Evolution of an Office Pt. 1

I've been away from the blog for so long you'd think I wasn't working on anything.  Nothing could be further from the truth. I've been working on lots of different projects.  The problem is that I haven't yet finished anything to a standard that I want to share it.  I've been removing wallpaper, tiling, patching drywall, painting, sewing, cleaning out and building.  Today I decided I'll share part of the transformation of my upstairs office.  The picture above is what the office looks like now.  If you're thinking to yourself  'That's not really all that exciting'.  Have a look at how the room started out...

 This is what it looked like shortly before I moved in. Wall to wall pink shag carpet, wallpaper on all four walls that was stained and yellowing.  None of the stuff in the room is mine but that doesn't mean that I did much better.  Here's what it looked like after I moved in but before I started working...

Granted, there was a short period of time between those two photos where I'd totally cleaned out the room and it was used as a guest bedroom.  It had an antique 3/4 rope bed, two bedside tables and a chest at the end of the bed.  I never got a picture of that, unfortunately.  Here's what it looked like as I was working on the transformation...

I've removed the carpet to reveal the hardwood floor and the wallpaper is gone, leaving only the lovely purple paint that had been underneath.  The walls were in terrible shape and needed a ton of patch work.  I'm not sure what I dislike more, removing wallpaper or patching drywall.  It's not so much the patching that I hate, it's the sanding afterwords.

Once the walls were prepped I painted them with Boomerang's latex, pearl finish recycled paint in what I think is called 'Stone Grey'.  I'm not sure since the colour isn't listed on their website.  The paint was beautiful to work with, nice and thick and covered really well.  If you're not familiar with Boomerang, they basically take recovered domestic paint and stains (aka leftovers) and mix them together to create uniform colours that you can buy super cheap.  I think some colours may be better than others as I used another of their paints in my hallway and stairs and it was a lot more runny and splattered all over.  I also primed and painted all the wood moldings in the room white and removed the door.

I'm not yet ready to share a full view of the room.  I still have to get rid of two large bookcases along one wall, including all the books they currently hold, slipcover two client chairs and get photographs printed and framed for the walls.  Also, I need to somehow get rid of the carpet tape residue that just will not come off the hardwood, finish inside the closet for office storage and repaint the closet door.

What I will share is the making of my valance for the window over part of my desk.  I knew exactly what I wanted for that window as soon as I knew I was putting my office in that room.  I wanted a box pleated valance in grey and white.  I ended up choosing IKEA's Stockholm Blad fabric, not because it was my favourite but because it was the only grey and white fabric they had in stock the day I finally broke down and committed to purchasing fabric for the office.  I'm glad I got it in retrospect.  It doesn't match perfectly and I think that's part of the charm.  The photo above shows the only new items I used to make the valance.   The fabric, thread and a package of pre-made white piping that I splurged on so I didn't have to sit around making my own.  The lining I used was once a bed sheet and then it had been re-purposed for a craft project.  One day I'll have to share photos of my sewing trunk.  It's like the proverbial treasure chest.  I don't throw fabric supplies out if I think there's even the slimmest of possibilities that it could be useful some time in the future.  I also used the bedsheet/craft project lining to make faux piping when I realized that I wanted to have white piping on both the bottom and the top of the valance (but didn't want to drive to the store or spend the extra $2 on another package).

Normally a box pleated valance would have a solid framework underneath.  I was going to build a structure out of scrap wood for mine but realized I'd used all the appropriate scraps on another project.  So, I found an adjustable curtain rod in the 4th bedroom (which is where all the boxes from the before picture went) and nailed some small scraps of 1"x2"'s together to build it out enough that the roller shade could still operate with the valance over top.











I screwed the blocks to the wall above the window and painted them out to match the walls so my mish-mash drapery hardware wouldn't be so noticeable on closer inspection.

I then attached the curtain rod brackets, put up the rod and covered the face of the rod with sticky back Velcro.  This meant I wouldn't have to sew a rod pocket into the valance, it would look somewhat more authentic even with the pieced together hardware and I could still remove the whole thing for washing.  I didn't have to buy the Velcro either.  I have two rolls of the stuff (one of each male and female sides) in my sewing chest from ages and ages ago when I had a business making custom soft furnishings.  It pays to not throw some things out.

I won't go through the step by step details of sewing the valance as I didn't take any photos of the process.  In it's simplest terms you get a long rectangle of fabric and make pleats at even intervals and sew them in place.  You don't have to line it or add piping like I did.  Once the valance was sewn, I stuck the Velcro to the back side and hung it up.

