Laying our own floors: The what and the why.

We decided, pretty much as soon as we moved in, that we were going to slowly replace all the flooring in the house. We opted for the most basic carpet in most of the house, minus the kitchen and master bath, because it was free and the upgraded options didn't do a whole lot for us. We figured that as the carpet wore we would be able to just replace it with better options. Well that happened a lot sooner than we imagined it would in the front room, due to a trouble making kitty and the fact that our builder used crap carpet and installers. This sped up the process a bit and we had to decide on a flooring type. We landed on hardwood/bamboo because the front room is rarely used and we figured it might be a formal dining room down the line. So we took on the task of finding a color/type. This took way longer than expected. We went to about 5 different stores and brought home dozens of samples. Nothing looked great with the purple paint in the front room and if it did it turned out to be too expensive. Finally after weeks (yes weeks!) of deliberation, we decided it was easier to paint and pick a floor that we loved and fit our budget. We landed on this:

Sorry about the flash glare!

This is Home Legend hand-scraped bamboo in cafe, which can be found at Home Depot. We loved the color, the hand-scraped detail, and it passed the durability test (we hit it with a high heel multiple times, didn't leave a mark). Once we picked it we had to pick a time to lay the floor. It was going to be a few weeks at the time because Andy was going to be gone. Next post, I'll talk about prepping the floors.

 

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Project budgeting

Like I said in my last post, things have been busy in the SalTal household. Andy and I decided a few months back to start a monthly project budget. We decided that we would take X amount each month to tackle major projects on our list for the house. This does not include small DIY or crafty projects, which rarely are more than $50. For example things like painting a room, redoing floors, a kitchen backsplash, we would consider a big monthly project. We decided to do it this way so that it didn't seem to overwhelming and it's been working out nicely. We have taken on three big projects since we instituted the budget: the kitchen backsplash, the bamboo floors, and painting two spaces. All of which I plan to blog about in the near future. Three projects may not seem like that many since we have been utilizing the project budget for a little over five months, but we created a rule that we could roll over a previous month's budget to tackle something we really wanted to do. We had to do this with the floor project, which was totally worth it. I don't think that we will always have a project budget every month, eventually the house will be settled and we will only want to take on bigger projects as needed, but for now with so much to do I think this system will work.

How does everyone else tackle major projects? Do you save a little over time or just budget it in each month? Or some kind of combination of the two?

 

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Adventures in Adulthood

I very rarely feel like an adult, usually I feel about 16, but a really awesome 16 year old who lives with her BFF and has expendable income. Anyway, I sometimes get a wake up call and realize I have grown up. One of those wake up calls happened the other day when we decided to go shopping for tile and I got excited. Like freak-out-OMG-YAY excited. Yes, I got that excited about tile. WTH happened to me? I remember hating going to home improvement stores as a kid but now I love it. It's moments like that one that make me realize I am a little bit of a grown up. Only a little.

Anywho, more on the tile later. Yay!

A Demo

We have only been living in the house a couple months but we have already found an area to demo. Right off of the garage there is an area our builder calls an e-zone. Basically, it's a small desk area and in the model it seems like a great idea. In reality it's really just turned into a dumping ground. Take a look:

Yep, it's not pretty. It's a cluttered mess and I can't stand it. So we decided we are going to rip it out and replace it with a mini-mud room area. Allow me to show you our inspiration:

Anna White's Smiling Mud Room

House of Smith's entry-way

Small mud room- found on Ana White

These are the three inspirations we are working with to come up with our design. Let me share what we love about each one. From the top, Ana White's smiling mud room is lovely, very bright and open. What I loved most about this design was the curved dividers and openness which we need because there are light switches and sockets in the way. From the House of Smith design I really loved the mail slot idea with the metal boxes and the bead board, plus they took a space they hardly used and turned it into something useful which is the same plan we have. From the last design I just love how they utilized the small space. As you can see the space we are working isn't very big and I wanted to make sure that we utilize every inch.  Before we start we have to know what we are doing and Andy also need to wrap up work on the media console before we can start on another project. I have been working on a design right now, trying to measure and draw out (rather poorly) what we want. Hopefully, I can share something with you in a few days just as long as you promise not to laugh at my ridiculously poor drawing skills.

