Our First House – Page 25

Sun Bursting

Published on May 4, 2011April 2, 2013 by Our Humble Abode103 Comments

I’m sure you’ve seen DIY sunburst mirrors all around the blogosphere recently, but because this is a hot trend (pun intended), I don’t think you’ll mind if I share another one. Last fall, I hot glued bamboo kitchen skewers to the back of a bevel edged mirror. After spray painting it white and living with it in our master bedroom for the winter, I decided it wasn’t the right fit. You see, most of the accessories and furniture in our room are black, and the white didn’t stand out against the wall like I had hoped. And the skewers we a little too thin for my liking, at least in this case. I may hang it in the basement bedroom for some drama.

So, I started brainstorming a cheap or free way to make an awesome, chunkier sunburst mirror. Then, while planning a paint chip project, it figuratively hit me. Paint sticks! They’re free and chunky. I snagged 27 from Wal-Mart thinking I would have plenty. Then, I chose a 12 inch diameter beveled mirror from Hobby Lobby (in the candle section). Candles were 50% off, so my mirror cost $3.00.

I went home ready to get my sun bursting on. I started by marking the mirror in quarters, using a Sharpie. Then, I placed a stick on each mark and filling in. Then, I realized I wouldn’t have enough for two tiers. Our weather took a turn for the worse, so I waited to get more sticks. While waiting for the weather, Kate at Centsational Girl posted about her DIY paint stick mirror. Apparently, great minds think alike. Though our plans of attack were slightly different, I knew the results would be stunning, too.

Finally, our weather cleared up and I packed the kids to go to Home Depot. I avoid Wal-Mart like the plague. Immediately, I knew the Wal-Mart sticks were thinner and had rounded corners, so I had to make a few changes.

Turns out 80 grit sand paper rounds corners of paint sticks really quickly.

Now that I had all of my supplies, I got started.

I applied a coat of black paint to the front and sides of each stick. For my first tier, I knew I had to cut the sticks so the curved edge didn’t show, so I didn’t bother painting that far.

After the black paint dried, I applied a coat of metallic silver paint. The silver is semi transparent, so the black still showed through making a really great metallic charcoal grey. See the difference?

So, after a few hours of painting, letting it dry, painting again, and letting it dry, I warmed up my glue gun. Before I could start gluing, I had to cut the sticks. With a baby and toddler in tow, it wasn’t an option to use a saw. I opted for a wire cutter.

I just squeezed hard twice on each side and then snapped it off. Worked great, but not a super clean edge. I measured 8 inches long on a sample stick and marked the back of each stick for a reference to keep the same length.

I tried to place each stick as evenly as possible. A few lines of hot glue held each stick firmly in place. After finishing the first tier, I flipped it for a quick look. I’m a likin’.

On to the next round. I was able to keep half of the sticks the full length by alternating non cut and cut. This round is 10 inches long with the curved edges hidden behind the first round. Yay for not needing to trim everything down.

With the sticks in place, I glued a picture hook to the back of the mirror with Liquid Nails. 48 hours of dry time later, I hung the mirror on our wall.

The grey contrasts beautifully against the grey/green walls.

The metallic sheen also changes with the lighting. The wall against the bench is now nicely filled with the sun burst mirror.

How about a little budget breakdown?

50 paint sticks: Free

Paint: Already owned

Glue gun and sticks: Already owned

Picture hook: Already owned (are you noticing a trend?)

Mirror: Originally $5.99, but 50% off to $3.00

Total: $3.00

Have you jumped on the sun burst band wagon? Did you go the store-bought or DIY route? Which store version do you have your eye on? Maybe you have a favorite tutorial? If you’ve made a mirror, we’d love to see yours on our Facebook page.

We’re still looking for questions for our blog anniversary. If there’s something you want to know, just ask.

P.S. We’ve had another request to size down our photos. What do you think of this change? Too large, too small? We need your opinions so we can make the best changes.

Back Yard Grievances

Published on May 3, 2011 by Our Humble Abode12 Comments

Our back yard rarely makes an appearance, with good reason. We haven’t done a lot of work to this space. And we don’t like how it looks. But, this is what we’re working with:

Before I start my backyard tirade, let’s note the positive, shall we? Our yard is very open, especially compared to other homes in our ‘hood. The yard is completely fenced in, we have a patio to entertain on, and plenty of trees, most of which are a fruit variety.

Now, onto the picture riddled rant. When you walk out the backdoor, you’re greeted by hoses, toys and an old rug. Ben and I are always switching between the two. He hates this one, so he always tosses it.

