The Lettered Cottage Knock-off

I love The Lettered Cottage.

I wish I could afford her design consulting, because I am totally, completely in love her her style.

I especially love this picture of her house:

Okay, you're noticing that awesome white-washed farmhouse table, the rich hardwood floors, the spacious open cabinets, the lovely sisal rug....etc...etc...etc...

I noticed the bell.

What?!

Right there:

Ummm...okay...why did I gravitate towards the bell?

A few months back, I bought a bell similar to this one at Hobby Lobby:

Except it had a fleur de lis on the back, not a tractor.

I tried hanging it outside.

(My mom actually had a real vintage cast iron bell hanging on the back door in which she would call us in the house for supper. It was pretty neat. She sold that bell a while ago, so that's why I bought the cheap $5 one at Hobby Lobby.)

While screwing it into the siding, the fleur de lis pattern busted off.

All I had left were the two screws.

When I saw that picture of Layla's room (The Lettered Cottage), I knew that I wanted the bell inside.

But since the screws go inwards towards the bell, it seemed impossible to mount it to the wall.

I knew that, somehow, I has to get the head of the screw to stick in the wall. Luckily, I just put up that board and batten, and wood generally holds things better than drywall.

So I found a drill bit the same size as the head of the screw and drilled a small hole in the wall only about 1/8 inch deep.

I always keep a handy tube a Mighty Putty in a drawer for such occasions.

I ripped off a piece and kneaded it until it was white.

I stuck a very small piece in the hole, tapped the head of the screw in with a hammer, then wrapped a little more Mighty Putty around the rest.

Then lightly sanded the area, touched up the paints, and twisted the bell into place.

I love fun, little touches like that around my house.

Tell me about something fun that you have in your house!

Coffee Table Doppleganger

I'm never satisfied.

Haha.

I saw this picture over Nesting Place, and darn near had a heart attack when I saw that coffee table.

Is that MY coffee table?!

It looks so much better in her house, haha!

I realize that it's my furniture. I need new furniture...

Stay tuned for a The Lettered Cottage knock-off!

Concrete Bench

My mom rocks.

My mom is awesome.

My mom is gorgeous/talented/strong/handy/smart/insert adjective here.

My mom is my best friend.

She never lets me down....actually...she always pulls through for me.

I bring this up, because my mom scored this for me, for free!

Okay, this picture would look a lot better if I had pulled all the rampant weeds, pulled the mulch over the concrete footings, etc. but I was so excited to show you!

And no...that's not one of those cute little decorative garden benches! That's a full sized (heavier than heck) bench!

You can't find a concrete bench like this for less than $400!

We have finally stepped over "the threshold" for weather here in the U.P.  I really can't get a whole lot of building done any more, unfortunately. The days are usually in the low to mid 60s. Not great for painting.

:(

BUT...I want to show you what I'm envisioning for this cute bench.

Perhaps a cute arbor like this surrounding the bench:

Except it would also have a back panel on it. I love the white architecture!

And maybe I would plant some nice climbing roses to sprawl all over it!

Wouldn't that be lovely?

Did I mention yet that my mom rocks?

Anyways, if you love The Lettered Cottage, you'll love what I've got "cooking" for you coming up soon!

Great News on top of Great News!

Can you tell that I'm having a great day?

You know my carpet glue problem?

Well, today I think I have busted through that problem. Let me explain:

1. Goo Gone = does nothing. nadda. zip.

2. Goof Off = does nothing to the glue, but turns the paint into a gummy mess as well. Double gummy! Ahhh!

3. Industrial strength adhesive remover = same as Goof Off. See above.

4. Paint stripper = same as # 2&3

5. Sand paper = works, but EXTREMELY tedious, and not worth the cost in paper.

6. Ever SoniCrafter attachment known to man = still using it! (Will explain in a second...)

7. Mineral Spirits = I may as well have spit on the stairs to clean it. It would have done a better job...

8. Steamers = a really HOT gummy mess.

My in-laws came over the day of my frustration. My mother-in-law suggested Krud Kutter.

I was very skeptical.

In my head, "All this heavy duty stuff didn't work, and you think a household cleaner would?"

It did....

Haha, isn't that great?

How To Get Carpet Glue Off:

1. Scrape as much carpet backing/glue off as you can. This is easiest done with the scraper tool on the SoniCrafter. Using a regular scraper will take you hours what the SoniCrafter can do in seconds. This is a great investment!

2. Spray a liberal amount of Krud Kutter on the glue. Let sit for about 10 minutes.

3. Wipe away (I've been wiping with a paper towel! It's that amazing!)

4. If any residue is left, repeat steps 2 & 3.

Some spots are more difficult than others, so you may want to get a good scrubber as well. The trick is to scrape away so much that only residue is left by the time you use Krud Kutter. You also have to use a lot, so don't expect to buy only 1 bottle for a large area such as mine!

 

With any luck, I will be done with these stairs soon!

Stay tuned, because I have something awesome/amazing/FREE to show you!

Wishful Thinking

I know I told you that I might be redoing a piece of furniture. Unfortunately, on my only day off, the weather is not cooperating. Ideally, it should be over 65 degrees outside to spray paint. It only hit 62.

I know, I know, 3 degrees shouldn't make a big deal, but when it comes to a big piece of furniture, I know that trying to fix any mistakes will be uber time consuming.

So I'm putting it off for another day. I have a string of days in the 70s coming up, so hopefully I can sneak a quick painting in.

Anyways, not one to let a perfectly good day off go to waste, I've been working on something else.

These were my stairs leading to the basement (we have a partially finished basement):

You don't need to say it.

It's ugly.

Ugly carpet.

Ugly (dark) paint.

My husband tried making the finished room of the basement his "man cave."

I told him that if he was going to have a man cave, he needed to do all the work to make one.

He gave up. He's the one that decided to paint the room that awful dark blue with powder blue trim. I hope you didn't think that was my taste!

I started ripping up the carpet, and to my horror, every single $%&*%#@ inch of that carpet was glued down.

I..hate..carpet..glue.

In case you don't fully understand:

I HATE CARPET GLUE.

Nothing gets it off easily.

Nothing gets it off semi-easily.

Now, instead of a gross musty carpet on the stairs, I have a sticky residue on them.

(Which means that I have sticky crap on my feet, shoes, pants, etc.)

I have been working tirelessly for 2 days, but I've only managed to get 1 1/2 stairs done. There are 11 stairs total....

Things I've Tried

1. Goo Gone

2. Goof Off

3. Industrial strength adhesive remover.

4. Paint stripper

5. Sand paper

6. Every SoniCrafter attachment known to man

7. Mineral Spirits

The only thing that seems to work is the sand paper, but it takes an entire sheet for just 1 square foot. I would end up spending $100 just on sand paper....

It may take me an entire month to finish these stairs. I probably won't get many more projects done, but I will definitely be giving you updates/sneak peeks!

I'm envisioning white stairs, a white railing...

...and a softer wall color like this...

...or maybe this.

Does anyone have any suggestions on getting carpet glue off?

I've heard something about boiling water, but I'm not about to dump a pot of boiling water on wood stairs in a basement. That's just asking for trouble...

Any help would be appreciated!