...just over the river

Tutorial: Wood Wall

2012-01-17T16:25:00.008-05:00

As promised, but a bit late, here's how we installed the wood wall in the bathroom.

First, we got a sick amount of neatly organized lath from Eva's gut job house in the country. Seriously, she handed over the neatest piles of wood organized by size.

The dude put up some luon on the wall and then we started the assembly-line process.The wood pieces were then installed with a finish nailer and some wood glue. We tried to vary the lengths and colors ... trying to be random we found to be hard at times.

We could only work on the bottom half of the wall since we had to wait to have the electrician come back to hook up the rest of the wiring.After the electrician came and did his magic, we added the top piece a luon. I was going to write a message on the wall before the luon went up, but I forgot. The message would be something like: What? You don't like this wood wall. You are a poopy head. I still have a chance to roll up a little note before the floor molding goes in.We mitered the end pieces and kept checking for square before we installed the side section of the wall. This part of the wall wasn't really square to begin with and adding the wood allowed us to fudge square.
After the wall was complete, the dude sanded the wall and added some of our hardwood floor poly on it. By sanding it, the white parts of the wood were removed to reveal a light color wood. Secretly, I like the wall better before the sanding but now I won't have a chance to get a major splinter if (when) I walk into the wall.

I have to give mega props of inspiration to the jersey ice cream co. Their wood wall is super awesome and inspired my project.

If you live in Philadelphia, they will even come to your place and install your very own lath wall.

Zoom in - Zoom out

2012-01-12T13:18:00.007-05:00

What's that you ask? Oh, it's our finished wood wall!

Also, we finally got around to picking a grout color, getting it up on the tub wall, and installing the fixtures.

We went with the color "Alabaster" to match the same color as the floor tile grout (and to hide any mortar mistakes). It really makes the white glass tiles look brighter.

Tomorrow I'll share how we installed the wall o'wood!

The to do-do bathroom list

2011-12-29T11:53:00.004-05:00

Yep, I put a poop reference in my title.

If you remember, we started the upstairs bathroom the last few days of May of this year. We thought the renovation would take us just a few months (silly us, we thought we'd be done in October) but are now "celebrating" our 7th month mark. Thank goodness we have two bathrooms.

Here's what's left (which I'm sure I'm missing stuff):

Vanity

install vanity and figure out some tricky plumbing

build concrete counter top and install (easy, right?!)

Grout n' stuff

fix tub surround grout (we sortof ran out during the process and tried to make what we had last. the result was shallow grout lines)

seal tub surround grout

caulk the tub

Bathtub

install fixtures

get new drain and install

get metal corner thing to hold soap and shampoo

decide on a shower curtain and rod and put it up

Wood wall

finish installing wood wall - sand - seal

Paint

sand touch-up areas

paint touch-up areas on wall and ceiling

one more coat on moldings

Storage and accessories

decide on towel storage and vanity storage system

hang towel hooks

make toilet paper holder

frame and hang art work

get some general accessories

Other

get a door and hang

figure out window shade/curtain solution

We are so close to finishing up! Next project on the list to tackle ... our office! Who else is already mentally working on the next project without finishing the current one?

It's Electric!

2011-12-19T15:11:00.007-05:00

Sorry for the lack of updates. I know you are dying to hear about the status of our bathroom.

But I blame this place...

...with it's magicalness and it's unlimited supply of cookies and hot chocolate and it's holiday parade and fancy fireworks (and snow on Main Street - but we missed that).

So, the title of this post refers to our addition of electric to the upstairs bathroom (not to the "Electric Slide" that is now stuck in my head ... thanks, self).

Here's a picture montage of what our electrician masterfully completed:

Wires for sconces:

Sconces installed:

Pow! Lights on!

Oops, forgot to mention that we painted the walls (and installed some moldings)! I still have to paint the ceiling, which will be the same color as the walls.

New outlet between the toilet and shower:

And I'm saving the best for the last ... the heated floors are hooked up! And we didn't screw up installing them! Double high-five!

Still alive...

2011-11-21T16:03:00.004-05:00

Yep, a post about grout

2011-09-16T15:12:00.006-04:00

After much debate and concern, I picked out a grout color.

The color had to be light enough for the tiles to blend together but dark enough so a lack of cleaning (this is the man bathroom) will not be noticed.

This picture hit my inbox yesterday:

The floor still had the "just been grouted" haze in this picture.

Oh, and the threshold got installed too (after equal amounts of debate and concern)! Maybe this weekend I'll get some paint on these walls and the tub tile grouted too (I'll also throw in a toilet install on the list of things to do).

Climate Reality Project

2011-09-15T09:56:00.002-04:00

Here's a little break from the usual bathroom update post (but I promise to have a tile grout post up tomorrow).

I encourage you today to take a few moments to explore the 24 hour event from the Climate Reality Project and watch a live-streamed presentation.

Here's a description of the 24 hour event from their website:

"What is 24 Hours of Reality?
24 Presenters. 24 Time Zones. 13 Languages. 1
Message. 24 Hours of Reality is a worldwide event to broadcast the reality of the climate crisis. It will consist of a new multimedia presentation created by Al Gore and delivered once per hour for 24 hours, representing every time zone around the globe. Each hour people living with the reality of climate change will connect the dots between recent extreme weather events — including floods,
droughts and storms — and the manmade pollution that is changing our climate. We will offer a round-the-clock, round-the-globe snapshot of the climate crisis in real time. The deniers may have millions of dollars to spend, but we have a powerful advantage. We have reality."

With extreme drought, flooding and recent earthquakes, we have to wonder why we are experiencing such extreme natural events.

This is our crisis to find solutions.

We got floored!

2011-09-13T20:06:00.004-04:00

Yep, that title is pretty lame but that's how we roll.

Over the past two weekends, we have been working on the upstairs bathroom floor. It wasn't the most enjoyable diy project and included much cursing and a learning while we go attitude. I'm sure the professionals are laughing at our lack of skill. In the end, we are super happy with the results.

First, we started out by laying the floor warming mats and encapsulating it in mortar. (sorry Dude for the butt picture but we will have heated floors! yippie!)

After that layer of mortar was dry, we installed the Ditra substrate.

Next, a whole day was dedicated to cutting a bizillion 12" x 12" travertine tiles in half. In that process, I learned that wearing coveralls really helped stay a little less messy while using the wet saw.

Over the span of three days, we were able to lay all of the tile.

The other night we put a few layers of sealer on the tile.

I'm hoping soon we will be able to grout and install a toilet. We are so close yet so far to finishing this project before my October 1st deadline.

Others working in tight spaces

2011-09-02T12:08:00.005-04:00

As we roll into a new month, I'm going to be changing my blogroll around a bit. I'd like to have a monthly theme for da list... and September will include blogs that are working on bathrooms (either in the works or just complete).

Let me know in the comments section if I'm missing your blog or your favorite blog is not on the list. I love finding new reads even though my Google Reader might not agree with me.

Happy September and happy reading:

DIY Diva

Home Sweet Headache

Holyoke Home

Life begins at thirty, right?

Meet My Ugly Baby

Pretty Handy Girl

These blogs will be listed on the top left side of the blog and will be up for the entire month of September.

Staring

2011-08-19T16:23:00.002-04:00

I can't help staring at this awesome kitchen dreamed up by Alice Lane Interiors.

