Entry

I logged on and fully expected that I hadn't posted here in at least a year. Nope. 7 months. #winning.

Several projects I wanted to update my sister on (Since she asked. Hi Mel!), so for now, I'll just do the biggest one. The longest one. The one I'm not convinced is actually done yet. The entryway.

(before)

(during)

(after)

That stupid bench has become a thorn in my side. I'm letting it be for now, but I built it and the legs bowed when sat on. Which is kind of the point of a bench. I tried adding a support in the middle and that was a massive fail. So I disassembled it and it sat in the garage all summer long. I've finally gotten into a routine with my work schedule, so I worked on it the past couple of weeks and abandoned the idea of the original turned legs for simple straight ones and also mitered a frame for it. I still think it wobbles, so we will see. But I do really like how it looks. I have buttons I plan to sew on the pillows. Just got too excited to get the bench in. That also explains the pictures. I keep forgetting to take pictures during the day, so excuse the lighting. And generally terrible pictures in general. They don't at all show what I did.

Since the table had to go for the bench, Mister's walk supplies needed a spot. I used this idea from Pinterest. He has a hook for treats, which need to start being taken on our walks for when the neighborhood kids want to pet him. There's also a hook for his coat, his dry off towel (which was the real need in the entry. We previously just left the towel in a heap on the floor), flashlight, and leash/collar/harness. Who knew such a little dog needed so much stuff!

Oops, I Did It Again: Another Building Project

I have reclaimed my garage parking spot after my latest building project: a fold-down sewing table, plans courtesy of Ana White.  I've needed this for some time now, mostly because there's not a single pair of pants that enter my home and get put away on my side of the closet or in my dresser that DON'T need alterations. And yes, Stacey and Clinton say alterations are small potatoes (I paraphrase...I'd kind of pay money to hear Stacey or Clinton say that, though) in the grand scheme of investment pieces, when it's a $10 alteration over 8, 9, 10+ pairs...that's a much larger investment! And no, heels don't cut it.

So yes, sewing table.

In case you're too lazy to actually look at the plans, there is essentially a base unit in the middle and fold down leaves on either side. The legs fold under and the weight of the leaves hold them in place.  This picture was taken after I attached the legs on one side, to make sure I did those right!

And the finished product:

                                    

I painted the entire thing with leftovers from our bedroom (Sherwin William's Orient Blue color matched by Valspar). Then, I randomly taped off stripes and painted the same green as the laundry room (the color name escapes me, but it's Valspar) and "Wet Path" by American...something or other. The Hubs actually gets credit for the stripes idea. I was debating paint or stain and his suggestion was paint and "some kind of graphic print, like stripes or checkerboard." I actually debated argyle for a while, but decided that was way too much effort. And for the record, random stripes on a table are much easier than on a bedroom wall.

Just a larger angle:

                                 

My proudest moment with this project (other than actually getting the base unit to be square) is creating the ironing board top. See the paisley on the left?

Close up. You can't tell, but the green background matches the green stripes.

I got the brilliant idea that ironing is a large part of sewing properly. While I don't do sewing projects "properly," I figure I'll be doing more and it will probably eventually necessary. I was browsing Pinterest one day (seriously, I don't know I've had a single original idea since that thing came around) and came across this gem. After a little Googling, since the original pin, nor the source actually describe the process, I discovered all iron board padding really is is batting and fabric. The fabric needs to be 100% cotton, because of the heat from an iron (any kind of blend will scorch eventually). I doubled up the batting (which was actually already done for me in packaging) and bought a yard of fabric (perfect for this project's measurements) and a light duty staple gun, since I was in the craft store already anyway. I started in the middle of one side and worked my way out, pulling the fabric and batting tight and stapling.  Mister supervised.

Then, when all is said and done, the table folds up and rolls out of the way:

One side of storage: the basket holds thread, buttons, and other sewing notions. This is already actually outdated. I started switching baskets around and now have those things in the striped bin seen on the top shelf in the above photo. It was actually generally my inspiration for the stripes.  My extra fabric is on the bottom shelf.

Storage on the other side: Sewing machine manual, extension piece thingy I haven't used, and on the bottom is a canvas drop cloth that will turn into curtains for the master bedroom.

That's what I've been doing, instead of working on a presentation for class.

