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Blog Fest: Kitchen Mood Board

Published on May 10, 2011May 25, 2011 by Our Humble Abode15 Comments

This is a big renovation year for us, just like two years ago when we finished our basement. Soon enough, we’re going to pour a new concrete patio. Over the weekend, Ben and I discussed our kitchen. We already had a general idea of the design elements, so we were talking the nitty-gritty details. Cabinet layout, whether to go with all drawers or keep some cabinets, assorted toe kick options and things of that nature. That inspired me to whip up a mood board to give you an idea of where we’re headed. We’re looking for classic traditional with modern touches, something like this:

Here’s a break down of our major components:

1. The paint will tie into the living room and I really want a warm, mid tone grey. We haven’t picked absolutely settled on a paint color, but I like Kendall Charcoal (HC-166) and Cape May Cobblestone (1474) by Benjamin Moore. Both colors are favorite greys selected by Ben Moore himself, well, the company.

2. We’ve used these modern cylinder drawer pulls on our entertainment center and love the look, so we’ll use them both as drawer pulls and door handles. Helpful hint: You can buy packages of 10 at Lowe’s for about 1/2 the individual price.

3. Rather than a standard undermount sink, we’ve fallen for the look of this stainless steel apron front sink. It’s both traditional and modern, all in one. Oh, the smaller size (6 inches smaller than our current sink) will allow us to move our trash from its current location to the left side of our sink. By doing this, we’ll also gain another drawer stack. (Right now we have a small cutting board cabinet).

4. It’s no secret that we (really, I) love Carrara marble. We have it in both bathrooms and we’re adding some to the kitchen. Because our backsplash is minimal, we’re planning a cut it ourselves subway sized, brick-lay marble backsplash. Something similar to this, but cheaper because we’ll buy 12 inch square tiles to cut ourselves. Not literally ourselves, but we will do the cutting.

5. We love custom details and a good price, so Ben has decided to build our kitchen cabinets rather than buy. The square recessed panel, like the cabinet doors in my office, is a clean style with just enough detail.

6. Since we love our DIY welded steel and marble dining table, we’d love to add more of the same marble. I don’t know the name, so I’m sorry that I can’t give those details.

7. A set of matching LG stainless steel appliances is on our list including a backless range, dishwasher and refrigerator.

8. A few months ago, we were lucky enough to find 3/4 inch thick cherry-stained hickory hardwood flooring on clearance, so Ben bought what was left.

Some things might change and others already have. We’re not completely certain on the paint color and we already know the marble remnant we used for our dining table is no longer in stock. We’re searching for a single hole, pull out faucet in brushed stainless or nickel. We’ll also need to find the worlds smallest functioning microwave to keep on the counter, or another secret stash.

We have a few projects to tackle before we can start gutting the kitchen, but the planning is on like donkey kong. While we’re planning, I’m curious what kitchen features you have and couldn’t live with out? What about the gadgets you thought would be great but weren’t? Have any kitchen products you’d like to recommend? A faucet or tiny microwave, perhaps? Do you have all drawers? If so, any regrets?

P.S. Voting ends soon. Please vote for our office and bedroom to give us a chance at $5,000 for our kitchen remodel.

Blog Fest: Patio Planning

Published on May 9, 2011November 2, 2012 by Our Humble Abode13 Comments

With a year of blogging under our belt and seeing only one renovation project start from square one is a little depressing. Too bad we didn’t hop on the blog train before we started finishing our basement, huh? Well, this year, we’ve got some big projects in store and we’re going to take you along for the ride. Let the Blog Fest begin! First project on our to do list, rip up the old and pour a new concrete patio.

I’ve already shared my annoyances. First, I think it would be helpful to share the layout of our current patio. The walkway to the garage is completely covered with dirt, so I didn’t bother drawing that in.

The grey us where our current patio is, the dark grey as rock and the brown circle toward the top is the Ash tree, which we will cut down at some point. The south-east corner doesn’t extend completely. The new patio will, like this:

Over the weekend, we started planning the layout by pounding long nails into the corners. Vincent had to help, of course.

With the stakes in place, Ben wrapped string around to form a perimeter. Then we moved a few nails to tweak the design and took a few walks around to test the layout.

We decided on an angled path from the main patio area to the garage.