Image from Alice Lane Home; Check out more here

We are not quite ready to start on our kitchen, but this image has me wondering if I should think of having a more modern look with some sleek cabinets and open shelving.

You know what open shelving means ... new dishes!

picking grout color

2011-08-16T14:51:00.004-04:00

Do you guys know how to pick grout colors? Is there a design science to picking the perfect color?

I took to photobucket and "pulled" the color of the tiles into some fake grout lines.

dark gray - medium gray - beige - chocolate brown

What would you choose?

Last night prior to making this little picture, I would have picked the dark gray. Now seeing it with the tile, I'm leaning toward a different color. Help!

Tile Tetris

2011-08-15T10:15:00.003-04:00

Yesterday we got most of the glass tile up in the bath tub area. We worked until we used up all of the thin-set that we mixed and until the brink of major crankiness.

The Dude is worried that the tile looks "busy." I told him not to shower while drunk and he should be fine (btw, he picked out the tile).

Next step for the tile: cut the smaller tiles and finish the one wall, clean out any mortar between the tile and pick out a grout color.

I'm hoping this dude bathroom will be done soon and before Hans and Emilie's bathroom is complete.

(sorry for the poor quality of pictures...it is quite gloomy here today)

Visitor 2

2011-08-12T13:10:00.003-04:00

Sadie is visiting us right now while her family hikes in Acadia National Park. Since Pilot and Sadie are not best of friends, she comes with me to work (yay for working for a dog friendly company). Going to work is much fun for Sadie, since she gets SO much attention from my co-workers.

Dog sitting is definitely an adventure. One time we watched a dog that lived just a few blocks away. He managed to sneak out our front door and ran back to his house.

Do you have any wacky dog sitting stories to share?

Visitor 1

2011-08-10T11:55:00.005-04:00

Daisy and The Pilot

Daisy visited us for a few days at the end of July. This was one of the only times they weren't rolling around wrestling and up to no good.

Game on

2011-08-10T10:44:00.002-04:00

We are making (slow) progress on the upstairs bathroom. But the game is changing with a challenge from my bro, Hans, and his girlfriend, Emilie. They have also been remodeling their ONLY bathroom since February.

You can check out their progress here. We are basically tied for what is left to do but they have ACTUAL TILE ON THE WALLS. We don't.

Hans and Em's tiled bath tub surround. I'm jeals.

Our wager: The first couple to finish their bathroom wins with the other couple having to help them on their next big project.

This week, the dude (bless his heart) finished spackle/sanding and priming the walls. Our next step is to install the electric heated floors. Eeek, wish us luck!

Right now the room looks like a Design Star white box challenge:

Oh my! The drywall dust!!

Sorry I don't have more interesting pictures. Just some smooth drywall.

Summer Dreamin'

2011-08-08T13:57:00.005-04:00

It's been super duper hot here which means we had to halt on the bathroom remodel. Our upstairs only has one a/c register which is not enought to cool the entire space ... and that whole heat rises thing wasn't helping things. But not to worry! We are starting to work on things again because the temp is finally in the low to mid 90s.

Right now I'm dreamin' of some summer non-bathroomrenovation things:

What are you dreaming about?

Bathroom: In the works

2011-06-28T14:45:00.002-04:00

We are at the "fun" stage in the rebuilding the bathroom process ... drywall. Enough said, right?!

So, moving on to some of the bling-bling that will be in the bathroom:

West Elm's Flat Stock Single Sconce

West Elm's Short Industrial Bath Cabinet

Overstock's Kraus Rectangular Ceramic Sink and Ramus Faucet

Lowes' Laticrete Floor Warming System
Ditra at Home Depot

Has anyone used Ditra for their underlayment (with heated floors)?

I see lots and lots of reading in my future to feel confident in installing the Ditra as well as the heat floors.

Happy House Anniversary

2011-06-09T12:14:00.003-04:00

Six years ago we bought this bungalow and moved in on a day that was over 100 degrees.

We are still working on tons of projects in our little home and will probably continue to have some sort of construction item on our front porch (last week we had a toilet, this week some insulation) for the next six years.

Dear House, thanks for giving us a roof over our heads and the perfect view of the town 4th of July fireworks from the porch. We will do our best not to burn or knock you down. The Dude shall continue to adorn you with the hibiscus he tries to "save" from the big box hardware stores.

Bathroom Vanity

2011-06-06T08:00:00.000-04:00

We picked out a vanity on Sunday at Home Surplus. They didn't have the exact one we wanted but the one we picked out will be okay. It is smaller than our last one ... which is what we wanted to allow for more space in an already tiny bathroom. Why is it such a challenge to find a quality vanity and a good price? Thank goodness we found a store that actually had a nice selection.

Next step is to "flag" the granite slab that will be used for the top and have the granite people do the template.

I'm just crossing my fingers that everything will look okay when it is all put together. Now, on to sconce shopping! Do you have a favorite resource for bathroom sconces?

Brainstorm

2011-06-04T08:00:00.000-04:00

We are huge fans of Brainstorm Print + Design and have enough of their prints to open a small South Jersey museum in their honor.

Check out their newest set of prints, American Atlas. The Northeast print will be finding a home on one of the walls soon!

Waiting

2011-06-03T16:45:00.000-04:00

We are now waiting for the electrician to come (in the middle of June to assess) and do some rewiring (at the end of June). The dry wall can't move forward until the electrician does the work and we can't tile the floor until the dry wall is up on the walls.

On Tuesday of this week, we adjusted the shower plumbing by making the shower head location a bit higher and converting the tub fixtures from a two-handle to a one-handle system. We also put in some of the insulation and worked on the floor (self leveler and luon).

We are also on an unexpected holding pattern with our floor tile. The tile (12x12 travertine) that was gifted from a relative will not be enough to complete our floor. So, we are trying to track down more tile (that may be sitting at the dude's father's house) and might try to mix in a similar travertine if we do not have enough. Fun times!

While waiting for the electrician to do his magic, we can put the cement board down on the floor and maybe tile the bath surround. Is there anything else we can do for busy work that I'm missing? I don't want to loose the momentum and have the project stall. I also would like the dude's bathroom to get done so he will not have to use my bathroom for much longer!

Pretty Pattern

2011-06-03T10:23:00.002-04:00

Please invite me to a fancy party so I can wear one of these lovely Jules Reid dresses!

all images from Jules Reid

Chicken or the egg?

2011-06-01T14:50:00.003-04:00

We may not have walls in the bathroom, but we do have the tile for the bathtub surround.

from Lowe's

A bathroom demo long weekend

2011-05-31T21:27:00.006-04:00

We both wear inappropriate foot wear for demo.

The offensive bathroom

2011-05-27T16:33:00.004-04:00

Our upstairs bathroom sits in the dormer opposite the shoe built-ins. It's small with a sloping ceiling and does not have a vent for heat in the winter.

When we moved in (close to 6 years ago), it was a sea of peach and wood. The walls, ceiling, floors, and countertop were all a lovely shade of peach. The walls even had a stenciled seashell boarder. We replaced all of the wood bath accessories with some brushed nickel, painted the vanity, added a new mirror and updated the lighting. Sounds like a gem, right?!

