Pinterest

Hey everyone, I just wanted to stop in and let you know that I now have a Pinterest page!

Click the link above to go to the page!

Previously, I had always saved inspirational stuff from the web onto my favorites bar.

What a neat way to keep all my thoughts organized!

Follow my Pinterest page to see where I get all the inspiration on all the projects and remodels that I do to my own little corner of the world!

And a HUGE thanks to Jenn from Motocross Momma for cluing me into Pinterest!

On another note, I've done quite a few projects around the house lately, including converting a closet into an armoire by adding flipper hinges (Google it, you'll understand), and I'm currently remodeling the upstairs bathroom (to which Fedex just dropped off my faucet whilst writing this!).
I haven't written on the closet-turned-armoire yet because the doors need to be sanded and painted on the inside (and to tell you the truth...I got lazy doing because who really cares about the inside, right?)  I want to show you the finished product, not my lack of being able to finish projects, haha!

The bathroom will be done as soon as I can convince my step-dad to come over and re-route some electrical for me. He's going to be super-annoyed, but as my step-brother so kindly put it, "He loves being needed and he knows it." Haha, I love my family!

Framed Map Wall Art

With life being so busy right now, it's terribly hard to roll out projects.

That's why I love quick, simple ones like the one I'm about to show you.

Before I remodeled my living room, there was a large 18x34 collage above the piano. 

I'm starting to fall out of love with pictures in my house.

All my pictures are being retired to photo albums.

I guess it's driving me a little batty that all the photos are from when the kids were younger.

I'm too lazy to keep changing them out.

Anyone else have this same issue?

So I accessed the local library's photo archives and found some maps of my city from 1895. 

One side is a picture of downtown, because I loved the old Gothic lettering on it.

Then I got a zoomed-in map of my neighborhood.

Everything's a bit off-center right now.

The frame is too high (this is where it was prior to the board and batten, so it drives me crazy that it's not an equal distance from the ceiling to the board and batten.)

The frame is centered to the window and the corner of the room, but since the wooden toy box is better placed further from the entertainment center...it looks funny not being centered under the frame.

So I'm moving the frame down and to the right, but to make up for the fact that it's not centered from the window to the corner, I want to add this candle holder from Pottery Barn.

It's one of the most unique things I've ever seen. 

I.....need....it.

Mother's Day is this Sunday. Maybe the hubs will order it for me.

;)

Closet Progress

I completely forgot to show you the work I had done in my closet before the inspector came.

Sorry!

I took down this row of hooks.

I know it's just a closet, but screwing some hooks into a 1x4 just seems lazy to me.

Like my mom says:

"Do it right the first time or just don't do it at all."

It's solid advice, really.

So I routed the edges, primed and painted it, and reattached the hooks.

I don't have a picture for you. I'm going to wait 'til the closet is fully done.

Then, my oldest helped me out in the shop to build a door.

Those hinges are awesome. They are old cast iron hinges that were in my grandpa's workshop.

I picked them up the day before I took this picture.

What luck, hey?

My grandma is moving out of her house, so we're clearing everything out.

I have some pretty awesome antique tools.

The doorknob was also free. I was looking for something in my workshop, and I ended up finding the little wooden knob.

I still have to paint the door, though.

It's going to be painful to paint. You know how much I love birch grain. I'm going to hate covering up such beauty, but the door would look best white.



I still have a lot of work to do in the closet. However, it probably won't be done until after the Spring semester, in a little less than 2 months.

I was really hoping to knock it all out during Spring Break, but that didn't happen.

I need to buy a whole new box of floor planks, because I'm one plank short.

They don't sell individual pieces, either.

See it in the left corner?

And of course I can't put in the baseboard until that piece of flooring is down. I don't want to paint the door trim (those are primed pieces) until the baseboard is up.

List of closet stuff to do:

-paint the door

-finish the flooring

-put in the baseboard

-wood putty the nail holes and paint all the trim

-put up the wall hooks

-build a light box to cover the fluorescent tube lights

-build a shoe/purse cubby area

I'm also going to be building some utility shelving inside the utility part of the closet for paint cans.

It will be much easier than tripping over everything in our messy basement.

On another note, we had a taste of Spring in our area. Most of the snow was gone, my flowers were poking out of the ground, the birds were chirping.

Then we had a crazy nasty snowstorm.

But we're in full Spring mode anyways.

The snow will melt eventually.

;)

Wall Building

Just as a heads up, I'll be here pretty sparse until about May.

All my free time is spent either studying, being in class, or practicing like crazy in a nursing lab.
Next month I will be starting my clinicals, so it will be even more quiet around here.

Heck, I barely get to see my family right now.

=(

But today, I have the day off from work, I don't have school, and I'm pretty much caught up in everything, so I have a spare minute or two.

;)

A few weeks ago, I built a wall in my kneewall closet. I've taken down walls before, but I've never built one. It's great that I was able to practice on something small that people won't see.

So today, I'm going to show you the progress, as well as teach you some lingo.


