Clean & Organize

Coral Crush

Published on July 10, 2012October 9, 2012 by Our Humble Abode14 Comments

Our main bathroom remodel still isn’t done, so most people aren’t using it, but that doesn’t mean I can’t work on storage. Being drawerless in the bathroom, wait, that came out wrong. Without drawers in the vanity, I have to get creative with hidden storage. So, I took to Pinterest to see what fun I could come up with. I saw neat tutorials to make soft sided fabric bins, creative hard sided boxes, and even considered a rope covered box. Ultimately, I decided to combine a few ideas to make something perfectly suited for our bathroom. So, I started by cutting a large box to fit inside our small linen closet because I couldn’t find a pre-made box to fit the same.

Of course, cardboard boxes are ugly. Luckily, I’ve been hoarding fabric lately, so I pulled out a yard of light gray duck cloth. I didn’t have a long enough piece to completely wrap around the box, so I cut one strip 12 inches wide along the long end of the fabric. To cover the back, I cut another small 15 inch wide by 12 inch tall strip to piece together. With my long strip taped in place, I marked the corners.

Using those small marks, I sewed the smaller piece to make a box slip cover.

Because I was feeling lazy, I used Gorilla tape to hold the fabric in place along the underside and around the top edges.

It seemed too boring, so I dug through my paint stash until I found a bottle of coral acrylic paint. How ’bout some stripes? After measuring and marking two-inch wide strips, I taped off my edges.

And used a sponge brush and pouncing motion to paint near the edges and filled in the middle.

Pulling off the tape is such a fun part of painting. Especially when the lines are crisp. I had some rope on hand, so I marked two holes to create a handle. Using a screw, I rotated through the fabric and cardboard to make the pilot holes. Stuffing a pen through widened the holes enough to get the rope through. Simple knots on each end hold the rope in place.

Now I’ll have to find a white or gray vinyl to line the inside. Right now, it holds bath toys and we’ve got room for other ugly junk.

I’m really surprised at how sturdy it seems, but we’ll see how it holds up over time. I think I’ll add fabric to the bottom so the shelf doesn’t get scuffed up when it’s pulled in and out. Gotta hunt down a good-looking clothes hamper and maybe a few wire baskets. Or maybe I’ll get all DIY on the hampers arse and make something myself. Who knows. Until then, tell me about your bathroom storage situation. Do you prefer drawers, cabinets, boxes, open shelves?

Bag of Health

Published on June 21, 2012October 9, 2012 by Our Humble Abode5 Comments

We’ve never had a bathroom that didn’t have drawer storage. So, I’m working on a few ideas to make the main bathroom as functional as possible, sans drawers. I’m still searching for the perfect baskets, but I decided to make a zippered bag to store first aid supplies. To get started, I bought a yard of silver metallic ironing board cover (hey, it was cheap, durable, and shimmered) and a 12 inch blue zipper.

Knowing I want to fit all our first aid supplies in one bag, I cut two pieces of fabric 12 inches wide by 17 inches long. Yes, this is going to be big. Then, I placed my fabric on the table, right side up. Lay the zipper over, face down, keeping the bottom edge of the zipper flush with the bottom edge of fabric. Pin in place.

If you have a zipper foot for your sewing machine, now is the time to use it. I thought I did, looked all over for it, and couldn’t find it. Instead, I sewed the zipper on by hand. Sew close to the zipper without running into it.

Once you’ve sewn one side on, add the second piece of fabric putting the right sides of the fabric together. Sew along the zipper edge again. When the fabric is folded over, right sides out, the zipper will have a nice clean edge.

Because I sewed this by hand, I went back over and added top stitching with my machine, following along the edge of the fabric for a straight line.

Now face right sides of the fabric together and pin along the bottom.

Sew along the edge, leaving a half-inch allowance. Unzip your zipper few inches-this is crucial to turn it right sides out when you’re done. Leave the fabric wrong side out. Pin the edges and sew a straight line, a half-inch from the edge. Do this to both sides.

If you were to turn it out right now, you’d have a flat bag. To give it a boxy shape, pinch the corners together.

