Around the house

I found a grey linen duvet and sham set at Homesense on clearance, it took me nearly three years to find something I really liked...I see its time to give it a wash and iron but I am not looking forward to that task...

 Currently my dining room project is on hold, I needed some time to recover from the flooring install but I am hoping to get back at it early next week...

 After dealing with insane amounts of dust during the flooring install I decided it was time to get some dust collection, I found this beginner unit second hand. I am hoping it will really help reduce the mess...I have yet to decide how I am going to set it up, it is moveable so it can be used inside on occassion also...kinda excited to give it a spin.

 I was killing time the other day at Winners and found this fun marquee sign...aren't they all the rage? It was even in my shade of  deep blue so I didn't hesitate to bring it home.

 I moved the black media cabinet out of the living room, I am trying out this lovely dresser instead I love this piece as I've said before...I plan to mount the tv on the wall ...the sign is a fun touch it is battery operated.

I moved this cabinet from the living room up to our bedroom where it fits in beautifully with our black bed.

This cabinet has had many transformations, it was a hand me down piece from my in-laws, I think it is maple, it had other shelves and a lot of curves and a shelf with a little fence type detail, over the years I have transformed it into what it looks like today which to me is kind of a Pottery Barn style media cabinet which is more current and clean lined, I suppose I up-cycled it.

I searched for an early photo of it and this is all I could find an old photo of our old house...circa 2007 wow I sure over did it with the accessories back then...

So that's what has been going on around the house...oh and more importantly please pay attention to your breast health, if you have them...I know it is the last day of October but it is still officially Breast Cancer Awareness Month....I had my first mammogram last week and its not scary and painful like you may think it is....check your self and get into the Dr asap to have anything suspicous checked out....OK that is my little PSA.

Lot's of love, 

Chris 

unwrapping an early Christmas gift...

 I completed three coats of water base Varathane last night and thought it was about time to remove the plastic door and when I did and stood back in the kitchen to take it all in I must admit I was in awe of how beautiful it looked. If I may say so. After all it now looks like all those gorgeous Pinterest images I have been longing for for so long. Having the same deep rich flooring really expands and blends the space so much better. I just need to finish the quarter round and then wait a couple more days for the top coat to fully cure, luckily it is a three day cure water based Varathane then we will move some furniture back in. 

My opinion on decorating is that a room should always look beautiful empty, if you start with beautiful bones and character the less fluff you have to add and the easier decorating the room is. As well this is what adds value to your home, decor is nice and cute but it isn't there to stay like millwork. 

This project took me 16 days to complete which is a little bit shorter than the 21 day timeline that I wasn't sure I could even make. Now it did take me much of each day from 4-6 hours some days on average, I know 4 hours doesn't sound long , but working over head and on your knees for 4 hours is rough. I took two whole days off through the process I was on a mission. 

I am so happy to have that carpet gone, it was less than two years old and showing so much matting and crushing , under the sofa looked great but the rest was so shabby looking. 

Having a continuous flooring also means I can extend my table even into the family room a bit for large gatherings which will be a great option.

I have been looking for a nice rug for the family room, I mean I hate to cover the wood but the room needs an 8x10 area carpet.

If we didn't put in a rug the furniture legs would ruin the pine floors and the furniture would slide around which would be an incredible pain, plus it's just nice visually and functionally.

 I think I am going with a synthetic sisal carpet for now because of the price and wear and tear. I love real sisal but one dog barf incident and its ruined. I would love a more decorative option but we also need a new sofa so the sofa will come first as we can always upgrade our rug. As well I haven't found anything I love yet.

We are thinking the Ikea Hovas sofa would be the perfect choice for our big reveal... 

 I am happy to share I found some almost perfect wool 8x10 rugs for around $500 price at Home Depot which I think it pretty great but I still need to check out Homesense on a regular basis I suppose.

Life is about to get back to normal and Christmas is about to officially begin at our house. Happy holiday's!

