"A designer knows when he has reached perfection not when there is nothing left to add but when there is nothing left to take away."

Rather than a costly, labor-intensive formal course, save Cash and time with those casual garden paths. They will mix in better and will seem like they have been on your backyard forever.

Required Tools with this Job

Have the required tools with this DIY job lined up Before beginning--you will save yourself time and frustration.

You will also Require a garden trowel and gloves, and a dolly for thick flagstones Along with a tamper.

Informal Paths

This winding gravel trail reflects the informality and simplicity Of upkeep of the backyard. Mulch and gravel would be the cheapest route materials you'll be able to purchase, plus they make building easy also. All you've got to do is eliminate the sod, roll out landscape cloth and spread the dirt or mulch.

Mulch and dirt paths could be dispersed, wood processor--coated trails or Carefully planned layouts, and they vary from casual to formal based on the plan and trimming material. You may select from a vast array of loose materials such as rough bark, decorative mulch, washed rocks and crushed gravel or cubes.

Mulch

Three common Kinds of compost Acceptable for garden paths are Wood chips, cocoa bean along with cypress bark. Mulch can also be a bit less costly than stone or gravel pebbles. Bear in mind, however, that organic avenues decompose over the years, which means you are going to need to rejuvenate them each two to five years using fresh material. In addition, don't use wood, bark chips or compost for avenues that run through areas with inadequate drainage or which are wet. It is going to result in some soggy path.

You'll find bags of compost at home centres, however for the best Collection of Organic substances for a course, check the regional nursery or landscape provider. Based on how large your course is, it might be more economical to have bulk substance delivered than to purchase luggage. -heavy layer of compost around 3 ft. wide instead to grass. Telephone the public works department in your town hall or see local tree trimming services.

Gravel

Several sorts of inexpensive gravel are all offered for avenues. Typical kinds include: crushed gravel, crushed cherry and pea stone. These substances continue forever and just require occasional weeding to look their very best. If you would like to conduct a wheelbarrow or lawn mower across the road, select crushed stone instead of smooth pebbles.

Gravel for avenues is sold by size and type. Larger rocks, averaging under 1/2 in., are perfect for avenues since they provide more comfort underfoot and package together better. Stop by your neighborhood nursery or Mulch Columbus, Ohio experts to understand what's offered in your town. Gravel is generally sold by the lot. Assess the width and length of this path. Take these measurements to the provider and request help to work out the number of gravel you want. Unless your course is quite brief, it normally makes sense to get the content sent. Gravel to get a route 3 in.

Gravel paths have a few limits, however. The stones could get monitored To the home, and thus don't rely on them close to entrances. And dirt paths are a lousy option in locations where you need to shovel them off. The gravel may wind up on your yard or flower beds.

Use a spacer pole cut into the width of the garden route as a guide once you place the edging or edge. You won't need to keep pulling the tape measure to guarantee that the edges operate parallel. Do not use vinyl. It is going to catch water and generate a fresh path.

If you would like a route that is firm enough to roll up a wheelbarrow on, then use crushed stone and tamp it afterwards leveling it. (Pea stone or alternative curved stone will not compact.)

Gravel or compost paths need pruning to maintain the substance A border for a design component. Here are some common Kinds of trimming you can utilize:

Vinyl Landscape trimming is cheap. And it is quick and simple to install. Should you Thing into the expression of the curved top border, conceal it with a boundary of plants. Aluminum edging forms a sharp border that provides the route a fantastic look. It costs over vinyl, though, and can be not as forgiving on sloped terrain.

Brick And rock boundaries are versatile and attractive, but they are more expensive And also much more work to set up.

Concrete Edging is less costly than stone or brick but has the very same benefits. Newer types that seem like arbitrary pieces of tumbled gems are an excellent Lower-cost alternate to a true rock boundary.

Landscape Timbers are an economical option to brick or stone boundaries. They are Particularly helpful for building shallow measures on slowly sloping terrain.

Taking on the job of home renovation may lead to divorce, according to child custody lawyers columbus ohio.

When you're taking on the job of home renovation, then there is a certain number of tasks needing to be achieved ahead. You want to be certain you've got each the financing to be able to achieve this objective. You want to be certain you get a very clear and comprehensive plan for each area, with budget and feasibility taken into consideration. You have to have time and labour scheduled and detailed.

The split generated while shifting a shared living room so radically can ignite a downward spiral into a connection.

With as much as 98 Americans reporting some amount of anxiety in their own lives, it's no surprise that the external stresses of earth wouldn't combine well with the pressures of renovating a house, developing a powder keg in a union. This powder keg may spell long term difficulties and conflict in any relationship that's abandoned, after the job is finished.

Know the job

Before partners enter into this commitment, they ought to know about each the disadvantages they face.

