So many updates!

I can't believe it's been two months since my last post. You'd think things had been quiet around here, but...hardly. Last week, my contractor brother-in-law and his sidekick came and knocked out a ton of projects, several of which are detailed below. In the previous two months, we (Todd) battled moles, first with bait and then with little gas bombs, which seems to be more effective and more fun.

I also discovered the cleaning magic of Barkeeper's Friend for removing hard water buildup on the shower tile (and subsequently discovered that if you use it for a long time without gloves, your hands will peel like little snakes...disgusting). We swam a bit, sulked and stayed inside for most of August because of the smoke from horrible fires near Crater Lake, became suburban-official with green grassy front, back and side yards and a fully functional sprinkler system and...sheesh, I don't remember what else. This is why I don't go two months without posting.

Anyway. Here's one of the VERY exciting projects Trevor and Eric completed last week.

This fixture was purchased two years ago on clearance as a floor model at Lowe's and was intended to be the dining room chandelier. It was originally in the neighborhood of $200, and I snagged it for $56. It made a very nice dust collector, first in the corner of the dining room for about a year, and then upstairs in the guest room, where it also collected cobwebs.

I decided it was going to be too big for the dining room, so naturally this hulking, heavy fixture should probably instead be installed somewhere trickier to get to. To be fair, I had also read that it put of a TON of light, so much so that most reviewers said you really had to use it with a dimmer switch. Our upstairs landing is like a cave with no windows, so plenty of wattage was a perfect fit.

And it is! It's totally perfect. It does take up a lot of visual space, but the ceiling is high and I think it works. Plus, lots of light. SUPER worth paying the guys to do, too.

Next, I built this bed for the guest room over the last couple of weeks. We replaced our mattress (long story), gave our former queen guest room mattress to some friends and put our four-year-old king memory foam mattress in the guest room.

Since all we had was a queen hollywood frame and I am not really a mattress-on-the-floor sort, we needed a bedframe. You don't use boxsprings with memory foam, so I wanted just a platform that was high enough to hold the mattress. I've been plotting about building an upholstered bed for a while and decided that if I really thought it wasn't going to be that hard, then I should just go for it. So I spent a couple weekends rounding up my materials and then puttered on it during the week.

As usual, it took longer than anticipated to complete, but I LOVE it. It's also extremely sturdy, being constructed from 2x10s, 2x6s and 2x4s. I upholstered it with a very large wool blanket from the Army Navy Surplus Store, which I've been wanting to visit for a long time.

It didn't exactly turn out to be a cheap project. Even though I ended up acquiring some of my materials for free, which shaved about $40 off, and used some scrap wood I already had, it was still around $120. But it's exactly what I wanted, fits the mattress perfectly and will come apart whenever we move someday so it can go with us. Plus, most importantly, I can now SEE the guest room. This gives some structure to it, so now I know what odds and ends are getting kicked out of furniture purgatory, and soon this will be a finished space.

Speaking of finished spaces, Trevor and Eric also trimmed out Todd's office window and paneling. Sorry about the terrible picture; you can barely see all their nice work.

There's the paneling trim. They used a table saw to rout out a little channel for the drywall. Such a smart solution. This is why I am not a good finish carpenter (plus lack of patience, and I don't have a table saw. Maybe there is more than one reason.)

We've been debating whether to paint the paneling white, and your vote is welcome in the comments. In the meantime, all the trim and doors are going white. We'll see if having them differently finished looks super weird. Foaming and finishing the window made a huge difference in how much road noise comes through, so that's awesome too.

And last on the list, at least for this post, is the casing around Todd's office door and the two attic access doors off the upstairs landing. This was one of those things that I kept saying "I can do that." And I could have. It wouldn't have looked as nice, and it definitely wouldn't be finished right now it we were still waiting on me and my latent ability to cut and install casing. But I coulda done it. Luckily we didn't wait for me, and now it's up and looks great. I painted it this afternoon and reminded myself for the umpteenth time how very much I despise painting and can't wait until there is nothing left to be painted.

So, things keep clipping along and looking better all the time. I have a bunch more updates to post about other stuff we checked off the list. Hopefully sooner rather than later.

Fence, Flowers, Fireplace.

