DIY Goals in 12 Months

I love lists! I make lists for the days, weeks and months. In college, I made lists by the hour like “begin poli-sci exam” followed by “finish poli-sci exam.” Those three to four days of finals generated dozens of countdown lists. It’s all about the feeling of accomplishment.

My son left for a mission trip to Belize on Sunday. I have a head cold that has settled in my lungs and sinuses so I am on day 2 of sweats and slippers. Messy hair takes on a new meaning when you have a cold. So when I ran my eyes thru his bedroom this morning to make sure he had packed all the clothes I suggested, I found this on his nightstand. He is my son. This was his packing list. #goals #proudmommoment.

I don’t know what I love more that he called his boxers, undies or that he spelled toiletries correctly.

So with a cold. my Christmas jammies and the movie The Help I buried myself into the couch nd created a list of DIY goals for 2019. It’s ambitious, but aren’t we all a little more ambitious the first week of January?

Organization will be a theme for DIY goals this year. Starting with our entry closet by the front door. This closet door looks so pretty, but what lurks behind it is a hot mess of light bulbs, batteries, extension cords and office supplies.

And, once we get the entry closet organized I will need to refresh the front door. I loved my decision to paint the stained front door white, but it gets banged up during the year. And, yes that’s a tennis racquet along the wall. Every room has at least one random tennis ball. I smile every time I find a tennis ball under the tables and window treatments. #momoftennisplayers

Next up are the cabinets on the kitchen island. I flirted with the idea when I painted the kitchen island a fun gray! And, if you follow me on Instagram you may have seen a sneak peek of my island plans! Here’s a look at the kitchen island. The cabinets are on the other side.

Another top 12 DIY goals is a major gut job of the boys’ jack & jack bathroom. I shared their bathroom here when I started dreaming of new tile, bathtub, toilet, vanity, and lighting.

Barn doors were one of the only trends we were ahead of before every other social, digital and print publication. Our last barn door project was replacing builder grade slider closet doors with barn doors. I shared a sneak peek here. But now, I want to attempt a different version of a barn door. Stay tuned!

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Farmhouse Shelves for Under $50.00

Hi, Everyone! The farmhouse shelves in our kitchen were one of my favorite projects. These shelves opened up space and added a bit of trend to my aging kitchen. The farmhouse shelves were an inexpensive way to replace the dated cabinets.

You know how one projects leads to another project?

Well, when we knocked out the wall between the kitchen and dining room we lost a row of cabinets. My plan was to replace the cabinets with open shelves. This was the point in our kitchen wall tear down where there was no looking back.

materials

It was a simple project with 2 x 12 select pine from Home Depot. I cut them to size using a table saw (with an assist from my assistant aka husband to hold the end of the board). I used my favorite pre-stain wood conditioner to prep the wood shelves. This was my go-to stain for most of my DIY projects. I have a few other favs, but this is reliable and gives me a rich, Colorado rustic finish.

I wanted a heavy bracket and found Wade here on Etsy. These were super easy to install to the wall and give it the weight I wanted to match the weight of the farmhouse shelves. Love it!

The hardest part of these farmhouse shelves was capturing a photo at the right time of day (still waiting) and staging the shelves. Seriously, I was so excited to stage the shelves and it has been many a late night with episodes of Friends in the background while trying to find the right accessories.

This was an easy Saturday afternoon project. I loved this project so much I added the same shelves to our aging basement kitchenette/bar. So the photos are from both spaces.

I am taking staging suggestions for staging the shelves in the comments.   Thanks for stopping by for a look!

 

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Across the Boulevard

Thistle Key Lane

 

DIY Live Edge Coffee Table


Have you seen those edgy coffee tables in catalogs this season? I used to call it a chunky edge, but apparently, it’s referred to as a live edge table. And, the best part of this table is it is so easy to build a DIY live edge coffee table!

live edge coffee table

I love the look of a live edge coffee table, but the sticker shock shut down that idea. My husband suggested we make it ourselves.  And, so we did and it turned out to be a low effort DIY project. How is this possible? How do you get that chunky edge?

It’s all about locally sourcing the wood slab. Yes, you can find a raw edge wood slab, planed and sanded. And no one needs to know except us.

We found our Russian Olive “species” at a place in Denver appropriately named Denver’s Wood Slabs. Most of the wood slabs sold at Denver’s Wood Slabs are domestic hardwoods salvaged from Denver and surrounding areas. It’s nice to shop locally and not buy  an engineered slab It’s like a little piece of Colorado history in our family room.

Russian Olive Live Edge

Our job was to find the perfect stain and meticulously apply layer after layer of stain. My husband shared a little tip for staining wood; always start with a pre-stain wood conditioner. I purchased the smallest can of wood conditioner here and also found it at Home Depot.

I can’t believe I just discovered this product. Wood conditioner goes on like butter and allows the stain to soak into the wood with a smooth finish.  I love this stuff!

