Home Improvement

I Like to Move It, Move It

Published on December 21, 2012December 21, 2012 by Our Humble Abode26 Comments

Furniture, that is. Winter has settled in and we’re using (and loving!) the new fireplace. Because of this, I had an urge to rearrange the family room furniture. To make the fireplace more of a focal point. This room has been difficult for me to arrange. One wall has a door and two windows, another a door to the living room and stairs, a fireplace on the third and then an opening to the kitchen. Here’s the arrangement we started with.

The black lines at the top are the walls in the room with a door leading to the stairs. Couch facing the fireplace, chairs and a table perpendicular to the couch and fireplace. Big open space in the middle. Initially, I really had my heart set on moving the couch, which keeping the group centered on the fireplace, like this:

I tried it a few nights ago (moving furniture by myself while Ben was at work), but our sofa is three feet deep, so it took up much of the walkway (the blue dotted lines). Right away, I knew it wouldn’t work. But the fireplace isn’t centered on the room. We’ve got about a foot more space by the windows (the blue boxes at the bottom). Perhaps the couch would fit better there?

So I pivoted the couch over there. It wasn’t terrible, but it had a few problems. Little space between, not enough for a coffee table. The walk space behind the chairs was small, which Ben hated.

But my biggest reason for nixing this arrangement: it made a long, narrow (narrow when factoring in walking paths) room feel, well, longer and narrower. Oh, and then there’s this oddly open floor space in the breakfast nook that was only accentuated by the placement.

Back to the drawing board. It seems the best place for the couch was the original position. How about moving the chair and table group opposite the couch, in front of the fireplace?

Um, not my favorite.

I like the lightness of the chairs in front of the fireplace, but I don’t like the hard lines and how closed off it made the fireplace feel.

Maybe setting the chairs at an angle, with a round table between?

Ahh, that opened up the fireplace nicely.

So far, this is my favorite layout, for a few reasons. One, the couch separates the family room from the breakfast nook and kitchen.

Secondly, the group is still centered on the fireplace, while making it a focal point. And we’ve still got room for a coffee table.

Last, it keeps walkways open, keeping traffic a-flowin’.

I just moved the furniture to this arrangement this morning, so Ben hasn’t seen it yet. We’ll see what he thinks, because he’s oddly picky about furniture placement. Heck, if he had his way, the room would look more like this:

Couch pushed up against the only wall. Not my idea of an inviting and functional room.

Now that I’ve spewed, um, shared, the layout options, I want to hear your thoughts. Which grouping did you like best? Or maybe you’ve got an idea for a different layout? Do you have a tricky room to arrange?

Cover Up, Part Deux

Published on December 17, 2012March 26, 2013 by Our Humble Abode26 Comments

Before getting to decorating, I want to say how deeply saddened and sorry I am for the families in Connecticut. Such a senseless tragedy. Our thoughts and love go out to the families, friends, and community of Sandy Hook. Here’s a link offering various ways to help.

Well, the cover up is working; the fireplace has never looked better. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I present to you exhibit A:

On the left, 70’s moss rock, complete with poorly placed vents. The right side shows step one of the great cover up consisting of studs and cement board. And now, exhibit B:

A clean slate, pun intended. Ben laid the slate tile, saying it was the easiest tile he’s ever worked with. And we’re both head over heels for the pretty, slightly varied, textural tile.

Because the insert has angled sides, we decided to tile the insides of the walls, too.

Everything outside the combustible free area (the tiled surround) has gotten a layer of plywood. This should come in handy if/when we want to hang something above the mantel.

Speaking of the mantel, we considered a solid piece of reclaimed wood. Then we thought it might stick out (not in a good way) with the rest of our plans. Instead, Ben built a simple plywood box to place over a few 2 by 4 boards. Basically a mantel slip cover over supporting studs.

Clearly, we’ve still got some work to do before we can call this a wrap.

