Hey there!! I am Anika Gandhi.
I am the creative force behind Anika’s DIY Life.
I am here to empower and inspire you with ideas, tools, and skills you need on your journey to fill your life with DIY!
I want to show you that if I, having NO experience with DIY, can do this, YOU totally can too!
Come join me and learn with me!
My Story
I grew up in India. Growing up, I was always been crafty – the handmade card, macrame, embroidery, and little crafts kind of person. I had ZERO exposure to power tools or DIY – it wasn’t really a thing in India.
I came to this country 18 years ago for grad school. I got my Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, got married, and got a job.
8 years ago, on a quest for some cute furniture for my daughter, I stumbled on to the world of DIY blogs! I realized I could do this! I picked up a power drill for the very first time and built my first project.
I was hooked!
I started this blog to show others that it is possible!
It is possible to not have any experience and pick up power tools for the first time and build your own furniture.
That feeling when you walk into a room to see all the beautiful things YOU built… I want everyone to experience that!
Since building that little table, I have gone on to build almost 90% of the furniture in our home.
You can click here to see all my woodworking projects.
Not just woodworking, I have taught myself many facets of home improvement and updated many parts of the home.
You can click here to see my home improvement projects.
My mission however remains constant.
I always make sure to make all my projects approachable and doable for everyone. I want you to look at the project or tutorial and think to yourself – “I can make that!”
I believe it so much that I put it on a T-shirt 🙂
Get your T-shirt here. I have a few other fun designs too!
I am humbled, thrilled, and excited that my work has won me a few accolades and been featured by so many amazing magazines, blogs, and websites, including those listed below.
I won the Best Creative Skill Award (International) at the 2019 Amara Interior Blog Awards.
Features
I have collaborated multiple times with Jen Woodhouse and Rogue Engineer to design and build projects.
Click on the logos to go directly to the features of my work.
A few fun facts!
Now that you have a formal introduction, here are a few fun facts about me –
- I am quite scared of touching anything non-human.
- I have serious nausea towards tea! I could not even drink it to save my life! NOT KIDDING!! This is a big problem in social situations given that I am from India! I am not a big fan of coffee either (My friends (including my husband) wonder how I got through grad school and Ph.D. without caffeine!)
- I am a trained Indian classical dancer (in Bharatnatyam). I have also learned Jazz and Modern and I love all things dance and music!
- I am a “pseudo” vegetarian… I prefer vegetarian food any day but then buffalo wings are my weakness 😉
- I absolutely love earrings – the bigger, the blingier, the better!!
Write to me!
I absolutely love hearing from my readers! Send me pictures of your projects, questions, feedback or a note just because! Email me at anika{at}anikasdiylife{dot}com
Or you could write to me the old fashioned way (which I love by the way!) –
P.O. Box 974
Cypress, CA 90630
Chuck Guajardo says
HI,
I’m a model train guy, and I wish to build a slide out shelve, not to hold anything but six toggles switches.
I have a plan of what I would use. slide out shelve is with a rectangle of 1×3 boards cut 16” by 12” with gliders of
the side. I have looked for a kit to put to-gether, and couldn’t find anything I could use.
regards
Chuckg
JOHN MCNEILL says
Hi Anika: I just completed your Hammock Stand using 4x4x8 P.T. wood as redwood doesn’t seem to be available in my area(Ont. Canada) and Cedar seems too expensive. If I could make one observation (not a complaint) I am 70 years old and maybe my eyesight is getting weaker but I found the dimensions very hard to read. Maybe you could increase the size for seniors citizens? I love your plans and I am looking forward to building your outdoor table next. Cheers, John.
Anika Gandhi says
Hi John,
I am glad you were able to build the hammock stand. I am sorry about the print. Please feel free to email me if you run into any problems with reading the plans. I can always send you larger print.
Happy building!
Anika
Hope says
Hi Anika,
I have become very interested in woodburning and carving. I have a heated burning/carving hand tool and tried the burning. It was also comforting kinda like coloring but I think the tool I have was not hot enough because it was taking a wild to get the image to burn into the wood
I loved your post where you used your dremel to carve the mandela I loved your post and your project. I had all of these beliefs that the dremel could do so many fun things. I wanted to carve designs into my cabinets, carve foam pumpkins, and make a custom number plaque for my home. Once I got it, the attachments were overwhelming and I got discouraged. My husband has now taken over my dremel tool. I loved your design and you have me believing that I need to take back my tool and figure out how to do all those things, so thank you!
Thank you for the inspiration
Karen says
Hello, I just came across your website while searching for some beginner DIY projects – I’ve always wanted to build my own furniture, but I’m not sure where to begin. You’ve got so many fabulous projects here, I’m looking forward to getting started.
I had one question – for an absolute beginner – what are your top 2-3 must-have tools to begin any woodworking projects for the home?
Anika Gandhi says
Hi Karen, I am happy you found my site useful. Take a look at my article Tools for beginner woodworkers – https://www.anikasdiylife.com/woodworking-tools-beginners/. I think that should be helpful to you. Let me know if you have any questions.