Once the valance was done I took a photo of that side of the room so I could blog about it and then realized that my printer cart shelves were all messy and it didn't look nice.  Since I don't have time to make organizer trays for all my supplies at the moment (and I obviously don't want to buy any) I measured the opening on the cart and cut another piece of fabric the same size adding one inch to the width for side hems and four inches to the length for the bottom hem and the top lip.  Once the side and bottom hems were done I simply zig zag stitched across the top hem to prevent fraying and stuck on yet more Velcro.  I stuck the corresponding Velcro to the underside of the opening and voila!  A curtain to hide the supply shelf mess.

 


Now if only I'd come up with some way to get rid of all those cords......

New-ish Curtains...Finally!

Last, but not least, is my final project to date.  CURTAINS!  We've lived here almost a year and I've been living with the sheers (I have a thing against wall to wall pleated sheers) that were left here by the previous owner.  I only have one picture of them from when I was doing the last walk through of the house before purchasing.  Here's what they looked like then...

So, pretty much standard wall to wall sheerness.  After about nine months I got tired of the cat getting tangled in them while jumping on and off the windowsill and other bothersome things and I chopped them off at the height of the sill which prompted people to ask if I was OK or not because my curtains looked as though they'd been attacked by rabid shears.  The other day I reached the point where I'd just had enough.  Enough staring at those ragged, chopped up ugly sheers, enough of people thinking that I was happy to just live with curtains that looked like that, and mostly enough of having to choose privacy or light, never both.  I wanted to be able to see the sky and let in light and NOT have anyone and everyone be able to watch me like I was a zoo exhibit!  It didn't matter that I didn't have a sewing machine, I wasn't going to wait around to borrow one.  I went out and bought some sash rods and was determined to fix the window one way or another.  Originally I had planned on using tension rods.  Actually, originally I had planned on sewing some gorgeous bottom up and top down roman blinds but not only was that so low on the money list it would have taken forever to get the green light, it would have required a ton of time and tools.

So, on to plan B.  Gathered curtains that left the upper 1/4 of the window open to let in light and allow me to see the trees and sky and not make me a zoo exhibit.  As a side note let me say this; curtain rods vary in price, sometimes quite a lot.  Shop around before buying or you may feel ripped off later on.  The fabric store by me had sash rods for $12/pair, including mounting hardware.  The tension rods in the same size were about the same price for just one.  I needed a total of 8 rods (or 4 sets of 2 pairs).  Luckily I found them at a very large chain store for $3.50/pair.  I saw them later at the dollar store for $1/pair but they were not available in the size I needed so I didn't feel bad.

I have PVC window frames, not wood and I didn't really want to do anything permanent to them (like drill holes for mounting hardware) which posed a dilemma for hanging the rods.  I had a moment of inspiration and decided to try out using 3M adhesive strips to mount the hardware.  I trimmed the strips to fit and they looked like this...

   Then I just measured where I thought I wanted them to be height wise and stuck them to the window frame the same way you'd hang a hook or picture hanger and being sure to clean the area with rubbing alcohol before I started.  Hard to believe but it actually worked!  I love, LOVE 3M products!!  I knew I'd made the right choice when, after I'd hung the curtains to check for fit, I realized I'd mounted the top rods lower than I liked.  I was able to remove the hardware, stick on new adhesive strips and voila, all better.  But I'm getting ahead of myself.

On to the curtains.  I decided that to really be thrifty, save money and recycle all at the same time, I'd re-use the sheers that were already on the window.  I'm so glad I did, saved me money and I doubt you'd be able to guess when you see the finished window.  I chopped them off right below the header tape that made the pinch pleats, trying to be a straight as possible without actually measuring anything.  Then I got out the iron and fished out the iron on hem tape from my sewing crate.  I hadn't used that in years! I don't have any photos of this part but basically all I did was cut each curtain (there were two panels) in half to create four panels, one for each small window that makes up the bow window in the living room.  Then on each panel I folded over the top edge 1/2" and pressed with the iron.  Then I folded that over again about 2-3" (still no measuring) and pressed with the iron.  Like this...

Then you insert the hem tape between the top and bottom layer, keeping it right at the edge, and iron the fabric sandwich.  There should be a bottom layer of fabric, hem tape then top layer of fabric.  Don't iron directly on the hem tape itself or it will just melt all over your iron.  Once you've done this there should now be a pocket at one end of your fabric.  This is where the curtain rod goes.  As someone who used to run a business sewing home furnishings, this project was so much fun.  It broke every rule I ever made for myself and took so much less time to complete than actual sewing, plus not measuring took a lot of the stress away.  Now, put curtain on one of the rods and hang it on the window.