I've seen worse, but it's time for a remodel because we ended up with some free floor tile. The dude's brother was building a house and decided against the tile after it was purchased. We also got a new sink and toliet in the deal too, but we are not sure if we are going to use them since they are bisque and not white (we are hoping to salvage the tub which is white).

We are lucky that this bathroom was added upstairs in the early 1990s by professionals. So, hopefully we will not have too many surprises.

So here's some non-staged photos of the bathroom (don't forget, this is the dude's bathroom...I don't go up there):

Big Plans (or not)

2011-05-26T10:09:00.003-04:00

This weekend we will be gutting our upstairs bathroom (the dude's bathroom) with no real plan of what the finished product will look like.

The deal was/is that this is "his" bathroom and he gets to make the design decisions. Apparently, I'm the one pulling the inspiration files together to come up with a plan for his approval. Which is really hard.

I don't know how decorators/designers do it. Working with a "client" is not easy when he doesn't know what he wants.

Have you ever gone head first into a demo/remodel project without a plan?

...wish me luck...

Maybe I would eat better...

2011-05-24T21:34:00.003-04:00

...if I had some proper berry holders.

anthropologie

Back from crazy town

2011-05-23T21:32:00.014-04:00

Sorry I've been missing.

I wish I could say I went on a fabulous month long vacation but work has been crazy. The last of three complicated events have been planned and executed and now my brain has some space to start posting again and to catch up on some reading (ugh, my GoogleReader was about to explode).

Here are some of the fun details from one of events that took place on a very windy hill in the country:

The events also included some craft projects too (chalkboard picture frames and sewn together feed sacks for table cloths):

I tried to dye

2011-04-20T21:10:00.008-04:00

In the beginning of the month, I went to a blogging event in NYC and needed some blog business cards. Of course, I waited until the last minute so none could be designed and printed and made all pretty. The night before I had to get my diy on and make my own cards.

In my head, I thought I would want cards with a ombre, honeysuckle color going down the side of the card. Out came the Rit dye and some printable cards from an office store.

The cards came out okay. I could not wait for the dye to cool and dipped the cards when the dye was still warm. The color came out darker than I wanted and the warmer dye made the cards curl at the ends. Lesson learned!

I'm still going to try to dye some fabric this spring/summer. Can't wait! Have you had any luck dyeing stuff?

Rollin'

2011-04-15T08:00:00.000-04:00

Love!

Kate Spade/Adeline Adeline

Fabric brain explosion

2011-04-14T15:50:00.007-04:00

Below are some fabric choices that are floating around in my head for the upstairs window seat...

I would love to hear your thoughts and suggestions! It takes a village to make a decision around here.

Right now, everything is based off of the middle floral fabric...maybe it will end up being a bolster that would run the length of the window?? Who knows, really... do you know?

New to da blog or forget what the window seat project/shoe storage extravaganza is ... here's a link.

You have been warned

2011-04-01T16:00:00.000-04:00

The website for HGTV Canada's television program, Colin and Justin's Home Heist, is addictive!

It will suck you into a time/space vortex and this is what you will see:

amazing before and afters of at least three rooms from one house (I feel like I've been in many of those "before" pictures)

tons of Ikea kitchen cabinets

kitchen eye candy

funny episode names

Have a happy Friday! Don't forget...I did warn you.

Dip Dyed

2011-03-23T11:45:00.001-04:00

In my great pillow search of 2011, I found this dip-dyed John Robshaw beauty:

Then, I found this Martha Stewart tutorial on making your own dip-dyed pillows:

From Martha Stewart Living, August 2010

This might be a crafty weekend?!

Go check out Peacock Feathers post to dye for to see the most beautiful dip dyed dress......ever.

Sneak peek

2011-03-22T11:55:00.001-04:00

We are getting so close to finishing up this project. Catch up on the long process here.

. hello spring .

2011-03-21T16:27:00.004-04:00

All dresses: Milly

Insert green here

2011-03-17T10:52:00.002-04:00

Pilot O'Dog wishes everyone a happy and safe St. Patty's Day.

Fabric Fail and Win

2011-03-14T21:41:00.003-04:00

I went to Jomar Fabrics yesterday with the upstairs bedroom in mind ... but came out with fabric for the living room.

My bad.

Things that keep me up at night

2011-03-09T15:04:00.006-05:00

We are getting closer to finishing the upstairs shoe storage built-in things which means I gotta come up with window treatments (bleh, hate that word), pillows for the bench and sew up a bench cushion (or two).

So...I got fabric and pillows on my brain and I need some input. Below is what we have going on in the bedroom right now.

1. Wall Paint: Poetic Princess (very light icy lavender) from Ace Hardware 2. Bed: Upholstered bed from Ikea in a charcoal (similar to the Floro model, but not really!) 3. Bedding: duvet cover from Ikea in a very light gray 4. Trim work: basic white 5. Ceiling: soft white. Hardware is in stainless.

Any ideas for the question marks? I need some advice for fabric additions with print (maybe some ikat?) and should I stick with shades of gray or add an accent color.

I'm normally not afraid of using color, but in this space I'd like to have it a little more serene and spa like (another term I hate).

Here's an old post with a good idea of what the space is like (hello angled ceilings). You can also see another bench at the end of the bed that still needs to be covered too. I have some Amy Butler fabric for it, but am willing to change it.

Thanks guys! Hugs and Kisses.

Winning combo

2011-03-04T11:06:00.003-05:00

Will I ever get tired of white kitchens with subway tile and marble counter tops?

Is there a trend that you hope never goes out of style?

Photo: Alexandra Rowley Source: Southern Living

Doorknobs

2011-03-01T08:41:00.006-05:00

On Sunday, we (well, I tried first and failed) installed purty doorknobs on our dutch door that leads to the upstairs.

The knobs are from Anthro, the mortise guts are from a big box store, and the key hole cover thing was original to the door. The key hole plate was covered in tons of paint which I removed last year by using this technique.

With the new hardware, the door is now screaming to be repainted. Hopefully I can get to it this week!

Now that the snow is melting and it is a little less dangerous to bring the table saw into the back yard to cut wood, we are making some more progress on our upstairs built-ins ... I should have some updates by the end of the week! Yippie!

Here we go...

2011-02-18T15:51:00.004-05:00

Erin at The Stucco Bungalow bestowed the honor of Stylish Blogger Award (with sparkles) to a group of bloggers that included Me!

So here goes:

RULE #1: By accepting this Stylish Blogger Award, I am obligated to share with you 7 things about myself.

It's all about me time...

I am named after Elvis' daughter since we share a birthday. Some of my family members believe I am named after them.

Most of my family members cannot spell my name. It is Lisa.

I have three cuckoo clocks and many inherited garden gnomes. I am German.

I own the ugliest kitchen ever and am hoping one day to get on one of those shows that fixes it up for free. I guess I should start applying.

As a kid, we traveled every weekend and during the summers across the country... on motorcycle.

I currently have three travel mugs and a coffee mug on my desk.

I have mad nail polishing skills.

RULE #2: Pay it forward and bestow the Stylish Blogger Award upon 15 bloggers.

I will be honoring two bloggers that are currently up to their eye balls in lath and plaster bits. (Yes, I'm breaking the rules and will have bad luck)

Eva at The Fourth Door

(She's only working on a bizzillion things at the same time.)

Emilie at Home Sweet Headache

(Emilie and my brother just gutted their only bathroom this week. She'll be posting pictures soon.)

