Laundry Closet Finale and Reveal

It's been a while.  I would love to say I had a good reason for this project to take so long, but really, it was just life.  Either way, it's finished! And I'm extremely happy with the results.  To take you back to where I left off: Parts 1 and Part 2.1

I've come a long way since then and I apologize for the pictures in advance. I've gotten a new phone recently, so the pictures should be a bit better, but the lighting in the area is still horrible.  This area of the house gets no direct sunlight and only gets a wish of sunshine during the day.  

Since all the walls are prepped, the first order of business was to find a pick out my cabinet for the corner.  This definitely took 2 people: one to hold it up, one to screw it into the stud.  This also prompted to me to purchase a stud finder.  I'm usually very adept at finding studs in the wall, but this closet seems to defy all logic. 

Closet Organizer Giveaway!

I'm sure you've all heard of ClosetMaid and I have great news, they're having a giveaway!  The Love Your Closet Sweepstakes is giving away 2 awesome closets like the ones below

Visit the ClosetMaid Facebook page or @ClosetMaid #Love Your Closet Sweepstakes to enter the LoveYourCloset Sweepstakes!

I know I'll be entering, so make sure to share it with all of your friends!  Click the Facebook link below to share.

Resurfacing My Lovely Island Butch Block

If you haven't read my previous post about my DIY kitchen island (Part 1 and Part 2), then let me introduce you to my kitchen island.

It's been at least 6 months since I completed this project and I've succeeded in beating up the counter top like no other.  I did the initial conditioning of the top and didn't do any follow through.  I know better!  No really, I do.  I've already stained it with beet juice (the ugly dark gray blob) and there are small water spots on it.  It's begging me to be oiled.  Overall, the top was just looking dull and much lighter than when I started, which is a sure sign that it needs some love.  

Project: Floating Shelves

Sometimes, you just look around the room and say "This room is missing..... something."

I had done that for a while in my living room.  So I put a picture on the wall.  That wasn't it.

Then I got lamps.  That helped, but still wasn't 'It.'

One day, when I was trying to sleep, it dawned on me:  I didn't have any shelves.  I didn't have any place to set 'things.'  I didn't have a place for a sense of ME.  My walls were also practically bare.  Painted, but bare.

I don't care of bookcases, but I knew I wanted shelving.  Built-ins were out of the question as they can be somewhat expensive and require more handy work than is all of my family, combined.

As with a lot of my ideas, I started with research.  I figured out what I wanted first and then researched the options available.  It happens that my beloved Ikea has floating shelves.  I liked the options at Pottery Barn, but let's be honest:  Do I seem like the person to buy the Pottery Barn option over the Ikea option?  That would be a no (under most circumstances).

To see if my plan would really work out, I resorted to making a life-size representation.  I seem to do that a lot, right?  It works.

Mini-Project: Shoe Drying Tray

I've stone-filled shoe trays on Pinterest before and thanks to the endless rain we've gotten over the past 2 weeks, I thought it might be time to give it a try!  My shoes have been wet, muddy and grassy but I was getting tired of leaving them in the entryway on the rug.  So, when I was at the store buying cheap runner rugs for the office, I spotted this shoe tray:

That reminded me of the few pins I've seen with this type of setup.  This was $4.97 and should have room for 3 pairs of shoes.  I went over to check out the rocks in the crafts section, but MAN were they expensive.    As in $5 for 2lbs of smooth river rocks.  Over to Dollar Tree, I went.  Sure enough, after some riffling through their decorative rock area, I found the large river rocks that I was looking for.  I wanted the multi-color version.  Now, I will tell you that I also got a small pouch of rocks from Lowes because they had more unique and eye-catching colors.  However, I only used 1 of those (also $5) and mixed it in with the rest of the Dollar Tree version.  $.50 per 1 pound of rocks is cheaper than $1 per pound of rocks.  

Mini-Project: Serving Tray

I was cleaning up my ottoman a week ago and as I was cleaning the tray on it, I had a moment of genius.  This cheap tray, which I've had for 3+ years, could get a new lease on life!  First of all, it just doesn't match anything.

I got this lovely tray at Ikea for about $8 because I got tired of not having a place to set my drink.  Now, it's time to bring it into the style of the rest of my home.  I have dark wood all over.  Luckily, my brilliant idea was that I already had the gel stain (leftover from my oak vanity makeover) to transform it!  

Back to Basics Series

I have found that sometimes DIY projects aren't as difficult as they seem.  Knowing some basic skills make things go much more smoothly.  The only problem is...some people skip over the steps in doing the basic tasks for a project.  I know I'm guilty of that too, so I wanted to go allll the way back to some basic skills that come in handy.  If I can do it, I'm sure anyone can do it.  Some of these I've picked up from my parents along the years, some of them I figured out on my own and some of them I created my own method.

So what basic skills would you like to see explained?  How to hammer in a nail?  How to use a screw gun?  How to drill a basic hole?  Let me know!  If I know how to do it, I'll show you.  Send your ideas to me or leave a comment!

Know When To DIY and When to Hire

It's been a crazy few weeks.  I went on a work/vacation trip for 9 days to escape the cold weather and had such a relaxing and productive trip!  But before that, there was.... an incident.

A dog got loose in the neighborhood and promptly ran over to my yard and started fighting with my dog.  My dog is always on a leash and this was almost a disadvantage.  Luckily, my dog was perfectly fine, but it brought back a major homeowner decision back to the surface: a fence.  I've wanted a fence in my yard since I moved in.  Living in a subdivision with an HOA, I knew a chain fence wasn't going to cut it.