Thread the fabric between the lower rod and the window and it will look like the photo above.  This is how you'll get the correct measurement for the lower hem without actually measuring.  Now, pull the lower edge of the fabric up (not too hard, just snug) and pin in place over the lower rod.  It will look like this...

Take the curtain off the rods carefully and, without removing the pins,  iron the folded over lower edge.  You now know how long your curtain has to be.  Take the pins out, trim off the excess fabric eyeballing about 2-3" from the folded lower edge and follow the same steps used to make the rod pocket for the top.  You now have a curtain that should be exactly the right size for your rod placement.  You can also hem the sides of the curtains but if they're gathered as much as mine are no one will notice if you leave the edges raw.   It just so happened that when I cut the curtains into four panels to make this project, each panel was almost exactly three times the width of individual windows.  That's perfect for this type of curtain.  Less fabric width means less gathers and more see through.  More fabric width means more gathers and less see through.

If you want a more casual look you can just use a rod at the top and the bottom pocket just becomes a hem.  Here's what the two different versions look like finished.

I like the more formal look using two rods, plus it keeps the dog, cat and my daughter from crawling under the curtains to watch squirrels, bark at passing people or draw on the windows with window writers (you can figure out who does what).

Of course, since this is my life, less than 24 hours after deciding to go ahead with this project I was out shopping and saw a deal on sewing machines that simply could not be ignored and I came home with this...

 

The new sewing machine meant that I could now go back and sew over all the seams that I had just made using hem tape.  The good news is that now that I've sewn everything, these curtains are completely washable.  I'm not entirely sure if you can wash items attached with hem tape or if the glue simply dissolves in the water.  I guess you'd have to check the package.  Plus, since all the hard work was already done, it didn't take long at all to get the sewing out of the way.  The 3M adhesive is still hanging in there, over 48 hours later, so I think it's on there for good.  I wasn't sure how it would hold up with the added tension from the curtain, but it's been remarkably strong.  Total cost for this project (not including the price of the sewing machine) was $15.  I already had the hem tape on hand as it comes with certain curtains you buy and I don't throw anything out if I think I'll use it some time before I die.  I have privacy, I have light, no more ugly ratty curtains and I spent next to no money.  How great is that? 

What The Heck Happened?

It's a very good question, actually.  It all seems like a blur to me.  I think the last time I managed to get a post up, my daughter was either just about to leave for ten days or had just left for ten days.  I haven't had much sleep since then, regardless.... So, I just checked the blog and the last time I posted it was about the rat cage and the sofa, at the end of July.  I think the last time I said anything about my daughter's room it was sometime around the 20th of July.  Good grief, so much has changed.  I had ten days to get the room "done" and anyone who knows me would say that for me to think that I'd get it all done in that kind of time frame was crazy.  It would take me nine days and a couple of hours to come to that same realization.

I can't even remember everything that happened, but I think it started out that I was still working on the framing and then I finally broke down and asked to borrow a van so that I could purchase the MDF to skin the bed frame.  I wanted 3/8" MDF, or was it 1/4"?  I can't even remember.  The big box store doesn't carry MDF in anything less than 1/2" (which is overkill and weighs more than I do I think).  I called the lumber store across the street and they were OUT OF STOCK.  What are the chances that on the one day that I get a van, they're out of stock?  I was so mad/upset/frustrated/upset/upset/upset....I ended up buying a sheet of 3/8" plywood, G1S, for the top of the bed, though I was very unhappy about it because I really didn't want any grain showing on this project at all.  I then had a small mental Olympics in the sheet goods aisle and decided I'd use hardboard instead of plywood, if MDF was out of stock.  It was a stupid idea and I freely admit that now.  The hardboard is currently residing in my living room until I can find something to do with it.  Let's see, do I have any photos of where things stood at this point in the story?  No, so I'll just carry on.

I begged A_____ to help me manouver the 4x8 sheet of plywood through the table saw, which was an absolutely atrocious first attempt at using that tool.  Which reminds me,  poor A_____ also got stuck with the job of assembling said table saw, when, after coming home from the fateful shopping trip, I asked him to please open the table saw box for me and he informed me that it was in about one hundred pieces.  That was not a good day.  So, eventually the plywood top for the bed was put in place and I started to cut the hardboard, which was easier since it's not as heavy (it's only attribute in this story).  It was a stupid, stupid choice for what I was intending and after I tried a couple of pieces I think I went a bit over the edge and may have burst into tears and punched the offending bed, which only succeeded in making my knuckles swollen and tender for two days.  The next day I begged my mother to come help me return the three remaining sheets of hardboard and bring back more plywood.  The hardboard wouldn't fit in her SUV properly and would have arrived at the store, 15 minutes away, broken into pieces.  We did manage to get a sheet of plywood though, since the drive was shorter for that trip and the wood was sturdier.

