Current House – Page 37

Dresser to Impress Her

Published on July 30, 2015July 30, 2015 by Our Humble Abode5 Comments

Remember that 80’s Drexel dresser I recently snagged for a friend? The stain wasn’t my favorite and it had several chipped areas in the veneer, but that hardware. Oh the hardware! Brass flip handles that recessed completely into the fronts, with corner brackets.

The coloring is a little off in both the above and below photos, but the worst part was the speckled, wavy finish.

Usually I prefer to completely refinish wooden furniture, but the missing parts of veneer just wouldn’t allow a new stain finish. Instead, I sanded everything down with 120 grit to prepare for paint. Sadly, the unstained wood grain was really pretty and made me wish there was a way to keep it natural.

Instead, I filled the missing areas, knowing the dresser would also look amazing with a simple white finish. To prevent any stains from seeping through, I applied two coats of Kilz primer.

For a durable, satin sheen, I rolled on three coats of Sherwin Williams Pro Classic paint in Snowbound.

Overall, transforming this dresser took about 8 hours, but it shines like the gem it is now. Look at that hardware; it’s not all wall flower blending in, rather standing out, demanding the attention it deserves.

Those corners add just enough detail to keep the frame interesting.

Fortunately, my friend also loves the new look and will pick it up soon. In the mean time, I photoshopped it into our bedroom, just to see what it would look like.

I’m kicking around some ideas to put the area at the foot of the bed to use. Stay tuned for more on that soon.

Two Doors Down

Published on July 20, 2015July 20, 2015 by Our Humble Abode5 Comments

As usual, summer is our time to tackle outdoor projects. During the week, I add and keep up plants, build walkways, and pull weeds. Weekends are Ben’s time to knock out the heavy lifting projects, like installing new windows, siding, and rebuilding the front deck while I help in any possible way. So far, we’ve constructed a cover for the south-facing front deck, to make it usable and enjoyable in blazing heat and sunshine. Before we can go any further with that, we have to replace the sliding doors. The old sets are original to the house and barely function. Sliding each door takes far more effort than it should, the screens are gone, and the panes are fogged up.

When renovating, every step feels like a huge victory, so having easy to open, see through doors is a thrilling luxury.

Two down, one to go.

Followed up by the rest of the pool house windows, that are waiting in the only looking/getting worse pool house.

But, after windows, we can work on siding, then the interior. And you know what that means? The giant warehouse room filled with building supplies and tools can start looking better, perhaps even become usable. What an original idea, no?

Walk This Way

Published on July 9, 2015July 20, 2015 by Our Humble Abode4 Comments

Over the last two years I’ve dreamed, researched, plotted, and planned, and at long last, I’m slowly tackling our landscape plan. Having an incredibly steep lot, both front and back, has been challenging to say the least. Before starting anything, we discussed oodles of options: wood, metal, concrete, or stacked stone retaining walls, all of which are difficult to secure enough to prevent leaning or toppling over time. Yes, plenty of houses have these in our ‘hood, but they’re all leaning or have caved in heavy rains. We kept coming back to one option, setting boulders against the natural slope to prevent erosion, but it also serves as a retaining wall, without being rigid and noticeable if it shifts a little. But, that led to another decision to fill even the flat areas with rock, not knowing where or how to separate the slope from the flat areas.

Basically what I’m saying is, we have literal TONS, and tons, and tons of rock and while it’s super low maintenance, I’ve been looking for ways to break up large areas. Of course, plants are a must and I’ve added 170 (no exaggeration) between this year and last, though I have deviated/changed up my landscape plan. Sadly, I’m not finished, instead focusing my attention to the most noticeable areas, then I’ll take time to tackle the smaller, untouched areas later on.

Our bocce court is a water and hassle free way to section off a large rectangle.

Another large part of the rock is broken up by the reclaimed beam back deck, stairs, and front steps, but between the bocce court and stairs was a long strip of super boring rock. After nestling in a few pavers in the back, I knew adding a longer, winding path would add interest.

Reusing leftover pavers from the old back patio, I created a stepping stone walkway to connect the two areas.

Just off the step edge, narrower stones go between the Russian sage and day lilies.

On the other side of the Russian sage, I plan to add a short ground cover plant below the basement windows, so I curved around, leaving room for growing plants.

On the other side, I’ve already added my favorite succulent, a stonecrop Angelina.

I know it grows well here with little water or effort because the one in the back near the waterfall has gone crazy over the last year.

Creeping junipers are always welcome, covering large areas with year round color, but need little maintenance. To contrast against the deep emerald-green, I added two golden barberry plants. Ben says the just look like dying plants, but I love the chartreuse color.

Looking from the bocce court toward the entry, things are taking shape, but still not finished.

