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
Sonia
Hello Anika
I just stumbled across your blog looking for simple ideas to practise woodworking on. You are AWESOME. I LOVE YOUR WORK. I will continue to follow and try to make something. Here in Barbados wood can be very expensive so I am using wooden palettes to practise on before I buy woods or lumber. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK.
Refilwe Monyatje
Hello Anita. I love your work I want to learn wood art. And one day design furniture please assist me. I know I can do it with your help of course
Dr Jitender Singh
Hi Ms Gandhi.
Just got to read your ideas for beginners. I liked it.
Regards
Prathibha Sweecruthi
Hi Anika, I went through your blog. I really liked it. I am also like you in some ways. I am also little crafty. Trying to do Own made projects.
But this is totally different to me. I would like to do like you. Hope you can help me. First thing I have few doubts
1. How to find the wood type whether it is teak wood or not.
2. Which one is budget friendly pallet wood or the other wood.
Anika Gandhi
Hi Prathibha,
Glad you liked my projects.
Answer to your questions –
1. Each wood has specific characteristics – like color, grain etc.. You can find out about them online. With time and experience you will be able to tell the difference in the woods.
2. Pallet wood is definitely more budget friendly. You can usually get them for free. But they take a lot of effort to take apart.
Let me know if you have any other questions.
Mary Dilday
Anika, I’m so anxious to get started on the darling dinosaur shelf! Just one question. Not sure I understand how to attack the half-dinos. What do you screw in to?? Thanks for helping me. Love your posts!!
Anika Gandhi
Hi Mary,
Make sure you have dinosaurs that are solid and not hollow. You can then screw into the plastic of the dinosaurs.
Willem Hendrik Croukamp
11 Oct 2021
Hi Anika,I love your story’s and it is sumthing that I can use. Thanks for sharing.
Regards Willie.
Lauren
Girl! I am soooo excited to find your blog. I’ve been teaching myself to build for the last year. As a female, it is so refreshing to listen to another woman teach. I don’t know what it is but you know the questions I have in my head and address them perfectly. I watched your Kreg video and finally feel confident I know how to use it. I’ve only had it for three months and I’ve made sooooo many mistakes. I’m so excited to tackle a few of your projects like the bench with shoe storage or kids table and chairs. Thank you!! I’m sure you mention it on your blog but I need to know what nail gun to buy and basically how to use it. Thanks again!!
Anika Gandhi
Hi Lauren, So happy you find my articles useful!
I can’t wait to see all the projects you tackle. For the nail gun – I have a few but the Ryobi 18-gauge Brad nailer is the oldest and gets used the most.
I do have an article about nail guns coming out in the next couple of weeks so stay tuned!
Anika