If you would like to see how I DIY my coffered ceiling check it out here http://chriskauffman.blogspot.ca/2013/12/my-diy-coffered-ceiling.html

DIY workbench/island for under $150

 So I have now solved my dirty little secret basement mess. I have spend three days purging and organizing the basement which lead me to build this "island" style work bench it is 40"x 67" by 36" high.
It is not totally complete but it could easily stay as is a be a great work space. I would like to add big "pot" style drawers to both side to hide away the clutter. That will come soon, I am sure...
I was thinking I may even include a long drawer to hold big rolls of wrapping paper , what a great spot for gift wrapping.
I thought just in case someone is still reading this blog and my posts I would include some details on how I built this project.

Here is how it all begins, I bought 6-2" x 4" x 8' studs, I cut each piece into 3' and 5' lengths. I connected them as shown with my Irwin corner clamps. 3' x 5'3" approx is this frame. Then I pre-drilled the butt joints and attached them with 2" wood screws.

These Irwin corner clamps are amazing for built-ins and drawers it keeps corners square and it acts like that third hand you can always use in carpentry. 

 When the frames are constructed set them aside for a little later. Oh dear you can see our gym, pretty fancy right?

 This is my new favorite tool my Ryobi impact driver. I wanted one for Christmas but I mistakenly asked for a Ryobi mini driver , it is nice but does not have the strength of the driver, it is what I have been looking for all along and it's even cute and a bright happy color. I got it and then picked up the Ryobi Combo kit with drill and circular saw as well as the battery pack and charger. Ryobi is my go to brand for tools since we have moved here almost 2 years ago , great tools at fair and affordable prices.

 I have been using this quick change bit holder by Dewalt which I like very much. Nice fast bit changes I can go from drilling to driving in a flash.

 After the 2x4 frames are completed I then moved onto the legs. I had 2" X 6" x 8' boards that I was trying to use for a workbench so I used them and cut them down into the legs. I cut each 8 foot length into two 36" pieces, leaving me with 2' lengths left. I set the 2' lengths aside and clamped the corner legs together with the Irwin clamps. I used 4 screws evenly spaced along the one side to join the boards , I did not use any glue , it was not needed and it was a good thing I didn't in the end.

 I then placed one of the 2x4 framed on the floor and placed the corner legs in place and attached them to the frame with three 2" screws.

 I then used the 2" scraps to use as spacers for the lower shelf. I screwed them into the legs so that I could easily slide in the next 2x4 frame. Then I removed the 2" scraps.

 Then my daughter and I flipped it over and I added the next 2x4 frame. I used clamps to help me hold up the frame to allow me to screw the next frame in.

 I then went off with my finished dimension for the shelves to Home Depot to have 1/2" pine plywood cut for me.
That's where I realized I could not just slip the plywood in because the frames were in the way, silly me. But luckily I didn't use glue so I could easily remove the one side of the corner legs allowing me to just slide in the plywood and re-attach the legs. Easy peasy. Although it wasn't a step I thought of ahead I would construct it differently. I then went back off to get the top cut just slightly larger than the frame. 40" x 67" , I attached each shelf to the frame with 2" screws 8 of them evenly spaced , at the half way point and the corners. You could use thicker plywood but I didn't see the point. It is as strong as a can be .
We will soon be carving pumpkins down there...it's a great space to spread out and get things fixed , created and repaired.

So there it is again for just about $130 before taxes I built this island workbench.
You could do it for less especially if you use chip board or OSB, knock off $60 . But like everything materials may be more or less where you are.
If you would like to make it with wheels just make the legs 3" shorter , you will loose a little shelf depth keep that in mind. I like I said before I will be adding drawers where the shelves are to keep things out of sight.
It is a pretty easy project and will allow for ease of creating lots of other projects in the future.


Materials
4- 2"x6"
6-2"x4"
3 sheets of plywood
2" wood screws medium size box 80 screws or so

I would love to hear your thoughts about my latest project....and thank you for stopping by.Just to be clear this post was NOT sponsored at all , this is just my project using the tools I have bought and the items I like to use.
Chris

Home Depot to the rescue

All who read my blog know I am a big fan of home depot , so I looked up my fridge and checked their stock and price matching policies, well there you go they have 40 of them , they gave me lots of cut backs to get the price down even lower than sears by $100.00 , which actually is $200.00 in my favour as they gave me back my sears money , and it will be here by Thursday and it is new, and not some random fridge I did not want.
Yeah me , this certainly worked in my favour , but I won't breath easy until it is in my kitchen and running.