Kitchen design inspiration

2011-02-16T15:19:00.002-05:00

I'm considering designing my kitchen around these measuring cups I found at Anthropologie for a few bucks (get it ... bucks).

DVF is going home!

2011-02-09T17:11:00.006-05:00

I love Diane von Furstenberg so much. Today I decided to hop on over to her website to see if there were any cute dresses on sale to add to my collection. I had a lovely surprise to find that the label is now getting into the home market.

Pictures from Bloomingdales

Now what? Sneaker drawers!

2011-01-18T14:05:00.006-05:00

Finally, the shelves for the shoe storage towers are painted. I used Ace Hardware's Cabinet, Door and Trim paint (as recommended by non-paid-endorser Sara at Russet Street Reno - by the way check out her cabinets!).

In the end, the paint went on really nice even though it took 3-4 coats on each side of the shelf with a 6-8 hour drying time.

I'm still working on shelf placement and playing shoe tetris on which shoe goes on which shelf. Also some shoes are going to a nice farm in the country...shhh...don't tell them!

The shoe drawers are also a work in progress right now. With snow on the ground, we get a little stuck on the sanding and cutting wood process since that all gets done outside. And it is also ski season.

I wanted these drawers be pretty deep to have some flexibility in their use. Our plan is to use them as sneaker drawers, but the next person down the line might not have a large sneaker collection and want to use the storage for something normal like sweaters or linens.

So, I'm wondering how to divide the sneakers. They stand-up on their own, like how I currently have them, but need a divider for the next row of sneakers. Ideally, I would like something that could be moved and not so permanent. I did some research and most typical drawer dividers are too short for the width of these drawers.

Any ideas?

This tension rod is the only thing I could think of to divide and conquer the sneakers.

My resolutions are crap

2011-01-03T09:38:00.004-05:00

Yep, my new year's resolution theme is crap. Here goes:

Get rid of crap. I don't know how two people have been able to accumulate some much junk. We are going to start a twice a month stop to Goodwill and resale store. The plan is to downsize our stuff by over 50%.
Stop crapping out on projects and finish them up! I'm still working on painting the shoe shelves with the slowest drying paint ever made. The shelves should be done by the end of the week and hopefully we can cut some wood for the cabinet doors. After the shoe storage is complete, we will be working on our downstairs office then back upstairs to update the second bathroom.
Clean out the crap in my email accounts.
Figure out who is not picking up their dog's crap on our block.

Dream Home

2011-01-01T20:24:00.004-05:00

This year's HGTV's Dream Home is in Stowe, Vermont - one of our favorite places! It seems we only enter the Dream Home contest when the house is near a ski mountain.

Where would your dream home be located?

Touches of black

2010-12-30T13:11:00.004-05:00

I love the touches of black and bead board ceilings in the 2010 Princess Margaret Showhome featured in Canadian House and Home.

spotted at flourish design + style

A Peacock Feathers Wedding

2010-12-29T11:00:00.003-05:00

Way way way back in June, you may have spotted some Twitter mentions about some secret crafting projects.

Finally all is revealed in Elizabeth's wedding pictures!

More pictures can be seen here and here on Once Wed. And from the very talented Heidi Geldhauser of Our Labor of Love.

by Our Labor of Love

I was so honored to be part of this very special couple's day. Elizabeth also rocks for letting me pick out my own bride's maid dress and shoes too!!

Would Sandra Lee approve?

2010-12-10T15:44:00.008-05:00

First thing in the morning, we finished decorating the conference room table as a dining table.

Greens, berries, hollies and twigs were cut and added to the table. We used the decoupaged plates as chargers and cut up paper towel cardboard as napkin rings (with some hot glued greens and cones). Scrap fabric was rolled into napkins and muslin was torn to make place mats. The candle sticks are also wrapped in old maps.

So there you have it! Oh, and by the way, we WON!

See the below posts on other details in our office holiday decorating contest:

Mod Podge Plates

Scrappy Tree

Other Details

It's all in the details captured by my crappy pictures

2010-12-09T16:50:00.013-05:00

Here's some more details of our conference room decorating. Our conference room, also known as the library, was a former living room in a very old farm house which explains the fireplace!

We have judging tomorrow and still have to finish up our "table-scape." Tomorrow I'll have some more pictures to share.

Advent calendar made from a cereal box

Wreaths made from butterfly fans from a past event

Match-stick menorah with pillows made from staff t-shirts

Fireplace with sock stockings, paper chains, magazine trees

Scrabble tile message

Train (with wine cork wheels!) made of whatever was in the recycling bin

Scrap fabric wreath

And our tree now has a star topper...out of PVC

Scrappy

2010-12-07T12:01:00.000-05:00

Continuing the recycle theme for our office decorating competition....here's our version of a Christmas tree.

Our scrap wood christmas tree was inspired by this amazing tree that was featured on Apartment Therapy.

via here

Ours had to be a smaller version since it had to fit into a car to be transported to the office. And of course, the presents are wrapped with maps!

My hands are covered in Modge Podge

2010-12-06T13:42:00.013-05:00

Last night, the Dude and I were getting "crazy" by decoupaging the back of glass plates for my work's holiday decorating contest. Apparently we were in a decoupage race, but I was not informed until the end...I lost.

We have a group of co-workers (me included) that are decorating the conference room as a dining room/living room. The decorating contest comes with a twist....the space has to be decorated with a recycling theme. I'll be posting more pictures this week as we decorate the room.

Below are our decoupaged plates that will be used as chargers. Since I work for a land trust, we have lots of maps and google earth images. So, I put them to use!

Fill me in!

2010-12-02T15:55:00.003-05:00

Hi y'all!

I've been off-line for about two and a half weeks because of work craziness and a trip to my parent's place in North Carolina over the holiday.

So, what did I miss?

I'm still going through my 1,000+ blog posts in Google Reader. Eek.

Shoe Storage: Part Four

2010-11-09T15:59:00.006-05:00

Will this project ever be done? I need to finish it up soon before it get's too cold to cut wood outside.

Over the weekend, some shelves got cut out of MDF (I wanted to go with wood as recommended by Kelly, but I lost) and the tracks got hung.

So now the important stuff ... deciding what shoes make the cut to be in the shoe towers, what shoes go to shoe heaven and which ones go next to each other. Sounds easy enough?

I still have to figure out a few things:

Paint or cover the shelves (wallpaper or contact paper)? What color?

What to do with my pretty shoe boxes (they might go into a plastic tub and find a home in the basement after the shoe bags are removed from the boxes)? Do you save shoe boxes too for your fancy shoes?

Is there something to put in the shoes rather than tissue paper to help them hold their shape?

Dokidoki Fries says, "please finish this project soon so I don't have to be next to the hiking boots!"

Check out our slow progress: Part One; Part Two; Part Three

Home Sweet Headache

2010-11-08T09:41:00.004-05:00

My brother and his girlfriend purchased their first home about two months ago. They settled in Easton, Pennsylvania - home of Crayola Crayons and a river that floods.

They got their 1900s Federal style home for a steal ... $52,000! It may only have (barely) one bathroom and lots of wood paneling but they are ready for the diy challenge.

Emilie is blogging the whole mess over at Home Sweet Headache. Stop on by, say hi, comment that my brother needs a hair cut and help her with some design/diy decisions!

