You might pay a small fortune for stools similar to these in some designer shops, but you can make your own for a fraction of the cost using discarded timber and epoxy resin.

These beautiful, deep coloured stools look so much like logs they almost make you feel like you're camping out in your own home. If you have even basic woodworking skills you can make these, as long as you don't mind getting a little messy.

Basically, all you need to do is cut 4 x 2 Oregon to length and use an epoxy adhesive to glue the pieces together to form large blocks. Then use a power saw, a wide chisel and a belt sander to shape the gentle curves on each side.

Oregon is thrown out all the time, so it's easy to find. You can also buy it second-hand at a cost of a couple of dollars a metre. You'll need six lengths of Oregon, each 2.7m long, to make a pair of these stools.

Or, you can receive a beautiful, full-spread colour pattern by sending a stamped ($1) self-addressed C4 envelope (324 x 229mm) to:

Better Homes and Gardens,
Summer Favourites Projects
Private Bag 9850
North Sydney NSW 2059

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Source: Better Homes and Gardens April 2005