I found it easiest to put one finger in the corner of the bag, holding it upright, then flattening the point like this:

Your point will be perpendicular to the edge seam. Pin the corners to hold in place.

For my first corner, I made a straight lone across and sewed along the line.

Then I measured my width and marked the three remaining corners at five inches, just like my first one.

After sewing all four corners, cut about a quarter-inch above.

Then fill your bag up with cosmetics, travel toiletries, or first aid supplies.

To make a different sized bag, keep this in mind:

The zipper length will determine how big the bag is from front to back. I had a 12 inch zipper, so I cut my fabric 12 inches wide. For an 8 inch zipper, cut your fabric 8 inches wide.
The length of the fabric will change how wide it is from side to side. I cut my fabric at 17 inches, which is really wide. For a size more like a regular cosmetic bag, cut the fabric between 8 and 12 inches.
For a boxier bag, widen your corners. I pinned mine at 5 inches, which I think would be perfect for a cosmetic bag, but that can change.

The Guests Are Coming!

Published on June 7, 2012October 9, 2012 by Our Humble Abode4 Comments

In a few weeks. But I got in a mood to clear things out, so I focused on the basement. Last time you saw it, we literally had dropped unnecessary ~~crap~~ stuff down there.

I’d like to say it got better, but it didn’t. We just added more to the room. Like 45 sheets of foam insulation.

I can’t move the insulation, but I can organize things and put some of it in a better place. Like the trash, er, under the stairs. Yes, the stairs sound much better. I’d hate to have to part with any of my junk. Shuffling things around, condensing like items to a single box, and moving it under the stairs took about an hour. And we have room to flop the two king mattresses on the floor for our guests. Lap of luxury, I tell ya.

Bulky and heavy items are around the corner because I could barely drag them on my own, let alone across the basement.

Fueled by my desire to condense boxes, I pulled a few boxes of frames up to the main level to get some art on the wall. First on my list, add some art to the boys’ bedroom. This big blank wall needed some attention. Because I can’t paint yet (we’ve got to remove the popcorn ceiling and install new trim first) I decided to hang some art.

Having several boxes of art to choose from, I picked my favorites and started hanging. I didn’t put too much thought into the placement, just held things up and nailed it in place if I liked it. It’s not necessarily the best way, but I can always fill the holes when we decide to paint, so I had nothing to lose. Because this was a ‘slap something on the wall to get it out of a box and make it look like we live here’ effort, I used an easy hanging method. First, hold the picture up to the wall.

Use a pencil to mark a small line across the top of the frame, and another small tick mark to show the rough center.

Measure the distance from the top of the frame to the hook. I found it easiest to use a ruler for this part.

Make another mark on the wall, measuring down from your original set.

Erase your top set, pound a nail in the lower mark, and hang your picture.

The less measuring I have to do, the better. And I didn’t have to make templates, which is nice, too. Keeping the frames up helped me figure out what I wanted where, while seeing it in relation to the other frames in the group.

And here it is now.

I’ve got to get a pack of Command adhesive strips to prevent Everett from pulling the frames closest to his crib down. I did strategically place the non glass fronted frames closest to him for safety.

I didn’t stop there. Armed with another box ‘o frames, I moved down the hall to work on our family gallery wall. Same process, but I couldn’t hang two frames because we’ll have to take down the ugly sconce.

Sconces are abundant in this house and I’d be happy if we got rid of 90% of them. A few larger pieces of art adorn the walls, too. The Savannah cut out map is temporarily in the living room.

I’m working on our city map right now for a matching set. Of course I’ll have to get a set of frames to go with, but I think the pair will make a nice addition to the empty dining room on either side of the French door. My sense of size must be off in this house, because all the ‘big’ art from our first house looks tiny here. Looks like I’ve got plenty of crafting and painting to do.

Have you added art to your walls recently? A gallery wall maybe? Large pieces? Maybe you’ve cleaned out your basement, too? Let’s share our successes.

That’s a Little Shelf-ish

Published on September 12, 2011September 12, 2011 by Our Humble Abode7 Comments

Over the weekend, Ben acquired a five (more like 6) gallon bucket filled with brass for reloading.