Laundry sorter

I realized I never fully blogged about one of my favorite projects:

Laundry dresser from Ana White

Ana's original idea was to keep it in the laundry room and essentially have a drawer for each member of the family to keep dirty laundry in. Then, it's easy enough for each person to take his or her own basket to fold and put away laundry. Which is a great idea, one that I will one day replicate.  However, with only 2 laundry-needing members of our household (the other, of course, is the type that "nekkid" means we've taken his collar off :)), that wasn't what we needed.

Finally, I get my brilliant idea...which means I was probably in the shower. It's where all my great ideas seem to happen...you know, where I can't write them down to remember! Anyway, I realized what was so trying about doing laundry was the whole sorting process. Instead of separating out lights, darks, etc., I sort based on what the tag reads. You know, manufacturer's suggestion. If there is no tag, or it's so worn, I can no longer read it, I assume cold. Obviously, this system took FOR-EV-ER to hunt down each tag, even though I knew many pieces without looking.  Why not build my sorter based on sorting?  Genius, right? Yeah, I went to Transy.

So we now have our sorter organized as Hot (whites), Warm, and Cold. I got a wicker basket to set on top for Delicates/Line Dry. Again, we don't worry about colors. Gasp. Reds washed with khaki mixed with black? Guess what. Never had a color run problem. Sometimes I wash new stuff with darker stuff, just in case, but I don't stress about it.  And "doing laundry" simply means removing the basket, washing, drying, folding, and putting away (I try to hide Husband's work shirts so I don't have to iron them, but darn it, he always seems to eventually run out).

The reason it occurred to me to actually describe the system? It's so easy, a husband can follow it! Mister and I went on vacation earlier this week to the family cabin in Canada, while Husband stayed home, having to work. He got productive that weekend and washed a couple of loads. He even commented on how easy it was. Before I left, I did a quick load of things I knew I needed, but I didn't have to hunt through all the other dirty laundry. Easy-peasy!

The biggest compliment to the system is that it works for us. If there's only one thing I take away from all the cleaning/organizing/decorating blogs I read is that if the system doesn't work for your particular household, it's doomed to fail no matter how awesome it sounds. Like I said, when we eventually have kids, the system may change. My parents are planning on building their own version, but adding doors and a back (ours has a back, but I don't think it's in the original plan) so one of their cats doesn't confuse the dirty laundry with her litter box (which has happened before). That's what has to work for them. And that's OK!

One Last Closet Update

Wouldn't it figure that the two rooms I consider "done" aren't really rooms? The laundry room is more of a pass through from the garage into the house and the closet is...well...a closet. I still do have a few little things I'd like to do (over the laundry sorter could use some kind of art-what art works for a closet? And I'd like to get a small bowl or two to put collar stays for Husband's dress shirts in.) Anyway, here's the final projects:

As you walk into the closet, the immediate right. I got the original idea from iHeartOrganizing. I loved the idea of the mix of knobs and made a trip to Hobby Lobby to see what they had.

Then I took some scrap plywood from my laundry sorter project (roughly 1x8) and cut it into 2 1/2 foot lengths. After a coat of white primer and then a semi gloss paint (Sherwin Williams snow-something color matched by Lowe's), I was ready to attach. Oh! And I decided I could use a shelf to store my small, skinny purses that could fall through the slats of our actual closet shelves. A couple of them would look better plumped up like in stores, but I've got a few touch up areas anyway.

Attaching was a little crazy. Of course the exact middle was the only stud my boards had, so I had to drill and put in wall anchors. The bottom one was almost the end of me trying to make sure everything stayed lined up properly.

I also just drilled through the wood to attach the knobs and towel bar (which was repurposed from the "toilet room" area of the bathroom). It wasn't much of a problem.

I also attached these hooks for whatever. They're currently holding bags. See what I mean about some touch ups? The silver screws need to go white and the hooks may get a coat of spray paint...haven't decided just yet.

The thing I like best about these two storage spots is the amount of storage without sacrificing room. As I mentioned in the previous post, I thought about moving my shoe collection to there, but was worried the over all feel would be too small like when I still had the wire shelf there. The shelf doesn't stick out too far (and stays up higher) and everything else stays close to the wall, so there's still plenty of room.

On the other side of the closet, I picked up a couple of shoe shelves from Home Depot (just under $10 each). Sorry about the crazy reflection from my tennis shoes.