At some point around here I had the brilliant idea that if I used some of the shelves that the old owner had left in the basement to build my bookcases under the bed, I wouldn't have to buy a third sheet of plywood and since the boards were actually bookcases that had been taken apart, some of them had the pre-drilled holes in them to use with shelf supports, thereby answering the question of how I was going to make the shelves for the bookcases.  Here is what it looked like at this point....

  There's plywood on the top, old shelves for the insides of the bookcases, hardboard on the bookcase backs, leftover plywood on the front and and that attempt at hardboard on the right hand side of the front that broke me.  At the very least it was starting to look like "something".  Not a very nice "something", but something.  I think this is when I bought an air compressor/brad nailer kit by accident.  By that I mean that I wasn't intending to buy one, it just happened to be a really good price when I walked by it at the store.  The instructions for the compressor and nailer were some of the worst I've read.  Under "Preparing the Tool for Use",  for example, I believe it said something like "Insert the nails into the gun."  Well, duh!  I've never used a compressor and therefore also never used any air tools.  I wanted a little more help getting used to a tool that might seriously injure me than that.  Huge thanks go out to N_____ and her husband F___.  Without them I'd never have figured out A) how to use my new tool and B) That my new tool was crap and there was a reason that it was such a good price.  Seriously though,  I'd have been completely lost without that tuition.

At this point I guess I bought a shed load of trim wood, after I'd made some quick diagrams of how I thought I wanted the finished trim to look.  I still had some plywood pieces for the cubby hole to cut and the trim to rip and I had no push stick to safely work on the circular saw.  The store I went to wanted almost $20 for a plastic push stick and I was so mad I think I ranted about it.  My nerves were more than a little frayed by this point.  I'd been living on caffiene and not eating much.  When I'm into a project I tend to forget the finer points of living, like sleeping, eating and showering.  I remember going through the day that I cut the trim only having had Coke Zero and I kept thinking to myself "In a bit I'll stop and get a late breakfast"  As the sun was going down that day I realized that perhaps it was a little late for breakfast?  Anyway, what I was trying to get at was that I made my own push stick and I happen to be really poud of it.  It sucked up an hour of my life on that "breakfast" day but it was SO worth it.  Here's what it looks like (I didn't measure it or anything but I did base the design on one I'd seen used on the internet).

  With my new amazing push stick I was able to rip some 1/2"x6"x8' finger jointed pine boards into two types of trim.  1/2"x2-ish" plain trim and 1/2"x3" trim with a bevel like so...

And, along with all the other variations of boards I got, I eventually had a bed that looked like this...

This photo was taken with about 48 hours remaining before my daughter's return home.  I set the bed up and slept on it myself to see if I'd fall out of it in the night.  Thankfully I didn't.   I could have left it at this and she would have understood that I didn't get it "done".  That wasn't good enough for me and so, the next day, until almost 1:00am, I filled major holes, primed knots and threw on a first coat of paint so that when she arrives and saw what I'd done she'd get more of the full effect.  I really shouldn't have done that, there are still nail holes to fill, sanding ot be done etc.  But her face when she saw her bed was my goal.   Right before I crashed, in the wee hours of the morning of her arrival back home, the bed looked like this...

As proof that one shouldn't really paint while tired, I was covered in the stuff, includin my hair...

However, when my daughter came home and I ushered her upstairs, this was the end the result of all my hard work...

Know what she said when I asked her if it was as good as she thought it would be?  "It's way better than I thought it would be.!"  No sweeter words were ever spoken.  For those who are thinking to themselves "She can't sleep on that, she'll roll off there and break her neck!"  Don't worry, I'd purchased a portable, fold down bed rail but waited to install it until after she'd seen the bed.  In fact, my daughter opened the box and put the bed rail together herself, she was so excited about it.  It's not as nice looking as the bed without the rail, but it's safer and it can be removed when no longer needed.

That was enough excitement for one day, however, I was not allowed to rest on my laurels as the next morning my daughter was asking "When are we going to sand?"  So, I told her that if she sanded one wall of the room, I'd do the rest and we'd both get to paint.

Bless her, she really wanted to paint!  I did help her sand the parts by the ceiling, but to her credit she did sand the majority of that big wall by herself.  When we'd painted two of the walls, I couldn't stop talking about how different and nice the paint looked and she repeated over and over "This isn't my room!  This is a hotel!"  It's no coincidence that the fan behind her head looks like a halo.  I could have kissed her!  In fact I believe I did.  After day one of painting, the big wall looked like this...

