The nicest thing about Buildables.net is probably the background. I don't know about others, but if I'm building something I'm likely to be building it on the floor (and even sitting there) so this seems quite fitting. This background also gives the site a bright feeling. The rest of the site is decent and with a few nice touches, but in all honesty not terribly impressive. Nice touches include the search box style, rounded corners and the subscription box in the sidebar. The rest just does the job and might at least get some points for simplicity..

There are definitely things to be improved. Starting from the top perhaps it would still be a good idea to use some sort of a nice logo or an image with "Buildables" written in a nice style. This would add a lot to the uniqueness and attractiveness of the site. Last blocks in the sidebar feel a little squeezed. Almost all all titles in the "recent themes" block use up two lines because they can't fit on a single one which makes it look messier. It's probably better for this to expand across both sidebar columns to be wider. Also, "recent themes" is a little odd as the site contains articles or guides rather than "themes".

The left column of the sidebar that has blocks for categories and archives leaves quite a bit of white space beneath compared to the right column which also adds to the "messy" feel. This might be somewhat better if there were more categories to show. Currently it only has "building" and "uncategorized". which probably isn't even worth displaying in a dedicate block. If the "recent themes" (or I would suppose it should be "recent guides" is expanded across both sidebar columns the categories and archives blocks can be just put beneath it which would look better.

The content area would be quite fine if the ads weren't so ubiquitous, at least in the first two entries. The only issue left would be the "share and enjoy" text being too close to the corresponding buttons. Same goes for the article pages, plus the numbered lists could be styled to have a little more top/bottom margins which would make numbered lists containing multiple lines for each number look more readable. I'd suggest going even further in beautifying the lists as they are the primary thing articles consist of. For example something like this or this might look better.

It's a good thing the article uses proper HTML headings (h2) for its sections (and main h1 for title). The comment form isn't especially attractive so if the owner would like to go a step further in polishing up I'd suggest putting the info input fields closer together and their titles on the right to them and then styling the main textarea to match them. That would just add a basic, but more elegant look.

Design Rating: 6/10

Focus:

"Buildables" is a nice catchy name that should be easy to brand (all the more reason to produce a good logo and make the site's design stand out better). Slogan hints and the purpose of the site and the article titles on the homepage complete the picture. Categories are missing, that is, there's only two categories "building" and uncategorized which is almost the same as having no categories. It's not a serious issue perhaps as it doesn't really confuse the user about the focus, but it does leave out one browsing option and essentially makes the site into a single uncategorized bunch of articles.

Focus Rating: 9/10

Content:

One nice thing about articles on Buildables.net is that it consistently uses bullets or numbered lists to present information and instructions which makes them easier to follow and more attractive. Articles consistently start with a brief description of highlights of what is being built and why you might want to build it and then proceeds with required tools and materials, instructions for building and finally tips and warnings. There are just over 40 articles showing how to build a variety of things, some big and some small, albeit most seem to be about big things such as a house or a tree house, lounge, windmill, trailer and so on.

Content Rating: 10/10