You’ll also notice there is no barrier keeping the rocks from spewing all over the patio. This is because the previous owners constructed brick planters against the house. The planters started falling apart, so we yanked those out, but the concrete extends to the previously pavered area, so we poured rock in to cover that. Now it drives me crazy.

Continue to walk along the uneven patio, until you’ve reached this odd ~~mostly~~ paver filled 4 foot square area. I am told this had a water feature before Ben tore it apart.

To get to the garage, walk around a trash can, which is now filled with dirt and grass clumps. You can’t really tell, but a small brick paver path leads from the patio to the garage. Because the grass is taller than the brick, the walkway is always dirty and covered over.

Then, you’ll notice our giant wood pile with a large, dead, grassless area. Great for dogs.

Though, this isn’t as bad as it once was. In April 2006, shortly after Ben proposed, I flew out to visit. The wood pile was much larger (keep in mind the house extends about 4 feet beyond the garage), and the rest of the backyard was much shabbier, then.

Now do you see why the grass is dead in this area? The pine tree was much smaller, we had a random group of honey locust trees (which had huge thorns), and the old fencing. Yikes, I had forgotten just how bad this looked until now.

Technically this next annoyance isn’t part of the back yard. Rather, the north side (left if you’re looking at the house from the street) is covered with mold specks because the siding never gets direct sun light.

I think a quick wash with a very watered bleach solution should do the trick. Or do you know of a more eco-friendly solution?

Other annoyances? Having two grills. I’m a vegetarian, so I don’t really care about the benefit of charcoal over gas. And, if you look closely, behind said grills, is a dog house. Also, the south side fencing is still chain link because we have to dig out a concrete post. The north side fence is installed, but not stained and we have half of a hollow core door as a gate. Can you say, “Redneck”? And the Ash tree by the patio has to go. I’m trying to talk Ben into two smaller, symmetrically placed fruit trees along with hydrangeas. The problem? I have a black thumb. Scratch that, I don’t even have a gardening thumb, so Ben knows he’ll be the one taking care of the plants.

All of this to say, I think we’re finally going to do something about this! Talk of a poured concrete patio (and my dream of a pergola) has been going on in our humble abode. Nothing is set in stone (pun intended), but we’re really hoping to have the time and weather to tackle this. Sooner than later.

Any suggestions for an eco-friendly, scrub-free, mold-kicking solution? Or easy-to-care-for part-shade plants? Yes, I tried to use as many hyphenated descriptions as I could. Are you planning a patio? Or any other outdoor sprucing?

A (Nearly) Finished Office

Published on April 27, 2011March 26, 2013 by Our Humble Abode18 Comments

Has the suspense built enough? Are you anxiously awaiting the reveal of my office cabinets? Well, just a minute, let’s reminisce, shall we? Last spring, my office looked like this:

Almost finished, just needed drawers and cabinet doors. Over the summer, Ben made cabinet doors. We waited, and waited, and procrastinated, and waited some more until several months had passed. Then, a month ago, Ben installed the drawers in my office, filling the gaping hole to the left of my desk.

Now, after several painting sessions, we were ready to install the cabinet doors. Adding the hinges was simple enough. Ben drilled a hole for the hidden hinge to rest in, then screwed it in place.

After securing the hinges to the door, Ben hung the doors on the cabinet. After a few adjustments, finally, the other huge void in ~~my heart~~ my office has been filled, by cabinet doors.

We used the same design as the theater room and added modern cylinder handles from Home Depot for $20.00 for 10. Here’s a tip, make your own hardware template by measuring the distance from the top and sides of your cabinet. Mark on a scrap of paper, then measure and mark the holes for the handle. Poke holes to easily transfer the screw placement to each door. I made a set for a left and right side.

This little piece of paper will save time while keeping the placement consistent on each door.

To make the space even more functional, we’ve added a few extra features. Like this closet rod to store my packing paper.

I want to add a hook or two to the right, in front of the paper to hang a reusable shopping bag to corral outgoing mail.

Also on the list, adding a pull out shelf above the computer tower to get the printer off the work surface and clear the clutter.

For a dose of fun, I would love to paint the shelf a poppy color, like the pull out shelf in Yellow Brick Home’s amazing media wall.

Fun, right? You know what else is fun? Finally organizing the cabinets. While I was tearing my office apart, I decided to rearrange my shelves.

I found a cute drawing on Pinterest, so I printed it and popped it in an IKEA frame. It says, “I want a boy who will build me bookshelves.” A perfect fit for me and Ben as that is one of the traits I love about him, his handiness. One of my globes moved down a shelf and I added a vase to corral paint swatches.