I really like them, but could probably use a third unit. The shelves fit all of my shoes, but wouldn't fit any new pairs. And I have to do that alternating thing to actually get them all to fit. I'm pretty lazy when it comes to putting things away, especially my shoes and there's no way I'll maintain that--first rule of organizing: it's pointless if it's not easy to maintain. Luckily, I rearranged a few things hanging above, so a third rack will totally fit. I just have to get by Home Depot.

So there's my closet re-do. One day, if we decide to make this our forever home, I'll change out the lights, but they serve their purpose for now and I have many other projects much higher on my priority list :)

Projects and Priorities

I don't have any new projects to share. There's a month left of my classes, one of which has been kicking my butt. Just when I think I've figured out the professor and what she's looking for when she grades, she changes it. I'd love to make it out of this semester with my 4.0 in tact, but I'm doubting that.

Anyway, I have a point to this post, I promise! The other day, Ana White posted about impending doom, aka snow. While my situation is much less dire that trying to put up a roof before snow falls, my garage isn't exactly heated. Building project time is getting limited! The problem is, I've a list of ideas a mile long, so I need some help prioritizing (get it? Projects and priorities! My titles don't lie).

Project 1) Master Closet reboot.

I love our closet. It's so massive. Husband and I have more than enough space to keep all hanging clothes, sweaters, shoes, purses (which my collection is admittedly sad...and Husband doesn't have a collection at all :)). I would, however, like to paint it. It's the color we picked when we moved in and I'm a little tired of it. I want to paint the closet and the "toilet room" of the bathroom the same color-a shade of green. In painting the closet, I'd LIKE to reconfigure things a tiny bit. With the installation of our entertainment box, We had to get one of the shelves cut in 2 pieces. I rehung the new excess on the same wall as the door. I'd like to move that to underneath the back section, creating 2 sections for pants and tops (Husband's side is already like that). I have 2 building projects: a shoe cubby like this and a laundry sorter like this.

Except for the 2 building projects, everything can be done in warmth. However, I'd like to change up how I do laundry and the laundry sorter plays a big part in that.

Project 2) Entryway reboot

This is really just straight up building projects. Eventually I want to paint, just not ready to tackle the huge area our entry opens up to :). We want a bench where the small table is. Something to sit and and put on shoes before we walk the dog. Something along these lines, except with a cushion and without the baskets. With under the bench open, we can keep our dog walking shoes, so that's out of the way. I also want to build a small table (OK, this one) to keep Mister's harness and leash, our iPods and arm bands, spare keys, blah blah blah.

We also want to buy an umbrella stand (I will walk that dog in ANYTHING...including apparent tornado warnings) to keep that mess off the floor/drywall).

Project 3) Sewing table

This is the last project for our office redo (well, it was never done to begin with, so "do"). I've got several projects planned, like a cover for Mister's crate that actually goes with our room (not that I don't LOVE his Auburn blanket), a cushion for said entry bench, and the ongoing battle with hemming my pants. Why I want to push this up in priority is because of Cori. She's also petite (under 5 feet people are the coolest. It's no lie) and she sews a lot of her own clothes, especially skirts. I would need a refresher course in measuring and altering patterns (I love you, Mom! or perhaps an actual class when my time allows), but I could knock out a large portion of the "needs" for my closet for much less than I would otherwise.

This is the part where people comment with their number choice (like on Love Connection--best part of being hom sick from school in the 90s!). I intend on all of these projects getting done at some point, but I figure I can really only feasibly build the parts for one before I can't stand the freezing garage...and no, we don't have a space heater :)

Work Bench

I figured I'd better blog about my work bench now before I have to work on the multitude of papers I have due this week :)

So you've already seen the peg board. But what's peg board without a space to work? I have been completely and totally spoiled by the house I grew up in. Our garage took up half of our house's total footprint. In my mind, a 2 car garage should have room to comfortably park 2 cars (or SUVs...or vans), have plenty of space for storage, and still have room for a workshop.

Unfortunately, that's not reality in newer houses here in Lexington. My mom stumbled upon this plan for a work bench from Family Handyman online. What I love is that it utilizes the space between the wall and garage door track. I also love the fold-out work space option. I haven't done this part just yet, but plan to. There's plenty of ways to customize it. Since I don't have a table saw, I didn't need that part. I also didn't build the roll out drawers (yet) or the slide panel. I also shortened the entire thing by about 2 feet as that entire length would have taken up most of my garage wall.

