Current House – Page 56

Squared

Published on May 26, 2014May 26, 2014 by Our Humble Abode2 Comments

Very, very slowly our living room is taking shape. While I ponder different rugs, I’m adding elements I really want. Large meaningful art, a slim linen sofa, cozy pillows, and now an oversized coffee table. Taping off the measurements really helped get a feel for the size I wanted. Square seemed the best fit, so I went big at 44 inches. I’m happy to say, I made this mostly on my own (Ben cut the top on the table saw). It’s super affordable, too. Around thirty bucks because we had the screws and a half sheet of OSB at home. So, here’s how I made it.

I started with five eight foot long 2 by 2 boards. Get the straightest ones you can find because it matters. I couldn’t find good ones, so Ben cut 2 by 4 boards in half. I cut four at 16 inches to make the legs. Another seven at 41 inches to make the rails and leg supports. Easiest cut list ever. I marked the screw placement, then pre drilled holes in the leg pieces. For this design, I needed two screws per leg going opposite directions. With only 1.5 inches, I had to stagger the screws, making one slightly higher than center and another just below center. With the holes drilled, I joined one leg to a cross support with a 3 inch long screw, going directly in the end like so:

Another set of hands would have been really nice at this point to keep the pieces tight. I attached another leg to the other side of that to create an upside down U shape. That’s one side of the legs, so I made another. Following the same process, I attached a support to each to get this:

To stabilize the legs, I added another support 5 inches from the bottom of two sides. For those legs to stay tight I added a cross-piece to those rails. I didn’t have hands to take photos, but here it is finished:

For an iron look, I painted the base with two coats of leftover bathroom paint, Wrought Iron.

It’s a simple design but makes vacuuming under a breeze, which was one of my main goals. I hate having to move furniture just to get under.

To break up all the wood and fabric, I used a faux emu leather on the top. The vinyl is upholstery grade from Joann normally $30 per yard. It was on 60% off sale so I saved big.

The OSB top we used was 3/4 inch thick, so I beefed up the edges with 1 by 2 pine. Several 1 1/4 inch screws hold the strips on. Then we wrapped the top, stapling inside the 1 by 2 edge. Wrapping completely under the frame allowed the top to sit tightly against the base.

With a subtle bumpy texture and deep camel color, I think it has a lot of depth. Perfect size, filling the open space and is centered on all furniture in the room. Plenty big for drinks, games, Lego play, and accessories. Now I’ll have to get a tray to hold accessories to make it a snap to move when necessary.

Still enough walking space between, too.

With the light weight, we can move it out-of-the-way, but it’s sturdy enough to double as an ottoman. Or a very short fort for the boys. Who knew a coffee table could have so many purposes?

Souvenir Shelf

Published on May 20, 2014May 19, 2014 by Our Humble Abode8 Comments

I’m sure you all love simple, small projects just as much as I do. If you also like personal wall art, this is the easiest, most interactive thing you can do. A vintage printer’s tray to display little trinkets and nature finds.

This idea is not my own, I fell in love with it in Lauren Liess‘ breakfast room:

Seriously, I’m hard-core in love with her new house after seeing it in Domino. How stunning is it?!? She’s a Pure Style Genius.

Our boys are always finding little rocks, sticks, and other small items. Before this, I had a full bowl on the coffee table. Sadly, that didn’t show off the mini collection. Instead, this showcases those treasures and becomes changing art.

After looking at local shops, I came home empty-handed. I found a few small painted shelves, but I wanted something wooden and natural. Etsy shop, The V Rose to the rescue. My drawer is 32 by 16 inches and in great condition.

I completely copied Lauren by hanging Ben’s first deer antlers above, to fill the space a little more.

The tray adds nice texture to the bump out wall in the living room.

Original details, the metal front, numbers, and drawer pull, are just charming, too. A simple tooth hook holds it up and then the boys helped me fill it up.

We’ve got rocks, sticks, feathers, bark, a fossil, souvenir pennies, shells from vacations. Basically anything small enough to fit.

With room at the top, we can add to our collection and enjoy our finds.

Though we have jars of sand and other souvenirs from vacations, I think this is my favorite way to display a collection. Imagine this in a kids room with Legos, doll house items, or small cars. Endless options and easy to swap out.

Hip to Be Square?

Published on May 15, 2014 by Our Humble Abode6 Comments

Lately, our living room is bugging me. The rug is too small and busy for the space.

The Earth First Natural Jute rug from Amazon is a possibility for a basic rug large enough for all furniture to rest on.

It looks thin, maybe layering a smaller rug like the Balta US Avanti Camel Rug to add cush?

That might look too formal and traditional, but I like how neutral it is. That exposed dining wall can get covered now that the rewiring is done. But this is about a coffee table. I moved an ottoman from our room into the living to see what size I’d want.

Initially, I pitched the idea of a reclaimed beam table after seeing the Emmerson at West Elm.

We still have chunks of beam left, so it would be free. It would also be extremely heavy, weighing around 150 pounds. Also, we’d be limited on the width as the beam is only 19.25 inches wide. It just seemed too heavy and small. Now I’m thinking a large, open frame square would work and look best.

The white ottoman is 4 feet wide, which feels right for the room. Substantial enough, but still plenty of room to get around. I taped out the proposed 44 inch square to get a better idea of size.

At this size, it could easily function as foot rest or a Lego/game table. I think it’s perfect, especially after seeing a large tufted leather ottoman in Lauren Liess‘ office.

The size would still allow at least 18 inches of walking room between other furniture (the couch and this little rolling ottoman).