These couples let the frustration of building a brand new living room to Construct until they couldn't imagine the life they were producing for themselves, and according to the information, frustration is a significant portion of the experience. The information found that 46% watched that the general experience as irritating.

Couple can find Themselves talking two distinct languages and translating each others' responses in distinct and unintended ways. Having the ability to comprehend what the other partner is believing might often be a struggle with all the other pressures involved with a renovation job.

1 spouse becoming overwhelmed and annoyed by a scenario involved from the Emotions may add fuel to the flames, which makes both partners vulnerable to saying things they don't automatically mean.

Money no longer

Sometimes, the situation arises in which a married couple might be functioning On this job isn't where a few is presently living, placing them the proverbial fiscal hook for just two pieces of property. This can impact the total amount of money placed into the renovation job, thus affecting the evaluation and reunite in the eventual purchase of their house.

Determining the viability of someone's marriage. The mundane details in producing the ideal home aren't frequently planned upon, however, the aim of the partner resulting in the charge in this job is taking their union seriously and averting the divorce experience. Regrettably, it is not necessarily up to them.

Family and all its financing. Following a renovation is finished, a lot of the Finances are dried up in producing the new living area, so incorporating a Divorce from the combination, divides funds further to the stage where most people Can no longer manage the house they have just completed renovating.

Waking up to a basement filled with Water, a burst pipe on your kitchen or an overflow of water on your bathroom can ruin your whole day. Before you phone a water damage restoration professional, here are a few actions to consider to reduce the total amount of water damage for your house and possessions.

Find out where the water is coming from. This may seem obvious, but if you've just come home and discovered that a gigantic mess and do not know where it originated, the first thing you have to do is to FIND IT. If you are not able to discover the true source of the water, you may have a pipe that has burst. You would like to stop additional water from penetrating your home when possible. If you've got a bust pipe, then turn off the water supply to your house, if your roof is leaking, halt the flow as best possible.

Learn how much harm was done. Some things could be repaired on your own, but when it involves damage to your gutters, floors, or ceilings, then it's ideal to call in a professional.

If it is something you're able to handle by yourself, then first things first: flow!! Open the windows, turn on the fans, let the room breathe! This won't only help out dry, but it will also help reduce the smell. Get out a spoonful and running -- it takes the moisture out of the atmosphere and surrounding items, and helps prevent mold and mildew from growing -- a great tool to have at hand.

Professional water damage restoration services

Water damage cleveland, oh is a Great resource for water damage and flooding cleanup Services in your area. Just visit the website, choose your state from The menu and then click on the featured service provider closest to your property. These highly trained technicians are ready to handle emergencies Around-the-clock, or schedule appointment times at your own convenience!

Remove the bedding and refresh your bed mattress by combining 5 tablespoons of baking powder with 5 drops of lavender essential oil and sifting the combination over the mattress. Keep for one hour then vacuum cleaner up once you have done everything else.

Windows

Supply the windows a clean down with the window-cleaning fluid and the microfibre fabric. No window cleaner? See how to clean your home windows with vinegar.

Sofas and carpets

Use the vacuum cleaner to pick up all of the dust and dust buried in the sofa's crevices. Scrapes on your own leather sofa? Dab a cloth in a few petroleum jelly and rub the scratch out gently. For a material settee, sprinkle a generous dusting of bicarbonate of soda and vacuum cleaner it up after quarter-hour. You may also sprinkle bicarbonate of soda on the carpet to refresh the help and material remove stains; just leave to sit down and vacuum cleaner up before your visitors arrive.

Kitchen

Go back in to the kitchen area to wipe aside the antibacterial spray in the fridge and wash the fridge shelves which have been soaking. Return all of the shelves and meals to the fridge and change the fridge back again on. Wipe the oven clear with a brand new sponge. Kitchen area cupboard staples like tin foil are excellent for eliminating stubborn grit on the oven shelves - just scrunch it up right into a ball and scrub aside the dirt.

Final steps

You’re nearly done! Return back through the areas and vacuum cleaner up the scattered baking soda from the carpets and rugs, vacuum make the mattress with fresh linen after that, rehang the curtains and nets and near the windows. Right now sit down and read more interesting cleaning tips suggested by home cleaning services worcester ma!

This Simple DIY manual to presenting is Designed to Supply People that need To-do paving but have no idea how to get started with several recommendations and guidelines from paving company columbus ohio.

It's also likely to offer guidance on how you can incorporate paving into a Residence Employing inexpensive paving cubes you could grab in the regional Builders Warehouse and construction supply store which are not precisely the ideal paving bricks it is possible to purchase, but they're cheap and will be completed to put in curb appeal to your house or install a backyard place. Pop in to a community building supply retailer and you're able to grab paving bricks which cost in the order of r 2.00 each, insert in the expense of rough and mud at approximately R80 percent metre and you'll understand that paving isn't that costly if you dwelling.