Poof, I'm back!

I apologize for taking the blog off the public sector for a little while, we were dealing with some legal stuff with our old rental company and didn't want anything to come up. I don't want to get into it too much but we decided not to pursue it anymore as it's not really worth our time and energy. We would like to focus that energy on making our new home kick ass.

I will be honest there wasn't really much to post about while we were offline. We kind of took a bit of a break from all things house after the party. We were in hyper drive for a few weeks so I think we needed a break. However, now we are starting to get rolling on some stuff and I'm excited to share it with you. Just a little preview of the plans in the works:

• A demo will be taking place in the near future
• A journey into the land of grout and tile
• More painting
• Some awesome hand-drawn designing
• An adventure in re-covering

Plus I should probably share some pictures of the house since we painted and furnished it. All this and more to come in coming days/weeks!

Living Room Partial Preview

So our living room is coming along nicely. This is the one area in the house I would love to have finished by the time we have our house party since we will be mainly be hanging out there. I apologize in advance for the crappy cell phone pictures, I'll drag out the good camera when everything is actually done. Also please ignore the pile of crap poking out from the side of the couch, that's stuff that doesn't have a home yet and the TV out in the middle of the living room, we need our media center to be done.

General view from the kitchen

Shelf behind the couch

 Just so you get an idea of where we are going: there is going to be some kind of art behind the couch the media stand will be pushed against the far wall (which isn't really pictures here), I'm going to add something to those lamps to make them look bigger (like maybe foam wrapped around the spindly part), I'm going to get some matching frames for our pictures to put on the shelves between the mirrors, I'm going to get a glass bowl with filler for the long shelf behind the couch, we are going to add another chaise to the other side of the couch plus another shelf behind the couch, we are going to make a coffee table, and last but not least we are going to get/re-purpose a chair for the far wall. Whew, I'm a little tired even typing that out, but hopefully it turns out like I'm picturing it in my head.

DIY: Mock Pallet End Table Top

I have a slight obsession with pallets that are turned into coffee tables. I think it's amazingly resourceful and looks wonderful, if you have the right pallet. We are planning on attempting a pallet coffee table for the new house but we have never been big into coffee tables, mostly because the dogs like to run around. What I really wanted to do was create end tables out of pallets but something that size is really hard to come by. So a few weeks back I had an idea to create an end table that looks like a pallet out of furring strips and some 2x4 studs. It was a super simple project and I'm excited to share it with you.

For this project we bought:

• 2- 2x4x8
• 3- Furring Strips 1x3x8
• Plus wood for legs (will get to that later)

Cut List

• 2  - 2x4 @ 24" (for table top support)
• 3 - 2x4 @ 21" (again for table top support)
• 9 - 1x3 @ 24" (for table top)

Tools we needed

• Miter Saw
• Drill
• Counter sink bit
• Phillips head bit
• 7/64" drill bit*
• Measuring tape
• Pencil
• Hammer
• 12- 2" wood screws
• 27- 1 1/4" finishing nails

* Just needs to be a little bit smaller than the screw

First Andy and I measured and cut all the wood, (yes I used the saw and I was proud). 

Then we arranged the 24" 2x4's and the 21" 2x4's like so: 

Basically, we created a box out of the 4 pieces and then added a brace in between to stabilize the table top.
Andy then used the drill bit to drill a guide hole for the screw, used the counter sink so the screw head would sit flush with the table, then actually screwed it in. He repeated this process two times at each of the four corners and also two times on each side of the brace beam.

You can see the counter sink next to where he is drilling. 

Actually screwing the pieces together.

Once that was completed we had to nail the table top on. With this portion we just laid out the nine 24" 1x3's across the table and arranged them so that the spaces were even. This was, for us, just a trial and error process. We could have used less 1x3's and had bigger spaces in the table top or we could have used more and had zero spaces in the table top. It's really whatever you prefer. We preferred something like this:

Once we figured out how we wanted the spaces we made a little mark on each side of the base where we wanted each piece of wood, this made it easier when we started nailing them all. We just nailed each piece three times. Once on either side and one in the middle where the support beam is. We used finishing nails because it gave it a cleaner look but you could also use standard nails to make it more pallet like.