After he sorted it, lovingly stroked it, and oogled it, he had to find a place to put said brass. Which was a problem. Yes, we’ve added cabinets and shelving, but he had already filled two cabinets with other ammo and brass. Notice the ammo cans behind the buckets in the photo above? And we certainly don’t what to put an 80 pound bucket on an upper shelf, even if the bucket weren’t too tall to fit. Hearing something crash down is never a fun event.

Luckily, we have some unused space behind that curtain.

Now you see why we hid that behind a curtain, and this was after cleaning all the junk out. The plumbing along the floor is from the geothermal to our well, the water heater hangs on the wall, and the wire poking out of the sheet rock is not hot, but is for the future steam generator for the basement bathroom.

We decided we could build a shelving unit to store Ben’s ugly reloading equipment and our left over paint.

First, the boys measured the space to see what the largest size could be.

A few 2 by 4’s and scrap plywood worked nicely.

Sorry, I don’t have any in progress shots because it went pretty quickly while I was tending to the kiddos. Basically though, Ben used long screws to secure 2 by 4s to the wall and resting on the floor. Then, he screwed a vertical support and plywood. It’s not the prettiest shelf, but it works and is hidden.

Previously, our left over paint cans were hidden away in the unfinished steam shower, aka under the stairs, blocked by a pile of tile.

The good news? We now have the one gallon formula for the tan paint in our living room: 101-24 107-2Y24 109-12 + B12 That is in the Olympic brand. And, we’ve decided on a laundry room color scheme.

The bad news? We still have plenty of work to do before we can start painting and decorating the laundry room. Like add trim around the door and floors.

And install decorative faces and cover the wires on the upper shelves.

Though, a few weekends ago, I did wet sand the drywall to prepare for primer.

Then, I still have to convince Ben of my back splash solution. Apparently he doesn’t want anything pretty in his office. Does he know who he’s married to? Why wouldn’t I want the laundry room to look pretty?

Even though this room is far from done, it is usable.

Do you have to find creative ways to store your (or your hubby’s) junk? Where do you keep your left over paint? I’ve thought about keeping a small jar of each color for touch up and pitching the rest. I mean really, if I’m going to ~~get off my lazy butt~~ repaint an entire room, why on earth would I ever use the same color again?

Lather, Rinse, Repeat

Published on August 23, 2011August 23, 2011 by Our Humble Abode10 Comments

I know Friends has been over for years, but I still love it and watch the reruns. When I sat down to write this post, I thought of Phoebe’s shower song and had a good laugh. What do I have to share that would remind me of Friends? A spiffy new set of soap pumps for the shower. Remember Phoebe’s “Lather, Rinse, Repeat” song?

I started with two cheapie, $2.77 each, ceramic soap pumps from Wal Mart, a ceramic paint pen and an idea. To limit guests searching through drawers or keeping ugly bottles out, I decided to make pretty pumps for shampoo and conditioner.

I made a template in Photoshop and printed several onto plain paper. Then, taped over the bottle, placing my template over, to make a stencil. It worked, looking like this:

Using the paint pen left over from these mugs, I filled in the exposed area and removed the tape. Unfortunately, the ink didn’t blend well, so I nixed the filled in look. I had hoped for something similar to Target’s line.

So, I thought of another way to make a pretty design. Dots were the answer. So, I carefully drew an S on one pump and a C on the other.

They letters are far from perfect, but our guests now know what they’re using.

Of course, if you want to do this at home, you could easily print off a letter to use as a template. I used the Engravers MT font. And, the ceramic fared just fine in the oven. Just remove the pump part.

Don’t the new pumps look nice in the shower?

I’m considering making one for my face scrub. But, these could look and work great for lotion in a bathroom, in the kitchen, you know, where ever a pump is necessary. Or, mark salt and pepper shakers. Pretty designs would look excellent and add a custom touch.

Want to make a set of your own? Do you have a favorite bath set? Have you used the porcelain pens? If so, what did you make? Do you use any Friends phrases? My friend and I recently moved a piece of furniture and I yelled, “Pivvvvvvaaaaaat! Pivvvvvaaaaaaat!” We both started cracking up.

P.S. We added a new tab including quick links to projects. We’ll add this project soon, but check out the page for inspiration and projects to do this weekend.