It is amazing how much brighter the room feels by covering the shadowed cabinets with crisp white doors. If you follow us on Facebook, you know I’ve been painting. Any guesses on what? With nice weather comes painting, lots of it. Even though I detest painting, I’ll be happy to have it done. What is your least favorite home improvement task?

P.S. We’re still looking for your questions for us. Anything you want to know, and, it doesn’t have to be home related. It’s going to be a lame Q and A if we only have three questions. *Smile*

Draw the Curtain

Published on April 26, 2011April 26, 2011 by Our Humble Abode6 Comments

Or, our newly installed cabinet doors in the theater room. Our nearly finished basement has been just that, nearly finished, for over a year. A few drawers, drawer fronts and cabinet doors remained. Last summer, Ben had built the cabinet doors for my office and the theater room entertainment center. Then, the doors stayed in the garage, unprimed and unpainted for, umm, roughly nine months. Why does building and finishing cabinet doors take longer than building a baby? For some reason, we never pushed to complete these tasks. Until recently. Over the weekend, we hung the cabinet doors, say it with me, “Finally!” That’s right, folks. The entertainment center is nearly finished.

Of course, Ben couldn’t complete this task alone. He had some help from his apprentice.

Yes, he did crawl over to plop his big baby booty right where Ben was working. He has skillz.

These doors are on a sliding track system, so a few screws was all it took to install the rollers. We chose sliders to minimize damage from small hands and keeping the furniture arrangement as open as possible.

The cabinets quickly became a fort and Vincent had so much fun surprising Everett.

We still have to add the door pulls and install the shelves. If we had followed our original plan, the entertainment center would be completed. But, something has bothered us about this space. Too many components are visible. And, speakers do not allow for decorative items take center stage. So, now we have a few more cabinet doors to make, to cover the shelving. Doors that allow the remotes and sound to function properly. We have considered either a decorative metal screen, commonly used in radiator covers, and fabric. Ben is concerned the metal will interfere with the speakers, so fabric is our only option. Of course, we’ll share when we get those built, probably two years from now.

I’m going to be a tease and build the suspense by sharing the office with you tomorrow. For now, I want to know if you relaxed over Easter weekend. Or, did you use the weekend as an opportunity to get some work done? Either way, did you have fun?

P.S. Our 1 year blog anniversary is coming up on May 14, so we thought it would be fun to compile all of your questions for a little Q and A post. If you have a question (or several) about us, our lives, our house or anything really, leave a comment on this post and we’ll answer your questions! Fun, right?

Clothes the Door: A Bedroom Story

Published on April 21, 2011November 2, 2012 by Our Humble Abode6 Comments

You know we’re participating in Jen’s 30 in 30 challenge. We’ve already shared our living room and kitchen progress. We stuck to the schedule and focused on the bedroom. How did we do? On Tuesday, we woke up to six inches of snow, but we made our own fun by purging clothes from our bedrooms and dressing up, just for kicks. I mentioned Mr. Packrat, aka Ben, actually got rid of stuff. This folks, is rather rare. While he’s quick to toss my stuff, Ben keeps things because he might use or need it someday. Five years of someday have passed, so, Tuesday was the day. For your viewing pleasure, our pile of clothing.

Ben’s stack consisted of:

5 sweatshirts

5 pairs of shorts (or short pants, if you’re my dad)

5 baseball hats

1 cowboy hat

1 Indiana Jones hat

2 belts

3 pairs of pants

2 dress shirts

2 jackets (the man has 6!)

Socks and underwear, which we didn’t donate, just to clarify.

So, 26 items for Ben, which is major progress. What did I donate?

4 pairs of jeans

1 pair of shorts, which Ben wore for his Reno 911 costume.

8 short-sleeved tops

11 long-sleeved tops

1 bathing suit

25 articles of clothing for me. I think Ben donated one more thing just so he could win. So, counting the 31 items (94, if we count individually) from the kitchen, and the desk, floor lamp, bag of books and bag of clothes we sent back to Minnesota with my parents we’ve purged 86 items so far. Wahoo! If only I could lose weight this quickly…

And thanks everyone for your interest in the kitchen organizer. I sold it to the first person to contact me about it. Sorry, I didn’t realize it would be such a hot item.

So, how are your purging efforts going? Which room do you find the most difficult? The easiest? Are you a sentimental hoarder? Do you keep something just because it was a gift? Have you donated or sold something and now regret it? Or do you have a good riddance mentality?