DIY Decor & Crafts

Cedar Planked

Published on July 7, 2014July 8, 2014 by Our Humble Abode25 Comments

I’ve mentioned this year’s big task, operation siding, many times. While we’re still no closer to finishing due to weather, we have made some progress inside. In the form of a reclaimed cedar planked wall.

Our bedroom has received so little attention (only a coat of paint and plain Jane white curtains) and neither Ben or I ever felt excited about it. Sad, because master bedrooms should feel like a retreat.

I never thought I’d love tattered old wood as much as I do in here. The reclaimed wood feels like a big, warm hug for the room. And the perfect starting point for a full makeover.

Okay, calling it ‘reclaimed’ makes it sound super special and old. Really, it’s just the back of old cedar siding.

Yes, our old, blue cedar siding. While the finished side had seen better days, most of the backs were in great shape.

Several months ago, I told Ben I wanted to plank our headboard wall in old wood. Being a dude, he was immediately on board. Did ya get that pun? We tossed out the idea of pallets, but we’d have to save and disassemble them. Old barn wood can get pretty expensive these days. So when we pulled off the siding, we knew we wanted to save it from the landfill and put it to use. The first step was pulling out every nail and staple. Our siding is similar to tongue and groove, so Ben cut off the edges by running each piece through the table saw. In the photo above, we had already finished one side. Our pieces are 6 inches wide once ripped down.

Most of the pieces had cupped over time, creating a slightly less than straight piece. To remove this and allow the boards to sit flat against the wall, Ben ran the blue sides through the planer. We have the 13 inch Ridgid, if you’re looking for a nice, affordable planer.

In our original plan, we wanted to plane both sides to a smooth finish. Unfortunately, the cedar had different plans. It gummed up and dulled the blades really quickly. On to plan b. Installing the planks as is to paint over. To secure each piece to the wall, we marked out studs, drawing a line up with a level. The arrows show each line:

Using the 2 1/2 inch 16 gauge nails, we nailed into each stud on the top and bottom. Rather than butting the boards together, we used nickles to leave a small gap between each board.

This process was super quick and we had a nearly finished wall in about two hours.

Once we finished, we put the room back together, including the curtains. And we absolutely loved the wall. Old holes, bits of tar paper residue, and all; no painting necessary.

One of the quickest, biggest impact projects we’ve done. Let’s plank all the walls now! And the first thing we’ve done in our room that has made me downright giddy to tackle more.

Because the rest of the room certainly needs help. A lot of help. And this was just the project to motivate my ass.

Next up, scraping the popcorn ceilings. Fortunately I have experience in this department and it was surprisingly fun to do. It’s the patching after that sucked the big one. But, but! (and mine is a big one) if I want to work on the rest of the room, it must happen first. I’ll be back with the rest of the plan for the room soon. Until then, let’s talk old wood. That’s what he said.

Chevron Leaves

Published on June 20, 2014June 20, 2014 by Our Humble Abode3 Comments

Recently, I promised myself I’d bring more green and naturals into our house. The bathroom is sporting a new lush look, why not add some to the living room?

Until now I had my quirky sit and stay text bubble pillows on the chairs:

Not at all natural, were they? For a quick change, I pulled out a remnant of mossy green linen. Great color, but alone it looked boring.

Inspired by nature, I stamped a leaf design. Three cheers for new life to that side of the living room! Look at my plants, too. Four over there, including the finicky maiden hair fern. I haven’t killed it. In fact, it has a ton of new growth. It’s a miracle!

After debating patterns (random, circles, lines) I settled on a chevron pattern.

To create the uneven texture, I used a piece of a foam to go box as a stamp. Using a knife, I cut out a leaf shape. A pencil tip worked perfectly to press light veins into the leaf.

Stamping was quick and I didn’t fuss over evenness of the paint or placement.

Green is good for my mood; it perks me and my home up. Fun and fresh without being crazy or dramatic.

What’s your favorite color to decorate with?

Faux Real

Published on June 18, 2014June 18, 2014 by Our Humble Abode18 Comments

I’m still changing things in the living room. The triangle lamps I made just weren’t perfect in the room. Quite honestly, they got knocked over a lot because the bases are very light weight.

I still love them, so they’re in our bedroom and out-of-the-way of little hands. While dropping a few things off at the thrift store, I spotted this lamp for five bucks.