Rather than a heavy ottoman, I’d love to find or build an open frame similar to this one:

Something metal would be ideal, but a dark wood frame could be nice, too. If I’m building it, that’s my only option really. I know I want four legs with supports at least five inches from the floor to make vacuuming as easy as possible.

As for the top, I’ve got two options in my head. Number one, reusing our old siding as a pieced together wooden top. Number two, I recently saw a camel colored 54 inch wide Emu vinyl at Joann for $29.99 per yard. Maybe stretching that over a piece of plywood could work? Add some warmth without putting more wood in the mix. What are your thoughts on the size, style, and top? I’d love to hear your suggestions!

Saw it Coming

Published on May 13, 2014May 13, 2014 by Our Humble Abode6 Comments

Simplifying doesn’t come easily to me, but I’m making a serious effort. Limited to things we need or love only. I’ve put the unnecessary and unloved things in the basement to sell. One of the areas that has seen simplicity is the entertainment center. At Christmas, it looked like this:

Accessories abound. Glitter galore. It changed throughout the year, seasonally, but always had a lot of stuff.

For a simple art piece on the top shelf, I decided to display a rusty old saw my father in law gave us.

A full handle is missing, another wooden piece gone. Completely rusted and totally interesting. Also, it’s the perfect width and height to fill in the top shelf. Initially, I thought of making a simple pedestal. I ran the idea past Ben, but he suggested a simpler, more rugged alternative. Using small logs to hold it up. You know, so the saw looked more in its ‘natural setting.’ Oh yeah, it was also simple and free because we had wood in our fire pile.

Disregard the cords, they’re not visible if you’re standing on the floor. The rest of the clutter will be hidden once we build doors, so pretend we’ve done that while you’re using your imagination.

See how it spans the shelf, but is one single piece. Before cutting the logs, I set the saw up there to see how it looked. With music on, it vibrated and rattled the saw. That was annoying and potentially dangerous (guillotine anyone?), so we raised it up five inches to sit just above the speaker.

Using a circular saw, Ben cut two-inch deep grooves for the blade to rest in.

It took only a few minutes and really elevates something so simple. Of course it works well with the rustic touches I’ve been adding, too.

Outside Updates, Two Year Check Up

Published on May 9, 2014May 9, 2014 by Our Humble Abode1 Comment

You’ve seen the house progress over the last two years, now check out the outdoor spaces. Though we’re still far from finished, the outside received a lot of attention last summer. We started out with an uneven, weed riddled paver patio, large ostentatious lion head fountain, large trees planted too close to the house, a short tall rock wall, and very neglected or non-existent plantings.

The rock wall was built to act as a retaining wall, separating the patio and hillside.

While great in theory, the 18 inch high wall wasn’t tall enough to hold back the hill as it had already overgrown it. When landscaped, the patio was built up too high, covering the bottom of the wooden rim joist atop the concrete house foundation. This is a huge problem because it could cause rotting (and lead to major structural issues). It also made it easy for bugs, dirt, and water to get in the basement. To prevent these issues, we pulled out the fountain, patio, and rock wall. Then excavated another foot of dirt to sit below the foundation’s top edge.

We used large boulders as a taller ‘wall’ to keep the rocks on the hill. For a fun feature, Ben tucked a waterfall with covered pond into the hillside.

For a clean outdoor entertaining area, we built a slightly raised deck from reclaimed beams.

Just as we neared our rock and hardscaping finish line, a huge rainstorm channeled water and dirt from the natural hill above, back down.

Fortunately, the rocks stayed in place, though it filled with dirt in some areas. Sure, it sucked to clean out and redo, but we were so lucky we had done that landscaping.

Mud still would have slid down the hill and filled the back yard, but our basement would also have been flooded with water. It could have been so much worse. All over town, we heard stories of water filled basements, caved concrete block retaining walls, and mud filled pools. Before that, I’d never fully realized the sheer power and strength of water. It’s even worse when you add steep hills for it to pick up debris and momentum.

After cleaning the mess, we dug diversion trenches to direct water to safe places, if a large storm happens again. The we added a fun DIY gas fire pit. We did keep a few previously landscaped features. A set of rock stairs with a stacked rock flower bed.

It seems most of my succulents survived the record-breaking cold, snowy winter.

Along the waterfall, there are a few little ‘pockets’ of dirt between rocks. I’ve started planting small succulents in these areas to green things up.

Here’s a before shot of the back from up the hillside:

It’s easy to see how deceptively steep it really is from that angle. Today, we’ve got the hard parts done, but need to add plants.

Siding will be nice, too. Ha!

Before, there wasn’t an easy way to get to the back from the driveway. Ben built matching beam steps to link the spaces together. Those posts will get cut down soon.

Just as the back had been neglected, the front didn’t look any better. Overgrown, wild-looking hills scattered with half dead trees and shrubs isn’t what I consider pretty.

Since then, we’ve added a wide beam walking path. More recently, plants! Glorious green plants! A few peonies in a stacked rock planting bed.

A train of boxwood evergreens.

Off the deck, there’s a plateau area that looked mostly dead.

We added tons of rock (literally) and created a little bocce ball court. Now a few Bird’s Nest Spruce shrubs dot the perimeter. Eventually we’ll add taller plants in front of the deck, like Burning Bush. Filler plants, perhaps flowering will liven up the remaining open spaces.

Another before of the walkway:

You can see why siding is this summer’s priority. Not that the blue was much better. And today:

I’ve even got a few potted plants by the front door.

As I said earlier, we’ve got more before we’ll consider this finished. We’ll be able to add more plants after siding. Don’t want those in the way of the ladder and scaffolding. Still, we’re happy to have new, better functioning hardscapes.