Here's my bottom shelf. This measures 8 ft x 17 inches.

Here are the two work tops. The larger one (on the left) measures 6 ft x 20 in. and the smaller one (on the right) measures 4 ft x 20 in. The gap is 24 in. I chose to leave the large space under the longer top in case I ever did get a table saw and I can build the roll out section. Or if I ever get a shop vac, that can easily fit under there as well.

Here it is assembled, minus the actual top.

And the finished product (you can't tell, but there is actually plywood on top now. I have hooks to actually hang the saw horses. Also, I plan on selling the cabinet on the far right.

This section is mostly to support lumber being cut by the miter saw. I also hung my clamp collection, hammers, hand saw, and other miscellaneous stuff. I plan on building a shelf for the air compressor, so that space will eventually open up. I'm not sold on keeping the drawers, but they're kind of handy right now for loose screws, pencils, and other small things that wouldn't stay in the basket on the peg board.

This is the miter saw bay. It's not totally level (which I'm not sure how that happened since both tops are level themselves and to each other), but it's nothing a short trip to Lowe's for shims can't solve. Underneath is the lower shelf with my other power tools (nail guns, drill, circular saw, sander). On the garage floor are all of my small wood scraps (i.e. not the large pieces of ply wood).

And this is the main work area. This is where the fold-out table will go. The peg board holds my basic building tools and a magnetic strip for the screw drivers. I've also got all of my painting supplies around here.

So that's what I've been up to. Now that this is finished, I'm anxious to get to some of my other projects like a sewing table (so I can start on sewing projects like a new crate cover for Mister), a bench and/or console table for our entry way, and a laundry basket dresser so we can pre-sort laundry. I also need to do some re-tooling on the wood box I had built for the patio. This is, of course, as we enter life's busy season with football, work, school, fall trips, and the holidays will be here before you know it! Where's the slo-mo button on this thing?

Pinterest Peg Board

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaack :D

Whew. Life has been kicking my butt lately. Over the summer I worked four afternoons a week, attended class two mornings a week, and answered the phones at work the other two mornings. Things have sort of slowed down. I feel like I'm finally hitting my stride with getting things done on the mornings I don't work. If only I could get motivated to do school-work :)

I just have a small project to share with you. I've been ruminating over this for several months and finally got motivated to buy the wood in August. Yeah. It's mid-late September. Anyway, I've been building a work bench for the garage. It's not totally done yet, since the saw at Lowe's was broken the day I went, so it's missing the top...you know, the work bench. However, that's not the project. This project is prettier, funner.

So, it didn't really start very pretty. This is just basic peg board from Lowe's. It's a 4'x2' piece. However, thanks to my new BFF, Pinterest (if you're not on Pinterest, you are missing. Out), I got the idea to paint it!

(Source: BGH)

I loved how this picture is so much brighter because of the paint. Plus, garages are typically plain, boy spaces. I'm not.

I started by painting the brown white. The white is just Sherwin-Williams un-tinted white base. We bought it when I got a little over-zealous painting and got some on the ceiling. Our ceilings are tinted from the base, but I didn't try to figure out what. It's much less noticeable than blue on white ceilings.

A few coats later and both pieces are as evenly white as they're going to get.

Next, I measured out squares and got to painting.

There's a right way and a quicker way for this step. The right way is to tape the squares off, wait for each color to dry, retape, rinse repeat. The "quicker" way is to try to keep a steady hand, waiting just long enough for the next-door neighbor color to dry enough to not smear. However, I'm not convinced the "quicker" way is actually quicker. Yes, you have to wait for the paint to dry to tape over it, but honestly, it didn't take long. Plus, it takes more time to edge, whereas I could paint in my messy way and the tape would still leave crisp lines.

Here's after 2 colors

And after 3. I painted a total of 4 colors, all using either left-over gallons from painting rooms or using the samples I got when deciding between colors. In short, this project cost only 2 pieces of peg board (Grand total, like, $15). I also left the white stripe in the middle...mostly because I was lazy and didn't feel like painting it. Luckily, it provided me the perfect space to hang my next Pinterest idea :) But you'll have to wait for that.