Voila we had a table top. Which is where this project stops. See, we want these to be our end tables but we don't have a couch for our great room yet, so we really want them to sit flush (or at least) close to our couch so we are waiting on the leg portion of this project until we figure out what size our couch is going to be. I promise to post a link to the leg portion of this project when we get to it.

DIY: Book Mobile Part 2

If you missed it, see part one here.

Once we got the dowels into place we had to secure them somehow, we decided that Gorilla Glue was the best method. I don't have any pictures of this part, sorry (no cookie for the blogger). What we did was force the dowels through the holes and just before they hit the wood we wet both the bottom of the table and the dowel and put the glue down and forced the two together. We then just had to weight it down while it cured. We let this sit overnight so that it was fully cured before we filled the top of the dowel rod holes with wood putty but we could have moved into filling the holes after a few hours.

We just filled the holes with wood filler and a putty knife and just smoothed it out. We had to wait again to let that dry, then after several hours there were a couple holes we had to go over the holes again, then finally we had to sand the entire top of the table with some fine grit sand paper. 

Once that was done we I was too impatient to wait until I painted the whole thing and let it dry to add the casters so we just screwed those in before I painted it. Once that was done I painted the top, dowels, bottom and sides in Glidden Toasted White. 

Looks pretty great, huh? Here is a shot with it holding some books.

I am thrilled with how this project turned out. I have some minor tweaks to work out (like getting the paint out of the metal pieces on the top) but over all it turned out great.

Now the break down of project cost and time:

Project Cost

• Spool- free thanks to Home Depot
• 3/4" dowels- 4 x $3.50 = $14
• Glidden Paint-1 Quart $7.00
• Casters- 3 x $6.00= $18.00
• Gorilla Glue, Paint Bushes, Wood putty and putty knife, sand paper, tools- free, we already had everything

Total Cost: $39.00

Not too shabby, but I must say, I was really picky about what casters I used, if I hadn't been the cost would have been a lot less.

Estimated Time of Project Completion

• Hammer down nails and filling with wood filler- 1/2 hour
• Measure and drill holes for dowels- 1/2 hour
• Cut dowels to size- 1/4 hour
• Secure dowels- 5 hours (this includes glue curing time)
• Fill tops of dowel rod holes- 4 hours (this includes dry time for wood putty)
• Sand top of table- 1/4 hour
• Secure Casters- 1/4 hour
• Paint- 1 hour

Total Time: 11 hours 45 minutes

There you have it, now I am ready to move on to the next project! Just have to figure out which one.

DIY: Book Mobile Part 1

Remember this project:

Well I did it! I found my cable spool! I just have to say Home Depot rocks! We were wandering through the store the other day and I saw a cable spool that looked to be a good size for a coffee table. So I asked an associate if I could have one and after some chit chat we got to take it home for free! Woot! While we were there we picked up the rest of the supplies for the project, 4 dowel rods 3/4", 3 casters, and some paint.

Beautiful isn't it!

It's even better than I could have hoped for, I mean it's in great shape. So this weekend Andy and I decided to work on turning it to a table for the new house. First thing we had to do was try to pound  down the nails to make the top surface even. 

We tried a chisel and hammer but the wood was way tougher than we expected, so we ended up just using the hammer. After about fifty billion strikes we used some wood putty over the nails and over the jagged bits to give the surface a smoother texture. 

Before putty...

After putty!

Once the surface was looking like it wouldn't cut somebody it was time for measurements to figure out where to put the spokes. 

Andy is much better with measurements so he took over at this point (and yes that is my cup of coffee sitting on the spool, I was testing it out)

Andy thought that a clock pattern would be best for the placement of the dowel rods. He measured across the spool and marked about and inch in on either size at 12 and 6 then again at 9 and 3. Then he went around between 12-3, 3-6, 6-9, 9-12 and put two more marks in between each set roughly equal distance apart (I say roughly because there were a lot of nails and he was trying hard not to hit any of them when it came time to drill). 

