Home Improvement

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.

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.

Au Natural

Published on June 6, 2014June 6, 2014 by Our Humble AbodeLeave a comment

For the past two years, the hall bathroom has looked like this:

White and light gray walls with a bold blue vanity and coral accents. While I love how fun, happy, and bold it is, I’m feeling the need to change.

More recently, I’ve been drawn to natural colors and elements; rustic woods, earth tones, leafy greens, plants and botanicals. This bathroom doesn’t have any of those pieces. Nor does it have the same feel as some of the more recently finished rooms.

To make it flow better, I’ve got a few simple ideas that will change the vibe. Leaving the walls alone, I can still infuse nature and color.

A quart of paint can easily cover the vanity in a new color. I’ve got scrap wood in the garage I could use to make boxes or picture frames.

Just yesterday, I found a really neat vintage wooden crate free by the road. We’ve needed a lower toilet paper bin for a while, so the shelf doesn’t get scuffed pulling it out. This character rich crate is the perfect piece with a few felt pads on the bottom.

To complete the quick refresh, I’d love to paint the vanity a warm mossy/evergreen. Something with plenty of color, but still slightly muted. A few new bins and baskets for added function would be nice, too. On the large wall, I’m debating between one large botanical style piece or three (maybe even a grid of six) smaller nature prints. Maybe a plain white shower curtain? Not sure on that yet.

Hopefully I’ll get a chance to start on it this weekend, now that this crazy week is almost over. Last week of school paired with another exciting event is a lot to handle in such a short time. Getting back to normal feels really nice right now.

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?

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!