Paving bricks

River sand

Okay sand

Cement

Quantify up the Region until you Begin to calculate just how many paver Bricks you'll require, and also just how much sand has to be delivered.

The location to be paved should be emptied outside. That can be a significant measure and There are many factors you want to take under account when preparing the region.

- Inside my instance the amount required to be less in relation to the usual sitting gate, to permit for closing and opening, and also you may even have to consider this under account if you're paving a place which has access and exit points.

- The paving Has to Be at a very small angle should butting Facing an Existing property wall. As my brand new ecosystem butts up against the leading part of the home, the paving is tilted at a small incline away from the land, in order that any rain will probably run off and perhaps not amass against the land walls. If you're paving an outdoor terrace or entertainment area beyond your home, be certain that rainwater flows out from the construction to a acceptable point - rather a drain or perhaps a reduce point that'll direct rain using the pure flow of this property.

- The place has been paved Should be Free from lumps and bumps, as these can Affect the degree of these pavers once placed. After digging out the region and removing loose dirt, use a rake to eliminate any loose stones.

Compact the soil until you place down sand, particularly when you needed to perform A serious little digging to find the degree right. You are able to seek the services of a plate compactor to your afternoon by a grocery store shop, also this will guarantee that the earth is compacted securely. If you really don't compact the dirt precisely you may possibly discover that you'll have a issue with dips at which the paving sinks to tender stains throughout the rainy season. Compact the earth once or twice to be certain it's done precisely.

Lay rough sand across the compacted location. If you are not sure what sand to Purchase For the foundation, allow the inventors at the construction center know which you're deploying it to paving base plus so they are going to be certain to receive the perfect sand. Coarse sand is nice sand which does not clump or hold together whenever you streamlined on your own hand.

With the floor already flat you can shovel little piles of sand over the Top with the. Make use of a straight edge (a part of steel or span of directly hardwood) to even the sand out. The sand base has to be approximately 4 to 5 centimetres in depth.

Today you're all set to get started placing the stairs. It is not always possible to Put the paving bricks directly up against a wall socket, specially where walls aren't Right, therefore make a tiny gap at the border. You can always fill big openings with Cut pavers or mix up a heap of cement to fill out those are as after you own Finished.

When installing new cabinets, you plan to do the job after the completion of the Rough wiring and plumbing but before the end floor has been installed. By installing the floors following cupboard installation, you won't utilize more floors than necessary and the new floors won't run the danger of building damage.

If you are replacing obsolete cabinets, then remove the old cabinets attentively so You don't damage the walls and so you can use them for taking crucial dimensions (or, in some instances, as patterns to the brand new cabinets). The ideal way for removal is to take off all of the doors, pull out the drawers, and lift out any detachable shelves.

Most cabinets are fastened to wall framing members through their backs with Screws or nails, which you will need to pull. Be sure to have a helper when you eliminate upper cabinets-as you extract the fasteners, you are going to need help holding the cabinets up. If cupboards are screwed together by using their negative panels, also remove these screws so you can eliminate the cabinets one by one.

The walls which back new cabinets need to be flat, smooth, and clean. To Assess them for flatness, put a long straightedge against them. Mark any lumps or voids so that, during installation, you can correct for them.

Unpack your cabinets and make sure all the elements are included. Wait till after cupboard installation to include doors, drawers, and shelves. Should you remove any parts, make certain to tag them so you can return them for their proper places.

The primary wall and base cabinets are all key-if you get them installed flat From rear to front and side to side, the other cabinets should follow suit. It's easiest to start with the wall- mounted cupboards so that the base cabinets won't obstruct your job.

Installing Wall Cabinets

When installing kitchen cabinets arlington heights, il, it is easiest to install the upper wall Cabinets first; this way, the base cabinets are not in your way during the essential lifting and fastening.

Heavy--just imagine their weight when they are loaded with dinnerware or foodstuffs. The wall cabinets have to be installed with the correct sort of screw. It's crucial to fix cabinets securely into the wall stud framing supporting the wall's surface stuff.

Some screws Need separate end washers, and some do not. Do not use drywall screws--they are not strong enough. The screws you utilize Must go through a solid part of the cabinet, like a support rail that runs Along the cupboard back. Every cupboard Ought to Be secured by at least three inches.

These expert recommendations may have you shooting on the bbq grills columbus ohio just like an expert.

Gas vs. Charcoal

The Ageold argument over which grilling procedure will be "much better" entails multiple While no studies reveal that either is fitter, gas will burn cleaner. Charcoal grills emit more carbon dioxide, particulate matter and soot into the air, leading to greater pollution and high concentrations of groundlevel o-zone. In a preference perspective, on the flip side, a lot of men and women like the smokier, wealthier taste of food cooked in a skillet.