I don't even recognize it as the same place.  The raspberry sorbet colour was a bit of a shock at first, but not only does it look great with the white, it really is a pretty good match for the curtains without having it custom tinted.  Today we sanded and painted the remaining walls, but the room is still all torn up as I had to take the mattress off to get at the back wall.  Tomorrow I'll be paining trim, I hope, and then putting stuff back together.

I'm REALLY not that smart...

I was sitting on the sofa making a lumber shopping list for my daughter's room and I thought to myself that I should look into the whole front entry lumber issue while I was at the store.  There I am, staring into space, contemplating the problem, when my eyes land on the wood I have resting across the top of the two big cabinets in my living room.  Oh, for the love of Bob Vila!  Those boards have been sitting there since they were removed from the living room window, where they served as a built in valance for the old owners.  I was loathe to throw them out because each board is 14' long and 6" across.  With no idea what to do with them, they've been hiding in odd places for the last, oh, eight months!  The answer was staring me in the face this whole time, I must be really out to lunch!  I took one down and laid it over the step and voila, it'll work.  I think it may even be the same wood as the rest of the stairs, if not, it's got a very similar grain.  The width will need trimming and the thickness needs planing but once I cut the lengths and mitre them, I'll happily sit there with the free hand planer (I got from my mom's husband and never had a chance to use) and carve away at it until it fits flush.  Looks like I'm going to need that router and table.  Time to start checking the tool sales!  It's a relief to finally have a working plan for the step, but frustrating to know that if I'd been smarter the job would be done by now.  Another lesson learned.

This is one of the boards laid across the existing step.   A bit too wide but looks great already!

This is the reveal, showing how much excess thickness there is between the board and the top of the tile.  I'll have to plane this away.  Looks like a lot of work, probably is a lot of work.  Don't care at this point, I'll just embrace my inner pre-Industrial Revolution carpenter ;)

I'm Back!

Today was my daughter's first day of camp, which meant it was time to work on her bedroom.  The weather started out rainy and overcast, but by 11am the sun was shining off and on and I took a chance that it wasn't going to pour all over my power tools and I set up for the day.  I went to T_____L____ and bought yet another load of 2x4's and away I went (more on my discovery at the lumber yard in a sec).  Today it finally looks as though there is progress being made.  I managed to do a couple of loads of bulk cuts rather than having to go up and down the stairs after each and every one.  I also stopped screwing everything down between cuts and just dry fitted as far as I could, which sped things up as well. 

Because I'm somewhat making this up as I go along, I haven't really been sure what the final product was going to look like.  Today I think I've got it mostly figured out.  You can now see where the two recessed bookcases are going to be located on the long side and there is a definite space for the proposed built in drawers on the short side.  Before I started I had thought that there would be two smaller bookcases on the long side and that the drawers would come out by the foot end of the long side as well.  However, once I started building, I realized that the drawers were just going to be much too long in that direction and it would make more sense to use that space for more books (since we don't have a television, we read a lot in our house).  The two things I'm still not 100% on are the ladder or steps to get onto the bed and whether or not I want or need to have side rails on this bed.  In regards to the ladder, I don't want it taking up too much room in an already tiny space and I don't want it to cover or hinder access to the shelves.  After looking at today's photo for a bit I think I may build a flush mounted ladder into the only empty space in the whole thing, on the short side of the bed.  It would be small, but take up next to no room and not block anything.  As for side rails, I don't really want them as it will close the space in quite a bit and putting sheets on the bed would then become a royal pain in the behind.  In one of our old places, my daughter had a metal bunk bed with a futon/double bed on the bottom and a single bed on top.  Trying to shove and smooth sheets on the top bunk drove me nuts!  There's always the option of using store bought temporary style bed rails, but they're really ugly, even if they don't require permanent fixings. 

Another point that has been bothering me is the fact that the top edge is quite thick and the bottom is thin.  The balance is effectively backwards and if I leave it this way it will mean that I won't be able to add baseboard around the bottom of the unit and it will become visually top heavy.  I knew that from the start but was loathe to change it because it would mean building up the bottom to at least equal the thickness of the top edge and this would cut into the amount of usable space for the bookshelves, not by all that much, but enough that it may mean the difference between having three useable shelves per side or only having room for two per side.  Today I convinced my self that there was no other option but to build up the bottom because I'll regret it later if I don't.  The unit will have no hope of looking built in if I can't install baseboard and I'll end up hating it, not a good thing after so much work and money going into it. 