I find adding plants extremely enjoyable, bordering on addicting, but waiting for each to mature is a different story. Much like children, even fast growing plants are hard to notice growth when seen on a daily basis. You don’t see a startling difference, but looking back on pictures proves just how much they’ve changed in a short time span.

Look at the puny Russian sage not even a year ago, now they’re almost five feet tall! Can you tell plants and landscaping have been at the front of my mind these warmer months? Never before did I enjoy gardening, but I’m totally digging it now. Oh the puns, the hilarity. Now I feel like going through old photos of my kids and plants to fully appreciate the changes and growth that have taken place right in front of my face. I didn’t realize how nostalgic a simple walkway could make me feel.

My Good Friend

Published on July 2, 2015July 2, 2015 by Our Humble Abode4 Comments

I’m not sure about your house, but we have hard water, which leaves hard water spots that are especially noticeable on our stainless steel. If the water gets wiped up right away, we don’t have problems, but of course, we actually live in our house so that doesn’t always happen. Unfortunately, it leaves our sink area looking like this:

I know, it’s not completely awful, but my OCD side disagrees and I needed something that would work. After discovering how awesome these cleaning wipes worked on our appliances, I thought I’d rest easy. Cue the sad sound effects, because the wipes did work, but only until we wiped the sink with a wet rag and the spots showed up again. I headed back to the store to see what else I could find, and that’s when I met my good friend, Bon Ami.

It’s about two dollars and basically powdered rocks, so it gently polishes the surface. A damp sponge with a little sprinkle, followed up by a wet cloth to remove the residue, then a drying session does the trick for small areas like faucets.

Always go with the grain of stainless to avoid scratching, but it’s amazing and thrilling how shiny the stainless looks after.

What I really needed this for is our stainless steel shower pan. As much as we love it, the water does spot like crazy.

See what I mean?

Finally, I’ve figured out a way to fight back, without using harsh, smelly chemicals. To get a good clean, I generously sprinkle the base with the powder, then scrub, scrub, and scrub some more before rinsing and drying.

This was after a light scrubbing, which removes the droplets, but a more intense scrub gets the drain lines sparkly, too.

Not only does it work well on stainless, porcelain and enamel can get spiffed up. Our old cast iron tub had a rust streak from the faucet, which came off with a good scrub. Just thought this might be useful if you’re an OCD crazy and are prepping for guests this holiday weekend.

More Cushion

Published on June 26, 2015June 25, 2015 by Our Humble Abode3 Comments

Just a few months ago, I ordered an 8 by 10 foot Jute Herringbone rug from West Elm to soften our family room. I absolutely adore the neutral tones, subtle pattern, and how soft it is underfoot. No scratchy material or nubby texture that hurts to walk on here, just a pretty rug to round out the seating area.

What I don’t love is that it lacks a backing, allowing it to stretch and bunch easily, especially around the coffee table and the sofa. With such a heavy table on casters, it’s still easy to move, but the rug usually moves with it. And the couch gets jumped on and pushed around by two little boys I know, which stretched one of the corners. Ben wanted it to go, but I wasn’t about to let that happen.

I’ve seen plenty of cheap rug pads at box stores, but they’re thin and always smell awful, so I didn’t want to waste money on those. Knowing rug pads aren’t the most glamorous or exciting detail, I put off my search. Ironically, just after straightening out the rug, again, I received the perfect offer from RugPadUSA.

I could pick which of their rug pads suited my floors, rug, slip factor, cush level, and size to use in our home. After looking at the many options, I landed on the 3/8 inch thick Premium-Lock Felt + Rubber rug pad, cut just a few inches smaller than my rug dimensions. It arrived within a week and I wasted no time clearing the room, thoroughly vacuuming the floors, and unrolling it. The pad had just the slightest odor, presumably from the rubber backing, but it quickly dissipated.

The under side is covered in a natural rubber backing, preventing slipping and sliding against smooth surfaces, while the top is cushy felt with a slightly sticky texture. That sticky texture keeps the rug securely in place, but offers a nice cush underfoot.

After getting the rug pad and rug back in place, I called Ben over to give it a test walk. I joke that he’s a rug snob because he loves thick, dense, wool rugs. He thinks the boys’ rug is so comfy that I should get another one for the living room, despite it being too small and well, too blue for any other rooms in our house. For the first time since ordering the rug, he approved of the pad + rug combo. With the official seal of approval, we brought the table, sofa, and chairs back in place.

Over the last few weeks, I haven’t had to adjust the rug at all, nor have I noticed any stretching. Count that a serious win in my book, but even better, the nearly 1/2 inch thick pad makes it plush, keeping Ben happy. Who knew rug pads could save rugs, but also marriages?! Ha, that’s incredibly dramatic, but, it did keep me from having to find and buy yet another rug for this space. In summary, if you’re considering the West Elm jute rug, I’d highly recommend getting even a thin rug pad, just to keep it from bunching and stretching.