Obtain It alluring! Reaches the ideal temperature (also to kill any bacteria). Your barbecue ought to be 400 450°F to get top, 350400°F for medium-high, 300350°F for moderate along with 250300°F to get non heat. While searing does not "seal in" the juices (unlike popular belief ), it can create flavors that are improved through caramelization.

Additive-Free

Should You select charcoal grilling, then we still advocate additive-free bulge charcoal, then Which is simply charred timber. Traditional briquettes could comprise wood scraps and sawdust in addition to coal dust, gas nitrate, borax and additives such as jojoba or lighter fluid. In terms of lighter fluid, then we recommend quitting it altogether. Lighter fluid may release volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) to the atmosphere, make a embarrassing residue on food and also present a severe threat if used improperly.

Brush It Away

It is simpler to eliminate debris Once the grill is warm, therefore after preheating, utilize A longhandled cable grill brush onto your own grill stand to wash off charred debris away from prior meals. Scrape again just after usage.

Oil This up

On a grill that is clean, lean Meals can stick when put right on the Stand alone. Reduce adhering by oiling your sexy grill rack having a vegetable oil-soaked paper-towel: grip it together with tongs and rub it within the stand alone.

Safety-first

Food security is a high priority, therefore maintain these simple rules out of the USDA in Mind: prevent cross-contamination by using different cutting boards, utensils and platters for cooked and raw foods; Scrub foods while marinating; rather than baste using the marinating liquid. (Create additional marinade only for basting or boil your own marinating liquid first.)

Marinate Your Disposition

Marinating does greater than simply decorate food with taste; additionally, it suppresses the Formation of possibly carcinogenic HCAs (heterocyclic amines), that shape once grilling "muscle meats" such as poultry, red fish and meat.

The racket Evaluation

To Assess the warmth of a barbecue with no thermometer, put your receptive Your hands in two minutes, moderate in case it's necessary to go your hands in 5 minutes and Low in case you must move your hands at 10 minutes.

Washing windows is usually never fun, but it’s especially miserable when it’s cold outside. Regrettably, sometimes it’s essential to clean off the wintertime grime prior to the temperature rises. You’ll like to take some extra tips from cleaning services akron ohio during the winter season to ensure a successful and safe experience.

Assemble Your Tools

First, assemble the required tools to remove ice and snowfall from round the window. You may use a backyard spade to shovel snowfall off the sill, and warm (not very hot!) drinking water to melt any ice from the windows pain.

A ocean sponge is a wonderful choice for cleaning home windows. It holds a lot of cleaning answer and is porous plenty of to remove stubborn places on the glass. You’ll want a squeegee to clean away excess water furthermore.

If a ladder is needed by you to wash your outside windows, ensure that it’s secure and clear of ice. You need to ask someone to contain the ladder for you personally while you’re onto it, since the motion of washing windows makes it very unsteady.

Use Cold Water

Unfortunately, you’re likely to be very chilly once you wash your home windows this winter season and not just due to the temperatures. You should employ drinking water no warmer than lukewarm when cleaning home windows, since a severe and sudden temperature change can cause the glass to crack.

Make YOUR PERSONAL Solution

Don’t be worried about using store-bought windows cleaner for the outside windows. It shall be much faster, cheaper, and more efficient to make your personal cleaner. Simply fill up a bucket with an assortment of vinegar and water, and use your squeegee and sponge to create your window shine. Another great windows cleaning solution is a combination of water and rubbing alcoholic beverages or salt.

For Below-Freezing Weather

If possible, make an effort to wash your windows once the temperature is above freezing. However, we realize that uninviting your boss to supper because the windows are usually embarrassingly grimy will be much more hard than washing your home windows in below-freezing weather. If the elements is cold really, contemplate using antifreeze windshield washer liquid, as if you use in your vehicle. Your home windows will be clean plenty of to impress actually the pickiest of bosses.

Additional Tips

·Dress warmly in shoes with great grips to assist you stand safely on the latter, and put on a hat, and solid coat to remain warm.

·Put on waterproof rubber gloves to safeguard the hands from the chilly and the chemical substances. Tuck your coating sleeves in to the openings of the gloves which means that your coating doesn’t get wet.

·If you encounter difficult places, allow them soak for some moments while you focus on other areas of the window. Usually do not wait too lengthy to completely clean the soaking places, or the drinking water might freeze.