Oh, I also have my "other" drill back which has been incredibly helpful.  Previously I was switching between a drill bit (for pilot holes) and the driver bit (to drive in the screws) for every single piece of wood.  I had blisters on my palm from the friction of the keyless chuck.  Now I can use one drill for pilot holes and one for screwing things together.  Heaven!  Many thanks to my Uncle D___ for diagnosing the problem with my "other drill" and getting it sorted for me. (In the photo below you can see where my daughter has tucked in one of her stuffed toys between the joists of the bed...at least someone is getting to sleep on it)

In other news, my grandparents came over last week and spent the day helping me figure out what were flowers and what were weeds in my garden.  Then they helped me pull out an enormous amount of weeds.  In exchange they got lunch and a swim in the pool.  I got the better end of the deal I'm sure!  I've got to take a photo tomorrow of how bare it is now.  Also, since my grandfather spent the whole day using the Fiskars long handled weeder on the lawn, the grass looks like grass again instead of a dandelion farm.  I can't tell you how thankful I am for the help and they may be attempting another round again next week which would be amazing to say the least.

Lastly, the pool has been great since the weather has been so hot and I haven't put the air conditioning on.  However, end of last week it developed a case of algae.  It cost me $60 in algaecide, shock and Alkadjuster to get rid of it.  I even went in with a scuba mask and scrubbed the sides down two days in a row just to be safe.  It was beautifully clear and clean up until today when I realized the darned algea is back.  I dosed it again with algaecide and I'll have to make sure to vacuum to waste tomorrow and completely backwash the filter to try and get rid of everything.  I can't believe that anything could grow in there with the amount of chemical I dumped in it mere days ago.  I think I'm single handedly killing the environment and it's making me feel rather guilty.  Also, since I had that mask on, I found two more small holes in the liner.  One in the same corner as the other, but at the very bottom edge and the other right at the bottom of the deep end.  I'm going to repair them while wearing latex gloves this time as I believe the glue that got on my fingers after the last repair made the skin peel off and look quite gross for weeks after.

   

Progess and a Bit of Peace

The Room As It Was Before We Moved In

I've patched the drywall which was therapeutic and familiar but having to move around the bed and bookcases was a pain.  There's simply too much "stuff" in this house and seeing my daughter's room stripped down made me consider getting rid of a lot of it.  It would be so nice to be stuff-less.  Also, I had such a hard time maneuvering the bookcases around I had to wonder if I'm starting to get old?  In my early twenties moving stuff like that was commonplace and seemed much easier.  If I get to my forties and find that I can't move a dining table or the sofa or some other such thing, what then?  If the old guy down the street can still look after his lawn and trim his hedge and haul his garbage to the curb every week surely I can move some measly furniture around within the next twenty years or so?  I also realized something, or I guess I remembered it.  Drywall compound is messy.  I didn't cover anything with drop cloths and though I didn't make a huge mess I did drop blobs of compound on various places on the floor, it's on my clothing and on my feet, which I've just had pedicured.  Now, I've seen pros do drywalling and plastering and all the ones I've seen are men and they make almost no mess at all (I suspect there must be women in these professions but I've never seen one).  As I scraped blobs of compound off the floor I wondered if those men are married and I also wondered if their wives complain about them making messes at home and that set me off on a whole tangent of marital relationships that ended with the idea that those men should invite their wives to try a hand at their jobs one day and see who makes a mess then.  Well, that's enough of that.  I've got some pictures of my progress so far, which isn't all that much really.

The top photo shows where the shelves were removed, the one on the bottom left is some of the damage after removing the wallpaper and the one on the bottom right is after my first pass of compound, but before sanding.  There are nail holes everywhere in this room.  I don't get it, some of them are really high up too which makes no sense to me.  Most of the damaged parts seem to be on outside walls, I don't know if that's coincidence or has something to do with the fact that the walls have little to no insulation in them.  I wish I had a wide angle lens to get a better view of the room.

DIY Blues

Morale is at an all time low these past few days. Progress is crawling rather than sprinting forward in leaps and bounds. I just can't get into this project when it has everything in it that I used to love doing. Planning, building, finishing and decorating. Honestly, I feel really alone. Maybe that's the bulk of the problem. I know what I want to do, I know how I should be doing it and yet, as one single person, I can't get it done.

It's raining today and that means no cutting wood outside. I could cut wood in the living room or kitchen but that would cause a huge mess and really, who wants more of a mess if there's a suitable alternative? I could also cut wood in the basement IF I could get the 8' 2x4's down the stairs and around the corners. But, the workshop area is in the laundry room and I'm currently doing laundry. Last time I used power tools down there I was cleaning sawdust out of the washer and dryer forever. I could also just cut the damned things with a hand saw but it now feel as though that would be cheating.