Teaser: You might even see the Dude helping out in some basement destruction.

I think I might cry

2010-11-05T15:04:00.004-04:00

After one year and three months, we finally have our street paved, new curbs, sod between the curb and the side walk, and a new driveway apron.

Our town started out by replacing the 100-year old main sewer pipes, then it was the water pipes which finally let them to "encourage" the gas/electric company to replace their lines. The whole time, we lived on a dirt/gravel road.

For two summers, we have not been able to sit on our front porch or open our windows because the dust was crazy!

I think this weekend I will sit on the porch just for the hell of it.

A post from the past...
Last November we got new gas lines to the house.

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T21:15:00.002-04:00

Pilot was all business today.

Would you?

2010-10-27T16:43:00.008-04:00

Would you ever sign up for one of those tv shows that come into your home and renovate a room for you?

The Dude and I are currently considering putting in an application to one of those shows (many film in our area) but are a little hesitant. Yes, I would love to have some experts help us out and yes, I would love to have a nice discount ... but what about the design. I've seen a bunch of poo on some of those shows and some really awesome things too.

Over the weekend, I was feeling a bit under the weather and spent some quality time on the couch. I caught a new show called "I Hate My Kitchen" and actually loved what they did.

Would you risk it and have a tv show design one of your rooms?

Below are some screen shots from the "Traditional Update" episode of I Hate My Kitchen.

Eek, I might have to take the plunge! We could use some help.

Could I learn to love it?

2010-10-26T16:35:00.003-04:00

The Dude wants a Poang chair. I understand that they are comfortable, but I'm just not into it.

My mind could be changed with the sheepskin cover though.

Shoe Storage: Part Three

2010-10-25T13:59:00.007-04:00

Yep, we are still working on those shoe storage built-ins. They are now primed and have one coat of paint on them.

We decided to spruce up the inside of the cabinets with some old paint that I had from my last apartment. I'm surprised that the paint wasn't hard as a rock since it was from 2003. The grey is Flagstone by Olympic in a Semi-gloss.

We did have a little problem opening the can. The left-over paint had to be poured into some plastic chinese take-out containers since there was no way to put the top back on that bad boy.

Hopefully (fingers crossed) this week we will start getting some shelving in the two towers.

Any recommendations on the type of shelves that we should install? Right now, I'm thinking of white painted shelves in mdf or plywood with white contact paper on the tops. Remember, these shelves will be used for shoes. I'm up for some ideas!!

Check out our slow progress:
Shoe Storage: Part One
Shoe Storage: Part Two

A true sign

2010-10-19T14:06:00.003-04:00

butter LONDON 3 Free, Rosie Lee

You know no house projects are getting done when my nails are all bling bling.

Oops my bad

2010-10-18T15:30:00.003-04:00

My bad ... I forgot to show the Internet what we finally ended up with after the "Great coffee table search of 2010."

We ended up with the Top-Drawer Coffee Table from West Elm. The website had it on sale but I called over to the Philly store and they had it for cheaper...and I saved on the shipping charge!

I also ordered this rug from Overstock. I was able to save a bunch by ordering it during a "rug event" and had a 10% off coupon code.

(please ignore the donation pile behind the chair and the silly dog)

Blanket time

2010-10-11T15:51:00.003-04:00

(not that Blanket, silly)

It's finally getting a little chilly outside and all I want to do is wrap myself in a warm blanket and watch re-runs of the Rachel Zoe Project.

I'll take one of these Pendleton blankets...

San Miguel Blanket

Glacier Park 100th Anniversary Blanket

Eco-wise Wool Worthington Throw

Glacier National Park Blanket

Add some sleep socks and I'll be good to go for Fall and Winter.

Shoe Storage: Part Two

2010-09-27T12:35:00.007-04:00

We are about the mid-point in this project. There is a date over our heads to finish it up...October 16th. The Dude's mother will be staying with us for a day or two and we'd like to have the master bedroom habitable so we can move out of the guest room. Nothing like a deadline to get this project moving!

So far, the shell of the shoe storage towers, most of the trim work, the floor molding and the center bench are complete. We still have shelves to cut, prime and paint the built-in, install the shelving supports, nail down quarter-round at the floor and build the drawers and doors.

I think we can rock this out in time.

By my guestimations, I'm thinking that each tower will hold 33 pairs of shoes and I have no clue how many shoes the drawers under the bench will hold (we actually haven't figured out how we are going to utilize the drawers...hopefully it will not be used to store the small shop-vac and compressor).

I can't wait to sit on the bench with a magazine and a cup of tea and stare out at my neighbor's mossy roof.

Patio Par-tay

2010-09-22T14:29:00.005-04:00

(via PhillyMag.com)

Last week I was lucky enought to ~~sneak in~~ be invited by Julie to a Philadelphia Social Media Moms party generously hosted by E.P. Henry at the Philadelphia Magazine Design Home. (holy cow that was a lot of links)

The house is enormous! It made me a little sad to see so much extravagance on an old country farm property. All I could think of was 1. I would never see the Dude if we lived in 12,000 square feet 2. it would take me 3 months to clean the house (I would need 5 Zoilas) and 3. how many sinks and tvs do you really need?

(via JulieBouf)

But...it was very lovely. You should really stop by the house...100% of the $20 ticket proceeds goes to the Ronald McDonald House.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention - the house has a Panic Room.

**Disclosure: This party was sponsored by E.P. Henry. All of the opinions are mine and not influenced by E.P. Henry. I did get a really nice gift bag with the perfect diy/6 AM dog walking hat.

Shoe Storage

2010-09-20T14:06:00.003-04:00

We are making some progress!

After lots of measuring, building, carrying the towers up the steps, carrying the towers down the steps to trim - we have the shell of our shoe storage.

A bench seat will be between the towers for even more shoe storage - similar to this.

We have lots of shoes.

Click on the upstairs bedroom label to see our very slow progress over the past year-ish.

Coffee Table FAIL

2010-09-15T11:11:00.008-04:00

Yep, I failed on the coffee table choice. The table that I picked is huge. Now I have to sell it*/return it and find another table. Bleh.

Divert your eyes from the mess on the current coffee table.

Right now, we are leaning toward this one from West Elm since it has drawers to hide stuff.

Top-Drawer Coffee Table

And we are still digging this one from Home Decorators (and its new sale price).

Holbrook Coffee Table

Are there any other tables that I should have on my radar?

Coffee Table Search Part 1
Coffee Table Search Part 2

*If you live in the Delaware Valley NJ/PA/DE, would you like to buy my table? Send me an email at wearecrafty at gmail dot com.

And the winner is...

2010-09-10T16:40:00.002-04:00

I finally ordered a coffee table.

Monaco Rustic Table from Overstock.

I also ordered a 8' x 10' sisal/seagrass rug (on sale) and am hoping to layer cute rugs over the boring beige rug. Can't wait for the UPS/Fedex/Mail dude to arrive with the goods.

The land of misfit projects

2010-09-08T08:57:00.005-04:00

Over the long weekend we worked on the projects that we've been putting off. I'm sure you have those too...the projects that you just don't want to do.

First on the list- take out everything that is in the shed and make our yard look like an episode of Hoarders.

