Category: Home Improvement

Affordable ways to update your home.

How To: Make Laminate Countertops

Published on by Our Humble Abode7 Comments

Laminate countertops may not be the most beautiful option, but they certainly are cheap, durable and DIY friendly.  Which is exactly why we chose a laminate top for our laundry room.  To make your own countertop, you’ll need:

3/4 inch thick Plywood, MDF or OSB, enough for two layers.  The top layer must be particle board.

Laminate sheeting (ours was 4 feet by 8 feet)

1 1/2 inch tall by 3/4 inch thick material to cover the edges

3M Fastbond Contact Adhesive

Foam roller to spread the glue

Heavy roller to press firmly into place

To start, create a solid surface of plywood.  Secure two pieces together to create a thickness of 1 1/2 inches.  Fill any holes with wood filler and sand smooth.  Place the sheet of laminate on top of the area and cut roughly to size.  Ben used a router.

Attach your 1 1/2 inch tall edging on all exposed sides.  We used oak, but anything will do.

Then, pour some glue on the back of the laminate sheet and spread in a thin layer with a roller.  This stuff is stinky, so you should wear a mask and/or work in a well-ventilated room.  You may need to let the glue set up for a few minutes.  Read the instructions on the glue.

Then, place wooden dowels every 8 to 12 inches to keep the laminate from touching the top before you’re ready.   Flip the laminate over and start at one end of the piece, pressing into place.  Use the roller to smooth the surface and bond securely.  Work in only one direction to prevent shifting and bubbling.

We placed weights on top, just to prevent any movement.  After adequate dry time, usually 24 to 72 hours, use a router along the exposed edges to clean the edges of the wood and laminate up.  We cut ours to a clean, kid-friendly 45 degree angle.  Run the router along the edges until smooth and uniform.

With the edges cleaned up, fill any nail holes, sand, and paint or stain to finish.

Because Ben installs laminate counters in the apartments, we already had access to all the supplies.  Fortunately, we also got a piece of white laminate from the apartments because the owner didn’t like it.  I don’t love it, because it has a tan cross hatch pattern.

See what I mean?  But, it isn’t noticeable unless you’re super close.  I wouldn’t choose it, but it was free, so it will work.  Fortunately, it is light to help brighten up the small basement space.

Oh, and here is what our laundry room looks like today.  A total mess.

You can see the installed drawer fronts, but we still have to finish the cabinet doors and shelving.  We had a slight change of plans.  You’ll also notice that we haven’t sanded the sheet rock yet, but paint will go on those walls someday.

Bathroom Business

Published on by Our Humble Abode19 Comments

Not that kind of business, though.  We’ve managed to cross another item off our to do list.  You’ve seen our new cabinet doors and my office drawers.  The office drawers took a little longer to install than planned, so we put off finishing the bathroom and laundry room.  Last weekend, I prodded Ben until he gave in we found some time to finish the bathroom.

Before I share the ‘after’ pictures, I want to give a little explanation on how we install drawer fronts.  First, we measure the width and height to find the center.  Then, either make a template or mark the drawer pulls on the drawer front.  Drill holes in your drawer front, but not the drawer.  Use screws to attach the front to the drawer.

If you’re working on a drawer stack, this allows you to attach everything from the front, make sure all faces are level and spacing between drawers is even.  We use nickels as spacing guides for our drawer fronts.  Start from the bottom drawer to stack the remaining drawers on top.  This way, as long as your drawers are even and square, your stack will be level.  Once you like the arrangement, screw the front in place from inside the drawer.  Remove the screws from the front and drill through the rest of the drawer to install the handles.

Now, we’re ready for the main event.

Remember the before?   Yes, those openings bugged the crap out of me for the past year.

The center is a false front and the ends are functioning drawers.

We chose oil rubbed bronze drawer pulls to tie the faucet finishes together.

Towels and extra toilet paper are stored below on the open shelving, giving the perfect balance of large and small storage.

Yep, lookin’ good, if you ignore the pile o’ tile and a saw in the corner.