Together, over the course of several nights, we applied about five coats of stain. We completed a light sanding between coats and patiently waited 24 hours to apply the next coat of stain.

I finished the coffee table with two coats of a water-based clear coat. It took about a week from start to finish to stain and seal the table.

The live edge coffee table holds up well I would say.

We purchased the coffee table legs on Etsy.

Absolutely in love with this live edge coffee table! It would be fun to run down there and see if I can take a few scraps for future fun projects!

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Thistle Key Lane

Time to Replace the Door Stoppers

Hi everyone! As a realtor, I show or preview homes regularly.  And, one of the often overlooked updates in homes are the door stoppers. You know the springy widget that keeps your door from slamming into the baseboards and drywall (or sheetrock depending on where you live).  Many homeowners, including us, updated the hardware and hinges a few years ago and checked that box. I blew off the door stoppers because the hardware installation was so time-consuming. Well, now it’s time to replace the under appreciated door stoppers.

And, for your entertainment, I have a video at the bottom of the post (if I can figure out how to turn off the acoustical background music when I start to talk). My family would say there’s a reason to leave the music on. #snarkyfamily

door-stoppers

My original plan was to just remove & replace the paint splattered, brassy door stoppers.

door-stoppers

 

Ironically, this is where I hit the project stall phase. Because who wants to spend a Saturday cleaning baseboard?  But, lucky me my OCD side kicked into gear.

And, then I found these black, spring doorstops online at Home Depot. The black springs and rubber door stop matched my door hardware. Finding these new door stops was the motivation I needed to clean and repaint the baseboards.

My new, black doorstoppers deserved clean backdrop; or baseboard.

door-stoppers

Yes, I cheated a bit because of the prep to clean and paint the baseboards before installing the new doorstoppers. I decided to keep this project moving forward to break this project into manageable steps; I cleaned and painted only the baseboards adjacent to a door (and stopper).

Maybe I was too harsh on those homeowners who ignored replacing all those doorstoppers?

Here is a (rough) video tutorial on how to install the doorstoppers because it took me a few minutes to figure out how to attach the spring to the backplate. Again, my son would remind me, “Mom, it’s rough.”

Door Stopper Video

 

 

door-stoppers

 

 

** Liberty Hardware provided door stoppers for this post. All opinions are my own. 

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Cottage Market

How to Make Wood Orbs

Hi Everyone! I am so excited to share these wood orbs using embroidery hoops.  I am not very crafty. Well, that’s not true. I like crafts, but I am a sloppy crafter. My craft projects will never be trending on Pinterest. And, I’m good with that. I know my strengths.

Sidenote: I love these shades of green. 

embroidery hoops

Who knew an eBay purchase of embroidery hoops was my gateway to craft crack. I mean I just grabbed a hoop and thought of endless crafts I could attempt with one half or both halves of an embroidery hoop. Maybe attempt is too ambitious.. maybe just thoughts of endless crafts….

I knew I wanted to stain these. I took the lazy route and didn’t separate the hoops.

Do as I suggest, not as I d0.

Take a few minutes to detach the hoops, it makes a huge difference in time and quality. I used a foam brush and a small paintbrush to get around the metal fasteners. After I stained the embroidery hoops I decided it was harder to stain hoops than a piece of furniture. I came up with a different technique to stain the hoops for all you hoop enthusiasts out there. Here’s a peek into the process…

stain

I instantly loved the difference the stain made to these wood Barbie size hula hoops. This craft project was headed in the right direction. I decided to make orbs because I liked the look of similar projects on Pinterest and orbs matched my decor style.

Orbs would also work well with our shelves on opposite ends of an updated fireplace.

I found inspiration when I saw these metal orbs at Target

 

How to make wood orbs

I wanted an easy way to attach the hoops, but finally committed to the power drill to drill pilot holes and then attach a small screw at the top and bottom of the orb. The wood is soft enough that with a little muscle you could secure both ends with a tack. I figured this out when my drill’s battery died mid-drill. #soclosetoamazing

 

I love the finished look of these wood orbs. The embroidery hoop’s stained wood finish added much-needed character to the shelves. I have a few more embroidery hoop orbs “in production.”

On a side note, I love the shadows created from the lighting above the orbs onto the white shelf.

I had so much fun with this project. I have a running loop of hoop ideas in my head. What have you made with an embroidery hoop?

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Grandma’s House DIY

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Stroll thru LIfe

How to Make a Wood Mantel

I love fireplaces. In a New York minute, I would put a fireplace in every room. As a child, I remember the prep involved with a wood burning fire. My dad fanning the flames (literally) and my mom using those pinecone firestarter things to get a little more kick. But, for 32 minutes we enjoyed a wood burning fire. And, then we watched my dad meticulously clean out the ashes and stay awake to watch the embers smolder.

