My summer project | A Japanese waiting arbor

Weekend warriors: Calvin and Corene Caley.

Project: Japanese waiting arbor, Seattle.

Cost: $1,300.

Time spent: 1 ½ months, off and on.

Details: "It is my modernist take on a shoji building. The panels are translucent white acrylic, and the roof is composite roll roofing. The multifunction of the building is great, and draws you into the garden because you want to sit in it. My daughter, who is 19 months old, will be able to use it for a playhouse, and my niece and nephew can pretend it is a samurai fort. Plus I can hide my yard-waste containers behind it."

Lesson learned: "I absolutely could not have built this without the help — and tools — of my neighbor, Dennis."