Too Fabulous Not to Share...

Some of my favorite things:

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How how I love Liz Lemmon from 30 Rock...

So many!

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I want to make these ASAP!

A picture of Polly for your viewing pleasure!

And now for links from my brother:

I would have FAH-REAKED out..... Freaked out!

And this amazing street art... Blew my mind...

Happy Weekend!

 

How to Install, Prep and Paint Paneled Trim...

The shelves before.... I hated them.... That may have been the reason we started this whole crazy business of remodeling. They were made out of particle board.... Basically sheets of glued up sawdust.... The problem with particle board is it has no fiber to keep it ridged. So after a short amount of time it sags.

I'm sad that my before pictures are so super tiny... So I came up with a curved wall with square paneling. The curve was to add square footage to the room without creating more harsh edges. We took apart the bed Drew made, that Polly destroyed by chewing on the edges... Damn dog...

Not the best pic... Judge me...

I walked through part of the trim work a while ago...

Just some pictures to refresh the process...

After framing, Sheetrock and square trim.

We took quarter round trim... We cut it all to size and soaked it in the tub. This was to help the quarter round curve... In the edges with the most curve we had to use exterior plastic quarter round trim... Drew installed all the horizontal pieces of 1/4 round first. Then measured the vertical to the edge and coped the vertical pieces around the horizontal.

Then came my contribution... Prep work!

To prep trim to paint this is the order we follow...

1. We use Crawford's putty and take a ball of it and press it with your thumb into the nail hole. With a thin putty knife slice in between the putty and the wood with your thumb still in the putty.

2. Caulk all the lines and edges.

3. Sand

4. Prime everything

5. Spackling, Drew's spackle of choice is 3M Bondo Glazing and Spot Putty that you can get at Home Depot. With a putty knife fill in all the dips and cracks.

5. Sand

6. Paint... The bondo glazing is redd, but it does not have to be primed because it takes paint at the same consistency as the primed surfaces will. Always always always two coats of paint...

Same steps for crown moulding. For this room we wanted to give the illusion of height so we created a stepped crown moulding. We did 2 3/4" strips of MDF ripped down to size. Then installed the standard crown under that. Then used the painting steps above. You can see below... It's a major statement piece...

Painting... We did high gloss on the trim and flat on the walls... We got two recessed can lights from ikea... The come in a pack of 3 for $19.99. Steal! I can't find them on their site.... Hmm?

And then we got carpet.... And I wept....

 

Done!

Now we need to paint the top and get a pretty register... And that is trim!

...continue on this little journey>>>>

 

Trim....

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I recently started a new Pinterest board just for trim and other details in rooms. I could study trim all day. It has been one of my favorite things to design in my house... I thought I would share a few of my favorites. I love the mantle and legs above, it has a simple elegance to it. The symmetrical inset panels and the simple concrete face. It has a nice juxtaposition to it.

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The pencil mould in this room is something we will do in our next house. I like how this paneling has the added chair rail that the pencil mould dies into. I also love the wall sconces mounted into the trim.

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This window seat is perfect. Tucked into book cases with raised panel trim.

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Love the wainscot on the stairs. I really like how the panels run vertical and angled with the stairs and the huge baseboard is to die for! The stained handrail and balusters really compliment each other.

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This square pencil mould isn't very common. I think they paired it well with a rounded chair rail. And that gray is fabulous!

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Love love love this room! The paneled drops, square that meets circle to accent the chandelier topped with a metal and window vaulted ceiling! Beautiful!

 

Chalkboard DIY

Since everybody has a chalkboard... I needed a chalkboard... And yes if everyone was jumping off a bridge I would too.... Do anything in high school to make friends.... That's what I live by... Just kidding stole that from Drew's cousin... N.E.Way....

I was inspired by Dana Tanamachi... Have you seen her chalk art? Blew my mind....

Check it out (via)....

 

 

So I took an old window that Drew got from this house... We want to deconstruct houses and reuse as much as possible instead of just demo and fill landfills. I taped the frame and edges...

Sanded the glass with 120 grit sandpaper... I was worried about creating divets in the glass that would show through the paint... I should not have been worried... Then I sprayed Rust-oleums Painters touch primer. It can bond to plastic, metal etc. it's awesome.

I only used about half a can...

And did two coats... Always better to do more light coats as opposed to less heavy coats...

Then I used Rustoleum's chalkboard spray... I used the spray because it was cheap and less clean up.

 

I think I did 3 coats of chalkboard paint...

I brought it in to dry faster, it was a cold day...

When the paint was dry (admittedly I should have waited longer... What's new?) but I took the flat end of a piece of chalk and seasoned the board... This helps prevent previous drawing lines from showing through. If you don't season it you will always see the first thing you wrote.

Then I wiped it off with a wet rag..

And got to work.... I saw a tip online about sharpening the chalk to help with line thickness when writing and drawing.

Brilliant!

Then I played around with a quote I found online that I love!

I moved on quickly to a holiday themed board... I'm a chalkboard addict!

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This might be my board next week! Love it!

 

...continue on this little journey>>>>

 

Thanksgiving...

We had a great Thanksgiving.... A lot to be thankful for... We are thinking of using this picture for our Holiday cards!  It took a couple takes to get the cat to look at the camera.... I gave up on Drew...  Some things just can't be taught....

Felt Fishing Pond...

Continuing on with my felt toy Christmas gifts... I made a felt fishpond complete with a cinch sack playmat.

For the cinch sack playmat I used leftover drop cloth from my reupholstered chaise lounge... And the inside fabric/water was initially a scrap fabric I found at Savers and used for this kids apron.

I cut out the rough size I needed for a half circle since I didn't have a scrap wide enough for the full circle. Then I traced the half on the other scrap and layer them on top of each other and folded that in half to make a 1/4 circle.

I trimmed up the rounded edge so it was all eve.

I sewed the two halves together down the middle. You can skip this step if you have fabric wide enough.

Then I laid the two right sides together and sewed almost entirely around the whole circle. Leaving a 3" opening so I could turn it right side out.

Then 1" from the edge I sewed around the entire circle.... This is to hold the cinch rope in place.

If I was more worried about the look and function I would have bought bought some metal grommets, and installed the where I made the openings for the rope. I cut 4 openings around the circle and threaded the rope all the way around.

I hand stitched the edges of the fabric to help the thread not to unravel. I spy my little helpers nose... Mac loves a good project!

When you are ready to pack up, you just pull out the rope from the four openings and it clinches closed.

Ta-da!

And to open you just pull the sides out.

And there you have play and cleanup all in one.

Here you have it all laid out... Fish all ready to be caught.

The fish I didn't take any process pictures of... All you do is cut out on the felt a fish shape. Again bigger than the final product. I sewed around the edge leaving the tail open, turned it right side out, put a magnet into the nose and stuffed it. Then I sewed the tail closed with the sewing machine.

I took scraps of felt on some of the fish and sewed them onto one side of the felt before I sewed it right side together and flipped it inside out. And now you have a colorful fish!

I made a felt bait worm with green felt sewed into a cylinder, put a magnet in the end. Then tacked the top and bottom to the body for the head and tail.

The rod is a bamboo I got from the back hard of a house Drew was working on. And done! Just like that!