Once I get around to framing the bed, it'll be time for the MDF sheets that I'll need to finish it, along with some wood trim. The trim isn't the problem, the MDF is. Most smaller wood trim I can fit in the car, or walk home if I go across the street for it. MDF is big and flat and heavy. I can't get it in the car, as one person I can't walk it home and I don't want to have it ripped down to a size that will fit in the car. That would mean a ton more seams and extra work for me. I have nothing polite to say about my frustration. I also don't want to try and build a trolley to carry the sheets home either, I don't think that the 1x3's and 1/4" plywood pieces currently sitting at the side of the house waiting for the dump are going to be sturdy enough. You know what I need (aside from a few extra hands, more money and a large vehicle)? A GARAGE. I used to love working in the garage. You can store wood and supplies in there, you can cut and sand and paint and stain and you never have to worry about rain or laundry or making a mess unless there's a hole in your roof and you have a garage/laundry room combo...which I can't really see. You know what really bugs me? I could have the sheets delivered if I was desperate, or I could rent a van for an hour and get them loaded for me, but as a woman, I can't frigging unload them or even if I managed to drag them out of the vehicle I couldn't possibly manipulate them through the table saw. I'm starting to think that a man could do that, if he was strong enough. I guess that logic should also tell me that a woman who was of equal strength could do it as well. Neither scenario makes me any happier. There must be an alternative. Perhaps it is planning out all the cuts, going to the big box store and having them rip it for me at $1.00/cut and using a rental vehicle to get it home. Call me stubborn, but I don't want to do that. My mother was supposed to come here to help and bring her large vehicle with her but that plan is out the window too.

I went out this morning to get paint for the room. I brought along the fabric sample from the curtains so I could get a good match. I haven't painted anything in a long time. I painted one room last year and before that it had been at least five years. I went to C____T___ this morning because it's really close and I used to love their paint. The store nearest me has almost no selection and when I asked if they had any low VOC paint the guy working in the paint department had no idea what I was talking about. Last year I was talked into getting "low VOC" paint to try and help with paint fumes and air quality because I was painting my daughter's room (ironic) and I didn't want her to inhale nasty chemicals, did I? More on that in a sec. Now C____T___ has some paint that's $18 a gallon. That's a good price, but I left and drove all the way to H___D___ because they have a bigger selection and that's where I got that miraculous "low VOC" paint last year. I went to the paint department and asked for low VOC and you know what they told me this year? ALL paint (the base) is low VOC to start with, some are even no VOC. It's the tint that you have added that contains all the VOC's. So the darker the colour of paint, the higher the VOC content. There's nothing you can do about it. I had a great colour match for the fabric and was convinced by the staff that the all-in-one primer + top coat would be perfect for my needs and even though the pink I'm using is extremely dark it's supposed to cover in ONE COAT. It better, a gallon cost me $45.00 and I don't think I've ever paid that much for one can of paint, ever. I just never saw the need, as I said I shopped C___T___ and the paint always looked great. I also bought some semi-gloss white trim paint and that was $20 for a pint so all together, including the environmental charge for me buying the paint itself, it was $85.00. I also bought some ECO friendly recycled paint rollers that come in compostable packaging. That was supposed to make me feel better after having bought paint chock full of VOC's only it really didn't help me feel any better at all.

As I was using the self checkout I managed to get bright pink paint all over my hands and on my jeans. You know when they dab a bit of paint on the lid for you to see what the colour looks like after they've mixed it for you? It didn't dry. Luckily it was still raining and I stood in the parking lot using water from a puddle to clean myself. Yes. I did.

After all that I decided I really needed something to cheer me up and I went to the local Vietnamese restaurant for a lovely bowl of PHO soup. That, of all things, did help. I also got a call from my daughter, who is still in Vancouver. She wants me to wait until she returns to paint the walls because she wants to help. I asked if I could leave just one wall for her to do and she said no, ALL the walls. OK then. She just made my life easier and harder at the same time. Last time she "helped" me paint her room she spilled it on the carpet, twice, and got it all over herself. At least the carpet in her room has been removed and it's hardwood now.

I need to get my butt in gear and go patch the drywall and caulk and the trim...

Also...

the Scandinavian store took back the doors that they told me would fit my bookcase, without a fight. I was so relieved. I now have $150 to spend on something else to finish my daughter's room!

What a Day!

I cannot believe how slowly this project is going. I am having such trouble keeping within my self imposed deadline. I spent most of today stripping wallpaper in my daughter's bedroom and I was sweating like you would not believe. Yes, I have air conditioning. I have no idea if it actually works because I've never turned it on, but, I do have air conditioning. I'm not sure what the temperature was today but yesterday my car said it was 38 degrees outside. That's without the humidex. It also makes working on any kind of project feel like hell. The room is coming along in fits and starts but it's not what I was hoping for. I should be finished the wallpaper by tonight and that means that I have to start framing the built in bed tomorrow. I'll be completely honest here and admit that using the table saw scares the living daylights out of me. I don't want to do it, which seems silly since I shelled out quite a few bucks to buy the darned thing. I'm afraid of power tools....there, I said it. I know it seems weird for someone who proclaims to enjoy DIY to be afraid of power tools but there you have it.

