Home Improvement

Take it for Granite

Published on July 8, 2010September 9, 2010 by Our Humble Abode5 Comments

We recently revealed our new DIY dining table, complete with a dark green-black marble top. This isn’t the first (or last) piece of marble or granite in our house. In fact, we have quite a bit in 1 1/4 inch thick slabs and tiles. I thought I’d give a pictoral view showcasnig the granite and marble we have in our home.

All three of our bathrooms have granite-topped vanities.

The main bathroom granite is Giallo San Francisco:

Our master bathroom color is Galaxy Black:

The basement bathroom counters are Verde Maritoka:

Part of my office desktop has Carrera marble, while the other areas have Brazilian Cherry.

Each bathtub has a matching granite sill to rest on. Both the main and master bathrooms have marble tub surrounds, too.

The master bathroom floor is covered in white marble and absolute black granite checkerboard. The main bathroom has white marble floors in a brick lay pattern.

We decided to install granite and marble as some of our window sills to protect them from moisture.

The kitchen and dining room sills are Silver Spark:

Our master bathroom has Carrera Marble:

The half wall by our stairway has a brown granite topper:

Our love of marble extends to a few pieces of furniture other than our dining table. Two small side tables in our guest bedroom have marble tile tops.

This little table had a clear glass top, but it was easily replaced by one 12 inch square tile, left over from our bathroom remodel.

Why limit marble to counter tops when you can have a marble table lamp like this:

Just to recap, we have 4 countertops, 3 tables, 6 window and tub sills, 2 shower surrounds, 1 lamp and we haven’t remodeled our kitchen.

Why do we have so much marble and granite you ask? We love the timeless look, durability and we can get remnant slabs for a great price. And, it’s almost easier to work with than wood.

This Thing Sucks: Vacuums

Published on July 2, 2010September 12, 2012 by Our Humble AbodeLeave a comment

A few years ago, we installed a central vacuüm system. If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up. It is so choice. We upgraded from a canister vacuüm, you know, the kind you drag around behind you, smashing into all of your walls on the way? Yea, we hated it. And it didn’t clean very well because it was old. Ben researched central vac systems and decided he could install one in our house. I was definitely on board. Anything to make cleaning easier and more enjoyable, right?

Back then, our basement was unfinished, so installing the PVC piping was relatively easy. Ben ran the ‘plumbing’ and wiring from our predetermined outlets to the vacuüm itself, which is located in our attached garage, cutting down on the noise significantly.

Our central vacuüm system consists of four outlets, one vacuüm, one 30 foot hose, and attachment heads. We opted not to install dustpan receptacles in our kitchen because we just get the vacuüm hose out and clean the whole house at once.

We have one centrally located vacuüm hook up on each level.

You can see an extra outlet at the end of the hall, to the left of the door.

The central outlet in the basement is hidden in the toe kick of our entertainment center:

Our 30 foot hose reaches most areas, but not quite all, so we installed one additional outlet at the south end of each level.

The vacuüm hose package we purchased includes the hose, a rug cleaning head, a hardwood cleaning head, and several small brushes and crevice tools. This vacuüm makes cleaning the miles of trim a breeze because of the reach of the hose. Vacuuming the stairs has never been easier, either thanks to the light weight hose. No more lugging a heavy vacuüm up and down the stairs. No more changing bags, just dumping the 12 gallon canister occasionally. And, it is easily stored in a small hall closet with other cleaning supplies.

Helpful Hint: To help decide the length of hose you need, keep your furniture placement in mind. That will shorten the reach of your hose.

Furniture Feature: Dining Table

Published on June 29, 2010September 9, 2010 by Our Humble Abode13 Comments

Before we could bring our new table in, we had to remove the old set. Then, I added a few more Flor tiles to the existing rug. Because our old table was round, the four square by four square rug was the perfect size. The rectangular table needed a rectangular rug. When I order Flor rugs, I always order a few extra squares of each design. This came in handy. I cut the dark brown squares to fit with the existing design. Then I taped them together because I didn’t have extra Flor dots. After about ten minutes, our ‘new’ rug was ready for the table.