Next Andy and I took the spool outside and used a 3/4" spade bit to drill the holes at the marks. There were some complications during this project as Andy hit nails in three different spots. To remedy this he simply used a chisel and hammer to hit the nails back and finished drilling. Once all the holes were complete we had to measure the dowel rods for sawing. 

Andy simply placed one into the hole and made a pen mark at the point where the dowel hit the table top. During the saw process he simply went a little under the mark so that the dowel wouldn't stick up out of the hole on the table. After sawing all the dowels we forced them through the holes on the spool and it's really starting to look like a book shelf table!

(Pardon the wonky dowel rod, it is a work in progress)

Stay tuned as tomorrow will unveil part two of this project!

Death by DIY

With the new house zooming toward us I realized our decorating/DIY projects really need to get going, then I took a look at the list. Geeze. I think I over did it just a tad. Take a look yourself:

 A console table by Young House Love. We really love the idea of having some lamps and storage behind the couch, we may not build this exact one but we want something similar. Honestly, I think that our living room is going to be pretty similar to this just because I think that's the couch we may end up with.

 A drying rack for the laundry room, I have really wanted some place to hang my air dry only pieces for a while, in the new house I will finally have the space to do so.

 Laundry sorting by Ana White. Love, love, love this for sorting our clothes both before the wash and after.

 Liquor Cabinet from Ana White. We aren't major boozers or anything but I love the idea of having a liquor cabinet.

 Apothecary media center for the living room, again from Ana White (sensing a pattern?). I love the look of this and it will fit lovely into the living room, unlike the behemoth media center with have now.

 Cable spool coffee table from Country Living. I found this on Pinterest and HAD to have it. I have already got my hands on a cable spool to make this pretty piece.

 Ceiling medallions as wall decor, found on Pinterest.  It's an easy way to liven up a wall space.

 Pallet table from Sew Homegrown. We want something similar to this and also some pallet end tables for the living room as well. 

The worst part about that list is that it isn't even the extent of my projects. There are still some others that I don't have pictures for, like a bench for the entry way and framed shelves. I honestly wondered if we should cut back some of the list and then I realized that the reason we are doing so much DIY is to save money. Many of these projects are lower cost than it would be to buy, in some instances basically free. We really need to get started on these. I promise once we do I will share the process. 

P.S. Anyone willing to come help out?

We are a hot mess

I mean in our decorating style. See I am a fan of IKEA furniture, I love the clean lines, the little touch of funk, the pop of color (and it's usually affordable). However, I am also a fan of old stuff, I love vintage, the shabby/rustic chic movement look makes me drool. It seems that my personality is battling itself.  Not only that but I also have Andy to consider. I really don't think he cares how anything looks as long is it is functional/comfortable. You would think that wouldn't be a big deal but it kind of is when he is insistent that it be comfortable (I'm all for comfort but sometimes style wins out, hello 3 inch heels anyone?) So we have a giant hodge podge of ideas and opinions that we are trying to ball up into one smooth, flowing style that will look beautiful and make us feel great when we are in it. Turns out that's pretty hard.

It has actually been stressing me out a little how different not only my own tastes are but also Andy and myself. We are at entirely different ends of the spectrum, where I believe style and beauty reign supreme, he believes that comfort and function are the most important aspect when choosing items for the home. We are going to have to compromise and I know it, but I know that we can handle it. Luckily we are in agreement on one thing involving decorating and furnishing the new house and that is a budget. We have already decided that we will not break the bank to make our house a home, we will DIY, thrift and shop sales so that we aren't taking on any debt to create a space we love. If we are in agreement on the money aspect I am sure we will figure out the decor issues, right?

Where's Izzy?

It seems like every time we ask this question lately the answer is the guest room. Which I finally have pictures of. So instead of boring you with tedious words I'll just get to the good stuff right now.