Instantly loved the shape, but not the design. If it were only leaves, I think it would have looked beautiful. The flowers and orange were too much for my taste. So, I changed it up, inspired by pretty zinc lamps like this:

And this Zinc lamp from A Place in the Garden:

Before I could start spraying, I taped off the socket, cord and wood base.

Then gave the lamp two coats of gray primer, holding it upside down for the second to get the undersides.

To create the aged effect, I diluted white craft paint with an equal amount of water. Using a 1/2 inch craft brush, I applied the mixture to 4 inch sections all around the lamp. Don’t go for even here and let it puddle and drip.

I followed up with a very crumpled, slightly damp paper towel. Lightly blotting pulled off the extra, but I left enough to look worn.

Here it is after it dried:

Liking the finish, I pulled the tape off and realized I didn’t want to keep the wooden base. So I taped off the upper lamp and sprayed just the wood base gray. After the faux finish, I had a zinc looking lamp that won’t tip over easily.

I also swapped the shade for a white drum I had for a sleeker look.

For added protection, I sprayed the lamp with three coats of clear matte.

For $5, I’m super happy with the look. What do you think? Have you tried a faux zinc finish? Now to find the perfect floor lamp for the other side.

Olive You

Published on June 16, 2014June 16, 2014 by Our Humble Abode20 Comments

Green has always been my favorite color. As I child, I realized green brought life and zest to my pictures/drawings. I’m finally done cheating on green with blues and determined to bring in more of it.

Ironically, about four weeks ago, I was amassing green paint samples to change out the vanity. Then I got an email from Better Homes and Gardens asking if they could feature our master bathroom in an upcoming I Did It article. Umm, yes!! While they had a team out here, they wanted to photograph the main bathroom, too. Double yes!

So I put my plans on a brief hold. After the photo shoot (two weeks ago) I set my plan in motion. The quick makeover added more green and natural elements to the main bathroom. It feels so different now, even with the few simple changes:

Even better, I spent only $6.99 for a small can of Tate Olive by Benjamin Moore paint. After clearing everything off, I taped the edges and gave two coats of paint. Taping everything inside the vanity was the biggest pain, but so worth it.

Once fully dry, I restocked the shelves. On the bottom, I put toilet paper in an old wooden crate I found on the side of the road. Green + old wood = love. Towels we already had along with a basket left over from the photo shoot fill the top.

On the shelf stack I have clear lidded jars filled with soap, cotton balls, cotton swabs, and band aids. More toiletries, and another navy and white striped bin below.

The dipped woven basket is a great small clothes/towels hamper. In place of a normal trash can we have a geometric patterned hole-less ceramic planter. Another prop from the photo shoot; Char (the stylist) is a genius.

With the new natural scheme, the quirky Woman/Man art and shower curtain didn’t feel right.

Instead, this old oil painting fills the space and looks right at home.

I’ve had this painting for four or five years and never had the perfect spot for it. Until now, where the natural setting and wood frame complete the design.

By the door, I wanted to add a little life, so I made another copper bud vase and filled it with boxwood clippings.

A white striped shower curtain we had in our old master bath is super simple. Maybe too plain though. I’m thinking of adding a strip of green along the bottom. It’ll add length and bring more green over to this side.

A low light plant and white flower dish fill in one side of the vanity.

A white and wood soap pump from Target and woven cup round out the other side.

Shopping the house for accessories made this change without taking a toll on my wallet. Of course it helps when I have a few props left from a photo shoot, too. Even if I had to buy those this make over would have cost about $50 total.

Historic Photograph Art

Published on June 12, 2014June 12, 2014 by Our Humble Abode4 Comments

Ben and I celebrated 8 years of marriage on Tuesday. Eight years! That seems crazy. Several weeks ago, I was wandering through a local consignment shop and spotted an interesting black and white print of old barns and a butte in the background.

I flipped it over and it said it was a historic photo of the town Ben grew up in. How perfect! I bought it and saved it until Tuesday.

Adding meaningful art to our home has always been my goal. This sweet photo is the perfect piece above the bar area.

Though I gave this as an anniversary gift, an old photo would also make a thoughtful Father’s day gift. A google search has tons of options. Like this St. Paul scene:

Or Minneapolis with horse-drawn carriages.

Of course, don’t print a photo with copyright, but there are options. Or you could photograph a special place and turn it to black and white to look more reminiscent of times past.