In addition to breaking up a ton (or several) of concrete, here is the plan:

Our current patio is roughly 8 feet wider than the planned patio will be, but will remain the same depth from the house. We’ll add an angled walking path from the new, smaller patio to the garage. The concrete will go around the basement bathroom window well (the half circle), up to the house. A walking path will sit a few inches from the edge of my office window well (the white box with rounded corners), leaving room on either side of the window for rocks with a small plant. I’d also love to have a row of hydrangeas along the eastern edge of the patio, to soften the edges and act as a pretty barrier between the yard and patio. And because I love hydrangeas. And because our yard slopes there and it may be tough for little feet to manage. And because I love hydrangeas.

We’ll keep the concrete stairs because they are in perfect condition, just need a good cleaning. The new concrete slab will sit a few inches higher than the surrounding grass to help keep dirt off, but three or so inches below the bottom stair. This should help explain.

Because we’re removing the area where the grills are, we’ll have to relocate the grill. Probably to the right of the stair was you walk out, south for the men reading this. Why is it that men always use North, South, East and West when giving directions while women usually use right, left or straight? Or landmarks. When we pour the concrete in the back, we’ll also pull out the pavers in our front walkway to pour a seamless concrete slab extending from the stairs to our concrete driveway.

Some of the pavers will be repurposed as the grill platform. How about a little side by side plan comparison?

What warm weather projects are on your to do list? Have you ever poured a concrete patio? Or completed any sort of patio?

Gimme a Giveaway: Siiso Winner!

Published on May 6, 2011May 6, 2011 by Our Humble Abode3 Comments

It seems most of you would like to know how to draw or paint. I think learning to use watercolors would be awesome, but if I could choose to have any skill, I’d choose rug making. Seriously, rugs are so expensive and I’d save so much money and get a fantastically custom rug to boot! Our winner, Lori W. would love to design and print. Congratulations, Lori. You’ve won this beautiful print from Siiso.

If you didn’t win, fear not. You can get a 10% discount my messaging Siiso and mentioning Our Humble A{Bowe}d. Happy Friday. We’ll see you back here on Monday for Blog Fest: I. That’s right, we’re having an extravaganza to celebrate our first full year behind the small screen.

P.S. If you’ve got a question about or for us, please ask and we’ll answer next Friday as part of our blog anniversary.

Rain Checked Spring

Published on May 5, 2011May 5, 2011 by Our Humble Abode7 Comments

Spring officially began March 20 and I was so excited to say au revoir to winter. Then, mother nature played a mean trick on the folks in Montana (and several other places) by giving us a dose of winter mid-April. We made the most of our snow day and the snow melted by evening. Now, our temps are about 20 degrees below average and I’m not liking it. Our fruit trees don’t seem to mind, though. Ben is happy he hasn’t had to worry about a late freeze killing his prized trees. We’re already in May and our plants are just beginning to turn green.

The bleeding hearts on the shady north side are doing swell.

As are the neighboring lily of the valley. Last year, these had already bloomed.

Before we filled our front flower bed with roses and rocks to eliminate weeding, we had tulips and Allium. A few obstinate tulips have popped up from under the layer of landscaping fabric and rocks. Such a sweet surprise.

Notice the rose bush behind. One tiny leaf shoot? Seriously, I was hoping for tons (literally, one ton) of roses this year. That and two tons of apples from our trees to make apple crisp. Speaking of trees, this is depressing.

Where’s the ~~beef~~ green? This day lily might do something this year. The past three years have only given us green. Sad, because the flowers are a deep purple. Don’t ask why I haven’t removed the tag…

One thing that hasn’t had a problem growing or photosynthesizing is our grass. In fact, it has over-grown our side-walk.

Ben and Vincent dug up the grass and our side-walk is about six inches wider. More good news. We stained our fence last fall. Because we had never used the stain, we wondered how well the finish would hold up over winter.

Luckily, the stain is still in mint condition. Yahoo to not re-staining this year.

Have you been stuck in a winter rut like we have? Or are you a lucky duck and live in a warm climate? Have your flowers and/or trees bloomed? What is your favorite plant in your yard? Are you like I am and wish a magnolia tree would grow in your climate? What other plants do you wish you could have? I can’t wait to get some plants in our window boxes and for the fruit trees to flower. Just a little longer…

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.