Over the last several years, I’ve made six different types of DIY countertops. Most of them have been made of various types of wood, but then I also made my kitchen countertops out of concrete. I get questions about all of these countertops on a fairly regular basis, and the most-often question is, “Can I use this in my kitchen?” People are always on the lookout for inexpensive options for durable kitchen countertops. So I wanted to recap the various countertops I’ve made over the years, and also give a quick rundown of the pros and cons of each one. DIY Countertop Made From Cedar Fence Boards This countertop was my first test run with making my own wood countertop, and I used cedar fence boards. You can find the details here… My $35 DIY Wood Countertop Cedar fence boards are incredibly rough, so it required a lot of sanding. I also didn’t own a table saw at the time, and I’ve never owned a jointer or a planer, so it was impossible for me to get the edges of the fence boards perfectly straight. That affected how they fit together, and I ended up with lots of cracks that […]

The post My Six DIY Countertops (Pros and Cons Of Each, and How They Rank For Kitchen Countertops)...

Have you ever needed a very specific color of wall tile and just couldn’t find it, so you settled for something that wasn’t quite what you wanted? Well, there’s no need for that, because with a little bit of paint, and a little bit of resin, you can make your own custom color wall tiles in just about any color imaginable. If you can find paint in the color you want, you can make tiles in the custom color you want. In my studio bathroom, I decided to do a little accent tile backsplash. But since the upper walls have a very colorful and graphic design on them, I didn’t want a backsplash tile to compete with the walls. In fact, I wanted the tiles to blend in perfectly with the light buttery yellow that I’m using on the wainscoting. But trying to find backsplash tiles in the exact shade of yellow that I needed would be a fool’s errand, so I made my own. Here’s a before and after (actually, the after on the left, and the before on the right) of my backsplash tiles… And while I don’t have the whole backsplash done yet, here’s a picture of […]

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My DIY bathroom vanity is finished, and I not only got the thing completely built, but I also made my final decision on colors. Here’s how the vanity turned out… I had a very hard time getting a picture with accurate color. It’s not quite that orange. Or bright. Hopefully I can get better pictures when this dark, rainy weather goes away and the sun reappears. The bathroom has a window, so it does get natural light on bright days. But this morning when I took these pictures, it was still really dark. So let me back up a bit. When I last showed you the process of building the vanity, I left off with it looking like this… If you missed the first post about the building process, you can check it out here… DIY Bathroom Vanity With Turned Legs – Part 1 Almost every part of the building process was done at that point, but I still had two things I wanted to do: (1) add trim around the bottom edge, and (2) dress up the back feet. For the trim around the bottom, I used a 1″ x 2″ piece of lumber and ripped the thickness in […]

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My bathroom vanity is almost finished. I just have to do one more coat of paint on the vanity and two of the doors, and then clear coat the whole thing. Then I can get everything assembled (sink, countertop, faucet, cabinet doors) and put into place in the bathroom. But before I do that, I really need to decide what color I want on the wainscoting. Black wainscoting? White wainscoting? I’d like to get it painted today, but I’m having such a hard time deciding. I did finally make a decision on the vanity color. I went with green. It’s a shade somewhere between the green that’s in the bathroom wall design and the green that’s on the back entry walls. (It’s all the same color — Behr Hills of Ireland — just mixed with varying amounts of white.) There will eventually be some wide white casing around that bathroom door to separate the green on the back entry walls from the green on the vanity. And the red oak floor, which looks terribly drab right now since it’s covered in troweled-on wood filler for hardwood floors, will be sanded and whitewashed. But on to the subject at hand. What […]

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I’ve made a lot of bathroom countertops over the years, always out of stained wood. But for my studio half bathroom, I wanted a bright white countertop. I didn’t want to pay $50+ per square foot for something like marble or quartz, so I did something I’ve been wanting to try for a long time now. I DIYed an MDF bathroom countertop for an undermount sink. Yes, that’s right. I took one of the least water-resistant wood products available and turned it into a countertop. 😀 Here’s how it turned out… It’s coated in a beautiful and almost flawless layer of resin to make it waterproof. But I’ll get to that later. Let me start at the beginning. I used two layers of 3/4-inch MDF to make my countertop. Since my countertop is small, I was able to use two of the smaller panels (2′ x 4′) which are more convenient to use, but if your countertop is larger, you’ll have to use a 4′ x 8′ sheet. You can have Home Depot or Lowe’s cut it down for you. Either way, I would suggest starting with pieces that are larger than the finished size you need. I put the […]

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The half bathroom is inching closer and closer to being finished! The one big thing hanging over my head is still the floor, but I have a few more things I still want to get finished before I tackle that huge project. I finished painting and adding the resin coating on all of the tile, let it cure for a couple of days, and then got most of it installed. But something still seemed “off” about the whole thing — the yellow chair rail, yellow tile and yellow lower wall. The yellow tile seemed bright and cheerful, but the yellow chair rail and wall looked dull. That seemed strange since it was literally the exact same paint color out of the same container. And yet, it looked dull on the painted finishes. So I tried the chair rail in white, and I loved it! I had rejected the idea of white wainscoting before because it just looked so boring against the upper walls. And I do love white wainscoting, as you can see in the music room and hallway bathroom. But in this bathroom, it just seemed so…blah. But as it turns out, just the addition of the yellow tile […]