If you decide to do something like this, quick reminder: Peg board has holes. Paint is wet. Wet paint fall through holes. This is definitely a garage floor project (not necessarily in the driveway, unless you want a polka-dotted driveway). If you're particular about no polka dots, then cover anything under it with newspaper. I've got a slightly polka dotted garage floor (it matches my other painting projects) and very polka dotted saw horses. I think it just adds character :)

I plan on hitting Lowe's tomorrow for my plywood top and can finish the work bench then. Hopefully I can tell you all about it over the weekend!

Talk Me Out of It!

I was in the evil store today. The big, blue, has-everything store. My prescription is there and I'm too lazy to move it! Plus the tech that works there recognizes me (and almost had to defend me to another pushy customer) and that makes me happy. Anyway, they're in the middle of remodeling plus putting all of the spring gardening equipment out, so I had to take a swing through that section in case there was something I just couldn't live another couple of weeks without (there wasn't). Then I thought I'd check out prices of shelving we're considering for the garage (they didn't have what we are really looking for). Apparently, all roads lead to the housewares department. Now, let me take just a moment to rave. Wal-Mart has stepped the style up. Their Canopy line is amazing! I asked for the nightstands as a trial run for the rest of the line. Everyone on The Nest raved about it, but it's Wal-Mart so I wasn't sold just yet. Granted, we're not very hard on our furniture, but those things are SOLID. The bottom part of the shelf isn't perfectly flush (we could probably rubber mallet it down, but that's not a big deal for us) and the drawers didn't slide easily (the guides were a little too high. I sanded the bottom of the opening down and they're fine now), but we are still really impressed for the price. Which, by the way, you can have shipped to your local store for FREE. That's right, F-R-E-E. The down side is getting the boxes in the car since, like I said, these pieces are solid, thus heavy. We will be purchasing the rest of it when our tax refund finally comes (ETA is early April).

Anyway, I took that little tangent to get to this: Canopy now sells bundles of wooden hangers. You know, the ones that are in high-end boutiques on What Not to Wear. The ones that, if you hung a ratty t-shirt on, it'd look good. I've been considering getting some for our closet, just for the pretty factor. The thing is, these suckers are expensive. Target has a bundle for cheap, but they're only sold online and shipping would cost more than the hangers. IKEA has a small bundle for cheap, but the nearest store is on the north side of Cincinnati. While I'm not opposed to turning it into a road trip with the girls, I still feel dumb driving over an hour for hangers! Imagine my surprise when I saw a bundle of 20 hangers at Wal-Mart for $12. TWELVE dollars. That's 60 cents per hanger. Still sounds like a lot for something you get free at the dry-cleaners, but wooden hangers are better for your clothes and, like I said, make your clothes look pretty! Before anyone comments, yes, the website says $20, but in store they are $12. The thing is, we'd need several of these bundles and I don't know that I can quite justify that. We'd only need 3 or 4 bundles (or $36-$48). It's a line I trust, plus Wal-Mart will take anything back. But it's still a decent amount of money for hangers. Advice? What the heck are you thinking wasting money like that? Totally use whatever birthday money comes your way for it, even though I've got a shopping list a mile long?

Clean, clean, clean

As tax season rapidly approaches, we decided to clean the office to get all of our receipts in order. We pay our bills bi-monthly and then stack, along with bank statements, and other "probably important papers" on top of our file cabinet to sort as we have time. We sort, file, shred, and say "do we need to keep this?". Well, our sorting project then turned into clean the office in general--which included going through our book collection and putting what we could bear to part with in our massive Goodwill pile. Naturally, that lead to cleaning the closet...which lead to cleaning the coat closet. Don't be surprised if we suddenly give away all of our possessions and go live somewhere remote without internet...maybe not quite.
Either way, we've decided that moving in the summer will NOT be at the top of our list of favorite things. Last year, we combined two households, so we had 2 of everything. This year, we've gotten married and generally accumulated "stuff." I hope that we can begin to really, truly look at what we have and be able to say "That can go." We don't have THAT much storage in our apartment (as our stemware collection knows), but we both have large collections of memorabilia at our parents' houses that are waiting for us to have a permanent residence. My parents, bless their hearts, moved all of my junk with them. During one visit I sorted through most of it, stored high school stuff and Phi Mu stuff. My parents have since redecorated "my" room and put the surviving stuff in containers ready to move when we have room.
Where did all of this junk come from? What did I think I'd do with it? I plan on making my Goodwill run sometime this week. As soon as I return, I'm sure I'll clean out some other rooms, completely re-stuffing the container. One thing is for sure: we'll need a big kitchen!