Now, the decision about the fencing was not only a convenience decision, it was a safety concern.  Do I want to be able to just let my dog out the door without having to bundle up?  I would love that!  Do I want a place for her to run around?  Yes!  Do I want to take the chance of the next dog fight ending without injuries?  Heck No.  Do I want to take the chance of the next dog fight ending with a dog attacking me?  HECK NO.  I've been bitten before and the amount of damage that can be done in seconds is alarming.

The style I decided to go with!

This whole decision took me back into the realm of DIY.  Was this something I could do myself, with some help?  After only a moment of thinking, the answer was a resounding no.  See, there are some factors you should take into account when deciding whether to DIY or hire someone:

Thinking Outside the Shower

This is going to be a short post, but sometimes complicated problems can have simply, easy solutions... if you think outside the box. When you move into a new house, the last thing you think about is 'Will my shower caddy fit in this shower?' I quickly realized that this was the case in the master shower.  Not only would my hanging shower caddy not fit..... none would fit.

See that really short shower arm?  It only sticks out 1" from the wall before it curves downward.  See that white shower?  It sticks out from the wall 1.5".  See the issue?  There's no room to hang ANYTHING.  

Closets, Closets Everywhere

I have a few unfinished projects around the house, but onward and upward!  While recovering from the holidays, I realized what a mess my closets had become.  I've never been able to put my finger on it, but they've just not been quite right since I moved in.

I have two 6.5' reach-in closets in the master bedroom that should provide plenty of room to hold all of my clothing.  I wish that were the case currently but I seem to have encountered a case of the Builder Basic again.  They set things up for success, but still managed to be failure!

I told you it was getting bad!

Laundry Room: Part 2.1

I've officially started work on the laundry area!  I've already done some basic planning and found inspiration of what my ideal laundry area would look like in my Project: Laundry Room, Pre-Planning post.  I went through a few iterations of ideas, but finally decided that I wanted a single cabinet with open shelving.  A little bit open, a little bit closed, the best of both worlds!

So far, this project has went fairly smoothly.  It's been quite involved, but each step has been manageable   I've had to call in some backup for sawing because.... well, I like my fingers.

Project Prep

Deciding on a final plan and the details was difficult.  This is what it looked like before:

Kitchen Island: Part 2 and Reveal

As I said in Part 1, the easy part of building my custom DIY came to an end with the conclusion of Part 1.  I finished that portion a few months ago and took a break to figure out the finishing details.

The original plan was to finish it with beadboard and some molding.  After some thought, I realized that this would definitely require some straight cutting and intricate painting.  I also wasn't sure if that was the look I wanted for the kitchen.  In hind sight.... I should have went with the beadboard.

Kitchen Island: Part 1

Let me start by saying that this project is (so far) 10 months in the making.  It's, by far, the most complicated project I have tackled thus far and it has been..... A Learning Experience.

But before I get into that, I'll start from the beginning!  My house has a square kitchen with cabinets along 2 walls.  It's very open but it was lacking work space.  All the counter space was in the corners or just long enough for a cutting board.  I take up the whole counter when I cook, I needed more room to move!

 See all that open space in the middle of the room?

Project: Laundry Room, Pre-Part 1

I've got a few projects that are partially complete in the house, so, of course, it's time to start a new one!  Am I the only one that does that?  Good, I didn't think so.  I was doing laundry yesterday and a light bulb went off in my head, "This is my next project!"

Just a plain, boring closet.  I guess at least there's a shelf?

You see, my laundry room is really a closet.  A nice closet, but still a closet.  And it has a wire shelf.  1 single, lonely, white wire shelf with supports strong enough to hold an army and take up a lot of room in the process.

Bathroom Vanity Oakness Makeover

One of the many, MANY things that has bugged me in this house since the beginning has been the bathrooms.  Not only is there minimal storage, they don't even match each other!  There's absolutely no sense of style, unless drab and oak is considered a style.  This wasn't my very first project in the master bathroom, but it has been the largest transformation to date.

Let's me introduce you to my bathroom:

Allow me to introduce myself

Wow, here we are!  If you're anything like me, you read lots of blogs about home decorating, DIY projects and arts and crafts while thinking "Really?  You find that easy?  HA!  I'm definitely not that handy."  I have no helper on standby, no DH behind the scenes... it's all me! (and the dog)

Some back story:  I've owned my builder-basic townhouse for 2 years.  I've done some small touches to make this place feel more like home, but it's not quite there yet.  Within the last year, I've been bitten by the DIY bug.  This was probably preceded by the "I'm not made of money" sickness and a dose of reality.  I'm tired of the builder drab and lack of character!

There's just one problem:  I'm not allowed to use a saw.

Ok, ok, that's a big of an exaggeration, but it's not far from the truth.  I've fallen down the stairs, walked into doorways and stubbed my toe more times than I can count.  When I received a Ryobi tool giftset for Christmas 2011, it included a drill/screw gun, flashlight, vacuum and a circular saw.  The first reaction of my friend?  "Is your health insurance current?  If you ever need anything cut, just give me a call, I'll come help!"  Not so confident, right?

So, I've been plugging away at a few projects around the house and have a list that I keep adding to with a vengeance.  In the process I've learned a few things.  #1, I'm not very handy.  #2, Houses don't come with instruction manuals and #3, Most blogs are not done with the DIY-Challenged in mind.

That's where I come in.  I'm going to bring you my very own Misadventures in DIY, attempting to make my house look great in the process and attempting to be handy.