For starters, we’ll add 1/4 inch thick by 2 inch wide trim around all the edges, including the mantel. Because the rock extended into the hall, we covered it up just like the rest of the fireplace. As it currently is, it seems like an odd little bump out. To make it fit with the rest of the fireplace and differentiate between the normal walls, we’ll add more 1/4 inch trim to make a grid. Then, to brighten up the space and balance out the dark slate, a few coats of white paint. Something kind of like my Photoshopped version:

In addition to painting windows, baking cookies, squeezing the boys a little tighter, and usual errands, that pretty much sums up our weekend happenings. What did you do this weekend?

Cover Up

Published on December 11, 2012March 26, 2013 by Our Humble Abode25 Comments

The great fireplace cover up has begun. After a day of being annoyed that we couldn’t remove the rock, Ben decided on a plan of attack. It involves wood 2 by 4s, steel studs, plywood, and concrete backer. First, he started with the wood studs, building a frame slightly larger than the deepest rocks around the top and sides. Combustibles shouldn’t be too close to the insert, so we have a slightly higher than we’d like mantle. The bottom of the 2 by 4 is where the bottom of the mantle will start.

A 2 by 6 box (basically a very short version of a wall) makes up the base of the hearth, which is sturdy enough to support the weight of the 600 pound insert.

In the hall, the framing is minimal to keep the walkway wide and show as much of the inlay floors as possible.

Then Ben had the pleasure of installing the new duct work, with plenty of annoyances and obstacles along the way. Finally, time to haul up the beast, I mean insert. Ben and Handy Sammy loaded it on a dolly, hefting it up, one stair at a time. I pulled in the dolly, trying to help, but I couldn’t get it to budge. Luckily, the guys are much stronger and got it up the stairs without hurting themselves or the house.

The next morning, they carefully hoisted the insert, scooting it around to get it in place.

As I mentioned before, combustibles can’t be close to the insert, so Ben used steel studs to frame out everything below the mantle.

Oh, and we took down the huge mirror. Fortunately four clips held it in place, so there’s no wall damage. Oddly enough, the room feels bigger without the mirror reflecting the kitchen. A layer of concrete board on top and we’re ready for tile.

Awkward angles of the surround won’t let us tile up to the insert, so we’ve got a small frame around.

Speaking of tile, we chose 1 foot by 2 foot black slate tiles at Home Depot. Why? Because we’re suckers for natural stone, love the color, subtle color differences, the matte finish, and the price. Most importantly, the dark tile should better disguise soot or ash from the wood fireplace. Had we gone with a gas insert, we would have chosen a lighter tile.

To balance out the dark tile, we’ll paint the upper part and hall side white. Best of both worlds then.

What’s your favorite tile? Do you prefer the convenience of a gas fireplace? Or the crackle of a wood fire?

Rockin’ It

Published on December 3, 2012December 3, 2012 by Our Humble Abode20 Comments

Right now, we’re kind of between projects. Planning some while waiting for materials to come in/get delivered for others. One of those projects is a fireplace revamp. First off, neither Ben or I like the look of the 70’s moss rock; it’s dark and looks dirty.

Secondly, the placement of the vents and fan are less than ideal. What’s a fireplace without a mantel? But most importantly, the open wood burning fireplace is a huge cause for concern. We can’t leave a burning fire unattended, fearing an ember will land on the rug and burn the house down. The ash gets everywhere, and we can’t control the intensity of the fire. So, we’ve ordered and are waiting on our wood burning insert.

Because the insert weighs about 600 pounds, Ben decided to start on the surround before we have to move a hulking insert around. To get started, Ben laid out wood (to protect the floor) and chipped rock off the hearth face.

Seeing a pile of rubble inside wasn’t exactly a good surprise as we expected the cinder block to continue up from the basement. Hoping to find better news, Ben cut a small hole in the sheet rock on the side of the fireplace. Looked like rock and cinder block.

With nothing to lose, we pulled off the sheet rock to see what we were looking at.

Some block and some rock. Really makes us wonder what the previously covered up the cinder block. Knowing there was cinder block on the other side had us hopeful again, so we chipped away at a rock on the other side.