When I was a teen my dad had me work on something (I have no idea what it was) that involved using a circular saw. I'd never used one before. He showed me how it worked, told me what he wanted and then went upstairs and left me to it. I started my first cut, hit a knot in the wood and the saw kicked back barely missing my arm. I can still feel the adrenaline and shock. He failed to inform me about kick back. I was shaking and he brushed it off with a laugh but I don't think I ever trusted a power tool since then. I haven't ever used a circular saw since (that I can think of). I know I need to "get over it". I know that the tools I have aren't going to randomly start cutting off my limbs and yet, I'm still afraid. It's like when I went to a shooting range and shot a 9mm. When the instructor handed me the gun and the ammunition I loaded it per his instructions and then was frozen in fear as though the thing was going to turn around in my hand and shoot me in the face. Totally irrational. Once I realized that the inanimate object in my hand was a tool like any other and would only do what I wanted it to I was fine. Sigh, I can totally see myself attempting to build this thing with a jig saw (something which I've used many times without error) and a drill. That's not who I want to be. I should really read up on things to avoid when using a table saw and just get it over with. If I practice proper diligence and take my time all will be fine.....after all, it's totally irrelevant that my friend's ex husband cut the tip of his finger off on his table saw, right?

June 27, 2010 - New Toilet? Not yet.

I went shopping the other day to one of my favourite places and I unfortunately saw a lovely white toilet for $89.00. That's for the dual flush, two piece model. The single piece, dual flush model was $149.00. It made me mad. My bathroom is ugly. I'm not kidding around, a child who visitied my house was once so scared to use it he asked his mom to come with him. That's a new measure of ugly, when it evokes fear. It started out as simply plain old out of date. Then one day I decided that enough was enough and ripped off the wallpaper. It was pink striped. I figured I'd rip it all off and then wash the walls and repaint. Not to happen. There was a reason someone put wallpaper in that bathroom. The walls were in horrible shape with peeling layers of paint of unknown age, home repairs and renovations obviously done either in haste or without care. There's a huge patch in the wall from when the Jacuzzi tub was put in and they wired it to the switch...so that's why there was a big bulge in the wall over there! When I removed the paper around the medicine cabinet half the drywall came with it. They had installed a fancy new medicine cabinet with integrated light fixture by simply cutting a hole in the wall and hooking new wires to the old ones in the box with wire nuts, tucking everything back into the box and drywalling over the mess. Then they ran out of drywall tape and halfway around the cabinet theres MASKING TAPE instead. Look. I don't do electrical. I never have. But even I know it has to be against code to simply tuck a mess of wires into a box you're no longer using and drywall over it. Thank goodness I'd never tried to drill a hole for something up there. Anyway, the bathroom stayed like that - with missing chunks in the wall and peeling triple coloured paint for a very long time. Months. I thought that having to look at it would make me fix it faster. Not really. Then one day I'd had enough of waiting for the money to do it right and bought two rolls of textured wallpaper and papered over the whole darned thing. How is that making it right, you ask? Well it isn't, obviously. But I'd bought a lovely new light fixture to replace the hideous mess on the wall above the sink but had no one (free) to hook it up for me. If was just a simple replacing like with like job I might have been desperate enough to attempt it. But not with that wire nest in the wall. I also didn't have a 3'x3' piece of drywall to patch over the cabinet when I removed it. So I painted it white, wallpapered over everything and when I get the money I'll have someone fix the wire mess, install the light and I'll scrounge a piece of drywall from somewhere. I have extra wallpaper to fix it again. Now what does this have to do with a toilet? Well, my plan for the bathroom is two tiered. I don't want to do a full reno by ripping out the drywall completely, with the ugly tiles, and install insulation (there currently is none) until such time as I can afford to replace the Jacuzzi tub with a brand new one. So, the plan was/is to install tile board over the old ugly tile, install a new, but cheap, floor, paint the current vanity, get a new sink, vanity top and taps and a new toilet. So why did I not purchase the new toilet when I saw it? Because the timing is all wrong. The pool is sucking all my money. My next project is to finish my daughter's room and if I get the toilet that means I have to commit to ripping out the old one thereby creating a need to install the tile board and new floor while there is no toilet in the way. Simply can't be done. I'll just keep my fingers crossed that the infamous $89 toilet will reappear again at a more opportune time.