What is your favorite type of bathroom storage?  Drawers and cabinets?  All drawers?  Drawers and shelving?  Maybe your have a medicine cabinet for small items and don’t need drawers?  Is your bathroom filled with products?

Magazines by Month

Published on by Our Humble Abode17 Comments

I have subscribed to Martha Stewart Living for three and a half years with no sign of stopping.  When we finished my office bookshelf, I started storing the glossies vertically, arranged January through December of each year.  Adding newer issues to the group was a pain, because I had a bookend holding the group tightly together.  If I dragged that bookend, my shelf got scuffed and scratched.  When I wanted to flip through old issues, I had to search through to find the month and pull each out (and put it back).  You see the bottom left side?  All magazines.

Tightly grouped with no breathing room.

I don’t know about you, but when I look back at magazines, I’m usually searching for inspiration for a particular month, season or holiday.  Then, I figured out a way to solve my problem.  And yes, it’s extremely technical, life changing and I’m the first person to have thought of this, said dripping with sarcasm.

Why not store magazines in a magazine file?  Huh, crazy thought.  But wait, there’s more.  Order now to double your offer!  I decided to devote one magazine file to each month, for a total of twelve.  Not only does this system save me time searching for, removing and putting away each magazine, but I have room to grow.

I plan for wiggle room when possible, either in shelving or my pant size.  Hah.

How do you store/sort your magazines?  Maybe you had a brilliant storage solution for another area of your home?  How many subscriptions do you have?  What’s your favorite read?

State {of the} Art

Published on by Our Humble Abode21 Comments

Three and a half years ago, we had just finished our master bedroom and needed art to fill the bare walls.  To keep things cheap, I cut out silhouettes of Ben and myself to fit in a frame I already owned.


To add a splash of pink, I ordered 8 vintage Pierre J. Redoute botanical prints.  The 9 inch by 11 inch prints were cheap, and $3.50 frames from Michael’s were a cheap solution.

Though having art on the walls was great, we never really loved the prints in the space.  Just a little too ‘old lady’, especially when paired with the traditional trim and bed.  We’ve been wanting new art, but just couldn’t find the art.  Until recently.  We featured an Idaho watercolor painting from Poppy and Pinecone, but didn’t see Montana.  After a few conversations with Elisabeth, we had an agreement to trade custom art.  Here’s a tip: If you sell anything on Etsy, trading is a great way to save money, but get items you like.  I sent her a Family Tree cut out in orange in exchange for two custom 11 inch by 14 inch state watercolor prints.

Ben is from Montana, so I wanted his print in greens and blues.  Because I’m from Minnesota, I wanted my painting in girly colors, pinks and purples.  And here is where my custom vision turned Elisabeth into a rock star.  I needed both prints in a landscape orientation, to maintain symmetry.  For Montana, that’s easy.  Minnesota, however is usually vertically printed.  I left it to Elisabeth to somehow turn vertical Minnesota into a horizontal design without looking strange.  I knew, based on the work I’ve seen, that the prints would be fantastic.  When I received that beautifully packaged art, I couldn’t wait to tear it open to see what Elisabeth made.  Do you want to see?  Of course you do.  Here is Ben’s Montana:

And my Minnesota:

Isn’t that fantastic?!?  I know!  And, the quality was even better than I could have imagined.  The watercolor paper is rich, textural, heavy, and luxurious.  I waited until the prints arrived to buy frames, just to make sure the size worked.  I needed something to fill the wall, and two 16 inch by 20 inch frames looked great.  Then, I remembered I had one black frame sitting in the closet.  A matching frame hung in the basement bathroom holding a print from The Living Room Floor.  I snagged the frame (and mat) to use in our bedroom.  Now, I had only one frame to buy to replace the one I just stole.  I cut another mat to the same dimensions using a sharp utility knife and straight edge and popped the new State Love prints inside.

The new frames are much larger than the two 11 by 14 frames we had on each side.  I hung the new frames on the old nails, so the art interacts more with the bed, which I like.

When walking down the hall, I catch a glimpse of the Minnesota art.  Also, the art reflects beautifully in the new sunburst mirror directly across the room.