After getting organized and putting stuff back, the Dude touched up the shed porch paint. (one day I'll post about the story of building the shed)

Next up was relocating the air vent upstairs so we can start building the shoe storage unit.

Exciting, right?! The vent was originally located on the side of the dormer wall. Now the vent has been moved to the front of the wall, next to the built-in.

The third project on the crappy list: figure out what we want to do with the interior door hardware. You may remember that I used the crock-pot method to clean a bunch of old painted over door hinges and hardware.

The Dude decided that he doesn't "trust" the old hardware and wants the new stuff. We found a mortise set with glass knobs at Home Depot for $25 and gave it a try on a dutch door that goes to the upstairs. There is a brushed nickel back plate that still needs to be installed, but it is a start to the door hardware dilemma.

I also did a little touch up painting on the bathroom molding.

Well, that was our weekend! Hope you had a great long weekend.

Do you have easy projects that you've been putting off too?

(I promise I'll get a new camera soon. These crappy iPhone pics are not cutting it! Any camera suggestions?)

Shoe MVP

2010-08-25T16:46:00.002-04:00

When I found out that we were going to the theme parks in Orlando in August, I freaked out about WHAT AM I GOING TO WEAR..AAHHHH!

I'm a disaster when it comes to casual comfort clothes. I'm either in a dress and the tallest shoes ever made or sweat pants and Crocs - no in between.

So I caved and purchased my first pair of Birks for the comfort and LOOK THEY ARE SHINY! It was the best decision ever (Thanks E for recommending). They also stayed on during crazy upside down roller coasters.

Black Patent Birko-Flor Gizeh

I'm officially a hippie now, right?

*sorry for the caps lock. Birkenstock did not sponsor this post. I'm just passionate about shoes.

A little vacation

2010-08-23T14:13:00.005-04:00

I'm back from a family vacation to here...

...nope, not to Italy but to fantasy land.

Gotta love Florida in August during an unseasonably hot summer.

Massimo Vitali

2010-08-17T14:18:00.004-04:00

Tomorrow One Kings Lane will be having some pieces by Massimo Vitali for sale.

Does anyone want to support my need/want for art work?!

image via artnet.com

If you'd like an invitation to join One Kings Lane, email me at wearecrafty at gmail dot com and you'll get a $10 credit!

Possible Coffee Tables: Part 2

2010-08-13T11:02:00.005-04:00

Triad Coffee Table

Ikea PS Bruse

Sydney Coffee Table

Klubbo

I'd also love to make my own table. Recently there has been a lot of great ideas floating around with using palets as the main building material. Right now, I really need to put all of my muscle and brain power into building the shoe storage (and so much more important!) which I'm hoping to start in the next few weeks.

Are there projects that you know that you could make but instead just purchase the finished product?

Possible Coffee Tables: Part 1

2010-08-11T15:23:00.006-04:00

Here we go!

window coffee table

peekaboo clear coffee table

smart coffee table

Monaco Rustic Coffee Table

Bamboo Coffee Table

Bunch Metal Cocktail Table

Holbrook Coffee Table

Check out Eva's coffee table suggestions!

I'm also finding I prefer to have the option to add a box under the coffee table for magazines.

Next decision stop: Coffee Table

2010-08-10T13:08:00.005-04:00

via Ikea*

We currently have the above coffee table from Ikea in our living room. It came with the Dude when we moved in together and I've disliked it since our meeting. Now I have a great reason to finally get a new coffee table ... the dog's toys get stuck under the table and he will dig at the carpet until one of us retrieves it. Also, the dog slams his head on the edge of the table.

Thank you dog- we have to get a new coffee table and rug because of you.

In this post, you get a glimpse of the living room and coffee table.

So, here's my coffee table wish list:

No or very little hang-over on the table top for dog safety
"Light and airy" (the current table is too "heavy" for the space)
Could have a bottom shelf but not too low
A durable top because "someone" forgets to use coasters and we put our feet up on the table
In the $200-ish range would be awesome
Could be glass or wood
Could be rustic with modern lines

Anything else I should add to the wish list or do you have a coffee table suggestion that meets the criteria?

I'm hoping to make a decision soon and have the new table and rug set up in two weeks (I said it here, so I have to make it happen!).

*Looks like they recently discontinued the coffee table. Also, we found some lucky friends that are moving to the area that love the table and will give it a new home.

Hi.

2010-08-09T14:18:00.003-04:00

Pilot and Daisy - August 6, 2010

I took a bit of a blogging break because we've been busy with preparing for houseguests, dog sitting, doggie play dates, and stuff...bleh.

Hope to get back into the swing of things! I still need to pick a new rug and a new coffee table (more on that later).

Oh, and why is this summer so stupidly hot?

I hate drywall dust

2010-08-02T09:40:00.004-04:00

Yeah, I know...waahh!

We lived with a hole in the downstairs bathroom ceiling for over a year until we could replace the roof (need to find photo documentation). It was a classy hole too. We put some pots and pans in the rafters to collect the water from the roof leak and put up some plastic sheeting. After we got the new roof, we lived with a light purple piece of drywall on the ceiling (a left over piece that was cut out of the upstairs bedroom wall to make the built-ins).

We've been putting off finishing off the ceiling because of the stupid drywall spackle dust.

Yesterday, we tackled the project through a grin-and-bear it method. We acknowledged it was going to be a disaster to clean up, that white ghost foot prints would be tracked through the house and the dog might look like he had bad dandruff.

Primer is up... now time to find that can of bathroom paint.

Sorry for the bad iPhone pictures. Sometimes it's just too hard to find the real camera!

Before

After

Some how my car was also covered in drywall dust.

Carpet Karma

2010-07-26T09:28:00.000-04:00

Last Monday the dog got sick. Really sick. On my jute carpet.

So instead of a natural fiber carpet for the family room, I'm now looking at Indoor/Outdoor carpet options.

Sawgrass Mills - Explosion, Aqua

Sawgrass Mills - Tribeca, Spruce

Sawgrass Mills - Watermark, Spruce

Sawgrass Mills - Peacock, Aqua

What I like about Sawgrass Mills rugs - they are similar to cotton and are a little more plush compared to other outdoor rugs.

Also, there are the lovely Dash and Albert rugs to consider too.

Dash and Albert - Diamond Light Blue/Ivory Indoor/Outdoor

Dash and Albert - Diamond Khaki/White Indoor/Outdoor

Do you have any rug favorites or dogs vs. carpet advice?

The sofa that could solve the world's problems

2010-07-21T13:31:00.004-04:00

I love love love this sofa from Wisteria, but the description on their website is kind of lame.

Diamond pattern symbolizing unity
Each one is unique
Cotton and wood construction

Oh, well! I still really like it and wish I could find some space in my house for it to live.

I'm it

2010-07-19T13:14:00.005-04:00

I've been tagged by the lovely Rambling Renovators with 5 questions! Here goes....

1. What inspired you to blog? What is your favourite blog?

As I mentioned a few posts ago, friends encouraged me to start a blog years ago, but I'm lazy and just got around to starting Just Over The River last year. For me- I blog to have a record of our house projects, use as an inspiration platform and discussion for future diy and decorating projects and to offer up a bit of a creative outlet.

My favorite blog would have to be Design*Sponge. It provides a constant source of inspiration.

2. If there was a fire in your house, and you only had time to grab 4 things (excluding your family!), what would they be?

