watch out...I found my staple gun...tales of a frustrated DIYer

 I was so very tired of looking at this chevron covered cushion...this chair was actually from my daughters bedroom in our old house and the chevron worked well for that room...but I am so over the chevron...its nice but I just needed a change...

 I thought it was time to remove all the previous covers......this chair was actually yellow when I bought it and it had some palm themed fabric cover...I painted it and covered it very shortly after buying it.

 I have this pretty linen fabric that I just love but didn't have a plan for so on a whim I recovered this chair in it...I think it so pretty now.

 I am patiently waiting for spring here... I want to start on Sophie's bathroom and I have some tiling plans but I need it to be warm enough to deal with my wet saw that is messy and cold...so for now I plan.

 I plan to add a post trim detail by the shower as well as a nice cornice above the tub area, I will be installing a hook to the post for easy towel access, double white curtains for the shower, I will be re-building the vanity, well the face of it and I will be adding four drawers and new doors all custom, painted white I think.
The walls surrounding the sink and mirror area will get tiled in white subway tile with a mirroring accent tile features flanking the mirror. Walls will be a wash of pale greenish blue. The purple light was replaced with a simple chrome and glass fixture.
For the wall behind the toilet and the wall to the right of the vanity I plan to do 2 simple paneled walls.

The space above the mirror will be tiled and a frame will be built for the mirror.

 I love this tile arrangement but I don't have enough to do both wall features so I am going to go for the more decorative feature and I will use the marble I have to frame the accent...I am kind of excited to see it all come together....come on weather...Thursday is supposed to be nice so I hear.

 I think this will be lovely on either wall flanking the sink, I tiled walls in the girls last bathroom and I loved it..it adds decorative interest and it adds reflection.

Sophie asked me to make her a big memo board for her like the one her sister has, it's great for all those keepsakes and photos. I have been making memo boards for as long as I can remember...since the girls were babies and that's a long time ago because they are 16 and 13 now.

 I decided to make this board with a simple frame construction of 1x2" pine, this one is about 3'x4' and I use pocket hole construction, its light and sturdy.

I covered the frame with batting and then with a neutral fabric and stapled on ribbon.

The fabric is a table cloth I picked up on clearance and the adorable fringe ribbon is from Michael's craft store. I used 4 rolls of ribbon so all together this big memo board cost about $40... which is pretty great for such a big memo board.

I am getting the creative itch back and I can't wait for some warm weather to get outside and keep busy and get into my shop to start building things and re-building things...I am ready when you are spring.

Has spring arrived where you are? 

basement planning and primping around the house

 Things have been pretty quiet at home lately...we just hung around for spring break...I use the term spring break very loosely because it still feels like winter this year.
 Now that the kids are back in school I am trying to get the house back in shape. I came across this table on a classifieds app the other day for just $60 but I couldn't for the life of me figure out where it could go, we are pretty full as far as furniture goes...but we are starting to think about finishing our basement and I figured it could go down there when the time is right...but I gave it try up on the main floor first... turns out it looks pretty great right by the front door with a few adjustments...I just shopped the house and it all came together with a little time and effort $0 besides the table. It will look great when I finally get that wainscoting complete, hopefully really soon.

 It sure is easy to go back to my beachy ways with all the accessories I have around the house.

After saving up I finally dragged my butt out to Ikea and bought the white ottoman I have been wanting for some time...so happy with my purchase. 

While I was at Ikea I saw some of the new kitchen line, I was in love with this huge island with all the drawers...it was dreamy. Although I truly love my kitchen it's hard not to get sucked in when you see another amazing kitchen...I think that's one of the problems when you truly love interior design...there is always something new or different to fall in love with.

 After my little furniture re-arrangement I was inspired to map out this paneling today...this spot really needs some attention, this poor wall gets so beaten up. It's almost warm enough to get out to the garage and rip some MDF down to size and get some projects underway.

 Like I mentioned we have been thinking it would be nice to have a completed third level...we could use a media room, a small bar with a small fridge and a microwave, a washroom and a gym space as well as enclosed shop and furnace room for function and storage...here is what I have come up with just a quick sketch. I am envisioning this area to be kind of industrial contemporary with a traditional touch. Lots and lots of pot lights for sure.

inspiration photo

Wish list chair...we love a nest chair and it would be perfect for a media room.

inspiration photo

inspiration photo

 I love the idea of leaving the floors concrete and finishing them with a stain or etching finish...I would like to get a nice area rug for the media area but the rest of the space makes sense to keep concrete. I want the basement hard wearing and not precious, we have teens so...that makes sense.

inspiration photo

What do you think of a dark sprayed ceiling...I think this is actually a really reasonable option. I hate to lose any height so just painting it out black is a great option... but we'll see, at least we can spray it and if we need to add some insulation and close say the ceiling above the media room in we can always do that later.