The frame is the skeleton of your house.
It usually consists of a bottom plate, top plate, and all the studs in between.
Studs are normally spaced 16" on center.
If a door is added, however, you will also need a header, cripple studs, king studs, and possibly trimmer studs.
I didn't put a trimmer stud on my wall, well....because I didn't really see the need for it.

Maybe it's because I also cut my own door jamb and I'm making my own door.
I just didn't see the need when the door was in a little kneewall.


I then put up drywall on both sides.

It's already taped and mudded, but I didn't take a picture of that.

Then I had to make the door jamb.

I had to rip-cut a 1x6 to the width of my studs + the thickness of both pieces of drywall.

Yes, I know that you would usually have a trimmer stud there, buy a door + jamb kit, and shim it level and plumb, but remember...it's just a kneewall closet door.

I'm more concerned about cost.

=D

Anyways, that's about as far as I have gotten. The rest of the flooring is purchased, but not installed.

I still need to prime and paint the entire closet.

The trim needs to be installed.

I need to cut out the door and attach it to the jamb.

I have to install the door stop on the jamb.

I have to add the door hardware.

Unfortunately, I barely have even a spare 30 minutes to do any of this.

I have a Spring Break coming up in a month, and I'm going to power it out all in 1-2 days.

Master Bedroom Closets: Plan

It's been a while since I've given you an update!

The Master Bedroom is coming along great.

After the contractors left, I finished up my husband's closet.

Here it is completely finished, with new flooring, baseboard, and paint to match the master bedroom:

We are now able to sleep in our own bed again.

Of course, the room is still not ready for viewing.

This is what my closet looks like.

This side needs more flooring, and the walls need to be primed and painted:

That wouldn't be that bad at all.

However, this is the other side of the same closet:

The back wall comes out a little further than the rest. There's a weird "bump" in the middle of the floor, causing a raised area. I believe there is plumbing under there.

The wires/cables are all for the TV/antennae/booster.

It's impossible to hide all of this in the walls, so I'm building a wall with an access door.

This little area will just be a utility area, and then I will have the rest of my closet for all my girlie things.

=D

So that's what has been stalling me.

Don't even get me started on the random plumbing PVC  pipe that should be vented through the roof, but instead has a shopping bag with electrical tape wrapped around it to stop it from venting into my closet.

Haha.....sometimes you just have to laugh.

Anyways, I've decided that I'm just going to clean up the room and temporarily store all of my stuff in my husband's closet until I get mine done.

That way I can snap some photos, and you won't have to wait any longer to see my master bedroom.

Sound like a plan?

Do you have any weird things in your house that the old owners did? I could write a book about my house's odd/annoying/funny quirks (at least my contractors thought they were funny...), but I want to hear about yours!

A Bedroom Update

I'm almost done with the master bedroom, and I absolutely adore it!

I just need to install a double rod support, finish the rest of the baseboard, and paint 4 doors, and I'm all done!

I want to show you the progress I've made over the past couple weeks.

After moving out all the old furniture and giving the room a good vacuuming, this is what I had:

The carpet was ugly. As you can see, there's also no baseboard in the room. That's a reoccurring problem in my house.

What house doesn't have baseboard?

Mine.

There's also a shelf/curtain rod combo above the window.

While I liked the display space, it's really not my style.

It had to go.

The squares on either side of the window were framed.

I actually sort of liked it.

Then I started ripping out the carpet and laying the planks.

This is after day 1:

The shelf was taken out, the bamboo blinds were ready to be cut and hung, and the flooring was 1/4 done.

I bought one dresser from a Christmas gift card (thanks Ma!), and started installing the bamboo roman shades.

In one corner, I had to strip the wall and re-mud the corner due to some water damage.

The roof near the chimney sprung a leak this past summer, and it caused a lot of paper bubbling.

Thank goodness there was no mold!

The room then received a fresh coat of paint (Foaming Waters from Dutch Boy).

The curtains were hung (using two old curtain rods). The inside curtain is short, I know. It's a thermal/light blocking curtain, and since it's behind the bed, I knew it wouldn't really matter.

The outside curtain is a drop cloth.

I can see why people love drop cloth curtains so much!

The price and texture are amazing!

Then I bought the other dresser and added two lamps from Younkers.

My husband really digs the lamps.

=D



However, once I put the bed back in with the new bedding from West Elm...

...I realized that the lamp shades and duvet cover don't match the drop cloth curtains.

They clash terribly.

The duvet cover and lamps have more of a yellow tint.

The drop cloth curtains have more of a brown/gray tint.

Since the bedding was darned expensive, and since my husband really liked the lamps, I knew the curtains had to go.

And that's where I am today. I picked up some more curtains that I think would go better with the room. It's not a loss, really, since I can always use the drop cloths for their intended purpose....painting.

Haha.

So within the next few days, I'll show you the results. It's going to be major! The room is so bright and airy! It feels luxurious and cozy.