I picked a little more than 4 items...this was hard!

Documents (house things and wallet): If I just dealt with a fire the last thing I want to do is trying to figure out how to get replacement paperwork, credit cards and license.
Picture album from my childhood
Grandmother's ski pin collection
A few of my great-grandmother's doilies
My first Steiff bear, Dorma

3. If you could live somewhere else in the world, where would it be?Why?

I've thought of this one since my high school days. I'd live on Lisa Island. This island would have mountains for skiing but also waves for surfing. Temperatures would be mild off of the mountain (no 100 degree days). I would also settle for Switzerland.

4. If money were no object, what would your dream house look like?

It would be a simple modern cabin in the woods with amazing views.

5. Name something you wish you had more time for.

I really enjoy making things. Having more time to create for my self and friends would be a dream. I'd also love to have some time to take horse back riding lessons and restore an Airstream trailer.

---------------

I'm going to use some of the similar "rules" as Rambling Renovators:

Tagees-

a) Post your answer to the 5 questions on your blog.
b) Ask 5 questions (can be your own or some repeats).
c) Tag a few other bloggers.
d) After you post your answers, come back and comment with a link to your post.

Questions (I'm using some repeats!)-
1. What was your inspiration to first start blogging?
2. If there was a fire in your house, and you only had time to grab 4 things (excluding your family), what would they be?
3. If you were "forced" to take on another residence would it be a houseboat, a farm estate, a city apartment, a seaside home, or a one room cabin in the woods?
4. If money was no object, what would be the next house or decor project that you would tackle be and describe!
5. Name something you wish you had more time for.

I'm tagging:
Eva at the fourth door
Elizabeth at Peacock Feathers
Sara at Russet Street Reno
the lovely Holyoke Home
Laurendy at Laurendy Home

Have fun!

Sisal Rug = Chic?

2010-07-19T10:15:00.003-04:00

I've been trying to come up with affordable, large and hard wearing rug choices for our living/family/tv room.

All my searches led back to some sort of natural fiber rug. Then I remembered that all of Lee Kleinhelter's places always had sisal rugs. See, sisal can be chic!

Cottage Living November/December 2008

Cottage Living October 2006

Image via Design*Sponge

Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles - January 2010

Images via Pieces, Inc.

Any thoughts on natural fiber rugs? Love them or hate them?

Summer Getaway

2010-07-15T15:30:00.004-04:00

Since I have no big plans this summer, I'll live vicariously through others' vacation homes.

via The New York Times

See more pictures here and read the story about this summer retreat in the Hamptons.

Shimmer Shimmer: Kate Spade

2010-07-14T16:52:00.003-04:00

Sometimes we all just need a little shimmer!

via Kate Spade

Moving right along

2010-07-12T09:08:00.003-04:00

We are back into "finishing the upstairs" mode and the Dude spent most of the weekend painting the molding and starting on the touch up painting. I spent that time trying to entertain the dog like some sort of clown entertainer, so he wouldn't whine when he knew he couldn't be with the Dude (they have some sort of special male bond that I will never have with Pilot) and to keep him from trying to get upstairs and ending up with a paint streak down his side.

Last night, I ordered a bicycle leash to wear this pup out and a dog bed for him to crash when not in the crate. These dogs and their accessories really add up!

Dog bed by Molly Mutt (Mr. Roboto)

Walky Dog Bicycle Leash (I hope this works!)

Finding things and toys to keep Pilot busy seems to be difficult since he's an "aggressive" chewer. The other day he "aggressively" chewed my door stop.

I also need to start shopping for a stair runner and a larger rug for the family room since Pilot is a bit of a spazz on the hardwood floors.

He is starting to loose his new dog smell!

A bunch of thanks!

2010-07-08T08:59:00.005-04:00

I'm back from my little blogging break with two new announcements!

1. We have a name for the dog. He will be known as The Pilot. The Dude thought it would be funny to have "the" in front of his name. So far, Pilot has not complained about his new name (it was Oreo before).

Thanks to everyone that suggested names through faceplace, twitter and email. It took us quite some time to pick a name because of all of the great suggestions. One day, I'll try to get a post together of the name suggestions to help anyone else trying to name a pet (or kid).

Pilot's neck heart

2. Today is Just Over The River's first anniversary! Hope you've enjoyed following me on my little adventures, because I've enjoyed sharing them. Thanks to Lauren and Elizabeth for encouraging me to start blogging.

I've been really lucky to have been able to "meet" some great bloggers along the way and reconnect to old friends. This year, I hope to be able to share more house projects (once we are out of the triple digit temps), inspiration and other fun stuff.

A bunch of thanks!!

A new addition

2010-06-28T13:53:00.004-04:00

A new team member joined us last night!

He has had quite a journey over the past few weeks ... from Georgia to New Jersey.

We are still in search of a name (suggestions are welcome).

Now time to find a doggie tool belt and to teach him to stay for photo ops.

Upstairs bedroom progress

2010-06-24T09:33:00.007-04:00

Or should I say "not-so-much" progress...

So here's my list of excuses:

We've been busy with other things.
MDF is such a pain to pick up at the store since you need to find willing parent and time to borrow their truck.
It's really really hot outside which makes the upstairs really hot.
We need a couple hour block of day light to work on the molding.
I need to pick more wall paint for touch-ups. I thought I would be good with left over paint, but I'm really bad a sealing cans. We do have a small sample in a semi-gloss but our walls are painted with a matte.
We are also painting the basement floor.
We like to watch tv.

Most of the molding is up (painted and caulked).

We got the bed upstairs and assembled without ending our 11 year relationship.

The solid wood dresser made it upstairs too.

Of course some of the shoes found a temporary home (more on this later).

Can't wait to wrap this project up and add 300+ square feet of living space to our home.

Happy Dad's Day

2010-06-21T10:25:00.001-04:00

Hope all of the dads out there had a rockin' cool day.

Watkins Glen, NY 1984

It's the new black

2010-06-16T08:54:00.009-04:00

Over the weekend, I was with a friend at an awesome antiques market way out in PA. After looking at some costume jewelry booths and seeing a recurring trend in our choices, we declared neon as the new black. You know if you say it out loud it makes it true!

Here's some of my favorite neon...

Cameo by etsy seller, hhop

Stay Classy Pencil 6 pack by Earmark

Home Décor Love Twill Trumpet Flowers Pink by Amy Butler at Fabric.com

Sunshine and Shadow Silk tie-dye short scarf at Outnet.com

Daphne Coffee Table Teal Blue by Johnny Egg

Buffalo Tools Neon Screwdriver Set

CC SKYE Neon Screw Bracelet at Zappos.com

via Peacock Feathers

What would you like to declare as the new black?

Lonny Magazine: Eye Candy

2010-06-11T14:13:00.004-04:00

images via Lonny Mag

Check out more eye candy here. Have a happy weekend!

I'm dreaming of a new bathroom...

2010-06-09T10:33:00.003-04:00

Here's what I'm dreaming up for my downstairs bathroom. Hopefully it will come to fruition by the end of 2010...or 2011.

For some of the smaller updates (like a new medicine cabinet), I'm hoping to sneak in between other house projects. Let's hope that the Dude doesn't catch on to my plans.