Ben and I carried in the new table base, but the top was far too heavy for me to move. With a little help from a friend, we had a new table. Enough talk, here’s the completed table:

The overall size is 4 1/2 feet long by 3 feet wide, which fits perfectly in our dining room. The chairs tuck under neatly, fitting close the edge of the table, leaving two feet of walking space on all sides.

The apron is set in 1/2 inch from the legs, giving the base a polished look.

I love the clean, modern Parsons style legs paired with the more traditional marble top.

It’s a perfect balance of modern and traditional. The dark wooden chairs are comfortable and stylish, but still add warmth.

I wanted to show the marble off, so here’s an artsy shot:

I am 150% in love with our new table. What do you think? What is your proudest DIY project?

Adventures in Building a Dining Table

Published on June 28, 2010May 25, 2011 by Our Humble Abode22 Comments

Some of our recent posts show changes we have made to our dining room. I have hated our dining table for the past year or so, but Ben loves our table. It’s solid oak and the price was great. The problem? The table measures in at a whopping 4 foot diameter. The pedestal base makes it impossible to push the large chairs within 6 inches of the table. Our small (9 foot wide by 10.5 foot long) dining room is even smaller.

After discussing a new table with Ben and looking around town, the search died; we couldn’t agree on a table. We discussed building a wooden table and painting it white. But how to make it sturdy enough? Back to the drawing board. Then, Ben had a great idea. Why not build the table out of steel? It’s cheap, durable and rigid.

Ben went to the local steel supply warehouse to see what he could find. He found three-inch square steel tubing for the legs and three-inch ‘L’ pieces for the rails. Score! The supply yard cut the pieces to length, too. Ben left $58.00 poorer and 100 pounds heavier, ready to start welding.

We decided on four outer legs connected by a 1/2 inch inset apron with a cross support. Pass about 4 hours and we had this:

Here’s Ben touching up some areas:

Ben is so amazing, he even added feet!

Add some spray primer and three coats of gloss white Rustoleum spray paint and we had this:

And this:

Because we plan to sell our entire dining set, we began searching for new dining chairs. The plan is to have 4 matching chairs at the table at all times, with these stacking chairs available for larger groups-we already have two.

I loved World Market’s Loft Chairs (see below), but at $100.00 each, they are a little out of our current price range.

After some online searching, Ben found these:

They aren’t quite as good-looking as the Loft chairs, but the price was definitely right and they are nice, solid chairs. The chairs are discounted because they are discontinued. We were sold-we bought four. World Market offers 10% off your entire purchase if you open a World Market credit card, so we got an additional $14.00 off! Here’s our receipt. I love when stores show the amount you’ve saved. I really love when the amount saved is more than the amount spent. Check it out:

Yep, we spent $125.96 and saved $154.00!! Amazing!

We went to our local granite and marble yard. We found a dark greenish-black marble with white swirls. It’s b.e.a.utiful and it’s a remnant! Ben helped cut the slab at the granite supply- it was too heavy and large to cut at home.

Then he hauled the 4 1/2 foot by 3 foot cut piece home and polished the edges using granite specific polishing pads on a right angle grinder. Here he is, hard at work:

How To: Light It Up

Published on June 10, 2010September 12, 2012 by Our Humble Abode7 Comments

Another item checked off my to do list. Our dining room light fixture wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t quite what we were looking for. So, I ordered this light fixture from CB2. The only problem? The fixture is meant to be plugged in to an outlet, not hardwired. That’s okay though, I have a handy hubby.

Here she is in the box:

Before we could install the fixture, we went to Lowe’s to buy a 2 in 1 ceiling plate. Because the light is meant to be plugged in, one was not included. Not to worry, we found one in a brushed nickel finish for $4.98. It is however a little more traditional than I was hoping for. Oh well.

We went home, ready to install. First, turn off your breaker. You can never be too safe!! Then Ben removed our old fixture.

He installed the new mounting hardware for the box cover and we measured the height (32 inches) from our table. Ben marked the cord and cable to know where to cut. He adjusted the cable to hang at the proper height and tightened the screws in place.

Then he cut the wiring, leaving 3 or 4 inches more than he needed. He stripped the ends and connected the proper wires to one another, securing with wire nuts.