Item #43 and #11

The closet organizer is still not finished, but I added the closet rods to the organizer and start using it. It feels nice to have a place to hang (a surprisingly large amount of) clothing. Our dresser drawers are feeling a little more roomy now. I still haven't cleaned up other than to move the ladder out of the way, so don't mind the mess.

I also spent an afternoon hanging crown moulding in there and checked it off the list. I still need to fill the nail holes, caulk, and paint. There's always more to do.

I also finished installing the baseboard cap in Clara's room. I should have done it months ago. It took all of two hours total to complete single-handedly, including moving furniture and tools. I usually work during Clara's nap, so working in there was not possible. Tom took care of her in our room for the first hour, then took her for a long walk for the second half while Evie napped. The baseboards also need nailholes to be filled, but I will take care of filling and caulking after I have finished the door trim. I like doing things like that all at once rather than spreading it out over multiple days.

Tom has tomorrow off, so I'll see what else I can finally check off the list!

Closet progress

I've been working on a closet organizer for the master bedroom. It's far from done, but here's how it's shaping up so far. 

The center tower will have a tilt-out bin for a hamper with a couple of drawers above that for socks and undies. The rest of the tower will have fixed shelves for sweaters and such. 

The right side will have double rods for lots of hanging space. There will be a shelf above each rod. I found some shelving that we had pulled out of another closet during demo, cut it to size, and cleaned it up. After I scraped off a bunch of old contact paper and sanded it down, I realized it was a 12" wide slab of (what I think is) walnut! The board is way too pretty to just paint and use as shelving, so it's getting put aside - again - for another project down the road. 

 

So yes, it's got a long way to go, but it's getting there. Hopefully in the next week or so we'll have a place to hang clothes instead of the collapsed zip-up wardrobe on the other side of the closet.

Finishing touches

I finally put the crown moulding on the two windows in the guest bedroom. It definitely makes it look more finished than just the 1x6 did. Here's a reminder of the before:

And the after:

I may still add a piece of lattice moulding to the top of the crown, but probably not anytime soon. I made Roman shades using a cheap set of vinyl blinds. You can unfortunately see the glue line through the fabric, but it's not bad for about $7 a blind! (I bought a bolt of fabric eons ago for $5, and it serendipitously exactly matches the wall color - another clearance find.) The amount of sunlight coming in is hugely reduced (this room has eastern, southern, and western exposures), keeping the room substantially cooler.

Holy smokes. A whole month since I've blogged. And no, the bathroom still isn't done. Not even close. I took some time off from tiling to let my hand heal - the skin on my hands is super-sensitive and I thought that the mortar I was using was causing major irritation. It probably wasn't the mortar after all since my hand still hasn't healed, so I started back up again this week (wearing latex first-aid gloves to prevent any further skin irritation). This is the current condition. The vast majority of the tiles that are left need to be cut, so I'll be marking tiles tomorrow. If all goes well, I should be able to wrap up the tiling this weekend!

 I hauled Tom's old desk upstairs into the spare room to use as a sewing table. It had the unparalleled benefits of being free and of freeing up some room downstairs. However, it's also old and kind of crummy, so it's got some extra special customizations to make it work. Namely, duct tape and a stack of books. My dad would be proud, at least regarding the duct tape.  It doesn't look as bad as it sounds. Here it is looking halfway respectable.

 You have to get down low to see the books propping up the back side.

The duct tape will be unnecessary once I locate the metal brace that holds the two tabletop portions together.

Finishing what I started, part 2

My mom's been begging for part 2 of this series, where I actually do something with the furniture I've been hoarding. This chair was given to us by the same friends who gave us the desk in the entryway. The fabric was torn, and the frame was a tad rickety. Here's the before shot:

Twenty minutes later I had turned it into this:

I added a layer of foam to make it a little cushier and swapped out the embroidered cover for a suede-like yellow fabric. A lot of people might have painted the frame, but I like the yellow fabric against the wood. I think every room needs a little natural wood anyway, plus the brown ties in to the tones in the rug. The rickety-ness vanished after I put the seat back on and tightened the screws. Since this is to be a sewing chair, I added a throw pillow ($.25 or $.50 from a yard sale) for extra comfort.

I finally got a chance to do a little more tiling in the bathroom. I fixed a few loose floor tiles and then started on the walls. The top tile reaches to over 8' off the floor. Today I have a date with the tile saw to make lots of cuts.