Out with the old, in with the new

2010-06-07T10:22:00.004-04:00

Yesterday, we celebrated our "5 year owning our house" anniversary by putting in some new lights in the downstairs bathroom. Since this bathroom is way low on the list of remodeling projects, I figured by adding some new lights and doing some small projects in there will make the space more tolerable.

Old lights...

(sorry for the poor iPhone photo quality...I really need to get a new camera!)

New lights...

Refinishing the floors: Part 3

2010-06-03T09:56:00.006-04:00

Here's some fun (yeah, right) tips for refinishing hardwood floors that we learned along the way:

get a good mask: We wore crappy masks and interesting things were coming out of our nose (what, too much info?).
get ear plugs: Yeah, we didn't wear ear protection and our ears were ringing for quite some time. That edge sander is really loud when using in a room without furniture.
clean as you go: I'm a "clean as you go" person. Since our upstairs has a dutch door at the bottom of the stairs, we did not have any wood dust downstairs. I did keep a broom and bucket upstairs to sweep up as we were working. The only things I've had to clean up so far are the upstairs windows and moldings. Not too bad. We also emptied the drum sander bag frequently and used the shop vac to clean the sander about every hour.
tape up everything: We taped up the built-in cabinets but forgot to tape up our fake return duct. The upstairs return duct is actually our attic/bathroom fan. Last night, the Dude shop vac'd (is that a verb?) it out because we were afraid we would set the house on fire by a wood dust spark.
timing: You might consider sanding your floors before you move into your house with all of your ~~junk~~ things and not picking a weekend with the temperature in the 90s (which meant the upstairs was in the triple digits). We failed on both parts.
prep work: Prepping the room or for any project is the suckiest part of the job. You really need to take some time getting everything prepared for sanding and putting down poly. If you take a short cut, it will show or you have a chance to set your house on fire by not removing all of those stupid staples in the floor from the carpet. We also thought we could get away with not sanding between coats of poly. In between the first two coats we did not sand but then started after that since the floors did not feel that smooth.
low expectations: We had very low expectations going into the project. Originally we thought the boards would be in horrible condition and I was already mentally preparing to paint the floor. Also, it's an old house...we knew the floors would not look like the fancy new mcmansion.
vacation: Okay, this part is lame. But we treated this project like we were on some wacky three day vacation. We forgot to go food shopping prior to starting and was "forced" to eat out for most meals. We also treated our self to ice cream every night as a reward. Also, the Dude had to use my bathroom since his was the one upstairs housing a tv, a tv stand and shoe storage units. He mentioned that using my bathroom was like he was staying at a hotel. I know, what ever works...

Hope our mis-steps help you on your hardwood floor project.

Since this post is a bit long, I'll put something together with the budget and timeline a little later.

Refinishing the floors: Part 2

2010-06-02T13:49:00.005-04:00

After all of the prep and sanding, we were finally ready to poly the floors on Sunday night. We chose a water-based polyurethane in a semi-gloss from Behr. I wanted to use a water-based poly because it dried quickly and did not really have much of an odor.

Unfortunately....the tool rental guy that we purchased the poly from was not aware that 1. it was the last gallon at their Home Depot and 2. the reason it was their last gallon...because the product was being discontinued. We did not realize issue one or two until we needed another gallon the next day.

The poly was put down with a lambswool pad. We thought we could get away with not sanding and re-cleaning the floors between coats, but after the second coat we realized we really should sand. While the Dude was out looking for more poly, I went to our local Ace Hardware to get the sand paper, sandpaper pad attachment, a scraper for the corners (the edge sander could not get in the corners) and a microfiber cloth.

The Dude secured two more gallons (one extra for "just in case") and we put down two more coats with sanding in between.

Now we have to wait 72 hours after the last coat for the floors to cure. Ugh, I can't wait to get the room and house back in order!!

Sorry for the crappy iPhone pictures...

The next post will be lessons learned and other fun tips! Wheee!

Refinishing the floors: Part 1

2010-06-01T09:24:00.006-04:00

Over the long weekend, we decided to finally tackle the floors upstairs. Our upstairs is a 330 square feet finished attic space (plus a full bathroom) in a cape cod-style bungalow. We started pulling up some of the carpet in January (wow, time flies!).

When I got home from work on Friday, I started taking everything downstairs and created a crazy "Hoarders" look on the main floor. That night we continued to pull up more carpet, staples, tack strips and molding. We gave up that night with the bed area because we were dreading taking apart the bed and removing the mattress.

Saturday morning we pulled up the last of the carpet and took apart the bed and removed the rest of the items. We attempted to shove the mattress down the steps but it was not working out how we planned. I have no idea how we got the mattress upstairs in the first place. In the end we covered the mattress up and left it upstairs on the staircase half wall.

Around 3:30pm we arrived at Home Depot rental and picked up a drum sander with all of the expensive sand paper (in the end, we were able to return 8 unused sand paper rolls). By 4pm - we were sanding.

Since we started off the project with very low expectations, we were happy with just the first pass of the sander. As you can see, our 80-90 year old floors were never finished but had tons of drywall mud and paint from a previous remodel in the early 1990s.

The floor boards did not have too many surprises. We filled a large section of one board (above) with wood filler. We knew it would not look like the other boards, but since we already had lowered expectations, we just described it as "character."

We sanded until 9pm on Saturday and started back up around 10am on Sunday morning. By 1:30pm we were back at Home Depot to return the drum sander and to rent the edger sander. We thought we could get away with not using the edge sander and just use our hand sander and cover the edges up with molding. But...fail. The edge sander was really necessary and we were able to finish the edges within 45 minutes.

Tomorrow's post will be our poly adventure!!

lostrivermodern

2010-05-27T11:32:00.002-04:00

One day I plan on making it over to lostrivermodern for a mini vacation ... one day ...

find out more on lostrivermodern's website

(top picture via lostrivermodern. remaining pictures via dwell.com)

Weekend plans

2010-05-26T16:46:00.003-04:00

One or more of these items might be coming to our house this weekend ...

For those with a holiday weekend, will you be working on a grandiose project or will you be relaxing and grilling?

Potting Bench

2010-05-25T09:45:00.007-04:00

One of our favorite things in our backyard is the potting bench that is installed on the side of the shed. It gets tons of use when potting or just a place to store new plants.

A few years ago, we saw the below article in Cottage Living (Jan/Feb. 2006 issue) about how to make a hinged potting bench.

We made ours out of cedar and used rope instead of chain link. It's so great to have a place to make such a mess and not wreck the patio table (like I was doing before). You can see a bit of the bench in the down position in this post.

It is definitely used and abused ... I mean well loved.

Kitchen Inspiration: Bead Board Ceilings

2010-05-24T12:07:00.003-04:00

via House of Turquoise

via Jessica Helgerson Interior Design

via Cottage Living (Anne Turner's kitchen)

via Coastal Living

via Southern Living

Bathroom Inspiration

2010-05-21T13:54:00.003-04:00

The Dude informed me that we can not take on remodeling the bathrooms until we finish up some other projects. Ugh, I know he's right. I'm now planning on working like the wind to drylok/paint the basement this weekend and start moving all of my stuff that is upstairs to finish pulling up the carpet.

For now I can dream...

via House Beautiful

Via House Beautiful

Via Elle Decor

Via Elle Decor

Via Elle Decor

Meg Ryan's house via Elle Decor