2010 – Page 32

Lighten and Brighten Up!

Published on June 15, 2010September 9, 2010 by Our Humble Abode4 Comments

I love light and bright rooms, don’t we all? I have compiled a list of changes we have made to make our house brighter.

1. Add a sky tube to a dark, windowless room, like our main bathroom.

2. Mirrors! The mirrors in both of our upstairs bathrooms extend to or close to the ceilings. The large mirrors reflect light while making the space feel larger.

3. Our new dining light fixture makes our space feel brighter because the shade is white. The old fixture was oil rubbed bronze, so it felt darker.

4. When Ben replaced all of our windows, he enlarged some of the windows. All three bedroom windows are now 1 foot closer to the floors. The added light does make a huge difference. Ben also made a smart decision by making egress windows in our basement. All of the basement windows were the smaller of the two shown below. Not only are the bedrooms more functional, livable bedrooms, but the light is great. It doesn’t seem as much like a basement.

5. Our new front door has a window. At first, I hated the idea, due to lack of privacy-I liked to look out our peep-hole at the people on the other side, knowing they couldn’t see me. Now, they know I’m on the other side of the door-not answering… Any who, I love the light this little window lets in. The new back door is almost entirely glass, too. I love it, lack of privacy and all.

The full glass back door floods the staircase and basement landing with light.

6. Lamps-duh! We all know they add light, but a lamp in a dark corner can make a world of difference.

Master Bathroom Reno, Take 2

Published on June 14, 2010September 9, 2010 by Our Humble Abode8 Comments

After we replaced the old furnace with our new geothermal heating and cooling unit, we were able to remove the ductwork raceway in our master bathroom.

Without the wall for the ductwork, we had enough room to move our toilet and add a 5 foot bathtub/shower.

With a new floor plan, we started to re-remodel our master bathroom.

The first item to go was the small shower stall. You can see into our kitchen through that vertical hole.

The toilet and vanity soon followed. Ben moved the toilet plumbing and we got to work rebuilding. We had some sheet rock to patch after tearing down the wall, so that was the first change. Then Ben installed our new bathtub and we built a wall at the end.

We decided to make the end wall a 3/4 tall wall to keep the shower light and bright.

Once our wall was built, we installed out 12 inch square white marble surround. This is a square lay pattern with glass tile accents. I love that the marble extends to the ceiling.

More marble and grainte soon followed. Ben did a wonderful job installing our absolute black granite and white marble checker board floor. It definitely makes a statement while being classic.

We let the tile set before grouting with an unsanded white grout. Sanded grout would have scratched the marble. To keep with the rest of the house, we installed the same trim pattern we used in our master bedroom. Unfortunately, we could not completely install the trim at this point becuase we had to move our electrical panel first.

Here’s a shot of the vanity Ben built. He even cut and polished the granite!

I filled and sanded about 1,000,000 holes. A lot of primer, paint, sweat, blood and tears later, we had a new bathroom!

Master Bathroom Reno, Take 1

Published on June 11, 2010September 9, 2010 by Our Humble AbodeLeave a comment

Our master bathroom was awkward, to say the least. Unfortunately, I don’t have photos of it, but here’s a layout:

As you can see, there was a lot of wasted space and even more doors. The master bathroom, and therefor, the master bedroom, were connected to our kitchen!

Ben closed the door way to the kitchen and added a shower stall in place of the small closet. The wall on the other side of the shower had to stay because the furnace duct work ran through it and out the roof. Notice the electrical panel:

Ben ripped up the linoleum floor, replaced it with ceramic tile and installed trim. Not great, but better than the walk through.

The original vanity and toilet stayed, too. Not pretty!

So, after two years of living with this, we decided to take the plunge and renovate the master bathroom…

How To: Light It Up

Published on June 10, 2010September 12, 2012 by Our Humble Abode7 Comments

Another item checked off my to do list. Our dining room light fixture wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t quite what we were looking for. So, I ordered this light fixture from CB2. The only problem? The fixture is meant to be plugged in to an outlet, not hardwired. That’s okay though, I have a handy hubby.

Here she is in the box:

Before we could install the fixture, we went to Lowe’s to buy a 2 in 1 ceiling plate. Because the light is meant to be plugged in, one was not included. Not to worry, we found one in a brushed nickel finish for $4.98. It is however a little more traditional than I was hoping for. Oh well.

We went home, ready to install. First, turn off your breaker. You can never be too safe!! Then Ben removed our old fixture.

He installed the new mounting hardware for the box cover and we measured the height (32 inches) from our table. Ben marked the cord and cable to know where to cut. He adjusted the cable to hang at the proper height and tightened the screws in place.

Then he cut the wiring, leaving 3 or 4 inches more than he needed. He stripped the ends and connected the proper wires to one another, securing with wire nuts.

I held the fixture while Ben hung the ceiling plate.

After about 10 minutes, we had a brand spankin’ new light fixture.

I think it’s great. What do you think?

How to: Add a Custom Touch to Framed Pictures

Published on June 9, 2010May 25, 2011 by Our Humble Abode2 Comments

Remember how cheap I am about artwork? Well, I have a few quick, easy and cheap ideas to spruce up your frames.

Idea number 1: Spraypaint the frames.

First, remove the glass, mat, photo, and back. Wipe the frame free of dust. Then lay down newspaper in a well ventilated area. Spray the frames, keeping the can about 8 to 12 inches away to avoid excess paint drops. Allow adequate dry time. Pop the photo back in, hang and enjoy!

Idea number 2: Double mat your photos.

First, buy or cut the outer mat to the frame dimensions. Cut the opening 1 inch larger than your photo. Then, buy or cut another mat with the inner dimensions slightly smaller than your photo. The outer dimensions should extend at least 1 inch beyond your outer mat’s frame to make sure coverage of the edges.

You can choose to use the same color for both mats OR add more focus on the photo by using a color that coordinates with your photo.

To make this look, I cut my white outer mat to fit my 16 inch by 20 inch frame. Then I cut a 5 inch by 7 inch opening which will accommodate my 4 inch by 6 inch photo. Then I cut another white mat 7 inches tall by 9 inches wide with a 3.75 inch by 5.75 inch opening. I painted the inner mat blue, leaving the depth white. After the paint dried, I taped my photo in place and then centered my small mat on the large mat. Place the large mat in your frame and hang!

Idea number 3: Draw a border on your mat.

To get this look, use a gel pen or marker in any color (I used a silver metallic gel pen on a black mat). Using a pencil, mark your edges at two or more points to make straight lines. Once you’ve marked all sides (with as many borders you’d like), line a ruler to your edge and make your lines. Do this several times to make a thicker band of color.

Here is a detail shot: