Garage Reveal

Ok, here are some comparison pictures of all the work I did.  What I didn't take pictures of is the mess the took up the middle of the garage for three weeks while I sorted and trashed a lot of stuff.  This garage has been the hiding place for the past eight years.  I do hope I don't let another eight years go by without cleaning this up and out again.

This corner was piled high and I couldn't walk over there. 

 

I moved a shelving unit that was on the other side of the garage here.  Got rid of the corner counter top and replaced it with a straight shot counter that I received for free on Freecycle.  I mounted the shelf on the wall the free up counter space.  This was after much debate on using this shelf or repurposing it for something else.  I haven't ruled out repurposing this, because I love the curved lines, but for now, it is mounted to the wall. 

I removed the lower corner shelf to open up counter space.  I removed the door from our old kitchen cabinet to allow easy storage.

The area with the doors will be cleaned up a bit when they return to a closet or to the trash.  Then this space will hold the ladder and our soccer chairs.

This was the dumping ground for old household projects from paint, tile and roofing.  Along with the hopeful mantel that will one day be IN the house.  

Here is after.  The paint is moved to the above corner shelf area.  I put roofing in our outdoor shed.  The extra tiles I gave to my sister.  Just enough for her (her husband) to redo their children's bathroom.  Behind the metal cabinet is only one door we use to make an extra table.  The rest are gone.

Here's two different views, but I wanted to show the new space I created.  

This is the space where the metal shelves were.  I cut the old corner counter, moved the small freezer and drawers over and hung shelves on the wall.  I love this extra counter space and hope to keep it from being a hotspot.  I painted the front of the drawers with chalkboard paint.  Then my cats promptly came in, rubbed most of the chalk off.  Oh, well, it's fun to have.  The shoe box totes are labeled with what is inside.  See the one to the far right.  It has tape in it.  I don't know how much time I've wasted in this garage looking for tape!

These spaces all endured a lot a vacuuming.  A few spiders met their demise in the process. 

Oh My Housewife

On our road trip, we took a small detour to Charlottesville, VA to visit Monticello, home of Thomas Jefferson.  He is one of Ks favorite.  She filled in much information about Sally and how he promised his wife he would never remarry.  (And last to touch on this subject, she didn't know the details about Sally, just that she was his house slave, believed to be the daughter of his father-in-law).


Enough of that history.  In the upstairs of the museum, they had on display different items the Thomas Jefferson household would use.  I was looking at some silver spoons when a lady next to me exclaimed she had never seen that definition to housewife before and insisted her husband come read.  


This grabbed my interest was well.  When they moved on, I slid over to take a look.  It was a handy dandy little sewing kit.  Made mostly of scrape silk and lace.  Below is a picture I got off the internet, not what I saw at the museum.  You can get more information on making a housewife here.

I recently took up the task of finishing all the Jane Austen books.  I have read my favorite Persuasion many times.  I set out on Emma.  That leaves me two books to complete my reading.  


After the little mishap with Elton and the arrival of Jane Fairfax, Emma visits the Mrs. and Miss Bates.  

• "Thank you.  You are so kind!" replied the happily deceived aunt while eagerly hunting for the letter.  "Oh, here it is, I was sure it could not be far off;  but I had put my housewife upon it, you without being aware,"

It was fun to know what she referred to.  When I read Jane Austen, I often have the dictionary close by for all the words I haven't seen in literature before.  When I'm finish with her complete works, I look forward to reading some fiction based on her books.

Bean Bag Chair

 

My daughter wanted a bean bag chair for under her loft bed.  I found something I liked at a store and thought I could make that!  Ha, this doesn't look anything like what was in the store.    

First I cut the comfort fleece into squares then triangles.  I cut cotton matching fabric into a rectangle, one side and inch shorter than the other for the zipper seam.

This is the first zipper I remember ever doing.  Slight pucker, but over all it does the trick.  Will revisit the size issue later.

Next I sewed all the triangles together with alternating green and the brown polka dot pattern fabric.

I fitted the sides together.

As you can see the top was much bigger (remember no pattern).  I pleated the fabric and sewed the top and bottom together. 

When I got in a grove I didn't watch the thickness of the fabric.  Oopsy!  The needle flew across the room.

Next came the filling of the bag.  I purchased Styrofoam beans from Walmart, used shipped to site option.  Big box that weighed very little.  K, my daughter, liked picking up the big box.  And a side note, whenever Styrofoam is mentioned, my mind goes back to Bolt, K's favorite movie "Styrofoam, this stuff weakens me."

This was where I realized my six inch zipper was not big enough.  I filled half the bag by one handful at a time.  D, my husband, came home and made up a funnel and it went go faster.

Results: I think it looks like a fluffy dog bed.  Being K loves to pretend she's a dog, she loves it!  So that's all that matters. 

I still have 3/4 bag of beads.  I'll have to give it some thought on what else to make.  Maybe I could make a pattern and actually make what I saw in the store.  This time...a bigger zipper! 

Update:  I sat on this.  I'm surprised to how comfortable it is.  No wonder she likes it so.

70’s Table Redo

When I saw this table many moons ago (as in after 2003, but not sure when) I knew it would fit perfectly in a little space in what is now my daughter’s bathroom.  This room at the time had no storage whatsoever.  We have remodeled this room three years ago this month to convert an can barely fit into half bath that serve no purpose for my family into a shower stall. 

Back to the table.  What I loved most was the lines of the legs and the second little shelf that supports the legs.

Problems:  This table is ugly!  Chiped plastic veneer, need I say more?

The wood veneer on the plywood wasn’t so bad.  So inspired by HGTV Cash and Cari and Salvage Savvy blog I knew I was just a few Google searches and paint cans away to making this a clean white beauty.

Step 1: I filled in as best I could all the chips with wood filler. 

Step 2: I sanded the whole thing down.  I wanted to take the shine off the plastic and poly off the wood.

Step 3: I primed the wood parts only with Kilz primer.  And waited (not so good at this) for it to dry.

Step 4: Then I took my 1 can a plastic paint and covered all the plastic veneer.  I put on 2 coats, allowing it to dry according to the paint instructions.  This however wasn’t enough. 

Side note, it always takes more than you think, so buy the extra can when you have the opportunity.  I didn’t.  We stopped at a few stores with paint that were on our outing the next day to not find the same kind.  Who knew it was only carried at one store in my area.  So instead of going over to that store when it wasn’t on our way, the plastic part didn’t get another coat for a whole week, since that is what the paint instruction said to do.  Patience to get the project done.

Step 5: I used standard for any application spray paint for the wood part.

Here is the table finished.  It’s been a few months now and it’s held up great.  I was concerned because in my search I read it can be very difficult to paint the cheap plastic veneer. 

Yes, that's a plastic bug on the table.  My daughter thinks it's funny.

Minor issues:  I had a few places that buckled the paint.  I not sure what caused this.  The two places it did this were on the same side (perhaps some residue I didn’t sand off?) and that became the back side.

Make sure you paint in a well ventilated area or you’ll be woozy before you know it.