Yesterday, I crossed a few living room tasks off the old list. See that little vent cover? It used to just be a hole. And the panel it's screwed into used to be gross, chipped and not cut to match the fireplace. I don't know why vents are needed there, but it's just a hole into the mantel and it's all cobwebby and disgusting, so the vent is a good solution. I ordered them (there's another around the other side) a few months ago, but yesterday I trimmed the panel to fit against the hearth (only six and a half years after the hearth was installed) and did some touch-up paint so it looks all spiffy. CHECK. 

The downside is that it really highlights how badly the mantle needs to be painted. I'm just starting to think about what that project will entail, since it's almost definitely lead-based paint, and there's probably oil in the mix too. I found a stripper that's made of soybeans (who knew?) that neutralizes the lead, so maybe we'll go that route. The other option is a heat gun, because I am NOT interested in sanding 70 years of paint off the mantle. It's made it a long time with a little bit of touching up, but it looks really crappy up close and will definitely need to be done at some point.

I also threw together this crate yesterday evening. It's not on "the list" but it was on my list to make a wood box (hey, just in time for summer!) for the fireplace. We had the wood sitting in a messy little pile next to the hearth all winter, and all I could think about were the black widows I was certain were lurking within. Turns out, no spiders, but this does look a lot tidier. I'm going to get a bin pull and stick it on the front for decoration. Brass, maybe, to contrast with the cedar.

 I'm calling this "birthday bouquet remix." The fluffy green things are from a bouquet Kate brought me for my birthday a few weeks ago, and I added some clippings from our magnolia bush out front for some contrast. LOVE!

Ok, next, the fence!! Todd's dad has been adding this fence addition to close off the back yard from the road. This is what it looks like from the back...

And from the front. The goal was to make it even with the existing fence, so we'll add lattice to the top, add 2x12s to the bottom to close the gap from the declining grade and then landscape around it so the whole thing looks nice and finished. Those really tall 4x4s will be trimmed down when we're finishing things up. Obviously, the gate will go in the middle.

The Table Saga Wraps Up

YOU GUYS. The table is finally done. I started working on it September when I got my hands on some awesome reclaimed redwood (as in, I claimed it after someone else was finished and sending it to the dump...that's "reclaimed," right?) and posted about my progress clear back in November. Then there's been work travel and holiday travel and a lot of life that's been covered, and I've just worked on it in bits and pieces. But now, it's finally finished!

Well, not literally finished. It's complete for now, but I need to pick a finish and apply that. I've been thinking about it and will probably work on the finishing process over the summer. At the moment, the arches and vertical/horizontal supports along the post are just lightly tacked in with finish nails. When I'm ready to stain and finish, I'll sand and glue those pieces in place.

In the meantime, I don't know if I'm happier to have it finished and in place, or that I could finally put away the tools I've had cluttering the kitchen for the last three and a half weeks. Now I just need to snag the two brown leather tufted-back wing chairs I'm envisioning in here, and the kitchen will be nearly wrapped up.

Recognizably close to the inspiration piece, huh?

The Table

I'm sure you thought of little else since I last posted about the reclaimed wood I acquired back in ...ugh...September. Frankly, it's been taking up a decent about of my headspace too. Anyway, I'm not done yet with what I'm making, but it's far enough long as of last night that I wanted to blog it. I'm fairly confident in saying that this is the most badass thing I've built so far. It is looking really legit, and I think after I finish it, I'll no longer feel slightly fraudulent when people ask what I do for fun and I say "I build furniture."

Here's my "inspiration" piece (that's what cheapskates DIYers call furniture they really like but that costs way too much so they hack something similar together).

It's from Restoration Hardware and is about $1100. Don't tell Todd, but I would have almost definitely bought this table if they'd had it in the right size, but the 48-inch smallest size they had was way too big for our space, so custom was the way to go. 

I've acquired all of the wood I used so far for free, so it's perhaps not quite as perfect as I would like, but considering that I have been after it for over two months now (including "milling" a decent amount of the wood myself) I'm feeling pretty satisfied with the results. 

This is the base. The arches will be glued together and finished so they look like a single solid piece of wood. I, being literally unable to add accurately, cut twice as many as I needed, which annoyed me for two reasons: 

1. I really liked that wood and didn't have much extra and used all of my supply on unnecessary arches

2. Cutting arches accurately with a jigsaw is kind of a time-consuming activity, so I got to spend a bunch of time on something I didn't want to do in the first place. This is why they tell you math is important in school :/

The top was the first part I put together about a month and a half ago using these seriously heavy-duty pipe clamps. I had the pipe lying around from a failed project two and a half years ago, and it wasn't cheap so I just kept it and figured eventually I'd come up with something to use them for. Packratting almost always pays off. The clamps (the red parts) were maybe $15 for both.