P.S. I promise to have better quality "after" photos. I wasn't worried about snapping perfect pictures while I (and my camera) was covered in drywall dust.

2-Minute Bathroom Organization

I try to keep all my organization not only functional, but attractive as well.

But you know what? If people aren't going to see it, who cares if it's not attractive!?

Haha!

I (heart) bobby pins. I use them all. the. time.

Now my daughter uses them all. the. time.

However, it seems like I have to buy a new package every other week.

I lose them like crazy!

I knew that I needed some better organization to keep them in place.

A jar?

No. I would have to dig in the bathroom closet for that. And let's face it...I'm lazy.

;)

The medicine cabinet?

It would make sense, since I do my hair in front of it every morning.

No. It's already pretty full.

Then I had one of those lightbulb moments.

Magnetic strips.

I went to Walmart and bought one of those magnetic strip rolls. The ones with a magnet on one side and sticky tape on the other.

I took everything out of my medicine cabinet and noticed that the mirror was much larger than the opening for the medicine cabinet.

I decided to put magnetic strips on the very top, the bottom, and in the middle where there were no shelves.

Cut the strips to size and press them on firmly.

Then add your bobby pins!

Then I thought, "Hmmm...you know...we can never find tweezers or clippers in this house. I wonder if it'll hold that, too?"

Yep!

Is it pretty?

No.

Is it highly functional?

Heck yes.

And I haven't lost a bobby pin yet.

;)

Kitchen Island Revamp

My kitchen island was one of the first new things brought into our home.

It was a house-warming gift from my Ma. 

Shortly after this picture was taken, a friend leaned on the pull-out leaf, and it nearly tipped over on him. I really didn't want that happening to one of my children.

I realized that I had to do something to make it safer.

It needed legs.

I browsed the Internet for some inspiration.

It was going to look something like this in the end:

I even have the saddle stools ;)

I realized that I loved the wooden top.

More inspiration:

Love that dark wood top contrasting with the white bottom!

The corbels are pretty sweet, too, but that wouldn't solve my tipping problem.

This makes me almost want an all-white kitchen:

Still loving the dark top and white bottom!

So I pulled off the knife block (that I never used)...

...and the towel bar...

...and wood-puttied the holes.

Then I skirted the bottom with some tall baseboard.

Hailey was helping me take off doors.

What a nice helper.

<3

Then I cut the top from a 3/4" sheet of birch plywood.

(I'll show you how to cut large stock in a separate post!)

I added decorative trim to the outside and secured it with just wood glue and tape.

I didn't want finishing nails ruining the trim, and since the trim is merely decorative (meaning that it won't need to withstand any weight) it doesn't need nails.

After a bit of wood putty and a lot of sanding, I had my top.

I love the grain on birch.

To make sure that I brought out the beautiful wood grain in the best way, I made some sample boards to stain.

I liked the one on the right, but I knew I would have to put a few coats on it to darken it.

It's Red Mahogony from Miniwax.

I put the trim on the sample boards to make sure that it took the color the same as the plywood.

The plywood is birch and the trim is pine.

I also applied a wood conditioner to the wood before staining.

Both birch and pine are soft woods, and they usually take stain very blotchy. A wood conditioner evens out the stain.

I added 3 coats of clear high gloss polyurethane.

 

Next, I had to attach the legs.

I checked online for island legs.

$50+

So I went to Menards. I looked at stairs posts. The cheapest ones that were big enough for my project were $50 each.

50x4=200

$200?!

Heck, I should just buy a whole new island then!

Feeling dejected, I moped to the check-out line with just my painter's tape.

I looked up and I saw the decking department.

"Heck, I bet decking posts are cheaper than indoor posts!"

Sure are!

$12 a piece.

Much better.

;)

So I chopped them to size and added pocket holes with my Kregg jig so that I could attach them to the plywood without drilling through my perfect top.

I didn't stain all of the bottom because it was going to be covered anyways.

Then I placed it on top of the old island and screwed it in place.

I countersunk all of the screws and wood-puttied over them.

After a few days of painting, it was time for new hardware. My current hardware on the rest of my cabinets are aged bronze.

The old silver hardware had to go!

The cheapest ones in the size I needed were $7 a piece.

7x6=42

$42 for hardware?!

Heck no!

So I went home with a $4 can of spray primer instead.

I spray-primed and spray-painted a faux aged bronze finish.

Luckily, I had the spray paint already in my garage.

I used a dark "oil rubbed bronze" finish first (it just looks like a dark grey/brown).

Then a lined up all the hardware on end and gave a quick spray of bronze over the top.

You can't see it in the picture. Sorry.

=(

Anyways, after re-attaching all the doors, attaching the "new" hardware, and adding my centerpiece (of course), I was all done!

Want to see how it turned out?

My mom was extremely surprised that this was the very same island she had bought for me years ago.

I'm thinking that some year I will tear off the two middle doors and make a wine rack similar to this island:

Much prettier, much safer.

I love it!

Coming up:
A quick bathroom organizational idea.
How to cut large stock.