Here's the breakdown. Bed, nightstand, floating book shelves, curtains and lamps we already had. We bought the bedspread and sheets from IKEA. We bought the cupboard from JCPenney Outlet and painted it using this awesome tutorial. The mirror, flower arrangement, picture frame, and the embroidery hoop wall art were all bought and/or created with materials from Hobby Lobby. Roughly the total cost for this room was $125, not including the price of the things we already have.

There you have it. The pictures don't re-size very well with the Canon (I think we need Photoshop or something?) and  I can't get a good shot of it all together, the room is just too small, I wish I could because I think it flows nicely. There are a few things I want to add, maybe a shelf and a clock maybe even another piece of wall art, but the big things are done like color and furniture. In the new house the set up will look a bit different because the guest room has double windows. I will probably add green/blue curtains and also paint the standing floor lamp a shade of green from the bedspread. Overall, I think that the use of what we had mixed with what we bought worked out well. I was worried the bed and night stand was too modern for the country-like feeling I was going for, but I think it turned out nicely.

Furniture love...

Alternative title: I don't need to eat.

With a new house on the way I'm getting crazy excited about the decorating aspect. I've already started DIY projects and bought a couple smaller pieces for the new place. Plus I spend a little exorbitant time on Pinterest searching for ideas to make my own and furniture that I would love to have. One thing led to another last night and I found this:

 

This is the Avery Bed by Chatham Hill Furniture

I am in love with this bed. I love the worn rustic look, the three raised panels, everything about it really. Except for the price tag. (I will say that it is a custom made piece of furniture made out of solid wood that you can customize the color, so I understand the following price tag) It's $6,000. Yeah. I know. Bye, bye dream bed. I wonder if there is any way to DIY something similar. I highly doubt it. 

If you have any ideas or know where I might find something to suit our needs let me know.

Thrifty Fun

Let us take a break from the building to discuss what happens after the building is done. We will have a house, a whole 2,100 square feet that will be ours. We can paint, we can buy furniture, we can settle down, we can decorate! I finally get to nest!!! YAY!!! For the last 4 years we have moved every year, we have lived in apartments and places that I can't do anything with and I haven't really bothered because who cares? It isn't mine. We haven't spent money on furniture, we haven't invested a lot into decorating because there either wasn't enough space or enough money or both. Our stuff is just a giant mismatch of what we had pre-marriage (most of which is decent furniture but it doesn't match) and gifts from our wedding (which is really nice but mostly kitchen stuff).Well now we will have the space but we have to be careful with the money part. I can't break the bank to do the projects I want to do. Therefore I have spent a lot of time on Pinterest searching for ideas and ways to decorate on a dime. Combine this with a crazy crafting urge and we get these:

The top picture is a monogram in a frame. All I did was buy a chipboard letter "T", an open frame, a piece of scrapbook paper, and some backing. I painted the "T" and glued the scrapbook paper on the backing. I still need to attach the "T" to the backing but I'm debating on which method to use to attach it. Best part, it was less than $20. Woot!

The bottom picture is some embroidery hoops and fabric. I just stretched the fabric over the hoops and closed. Super easy, like less than 5 minutes and super cheap (less than $15). Once I'm done cutting the fabric I'm going to group it on the wall. The best part is that I can use any fabric and easily change this to work in any room.

I found variables of both these projects on Pinterest and just made them my own. There are many more projects I want to try out and I can't wait.

Stupid pictures

The vacation post is on hold since all my pictures aren't in blogger form and take forever to load. I'll get on it this weekend, promise.

In the meantime, I have found the coolest website in the world and I am now making a To-Do list for Andy and I that include making us a bed and some outdoor furniture for ourselves. Check it out. I am completely in love and can't wait to make our Farmhouse bed. It's going to be awesome. But first, we must clean out the garage so that we have the space to make this stuff. I'm excited to get my DIY on again, it's been way too long since I've gotten crafty. We're talking pre-wedding, which is almost 6 months ago (where did that time go?). Tell me, how have the rest of you kept the DIY going after the wedding? What projects have you taken on? Fill me in please, I'm dying to do some crafts.

Have a good weekend!!!