I edge glued and used my Kreg Jig to put pocket holes across the whole underside of it, then cut out the circle with my jigsaw. Still a bit of cleanup to do on the edges. I haven't decided if I'm going to use some homemade edgebanding to finish the edges or leave them raw. They glued up nicely and look awesome from the side...so, we'll see.

This was my first "dry run" last night. Looks pretty level! The arches and supports on the base will be the same at the top as the bottom, just like the RH image.

 And a bit closer so you can see the detail a little more.

Now I'm puzzling over how I want to attach the whole thing. I'd like for it to come apart so we can move it at some point if needed, but I haven't yet figured out how to make it totally sturdy and stable without gluing and at least few screws (invisible, obv) and if I glue it...well...wood glue doesn't exactly come apart super well. The challenge gives me something to think about while I'm falling asleep at night, though, so it's an ok problem to have. 

Lastly, one other note from the garage: we installed this tire rack last month. I have snow tires and regular tires. Always having an extra set of SUV tires around the garage gets cluttery, so I was pretty jazzed to discover that they make racks for tires to get them off the floor. This was another step toward getting the garage cleaned up and possibly to the point where we can put a car in there. A month later, I can report that the tires haven't fallen off the wall yet. Wahoo!

Holes in the Walls

First, my big-ish project. See that mirror? I built the frame :) I finally (embarrassingly) got around to watching a video on how to properly use my Kreg Jig that I got a couple years ago and discovered (rediscovered, because I haven't built anything in quite a while) how ridiculously easy it is. I should take some close-ups, but that frame is perfectly square, level and sturdy. My skills are improving. Also, the mirror has been in there for over 24 hours, which is my "we're safe, project isn't going to fall apart very loudly."

The mirror was from the upstairs bathroom and it measures 29 7/8" wide and 60" tall. Pretty good size. I was originally going to frame it in 2x8s, but I couldn't find kiln-dried ones at Lowe's or HD, so decided on 1x8s. More expensive, but resulted in a somewhat lighter piece. Anyway, I LOVE it, Todd is tolerating it, and hopefully it will reflect more light into our rather dark living room.

This was my b-day present from Todd. It's a super-awesome mini drill. It came with two batteries (!!!) and is extra torque-y. I love it. It's not as torque-y as my electric drill, but they each serve different purposes. Plus, more portable. My other cordless drill Dad gave me in college finally bit the dust, after about 5 years of the battery being left on the charger 24/7 because otherwise it was always dead, and it's just easier to do stuff if you have two drills going. (One for pilot holes, one for screwing stuff in. Obv.)

This was a b-day present to myself. (Not the bucket.) It's a Bucket Jockey and it holds my tools portably so now I don't have to leave a trail of screwdrivers and drill bits and other stuff through the house when I'm working on projects. It has TONS of nifty little pockets and compartments and a holster for my drill and spots for bits and pencils and tools and earmuffs and and AND... I love it.

What post about putting holes in walls would be complete if I didn't include at least one unnecessary hole? (Answer: You'd know I wasn't the one doing the drilling if that was the case.) Anyway, someone was industriously hanging keyhooks and neglected to consider how there's not only a 3-inch drop from the screw to the bottom of the hook, but keys also hang down from the lowest point below the screw. Anyway, you can see how the hole in the middle of the two hooks, which I'd planned on hanging the lower hook, was way too high to not have the top hook's keys overlapping. That probably makes no sense. It all resulted in me having to pry an anchor out of the wall, so at least it was fun...

This is what I've got going on top of the "china hut" these days. It's a moss ball in a terrarium on top of a vintage suitcase acquired from my grandparents' basement, next to that orange thing that I love but can never seem to find a home for. This still looks disjointed to me and obviously the photography is top-notch, but one step at a time.

 This is the other moss ball I made earlier in the month with my pickings from the woods on the way home from Bend. It lives in the cloche (below). I used a mix of moss varieties for this one; some hunks even have a bit of lichen still growing. I didn't mess with the ones of the picture at all. It's really that intensely green. UH-mazing.

Here it is in its home on the dining room table. I let it breathe once a week or so and give it a good soak in the kitchen sink every few weeks. We'll see how long it and its friend last, considering I re-used wet floral foam that had dried out, and you're not really supposed to do that. What can I say? I live on the edge.

So anyway, that's what's new.