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My DIY bathroom vanity with the turned legs is so close to being finished! I still need to add a bit more trim, and then do some wood filling and sanding before I’ll be ready to paint. But right now, this is how it looks… I was mainly inspired by this vanity… You might be wondering why I didn’t just purchase that vanity if it’s what I wanted, and it was even the right width, right? Well, there was one problem. My bathroom is right off of my studio, and I wanted to use a standard size kitchen sink in the bathroom, which is considerably larger than a standard bathroom sink. So that required a custom-built vanity to house the kitchen sink. So let me show you how I built my vanity. Assemble the turned legs I started by finding some turned legs that I could use. I could have ordered custom turned legs with the perfectly-placed and perfectly-sized blocks for my vanity design, but those would have been expensive. And I just happened to have some turned legs on hand from an old side table. (I never throw away turned legs!) So using my miter saw, I carefully cut […]

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Well, y’all, I’ve started yet another One Room Challenge that I’m not going to finish. And I’m not going to even try to do any more in the future. It’s just not a format that fits my work style (or the needs of my house, since I’m generally doing way more than just simple room makeovers). On the last one, at least I gave it my best effort. This time, I’m just quitting. I’m still going to work on the rooms, obviously. But trying to get them done by some arbitrary deadline isn’t going to work. I came to this realization yesterday as I was trying to work out in my mind how to finish the flooring in the back entry, storage closet and bathroom completely while the rest of the flooring in the studio hasn’t even been installed yet. So I got that much of the flooring installed. I installed it to that point so that I could take a picture of the finished back entry for the One Room Challenge without the last row of flooring (i.e., where the felt paper and subfloor show) being visible in the pictures. And then I tried to figure out how to […]

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After my last post, I decided that I needed a new vanity style. The open style that I had planned just wasn’t right for my particular bathroom since I’m using a kitchen sink and a kitchen faucet with a sprayer. I’m so glad someone pointed out to me that the sprayer hose needed to hang freely in order to operate correctly. I had thought about the drain pipe, the hoses for the water, and the depth of the sink, and could work around all of those, but I hadn’t given the sprayer hose any thought. This whole idea of using a kitchen faucet in a bathroom is new to me. 🙂 So I decided that I needed an enclosed vanity that won’t require any special considerations, like false panels and such to conceal hoses. After looking at probably 100 vanities, both locally and online, I finally narrowed it down to two styles. Regardless of the style I go with, I’ll still have to make it since I need specific requirements to fit a kitchen sink. The first (and my absolute favorite) is a traditional style using turned legs with blocking where the top section protrudes from the bottom section like […]

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There are three weeks left in the One Room Challenge! I got behind schedule this week on the back entry and the half bathroom progress, but I did manage to get two things done. First, I did a little vanity lighting makeover, which I shared on Tuesday… If you missed that, you can see it here… Bathroom Vanity Light Makeover – From Plain To Custom And in addition to the light, I finally got all of the hardwood flooring installed in the back entry, storage closet and half bathroom. I generally enjoy installing hardwood flooring. On the spectrum of easy to difficult home improvement projects, it’s definitely on the easy end of the spectrum when you’re working in a big, open room. But when you’re working in tight spaces, like small closets and half bathrooms, it’s such a pain. Having to cut around doorways and work close to walls where flooring nailers don’t fit just slows down the process. But I finally finished the storage closet floor last night, so now all three of these back areas have flooring… The flooring along the back wall turned out nice, but the flooring along the shared studio wall looks a little rough… […]

The post One Room Challenge, Week 3 – Everything Plus The...

I’ve been searching for the perfect bathroom vanity light to go on my studio half bathroom, but I had no luck finding one that I liked, and I looked at hundreds of them. Out of those hundreds, I did actually find one that I really liked and was ready to click that “buy now” button. Unfortunately, it was out of stock everywhere except one place, and that place said that it would ship from the warehouse in eight weeks. Eight weeks? Seriously? So I had to take matters into my own hands. I decided to find a light locally at Home Depot or Lowe’s, and then customize it so that it was more “me.” I started with this light from Home Depot, and then used both latex paint and spray paint to customize it. Here’s a look at the before and after… It took several attempts for me to get the look just like I wanted it, but I finally landed on this one and really liked it. I knew that I wanted the metal parts of the fixture to be black. That decision was easy enough, so I used this spray paint in a matte finish. The glass shades […]

