Built-In Desk

Wow, has it been an interesting few days.

I will explain after I show you my latest project:

Hailey's built-in desk.

My daughter is my youngest/final child. If anyone is the youngest, you know that you generally get last pick on everything.

When I was pregnant with my daughter, the boys moved into bigger rooms. Hailey got stuck with the smallest.

To make it fair, I gave her a second room. Her two rooms equal the size of one of the boys' rooms.

It's still a pretty small space, though.

If she is to get new furniture, I have to keep in mind how it will fit in her room.

I wanted to give her a desk. I thought this space would be perfect for a built-in.

Actually, I thought it would be a great place for a hamper, but since her dresser is in her 2nd room, it would make more sense to keep her hamper next to her dresser.

So I moved the shelf down to a desk height...

...patched the wall...

...and painted it.

I knew I wanted an extra shelf to hold supplies.

I also wanted to keep this a NO COST project.

I found this shelf in my basement.

It used to be in my living room.

But then I remodeled the living room.

You know I wouldn't just throw away a perfectly good floating shelf.

;)

So I cut the sides off the shelf to fit the space.

It got a coat of primer and a coat of white paint.

(Note: All paint used are my leftovers. I now have barely any reserve paint left =P)

Since I cut the ends off the shelf, I also cut off the hangers. But the back is hollow.

All I needed to do was make supports for it.

So I cut three pieces of 1x2's in the same lengths as the shelf's open pockets.

I predrilled holes in them.

And hung them up on the wall level with each other.

I secured it onto the supports with wood glue.

I also found hooks in my garage bins. 5 were screwed into the bottom of the shelf.

You will get to see that in a bit.

Anyways, I also had some flashing just hanging out in my garage.

(I know, I know, I hang onto everything.)

I cut it to size and nailed it onto the wall.

Now of course I couldn't keep those sharp edges there. It would need trim.

I found a perfect-sized trim next to my potting bench.

You can see a little bit of the shelf here as well. The hooks weren't in when I took this picture, though.

Anyways, I pulled up a chair from my basement. It belonged to an old desk that we no longer use.

I took the seat and back off....

...and gave it a coat of primer and a few coats of white paint.

Do you remember these ugly pots from the herb garden?

Here they are getting primed...

...to become art supply holders.

Ready for the grand reveal?

And then, after two days of hard work...dripping sweat everywhere in HOT weather...

...my daughter decided to draw all over EVERYTHING with PERMANENT MARKER!

I...was...pissed.

It was all over the walls (that took me days to paint when I was pregnant with her.)

It was all over her new shutters.

It was all over the new desk that I just spent two days making.

I didn't take any pictures of it. I went into over-drive trying to fix her artwork.

For your amusement, here's what it basically looked like:

I just got done restoring everything to its formal glory.

And do you know what's the kicker?

My daughter's had an issue with drawing on walls since she could walk and hold onto a crayon. I built this desk to give her a safe place to let out her creativity.

Ironic, no?

Needless to say, those supply buckets will not be holding any "permanent" supplies for a long time!

Muntins Into Moulding

Oh, how I loved my faux window muntins.

The Gorilla Glue barely held up during our harsh U.P. of Michigan winters.

I started replacing the glue with Gorilla Glue Epoxy.

That seemed to work great.

One hot day last week, however, one of the kids slammed the patio door...

...and off popped another muntin.

Now, I do believe it was a muntin that didn't have the epoxy glue on it yet, but it didn't matter.

I've had it with re-gluing window muntins.

So I tore them off.

Actually, it does open up the living room a lot by having them gone....

I also tore the ones off the front window.

Anyways, so I was sitting here with a pile of trim, not wanting to throw out so much wood.

Not that it cost that much, but I still didn't want to waste all that wood.

So after brainstorming a bit, I came up with a good way to use that wood.

Moulding for the bathroom.

Best part: FREE!

I love my new moulding.

<3

Anyways, I have a bunch of projects to show you soon. I've been working day and night on another project that didn't cost me anything.

Stick around!

A Project Finished; Urban Loft Photos

It's so nice to be able to get projects done around the house.

Though we were recently blessed with a temporary income, it won't last, so we are still watching every penny we spend.

I got a chance to buy some spray primer. I was ridiculously excited to find out that I had a can and a half of white spray paint just sitting in my garage.

What luck!

So I finally got to paint my daughter's shutters.

All I have to say is:

She had better appreciate me when she gets older!

I have been super-busy lately.

(To the point that if I didn't have a wonderful husband to help cart kids around, I don't think I would make it...)

Yesterday was no exception.

My son was in a Kiddie Parade for T-ball.

Sorry for the terrible picture quality. I was shooting out of a shadow, and I didn't have enough time to figure out how to keep the flash on.

Anyways, I bring this up because while we were waiting, I let him handle my nice/expensive/favorite camera.

Here's what I got when I pulled up the SD card in all of it's UNEDITED glory:

Wouldn't those be great in an urban loft?

Maybe it's just because I'm his mom...but I absolutely adored his photos!

"Momma...I'm going to take a picture of the police car."

Anyways, I have one really cool project that I just completed. I can't wait to show you!

Unfortunately, you're going to have to wait quite a few days.

Today: Work all day, then go grocery shopping (at 10pm).

Tomorrow: Make my veggie bars for a family reunion, go to an auction, go to the reunion, watch the Waterfront Festival fireworks.

Sunday: leave to Milwaukee, WI for a Brewers game. Come back late at night.

Soooo....maybe Monday you'll see it?

Bird House Post

Wow, have I been busy the past two days!

I want to streamline the bookcases that I just built in the living room, and I realized that I have a lot of stuff that can be relocated.

One was a birdhouse that my step-son made my husband and me for our wedding.

Isn't that sweet?

<3

Anyways, it's been on display in our house for the past few years, and I've finally decided that it should be used outdoors.

It is afterall, a birdhouse!

So. I'm still not in the clear with my financial situation. Hubby is still desperately job searching.

:(

Luckily, I had all the material to make a pretty darn good post for this bird house.

1. A scrap 1x4 from my board and batten project. (In this photo, the board is already cut to make a stake.)

2. A plaque that my MIL gave to me. She new I would be able to use it somehow!

3. The finial from my old message center. I never used it, so I tore it apart.

I pre-drilled three holes in the plaque.

I screwed that into the top of my 1x4 using 2" screws. I used just the two outside holes.

Then I screwed in the finial using the middle hole.

This is what you should have now.

I spray-painted the entire thing white. The spray paint was left over from a different project that I did yesterday.

Then I spray-polyed (left over from some random project. Not sure which one...) the crap out of the birdhouse to preserve it. This birdhouse means a lot to me, so I don't want it to rot or anything. I put 4 coats on it just to make sure.

;)

Isn't that cute? He signed the bottom.

:)

Anyways, after screwing in a 1 1/2" screw to hold the birdhouse in place, all I had to do was pound it into the ground!

I put it right in the middle of my raspberry/blackberry garden.

Project Cost: FREE!

I love being a "store-for-the-future squirrel."

Isn't it lovely?

Don't laugh at my Photoshop skills, but I just wanted to show you what it would look like when my bushes are at mature height.

Haha. I could have edited this one in Microsoft Paint!

Oh! And both my raspberry bushes are already producing fruit! I planted them only a few months ago. They weren't supposed to bear fruit for another two seasons.

I happily ate two whole berries.

;)

Coming up: Cafe Shutters, 3rd Kitchen Rugs, Bathroom Moulding, Country Skillet Recipe, and more!