inspiration photo

 I like these two small bar/kitchenette areas...I have some veneer brick I will be incorporating somewhere and I want some shiplap or planking for sure.

inspiration photo

I am going to see how much of the basement I can do myself I think we can handle some framing and finish trim the built ins and cabinetry as well as some tiling and perhaps some plumbing installations like sink faucet and maybe the toilet....but the rest I will leave to the professionals. Not to sure when this will get started but it is officially on the list now.
Should be interesting...although we would love to have an amazing backyard to enjoy it makes more sense to put some money and effort into finishing the basement as it can be used year round and honestly our yard can be used about 5-6 months a year...as well as for equity I think this is a safe bet to add another bathroom and two spaces that with little effort can become two additional bedrooms (the gym and the shop) which would could make this house a 6 bedroom 4.5 bath house.

We have never had a finished basement so this sounds like a fun project to me...a little scary too...

Dutch door DIY plus basic tutorial

I finally took the plunge and tackled some uncharted territory...DIYing dutch door.
We have always wanted a dutch door just because they are charming, but it became obvious that a dutch door would be the perfect solution for our laundry room. We need to separate our dogs during feedings and we have been using a gate for a little over a year and it worked but the gate was always in the way...being beside a door we would have to actually tie the gate to the door knob which was less than ideal.
I had had enough with the gate being in the way so I listed the gate for sale so that I would have to make the existing door into a Dutch door, it sold within the day and then I was off tackling this DIY project.

Dang, it looks legit.

 One thing that held me back for a while was the issue of the door knob, well it was on the upper portion so what could I do about that? when I found this pocket door insert and it fit the knob hole perfectly I knew it would all come together.

Clearly the dutch door is so much better than this gate solution. 

 We also use the gate when we go out to put our older dog in the laundry room to keep the two dogs from having a fight while we aren't here and to prevent any accidents as he is a senior and accidents can happen, better safe than sorry.
Having a dutch door will allow us to keep the dogs in or out and will not block the light from making it's way into the house, I am all about the light.

 I marked out where the cuts would go on the door while it was still hanging so I could see how it would look. You need to cut out enough space for the wood ledge that will sit on top of the bottom section of the door and a gap so the door will properly swing open and close without rubbing on the bottom section.
Before you take the door down to cut it make sure you mark where the new hinge(s) will go on the bottom section of the door. Our door had three hinges because it is 8 ft tall but for 7ft doors you may only have two hinges so you will have to add 2 more hinges, you will want to mark those out with pencil on the door and jam while it is still hanging and then notch those out while the door is down.

 Even hollow core doors are heavy especially 8ft doors so I asked my husband to carry it out to the garage so I could make the cuts and adjustments I needed to make. I used a straight edge and clamps to help guide the circular saw I was using to make the cuts.

 It cuts very easily. I was left was the hollow cavity that I needed to fill. I  just marked out the width I needed on some scrap pine I had in the scrap pile and I used the table saw to cut the filler pieces, I held them in place with the clamps and nailed it through the door from either side with my brad nailer.

I picked up a piece of 1x3" pine board to use as the ledge to sit on top of the bottom door section.

It needs to be the same width as the door...I cut off the side that is near the knob on a bit of an angle and sanded the whole piece until it was nice and smooth. I glued and nailed it to the top of the bottom door and caulked under the wood where it meets the door. 

The 1x3"

After the ledge was installed I then filled in the hole where the door knob was with this bronze metal plate, I glued it in place and drilled new holes for the knob to be installed below the ledge and re-installed the strike plate lower on the door jam which left me with a big hole to fill which I did with spackle. No big deal.

 I needed to cut the jams so that the ledge would clear and so that the door could close. I used a japanese saw, you can use a multi tool or a trim saw.

 I also had to install a locking sliding latch to attach the upper and lower portions together for when the door will be closed.
I will admit I had a little issue or trouble when we re-installed the upper door, it wasn't sitting square and in fact it wouldn't close, so I added a third hinge to the upper door thinking it would help but it turned out the top hinge which I didn't install was off. I had to notch more material out to bring the hinge closer to the door stop to straighten out the door...but then my screw holes were all wrong. I took some sawdust and wood glue and mixed it together and filled all the hinge screw holes on the jam with this mixture and let it dry overnight and it worked perfectly to allow me to then drill the new holes I needed for the hinges and the second time we installed the upper door section it worked perfectly. Happiness.

One more last detail I didn't think of, how do you keep the upper part from swinging out into the room and stop it from hitting the wall behind the door??? I honestly couldn't come up with anything until brain storming with an associate at Home Depot we were both stumped....but then on my final visual scan of the hardware lock section and I saw it....this magnetic door stop...that is it...the solution.

So there we have it...I gave it a try and lucky for me it turned out fabulously....I can't express how happy I/we are with this new/old door... Let's hear it for Dutch Doors.

Cost around $30...

Who is with me...who is making a dutch door this weeked?