Norm visits the Pleasant Hill, Kentucky, Shaker village to take a look at its fine collection of furniture. His version of the blanket chest is pine, finished with acrylic latex paint on the outside and clear urethane on the inside. Its joinery is simple throughout, including the two storage drawers in the chest's base.

After a visit to a community playground to see what equipment kids are playing on today, Norm builds a project near and dear to his heart: a sandbox modeled after the one his father built for him and his sister when they were toddlers. Using hardy cedar, and pressure-treated lumber where it counts, Norm adds an awning of weather-resistant cloth that is guaranteed to outlast the simple cotton one on his old sandbox.

Inspired by a design he examines at the Shaker settlement in Pleasant Hill, Kentucky, Norm's wood box stores kindling in an upper box, firewood in a lower box and fireplace tools off Shaker pegs mounted on all sides. Norm seals the pine box with milk paint, a time-honored finish available today.

Turning to the more playful side of county life, Norm resurrects the old fashioned, two-seat swing that used to sit on grandma's lawn or porch. Self-supporting and made of durable redwood, Norm's version features a swinging mechanism made with common off-the-shelf hardware items.

Norm assembles a pie safe with two doors, multiple shelves and mortise and tenon joints. The cabinet features a punched-tin front, which Norm fabricates in the workshop. Years ago, pie safes were used to cool and store pies. In today's busy kitchen, this chest can serve multiple uses.