Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Featured: The DIY Showoff; Bookcase Decorating

The DIY Show Off

Good evening everyone!
I got an exciting email from Roeshel over at The DIY Showoff today. She featured me again (4th time?), and I couldn't be more ecstatic!
Not only is she awesome, but her friends leave the nicest comments!
I'm so glad that so many of these nice people stopped by my little corner of the blog universe!

I'm hoping everyone sticks around for the grand reveal of the bookcases!
It's all finished, but I'm just waiting on these baskets to come in from Target.
That's only $11 per basket! That's not bad at all!
They are made specifically for DVD storage!


But since I don't want my entire bookcases lined with baskets (I have a lot of DVDs....) I'm going to be also ordering these from Target.





...because the easiest way to decorate is to copy the store picture!
;)

 


Thanks again, to Roeshel, for everything!
Check out the special feature here!

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

June To-Do

I don't want to start June.

May flew by so fast, I'm scared that June will, too!

This month is going to be crazy. I just looked at my course syllabus for school, and I have stuff to do before I even see the classroom! Summer courses are accelerated.

Yuck.

I also have a big Fourth of July bash every year, so I will be preparing for that.

I want to keep my To-Do list for June relatively simple. I didn't get much done in May because of a huge remodel.

So for June:

1. Build my fence.
This is my only project.
I'm not going to kid myself, this is going to take me quite a while! I won't have any time for other projects. Maybe mini projects...
But I have a pretty large yard. I have to make/install an arbor gate. I want a smaller picket fence in the front. Yeah....this one will take all month...

2. Surprise my husband with an awesome Father's Day gift.
Father's Day is in June, right?! Haha, I think so.... but anyways, I'm not telling what it is.  I have family readers, and this one can't get leaked out!



Last year we went to a mine. My husband loves our state history, and he was as giddy as a 5 year old in a candy store!


















That's it!
Just one huge project and one personal goal. Not overloading this month!

But who knows...I just may end up taking on another ridiculous remodel.
lol.





Monday, May 31, 2010

May Reflection

Wow, who could believe that May went by that fast?!
I had SO MUCH stuff planned for this month, but I've barely done any of it!


1. Fix up the playhouse.
I need to get it painted, install carpet, and add curtains this month!
















The only thing I have done was buy the remaining trim.


2. Buy new outdoor lights.
I like these ones from Lowes, but I can't make up my mind on which ones would look best on the house!





Priced at $49.00
















Priced at $49.98

















Priced at $24.98












Priced at $19.98











Which one would you put on this house?
Please help me decide!





























I was thinking maybe the $24.98 one. I like that it's a bit bigger. Since the light wires are on the tops of the doors, I think I need something to cast a downward light. And since I only can have one fixture per door, I think it should be the bigger one.
What do you think?

After enough reader responses, I decided to go with the $24.98 ones. I haven't even thought of purchasing them yet. But at least they are picked out, right?

3. Get A's in my two Psych classes.
I dipped down to a B in one of them, but I'm determined to get it up!
Score! I got this one done! Straight A's for this past semester! I'm overwhelmingly proud of myself.

4. Paint the entryway.
Here's what the green should have been will be!



















This is what I got.













Wow! Seriously?! Quite the difference, right? That's okay, we'll just redo it. No problem!
Nope, didn't even buy the paint.


5. Install my new flooring!
My carpet gets shampood at least once a week, and it still looks like this.














I'm soooo sick of it! This carpet just attracts dirt, even if I scotch guard it after shampooing it. So it's getting the same laminate flooring that's in my kitchen. I was coveting the bamboo, but it's more than double the price, and I have a huge living room. That wasn't in my budget!
It's sitting in the back of my vehicle, just waiting to be put in!
Done, done, done! This is the main reason that I didn't get much else done this month. This project snowballed into something epic.
It started out by replacing the flooring.
But with new flooring, and everything out of the room, might as well paint the walls.
But with new wall paint, I might as well add the board and batten trim I've been dying for!
But since I was adding wall trim, I should do my built-ins right away.

It turned into a full-on remodel!
The bookcases will be done by tonight!

6. Begin erecting our fence!
I'm ridiculously excited about this one! We've been wanting to build a fence since we bought our house, and it's finally going to happen! I just sent in the money for a land survery, then I'm off to get my permit!
It's going to be 6' planks around the backyard, but the front yard is going to get a low picket fence with a gate. I can't wait to start the flower beds around my picket fence!
We at least got the survey done. It's been done for a while. I haven't had much time to get the permit though. I just hate going to City Hall....lol

7. Begin getting my craft room ready.
We are getting rid of all of our basement furniture during our city's spring cleanup!
I REALLY wanted to clean out my basement room, but it ended up being the temporary dump place while I get my built-in bookshelves done. So it can't be done until I get these shelves done.

8. Trim out the rest of the kitchen cabinets.
I have all the trim already, I just need to force myself to get it done!


Ugh, no! However, I did buy the trim for it. Now if I can just get them cut...


9. Transplant as many lilac bushes as possible!
My neighbor gave me free reign to split and take all of his overgrown lilac bushes! It's a big mass, but I know that once I split them, they will flourish! I'm literally going to have 20 lilac bushes in my yard...lol! It's my favorite flower! I couldn't be happier!
This is all overgrown lilacs:
















Haha, nope. See what I was saying about barely getting anything done?
I'm hoping to get some planted soon, though. They are done flowering, so this is a great time to transplant.

10. Build my circle bench.
The lumber shouldn't cost me that much. I'll definately show you when it's done!


Shoot, I forgot this one was even on my list. And honestly, it would only take me 2-ish hours to build. No excuse...


11. Buy some supplies to get my island transformation done.
Lol, yeah...like this is acutally going to happen...It's just wishful thinking!















Nope, didn't even buy supplies. Okay, ya know what? This one probably won't be done this year. I'm trying to be honest with myself. The painting has to be done in the summer. I'm building a fence this summer. There's no way that I will have the time/funding to get this done.
But it's on my "eventually" list.
Come back tomorrow for my June To-Do!

Saturday, May 29, 2010

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!



Friday, May 28, 2010

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.

Wow...


I'm not a master wood crafter.
I just wanted two slanted holes!


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!



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