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It’s already time for the second One Room Challenge update! Yikes! That first week flew by since I joined the challenge a few days late. But now I’m fully on board, and things are going really well. As I showed y’all yesterday, I did get the bathroom wall design finished… If you missed that, you can see more here… DIY Geometric Ombre Square Spiral Wall Design – Finished! With that done, I turned my attention yesterday to the flooring. After a snafu with the original flooring I was planning on using, I finally decided to go with unfinished nail-down red oak hardwood flooring. It’s the same flooring that’s in pretty much the entire house, with the exception of the hallway bathroom, which has tile, and the two rooms that will eventually be torn down (sunroom and master bathroom). Most of that is original to our 1948 house, but the flooring in the kitchen and the breakfast room is new. I think because this flooring is so common in old houses in this area, the Home Depot here carries this flooring in stock, which is incredibly convenient. Also convenient is the fact that the last time I checked into using this […]

The post One Room Challenge, Week 2 – Bathroom and Back Entry...

Y’all, the painted design on my bathroom walls is finished! Here’s how it turned out… If you missed the first part of this project, you can find it here… DIY Geometric Wall Design – Part 1 This design started with lots and lots of painters tape — four rolls, to be exact. After seeing how busy and dizzying that taped off design looked with the stark contrast between the dark blue and white, I realized that the final design would have to have way less contrast. So I chose not to use the original three colors that I had purchased as they were out of the cans. I came very close to using white and light gray, but after realizing that I not only have that combo on my music room walls, but also on the hallway walls, I decided against it. Plus, this is a studio! I can do fun things in here that I might not have the courage to do in the main areas of my house. And when I thought about it, the last thing I wanted in my studio was gray and white. I wanted COLOR! So I went back to the original three quarts […]

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Well, there’s nothing like last minute. I decided to take part in another One Room Challenge as a guest participant, and I’m barely coming in under the wire with this commitment. The spring challenge technically started last Wednesday and Thursday, but guest participants have until Sunday night at 10pm central (that’s in about 30 minutes from right now) to link up a post. Like I said, nothing like last minute! 😀 I had talked myself out of participating since my last challenge didn’t end in a completed room, and I would hate for that to happen again. But I already have two areas in process, and I think I can actually get them done in time. So for this challenge, I’m going to continue working on the studio half bathroom and the back entry, and I’m fairly confident that I can get them done in time. So just a quick recap, the back entry still looks like this… Right now, I have the walls painted, the doors painted, and the light fixture installed. I still need to: install flooring and finish, install doors on the bathroom and storage closet, install door facings and baseboards and paint, install new door handleset, […]

The post One Room Challenge, Week 1 — Half Bath & Back Entry...

I’ve made some progress on my bathroom walls, and I wanted to show y’all the design I’m going with. I said I wanted something geometric and/or linear, and with this design I get both of those things. It’s all done with painters tape, so it’s a pretty time-consuming process. Thank goodness I’m doing it in a tiny little bathroom! Here’s my progress so far… Now keep in mind that that’s painters tape. The stark dark blue and white has a dizzying effect, but the finished wall will have less contrast. I started out trying to do this design that I found on HGTV.com. I spent about three hours and an entire roll of painters tape on that design before realizing that their instructions are junk, and the design doesn’t work as the instructions are written. Needless to say, I wasn’t amused. So I had to start over and come up with my own design. I started by marking off 16-inch squares on my wall using a pencil, framers square and level. Obviously, I enhanced the lines in my photo editing software because my pencil marks didn’t show up in the pictures. 🙂 Then using those squares as a guide, I […]

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I’m still waiting for my hardwood flooring to acclimate to the studio before I start installing, so that’s given me plenty of time to obsess over the walls in my half bathroom at the back of the studio. And obsess I have. 😀 I thought I had narrowed down the choices to three, which I shared a few days ago, but the more I looked at those and read your comments, the more I questioned those choices. And if I’m questioning, that means that I don’t really love them. If I really love a design choice, I’m going to go for it no matter what. So I got out some craft paint, brushes, and art brushes, and just started playing around with patterns, colors, etc., to see if something finally clicked. I started off by trying a design similar to this Cole & Sons Prism wallpaper. I didn’t get very far before I realized that while I love that pattern, and I love all of the colors, it would make me crazy on a wall. So I’ll save that design for a place where it can be used in a much smaller dose. I kept going back to this idea […]