Cue the sad face, more rubble. This was the biggest blow to our plans because this side extends into the hallway.

It seems this rock isn’t a façade, rather a structural part of this fireplace, which means it has to stay. Now we’re stuck building over the rock, which is less than ideal on the hallway side. We’ll build out as little as necessary over the rock to keep the hall as wide as possible, but we’re bummed. Rebuilding the front isn’t as much of an issue because we’ve got space to extend, but we have to work within the confines of the inlaid floors.

Until the insert arrives, our fireplace will look sad, like this.

With the insert, we’ll be able to get accurate measurements necessary to rebuild and reface.

P.S. We realize removing/covering the moss rock isn’t for everyone, but neither of us have ever been fond of it, so we’re doing what works best for us.

Brass Be Gone

Published on September 25, 2012October 8, 2012 by Our Humble Abode16 Comments

Let me preface this by saying I don’t hate brass. At least not aged brass. I can’t stand the bright/shiny/fake/80’s brass. Don’t hate me for doing what I’m about to show you. Last week I had to run to UPS to send my felt leaf bowls to Germany for a photo shoot. While waiting for the main UPS to open at noon, the boys and I stopped at a park to play, bought groceries, and popped in a Goodwill. Not needing anything in particular, I puttered around the store and saw a brass bar cart.

I shoved a little lady to get to it…in my head. In real life I patiently waited for her to pass and then snatched it for, wait for it… 13 bucks.

Because it was a decent size, I rationalized we could use it just about anywhere, and not only as a bar cart. Yeah, Ben’s jug-o-wine wouldn’t look too fancy on this bad boy. The details were so nice. Double tiered, wooden legs, and on castors.

I’m guessing there was another glass shelf at the bottom, but we can replace that. Either with another piece of glass or painted MDF.

Everything was great, except the finish. While I liked the brass color, it was certainly worn, and not in a good way.

Hoping to keep the brass, I tried using Rub N Buff on it. No such luck, it just wiped right off the slick surface. Well, it was worth a shot. Sure, I could have used spray paint, but I’m not sure how it would hold up over time. When in doubt, I turn to my trusty friend Blue Magic.

Pair Blue Magic and fine steel wool and you’ll get a shiny, chrome finish on brass plated items. Because this stuff is stinky, I rolled my cart outside. I strongly recommend wearing rubber gloves, too. The thicker, the better. Then, dip the steel wool in the cream, and polish away. Ten or twenty seconds later, depending on the thickness of the brass and how hard you’re scrubbing, you’ll see chrome.

Keep on going. Now, I’m not sure exactly how/why this works, but here’s my best guess. The steel wool acts as a fine sandpaper, removing the brass plate. If used alone, it would scratch the metal, so the Blue Magic polishes it. Thanks to all the crazy joints and details, it took me about five hours to get this done.

I decided to keep the brass on the wheels, both because I like the look and I didn’t know if the metals were the same. I quickly sanded down the legs to re-stain them a rich walnut color. Boy was that quicker! A coat of silver spray paint on the black rubber pieces and here she is.

Obviously I’m using it as a side table in our living room. The size is great, but I’ve got some styling I want to do. Oh, and the bottom shelf.

I’m loving the shiny finish.

Those dark wooden legs, me-ow.

I’m excited for the bottom shelf and pretty details.

Castors are awesome, too. If we don’t need it as a side table down the line, we can always roll this to another room, inside or out.

Basically, it’s exactly what I didn’t know I wanted.

How about a budget breakdown?

Cart: $12.99 at Goodwill

Blue Magic and steel wool: Already had on hand (costs about 12 bucks at car stores)

Sand paper and stain: Left over from the bookshelf and bench

Silver spray paint: From my stash

Time: roughly 6 1/2 hours

Total: $12.99 plus 6 1/2 hours of my time. Not bad at all.

Do you like the changes? Or did you prefer the brassy finish? What’s your favorite recent thrifty find? Ever tried Blue Magic on brass? I’m contemplating using it on another project, but I’ve got some testing (and probably convincing of Ben) to do first.