Thursday, October 20, 2016
Patio Potting Bench
Sunday, September 4, 2016
Mud Room
This is the last room! I am so thrilled to be finished with this room. It has been a source of stress and anxiety for me since we moved in because it just felt dirty no matter now many times I cleaned it. We have had several mouse encounters in here and one run in with the biggest spider I have ever seen IN MY LIFE! Now I can hardly even remember it's former nastiness.
I sprayed the ceiling down with water from a garden sprayer then scrapped the popcorn texture off. Then, I rolled fresh paint on the ceiling. I spent a lot of time repairing the trim with caulk and wood putty, the joints were not pretty before. I used spackle on the walls filling nail holes. I didn't float put the grooves in the panelling in this room because after doing the entire house I just didn't have the motivation to do it lol. The beige paint over the panelling actually makes a world of difference though. The work on the cabinets probably need a post all to themselves. I tore out the last section of drawers and put a piece of new paneling on the end. I used the pedestal leg from an old table as the corner support for the desk. The top is the countertop that I cut off, I just lowered it down to 28 inches. I used 1 x 6 boards for the countertop after I stained them. I painted the cabinets with paint that I picked up at an antique store near by. The brand is paint couture. I love it! It covers so well and the color is awesome. (Sea foam or something similar, I can't remember.) It is chalk paint, which soaked up the glaze like crazy when I tested it, so I used a coat of was sealer first then I mixed clear mixing glaze with provincial wood stain and brushed it on and wiped it off. I love the Amber tent it added. The first of the two closets I put old curigated tin on the wall up to 5 1/2 feet. The coat rack board is one of my favorites. I found it in the barn and have been waiting for the right place for it. I color washed it with teal paint and hand painted the chorus from a Bob Wills song. It's a staple in our family lol. I used metal decorative shelf brackets on the ends to fill in the space between the board and the wall on each side and put a shelf board on top. I had some wrought iron hooks I used and some buckets hang8ng on hooks for sunglasses and such. The bench I made with 2 x 4's and an old shelf board from the barn. I used some scrapbook paper that I found and mod podge to make it look shabby. The other closet is just holding some decorative pieces until we get a deep freezer to go in that space. The floor is stained concrete. I floated a layer of ardexfeather finish on the floor to cover the old adhesive. I used valspar semi transparent concrete stain (vaquero is the color) in a sprayer first, then I used a sponge roller and rolled it on to even it out.
I love this room so much and I am so happy to be finished with it! Ready to move on to outside projects.
Monday, August 29, 2016
Laundry room
In this room I used pallet wood on the ceiling. There used to be a closet on each end, I tore one of them out which left a whole in the drywall on the ceiling. The popcorn texture is impossible to recreate, so I had to remove it. I am planning to go back one room at a time and remove it throughout the house, but I thought this would be a good place to start. It actually wasn't that hard. I used a gardening pressure sprayer (just a cheap one) to spray the ceiling with water. Let it set for a few minutes, then use. Drywall knife to scrape the texture off. If it's wet enough it comes right off. It does require some prep work - hang plastic from the walls down and on the floor because it's a nightmare to clean up! My fiance, David, helped me cut the pallets apart with a reciprocating saw and metal cutting blade. I just left the nail heads in the boards. I stained them a weathered oak color mixed with provincial. I didn't sand the boards at all, I wanted them to he very rough looking. With a finishing nail gun I nailed the boards up just directly to the drywall. The pallet boards were light enough that they did not require any strips of wood to attach to between the rafters. I did not plan out the boards before putting them up. I just measured what length I needed and cut them to fit one board at a time. U found some 3/4 inch long boards in the barn that I ripped down to 2 1/5 inches with the table saw and stained to use for trim. David helped me cut out what we needed to for the light fixture and the new fixture screwed right to the pallet board. I painted the paneling in a light grey satin finish and the trim in gloss finish snow white. All of the signs I did myself on wood that I found in the barn. I'm pretty proud of this room, I did it mostly by myself. Including the cabinet for the laundry baskets. It was my first build! No doors or sides, just a frame and shelves. Painted and distressed with plywood top. The French doors I found at an antique store. They are exactly the right height and fit together to cover the water heater. U used mod podge to glue scrap book paper over the widows so you can't see the water heater back there.
Monday, June 6, 2016
Breakfast Bar
Tuesday, April 26, 2016
More wood grain stained concrete!
Weathered grey wide plank wood floor? Look again - it is STAINED CONCRETE! after the feather finish I used the same base color stain. Valspar semi transparent concrete stain, driftwood is the color. Then I measured out my planks and used a straight edge and oil based paint pen to draw the lines. They are 10 inches wide and 10 feet long. I offset every other one by 10 inches. Then I used the same paint pen to draw circles at the ends of the planks for nail heads. I used a much darker color grey of the same stain and mixed it with clear mixing glaze and added in a little bit of minwax wood stain in ebony to darken it up and a little bit of concrete stain in vaquero to make it a bit warmer. I brushed it on one plank at a time and I used a graining tool to pull the mix and give it a grain effect.
Lesson learned the hard way: write down your mix proportions when you get it how you want it the first time because as much as you believe that you will remember - you may not remember..... then it's trial and error to get it the right consistency and shade again.
Retiring the Recessed Florescent Light
finished kitchen recessed light |
Friday, April 8, 2016
A bathroom for the Princesses
I used Valspar oil based porch and floor paint on the floor and a stencil with oil based high gloss bright white, then DuraSheen gloss floor sealer. I absolutely love the stencils from Royal Design Studio. Their stencils are so durable and beautiful. The oil based floor paint soaked into the concrete beautifully. This is the first time I had used it on concrete and I couldn't be happier with the results.
I trimmed out the tub enclosure with some narrow window trim and attached it using pre-drilled holes and tub and tile caulk. **My first solo trim job! Took me a little longer than I anticipated, but I got it! The outside wall of the enclosure where the trim is attached is practically impossible to nail through and since the tub has a curved shape I had to use more than just adhesive caulk.
The shelves are original - I thought the polyurethane wood gave the room a more rustic look.