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After my studio flooring setback last week, I was determined to make a new flooring decision by the end of the weekend. The last thing I want is for this project to get held up even more by my indecision. There are so many ceramic and porcelain tiles that would be beautiful in there, but I just can’t get past the coldness of tile. And by that, I mean that it’s both visually cold (to me) and literally cold to the touch (even here in Texas). It’s fine in a bathroom or laundry room, but in a 20′ x 20′ studio where I’ll be spending quite a bit of my time each day, I just can’t get past it. So I went with unfinished red oak hardwood flooring, which is currently stacked in the studio where it will have to acclimate for a few days before I can install it. And I unloaded every bit of that flooring by myself. 😀 It’s the same red oak hardwood flooring that is original to our 1948 house, and it’s the same flooring that I installed in the kitchen, breakfast room and pantry. But now I have to return this stack of tongue-and-groove […]

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I’m ending the week with very little progress in the studio, which has me very frustrated. But on the flip side, after reading all of your comments and suggestions on the floor plan for the addition, I’ve made some changes, and I’m pretty sure this is it. I feel like I’ve finally landed on THE best plan. So let’s start with the flooring frustration in the studio. A few months back, I purchased a few boxes of the vinyl tile that I was planning on using for the studio floor. I selected this marble-look groutable vinyl tile. I’ve been pretty excited about using this tile in the studio, and it took me a long time to finally decide on vinyl tile as the best option ford the studio. Well, a few days ago when I decided on the design for the back entry (a herringbone with alternating marble-look vinyl tile and a darker charcoal color vinyl tile), I headed to Home Depot and got the 18 pieces of plywood subfloor that I needed to build up the height of the floor to be level with the breakfast room floor, as well as a few more boxes of tile. But as […]

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At the end of last year, Matt announced to me that he was ready to start the addition. I kind of freaked out, dug my heels in, and made it clear to him that I wasn’t ready. When he made his announcement, the studio still looked like this… The was no electricity, no insulation, and no drywall. And the HVAC ducts weren’t connected. So with this daunting project ahead of me and at the top of the priority list, the idea of starting an addition just seemed like way too much for me. But now that the studio is much further along and actually feels like a room, I can begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel with this area of the house. So now I’m ready to dip my toe into the plans for the addition. So we’re going to move forward very slowly and at a casual pace. For now, the only thing addition-related on my plate is to finalize my basic floor plan ideas so that I can meet with the contractor in the next couple of weeks and we can start putting together a plan, a rough estimate of the cost, etc. […]

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Y’all, the studio finally has lighting!! This area hasn’t had lighting since it was a garage almost two years ago. The lighting all came down before the garage-to-studio conversion started, and it hasn’t had lighting (or electricity, for that matter) since. Any time I’ve needed to use tools or lights in here, I’ve had to run extension cords from the breakfast room. Well, not anymore! I installed ten of my new favorite lights — these ultra wafer thin LED downlights. These lights sit flat against the ceiling (you do have to cut a 4.5-inch hole in the drywall) and look like recessed lights. They’re rated for contact with insulation, so you don’t even have to worry about your insulation touching them. Each light has a little setting control on it so that you can choose the color/brightness you want. I used these in the pantry also, and in there I set them on 3500K, but for the studio, I set them on 5000K, which is the brightest/whitest setting. These things are amazing and very easy to install. Now that these are available, I don’t know why anyone would use those other big, clunky recessed lights that require those massive metal […]

The post The Studio Has Lights! (Ultra Thin LED...

I’ve had bathroom wall design options on my mind for the last few days. I’m not quite ready to actually start on the half bathroom walls, which is a good thing, because I’m still undecided on the direction I want to go. I’ve been working on getting the subfloor installed in bathroom and back studio entry so that I can install the flooring, and then finally get some trim installed in the back entry. I’m so anxious to install the white door facings and baseboards against those bold green walls and black doors. But of course, I can’t work on stuff like installing subfloor without my mind wandering to the pretty stuff. And right now, I’m stuck on the bathroom walls. The other day, I showed y’all a design that caught my eye on Instagram, and while I do love it in a small dose, I’ve decided that something like that on a larger scale would probably be too much. I’ve seen similar designs (like this Cole & Sons prism wallpaper) that looks amazing in small samples, but then I see it on a large wall or in a whole room, and about 75% of the time, it has a […]

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Things have been slow on the studio front over the last few days as I’ve been working on installing the rest of my outlets and switches, but I did finally get the back entry light fixture wired up so it actually has power now. I was so excited to see it turned on and show y’all what it looks like, but ugh…I have such a hard time getting good pictures of lights when they’re turned on. I don’t know why the picture shows dark areas on the globes. 🙁 You don’t see those when you’re actually standing in the room. So, booooo. Anyway, that circuit is now all wired up and working, and my sweet mom came over yesterday and scraped the overspray off of the glass on the back doors. It looked like this before she started… And now it looks like this… I can’t wait to get some pretty white trim around the doors! That’s going to look amazing against the green walls and the black doors. But I can’t do trim until I at least put in the second layer of subfloor, and it would be preferable if I could also get the flooring installed. And while […]

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