice Birch plywood leftover from a previous project sitting in my garage, so I started by cutting that into the shape of a coffin using my circular saw. The shape of a cofffin is just an elongated hexagon, and I sketched out one side of it till the shape felt right, then reflected that to the other side so that it was a symmetrical shape. The overall dimensions are shown below so you can replicate the exact measurements if you’d like. The size felt pretty ideal for a charcuterie board, but you could always make it smaller or bigger if you’re making your own!

Once It was cut out I gave it a quick sand, then finished it with edge banding. I wasn’t originally going to do this (I was planning to just paint the whole thing, but I need to test the edge banding out for another project, and it actually ended up making it look very nice and finished).

I then used my router to create little rounded channels as handles. I had planned on using some drawer pulls to make handles, but when I realized that the grain on one side made a very spooky looking face, I didn’t want the handle to get in the way of the spooky face, so I ended up using my router and a round bit to create the groove “handles”

I had planned on painting in black, but with the discovery of the face in the wood grain I pivoted and instead stained that side ebony so the spooky face remained. I painted the underside black, that way I could have it black or stained- best of both worlds. Since this isn’t something like a bowl, or something that knives will be used on, I finished it with Lacquer. Based on what I could find online, for this application that sounded like a fine food-safe finish once it’s dried and cured. (it’s also what I had on hand). But if you’re concerned about food safety, do you own research on what feels like the safest finish for you.

Once it was all dry and finished, it was time to load her up with tasty things! This is, of course, up to your own taste. You can make it a sweet-things board, a savory things board, whatever the heck you fancy. Since it’s a coffin shape, I made a simple skeleton shape out of the food (though I’ve see this done with a little plastic skeleton surrounded by the food, which is also super cute).

I filled my charcuterie board with:

Brie (cut into the shape of a skull)
Goat Cheese (sliced into a “spine”)
Candied Mango slices
Pear Slices
Blueberries
Blackberries
Figs
Meringue Cookies
Yogurt covered pretzels
Crackers
Pistachios
Salami
Prociutto
Tiny White pumpkins

There you go! If you don’t feel like tackling the DIY project, but still want to do a charcuterie board like this, there are a bunch of fun coffin-shaped boards out there like these ones on Etsy, or these ones on Amazon.