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 crafty – the handmade card, macrame, embroidery, and a 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 onto 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
Carina
Just feeling so grateful and inspired as I’ve stumbled across your awesome website. I have a very skilled husband and consequently I haven’t dared attempt any woodwork projects because they might not meet his standards!! But I really feel I could have a go now I’ve seen your projects. I love how organically your work has evolved and that you’re open to continually sharing your learning process, that makes the prospect of starting seem so much more accessible. Thank you 🙂
Anika Gandhi
Hi Carina! I am so glad you find all the information useful.
You got this! Can’t wait to see what you build!
Anika
shnkr
just stumbled across your videos on youtube. very nicely done Anika! you cover all the basics so very well for a novice to get started off with ease. And the energy is infectious! more power to you – for your projects and for spreading the love of DIY. i am sure i will be coming back to check on this site to see what i missed! keep going, awesome work!
Anika Gandhi
Thank you so much!! So happy you are here!
shnkr
hi again anika,
not sure if i am putting this Q as the right place, since you have several pages, but here goes. at the moment i do not have a miter saw. i checked out your videos on miter boxes but am a bit confused about the reviews i saw online (box being cheap and flimsy, saw not being sharp/thin/thick enough etc) – is there a good quality miter box you’d recommend? next, i am trying to see if i should get a miter saw or if i can make do with the circular saw i have along with some other contraption that would allow me to get started. i found one such from Kreg – the kreg cross cut station. do you think a circular saw + this station would serve me for a while? just so you know, i am just getting started and i want my work with existing tool set and then some to justify any future major purchases. i love diy and as a youngster i grew up on meccano sets and such, so i know i’d thoroughly enjoy it. but i am not so sure about my innate creative abilities where i design something from scratch. anyway, just that i want to start modest/small and see where this goes before betting the barn 🙂 any inputs would be highly appreciated! good day!
shnkr
also, a project idea might just be to build something like this ourselves – that allows us to use a circular saw as a miter saw, or perhaps even as a table saw (for which i see that you already have something).
Anika Gandhi
Hi! Sorry about the delay in getting back. Yes, the circular saw and the crosscut station will be a great addition for your purpose. You got this!
Robin
Wow, a Ph d in electrical engineering and carpentry skills. What achievements and an interesting mix of totally different skills.
I appreciated your article about the Swanson speed square. I had an inferior Empire square given to me that has some of the features of the Swanson, but not all. As a “gifted” (perhaps) amateur, I attend a Men’s Shed in Australia where I turn beautiful pieces of wood into other things; usually bird feeders, boxes, and am currently learning to do a variety of wood joints via trial and error – and improvement.
Thanks for an interesting site.
Anika Gandhi
Thanks so much for visiting Robin! Happy Building!
Lynne boag
Please can you let me now which is the best paint for veneer cupboard
Thank you
LBOAG
Anika Gandhi
You can use Cabinet paint from Behr. I love how well it works. But be sure to use a good primer!