For another fun, custom touch, (you caught a glimpse of above) I framed a 5 by 7 wedding invitation from Ello There.  Just goes to show art is anything you find beautiful.  We added our ceremony information and customized the colors to match our decor.  It is such a cute print, and an adorable wedding invitation.  And, I’ve added even more birds to our house.  The paper is a nice smooth, thick card stock of great quality and Maddy was a pleasure to work with.  She put up with my annoying questions and accommodated my requests.  Yes, this is a trend.  I am annoying and have many requests.  Moral of the story, I’m a pain in the arse.

A lamp, cheapo 5 by 7 frame, $1 ceramic bird, and black lacquer and capiz jewelry box are the perfect bedside table accessories to round out our bedroom makeover.  Both fun and functional.  Just my style.  Our personalized, colorful bedroom art overhaul makes me smile every time I go in.  As does the cost of the revamp.  Just $10.00 for the print, an art trade, reused frames and a three dolla paint stick mirror.  I had all of the supplies for the silhouettes, for a grand total of $13.00 spent for an entire room of art.

Which room have you spent the least for art?  Where did you find it?  Maybe you made it.  Any tricks you’ve found to keep the cost low?

Please note:  We were not compensated for this post, we simply love the items we’ve purchased and traded from these shops and want to share with you.

A Finished Office

Published on by Our Humble Abode23 Comments

!!!!!  Yay!  This is the moment I’ve been waiting to share for a year.  For Mother’s Day, I we went out to breakfast, then did a little shopping.  Not the fun kind, though I did get a new Leatherman Squirt in bright blue.  That’s fun, right?  Ben bought me a bouquet of Kermit mums.  Love how fun they are.  When we returned home, I requested asked Ben to install the drawer fronts in my office as my Mother’s Day gift.  (Three years ago, I requested a new end table, which is now in the guest bedroom).  Being the fantastic hubby he is, he did.  I wasn’t able to get any during shots, so I’ll make sure to take some when we install the laundry room drawers.

Ben had already installed the drawers, but the drawer fronts couldn’t be built until the drawers were installed.  Which means waiting, which I’m not good at.  But, Ben built the fronts and it was my turn to prime and paint.  A few afternoon naps and three coats of paint later, the fronts were ready.  We went from this:

Which was already a huge improvement over this, both in looks and function:

Now, I can officially say my office is finished.  Well, the building, I’m sure it will continue to change and evolve over time and use.

We continued with the Shaker style panel, but had to make a few minor adjustments.  Can you see the difference?  It’s like a drawer version of Where’s Waldo?

If you haven’t noticed it, good!  That was the goal.  If you’re wondering, pay close attention to the horizontal pieces.  The top drawer front is only 5 inches tall, the second is 5 1/2 inches tall, the third is 8 inches and the bottom is 12 inches.  All of the verticals are 2 1/2 inches wide, but the horizontals are not.  Why, you ask?  Because, the top drawer would be completely flat if the horizontal was still 2 1/2 inches.  2 1/2 + 2 1/2 = 5  The second drawer would have only 1/2 inch between the horizontals, which isn’t enough room for the drawer pull.  So, drawer number 1 has 2 inch horizontals, leaving 1 inch for a pull, while the second drawer has 2 1/4 inch horizontals, with an inch for a pull.  Pretty fun, right?

After some convincing of Ben, he agreed it wouldn’t look completely stupid.  I hate the back-handed compliments.  And if it did, it was my idea and not his office.

I love the finished, seamless look, especially paired with the connected squares trim pattern.  I think the doors and drawers finish off the space perfectly, concealing every ugly, strictly utilitarian office essential.  Well, almost every one.  We still need to build, paint and install a pull out shelf to set my printer on.  It is ugly and needs to be hidden.

Ben admitted when he finished installing the doors that he was jealous of my office and has plans of a hostile takeover.

The clean white drawers and cabinets are the icing on the cake. 

Have you finished any lingering projects?  What took so long?  Weather?  Supplies?  Lack of motivation?  Just know you’re not the only one with outstanding projects.