Beaten and Battered

Do you ever have those days when bad things happen over and over again?

Last night, I found out that my cordless drill has some killer torque. Instead of twisting the screw, it twisted my wrist.

My elbow felt like Jell-O.

My wrist made a terrible crunching noise.

It took me a moment to realize that, no, I did not break my wrist.

I shaved off a good deal of skin off my thumb.

I've hammered my thumb more times than need be.

My daughter clogged the bathroom sink with makeup wedges and flooded 3 rooms. I'm crossing my fingers that mold doesn't appear in my now soggy basement.

At one point I almost threw a hammer at my bookcases.

Count.

1....2....3...

Calm down...

My commitment has paid off, though.

The brute work of the bookcases is done.

I'm still installing the face trim, but that's easy-peasy.

My husband was a little worried about this project.

I have a habit of not writing up a detailed plan before I start.

My "blueprints" don't usually have any drawings on them. Just a ton of numbers/measurements for me to remember.

The drawings are in my head.

However, since a tutorial was requested by a reader, I did a few drawings and labeled some pieces.

I'll scan and post them on the final reveal!

A Bookcase Update

I realized that I haven't posted anything since Monday!

I've been super-busy, (okay, yesterday I went to the beach, but whatever!), but I was able to build at least one bookcase.

It's white behind the bookcase because the backing is painted beadboard.

It was cheaper than the unfinished beadboard, and it was going to get painted anyways.

So now I just have to build another on the other side, add all the face trim, prime and paint!

I have an entire Saturday off (that never happens!), so I'm cranking out as much as I can.

So, when you build bookcases, they should be properly anchored to a wall.

Portable bookcases will sometimes have a strap.

Built-ins should be anchored straight to a wall.

You can't anchor it through the backing. Backing is generally 1/8th of an inch.

That won't hold!

You have to anchor it through the main frame.

I knew that I needed a pocket-hole jig.

Kreg is definitely the way to go.

But at $149.99 for this master set?!

Wow...

I'm not a master wood crafter.

I just wanted two slanted holes!

So I found this Kreg Jig Mini.

The Kreg Tool site sells them for $21.99

I bought mine at Menards for $10.50.

It was perfect for what I needed!

It may turn out to be my new favorite tool.

;)

Anyways, I followed the instructions (different placement of the Jig and the bit stopper for different sized woods), and now my bookcase is securely attached to the wall studs.

Thank you, Kreg jig!

Beachy Cottage Bungalow (living room remodel)

I'm finally showing you the living room!

To date, this is my favorite remodel. Getting that stinky carpet out was a blessing!

I'm going to show you a series of "before" photos. These were taken before I even got my current entertainment center.

Don't mind the huge general mess. I didn't want to clean for some "before" pictures.

Yes, this is usually what it looks like.

I won't lie.

;)

So

Much

Stuff....

Ugh.

So we purged boxes and boxes of stuff.

Once the floor was done, I started on the board and batten.

Only the boards needed to be primed.

I used 1x4 boards for the baseboard and chair-rail, then 1x3 for the verticle boards.

I spaced them 18" on center.

The furniture was squished in the middle of the room for a while.

The screens had to be taken out of the windows because the windows were going to be painted.

(gasp)

I painted real wood!

;)

Sooooo....

Do you finally want to see how it turned out, my patient friends?

Much more airy!

Besides the formal furniture (which will be replaced next year!), it feels so much more open and clean!

I love that area rug!

We replaced our bookcase (that my father-in-law made!) with a toybench (that my father-in-law made!)

You'll see why it's gone in a second (don't worry, we didn't toss it, just moved it to a different room!)

And my vintage "Rubbers" box came in. It's even better than I had hoped! It perfectly fits "his" and "hers" magazines, and the other slot is perfect for a throw blanket!

And what a nice conversation starter.

;)

The patio door got a white makeover as well.

I rearranged some decor for the entertainment center.

Don't you like how it pops off the white wall?

Here's a closer look at my new vases.

They were given to me by a good friend, Alicia, before she moved two states over.

=(

This is what they started out from.

She tried making them candles by just melting a ton of candles.

And it didn't turn out.

So I had to fix it.

I put a sheet of wax paper on a cookie sheet, placed the vases upside-down, then turned the oven to it's lowest setting (170 degrees).

Don't worry, it won't bust the glass!

After a while, the wax melts to the bottom.

Just keep changing out the wax paper, and before you know it, they will be clean!

Then it got a few coats of white spray paint.

Much better!

A big bag of building blocks for my daughter

<3

And the topiaries got a makeover.

We needed to replace the ceiling fan, so I went with this tropical-looking one.

It's so fun!

(P.S. Beer-induced Wii Tennis near a ceiling fan is NOT a good idea!)

You can kind of see the old fan there.

Ugly.

Here's a better view of the new bamboo roll-up shades.

These are the best (and cheap!) option if you want a beachy cottage bungalow look!

And of course, there's always a catch!

I'm not actually done....

See this wall?

I didn't even bother painting it because we (as in I) will be making built-in bookcases surrounding the door.

This is what it will look like.

Don't laugh at my Photoshop skills....

lol.

This is my husband's face after learning that it could take me another 2 weeks just to make the bookcases.

Haha!

Anyways, the end of the month is coming here quickly. I'm just telling ya now, I've barely covered May's To Do List!

This room took more time than I thought, mostly because I decided to do a major overhaul of my living room, not just installing new flooring, lol!

I hope everyone likes it, and I will "see" you soon!

Tomorrow!

The wait is almost over!

I have everything done in the living room, but unfortunately, I will be working all day today, and by the time I get home, the lighting won't be good enough for pictures.

So expect the grand reveal tomorrow!

What Are Friends For?

I'm a crazy Type A.

I've known this.

Yesterday, I had a lunch date with my best girl, K-lee. Afterwards, she came over with her little man, Landen.

I set up the sprinkler for the kids, then started picking up the yard.

K-lee proceded to park two swivel rockers under the shade.

"Sit and relax for once." -K-lee

"But it's so beautiful out! It's a perfect day to get stuff done!" -Me

"Yeah, it's a perfect day out to do nothing." -K-lee

So we sat in the shade chatting, watching our kids run through the sprinkler. We did this for hours.

I admit, it felt great to do nothing!

That's why K-lee is my best girl. She grounds me.

On another note, you guys are being so patient with me about showing this living room!

I'm still waiting for my Ebay box.

I bought new lamps from Younkers.

Unfortunately, they don't have a picture of them on their site, so I can't show you the lamps!

And I need to fix my topiaries.

My daughter thought it was a good idea to peel off all the moss.

So I'm going to redo it and make it a bit more baby-durable.