Not a big surprise our family was one of the first on the block to convert to a gas fireplace.

How to Make a Wood Mantel-notatrophywife

One of the reasons we bought our brownstone in the suburbs house was it came with a finished basement. And, it had a dual sided fireplace. Score! Dual-sided fireplaces are like a two-for-one. We get the benefit of one fireplace straddled between two rooms. This knotty wood mantel project smoldered in my mind for years.

WOOD MANTEL BEFORE

This is a rough image of the fireplace. The white mantel and tile front were too fancy for the basement vibe we wanted to achieve. Think industrial pipes and stone.

We updated the front with backer board real stone sheets from Home Depot. More on those details later. But I was most excited for the fireplace mantel. I wanted a wood mantel but not too rustic. Living in Colorado we have to tone down the log cabin and bear images conjured up by people from other parts of the country. #wink 

How-to- Make- a-Wood-Mantel-notatrophywife

This year has been a year filled with smallish house updates. And, it was time to turn our attention to the dual sided fireplace. The only problem with a dual fireplace is it’s best when both sides match. So when we updated one side we made a duplicate fireplace mantel on the opposite side.

 

The coolest part of this mantel is the trip to a specialty lumber store.***  My husband loves this kind of thing so he took the lead to find the knotty alder wood.

 

Knotty Alder Wood Mantel Details

Knotty Alder Wood 1×8′

Furring Strips

Build a box using  1x8x3 for the front, top, bottom and the sides (the back is open but attaches to the fireplace front.

Furring strips to create wood blocks so glue and nail the pieces together (from the open-ended back side).

Finished nails (short enough) so they don’t pop through the front.

 

Mantel Installation

Use a 2×4 (shorter by 5″ on each side of the mantel’s length and then screw into the studs. The finished mantel attaches to the 2×4 (because the opposite side of the mantel’s face is open).

Finish with making pilot holes and then screw into the 2×4 from the top of the mantel.

Jacobean stain (my fav)

How-to- Make- a-Wood-Mantel-notatrophywife

 

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Domestically Speaking

 

 

How to Remove a Half Wall Between the Kitchen and Dining Room

The decision to remove a half wall was the biggest project my husband and I have tackled. And, we are still married to share the details. We love the space between the kitchen and dining room and it looks like the way we envisioned it. And, the best part is this project to remove a half wall moved at a fast pace. The process on how to remove a half wall, from start to finish, was a total commitment of two weekends.

Here’s a sneak peek of the finished space between the kitchen and dining room. There used to be a wall with a door size entry into the kitchen.

How to Remove a Half Wall Between

Here’s the view from the dining room before we decided to take advantage of the light from the large dining room windows.

How to Remove a Half Wall  | Before

Here is the wall from the dining room. To the left is the door size entry into the kitchen.

How to Remove the Wall Between the Kitchen and Dining Room

Here’s the view from the kitchen. We removed the half wall that housed the microwave and surrounding cabinets. Before we decided to remove these cabinets I cleared the contents. I wanted to make sure I wouldn’t miss the cabinet space. We also had to reconfigure where to store the microwave. We tried the pantry to the right but it was not practical. It’s currently stored on the counter until we gut the kitchen.

How to Remove the Wall Between the Kitchen and Dining Room

How to Remove the Wall Between the Kitchen and Dining Room

How to Remove a Half Wall | Electrical & Plumbing Details

We hired a plumber and electrician to move the mechanics to the left inside the frame. We had to add an additional outlet on the dining room wall side per electrical code. Total costs for the mechanical was just under $300.00.

Pain in the arch

This was the trickiest part of this wall removal. We had the small arch where the original entry into the kitchen existed. The main level of our house has arches in and out of every room so we wanted to keep the theme. But, we had to remove the original before we recreated a wider arch the length of the wall opening.

How to Remove the Wall Between the Kitchen and Dining Room

Arch Solution

My husband found Archways & Ceilings, a US-based company, that specializes in creating arches. With simple instructions on their website, my husband measured the expanded wall opening. Within a week we had an MDF template ready to install. This is the frame that would create the arch. Here is an example shared from the company’s website.

Source: Archways & Ceilings

We framed the top of the wall with 2×4’s and attached the MDF arch to the frame. It required a drill and screws. It was a great, affordable solution. The total cost of the MDF arch was around $100.00. The time saved: priceless.

Arch Installed

How- to-Remove-a-Half-Wall

How to Remove a Half Wall | Drywall & Texture

This project was completed over the course of 2-3 weekends. We took almost a week off during this time while we found a solution for the extended arch. It was so much easier. The quotes we received for this project were north of 6k. We finished the project for less than $1500.00. This included the plumbing and electrical.

How- to-Remove-a-Half-Wall

How to Remove a Half Wall | Finished

How- to-Remove-a-Half-Wall

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Worthington Court

 

 

 

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