Finally a Bookshelf!

Do you ever have one of those projects that you put off for months or years, and when it's finally done you think "Why on earth did we not do this sooner?"  This was definitely one of those.  

If we are friends on Facebook, then you already saw some of these pictures, but here is a more detailed play by play.  No, it's not a tutorial on how to build a bookshelf because I don't know how to build a bookshelf!  My job was to document (and not very well I was told), and then putty, paint, and style.

Matt told me I didn't get close ups of how the pieces fit together so perfectly.  He was proud.  As he should be.

I don't have a close up of the craziness going on in the corner before, but here's a shot of that side of the room taken last year.  If you look close, you can see that the corner does not meet at a 90 degree angle.  Because of a support post holding up the roof, the drywall is actually at a 45 degree angle.

To build a bookshelf behind the TV meant we need to create a 90 degree corner so the bookshelf would have a side.  A bookshelf needs to side pieces to attach the shelves to, right?

 Since we were already having to box in the corner, we both had the thought that we could put a door on it and shove the modem and other cords into.  And since the bottom shelf was going to be raised off the floor 4 inches, why not make it removable and run cords under there as well!

These are the kind of pictures Matt wished I took more of.  Perfect joints.  Most people do their best and caulk the rest (is that the saying?).  But Matt's an engineer, so it had to be perfect.  My dad asked how he knows how to build like this. Matt said, it's just geometry.  It's so easy to him (not so much me).  I don't even think he writes any of this down.  It's all in his head.

The shelves are just screwed in from the outside, so no underneath supports needed.

This is Matt's technique for attaching shelves or even mounting cabinets.  Stack things under it until you reach the desired height.  Keeps things still and level.  Great for those of us who don't have 3 or 4 arms.

Matt's job is done.  He(along with co-workers who saw this photo) really wanted to leave it this natural two-tone color.  It's interesting, but SO doesn't go with the rest of our house.  It would have stood out in not a good way since all our trim is white.

 I should also note that the reason the boards are so dark is because they are 20 or 30 yrs old.  Matt's parents were saving them for the perfect project, which never came up, so they gave them to us to use.  Some of them have knotty holes straight through, which really add a lot of character and make it look like a built in piece from an old house.

The plan was to put the stereo and printer on the shelves and run the cords through holes drilled into the side of the bookshelf.  You can see one of the holes in the photo below.  The bottom shelf is removable by drilling a similar hole into the far right side to stick your finger into to lift out.  Under the shelf are all the cords for the TV, printer, stereo, and the cord thingy that connects a laptop to the TV (since we watch nearly all of our tv either on hulu or netflix).

And inside the door is the DSL line and modem.

And here it is finished and styled.  We have plenty of room to grow and change it up as our needs change.  

I'm completely in love with it.  It's amazing how it's really replaced 3 pieces of furniture(bookshelf in other room, tv tray with stereo, small bookshelf with printer and books).  And does it a million times better than those other 3 pieces ever did!

First Sewing Project

One of my big Christmas gifts this year was a sewing machine.  I've known the basics since I was a teenager, but my skills haven't progress much past a simple throw pillow.  With Pinterest flaunting wonderful projects in my face everyday, temptation wore me down.  It's time to teach myself some new skills.  

I did very little research when picking out a machine.  Just that most experienced sewers still recommend Singer.  They've really stood the test of time.  I didn't want a SUPER fancy one, but I didn't want a bare bones machine either.  I didn't want to out grow it if I get really into this new hobby.

In the end I went with the Singer 7258 Stylist with 100 stitches.  You can find it at Amazon here.

For my first project, I started simple.  Two beige rectangles.  Super exciting, I know.

Our bedroom has this ledge at the top of one 12 ft tall wall.  It's there to create a 9 ft ceiling in the other bedroom.  Without that ceiling "cap", the ceiling in the other room would become a narrow wedge, which would just look weird.  So we capped it also with the thought that we could use it as storage in the future.  With only 800 sq ft, and 12 ft ceilings, we are utilizing every bit of vertical storage space.

Decorative containers would be one solution, but that would require something with a lid to keep out the dust.  And they would have to be attractive, which means EXPENSIVE.

Then, I thought of a curtain on a cable line.  Any ugly plastic container could go behind it.

We found this wire curtain rod at Ikea for $13, and clips for $3.  

I wanted to find some thick fabric that would blend into the wall color instead of a contrasting color/pattern.  While at the fabric store, I found the perfect fabric made out of duck cloth(which is basically canvas) in an array of color choices.  Off white was a perfect match, but it was $8/yard and I was guessing I needed at least 2, maybe 3 yards.  Starting to get expensive.

So, I left the store empty handed and headed over to Lowes to buy a 9x6 inexpensive painters drop cloth.

Lots of people have been using the cheap painters drop clothes to make cheap curtain panels and all sorts of other things(just take a look at this blog post for ideas).  Once it's washed, it's actually quite soft.  But it only comes in one color(darker than my walls).  I decided it was close enough and worth the money savings to not have a perfect match.

Let's speed this story up.

I did not take photos of my cutting and sewing the panels, but it's pretty straight forward.  Once I washed and ironed the fabric, I layed it out flat and made measurements based on what I had measured after Matt installed the wire curtain rod.  

I went with two panels instead of one long one because I thought it would be easier to manage getting things in and out.

The ledge is 10 ft long so I made two 7 ft long panels for a total of 14 ft (room for gather).  That looked too full, so I cut them down to 6 ft.

There were many trips up and down the ladder to get the "fluff" right.  I'm using the space to store out of season clothes.  Since it requires a ladder from outside, it's really the best thing to store in there since I only need to get to it twice a year.

We realized after that the big plastic boxes we already had, were too big to fit because of the angled wall.  A trip to Walmart was needed and we searched for boxes that would still fit a lot of clothing, but were a little narrower than the others.  

We found some that almost fit the bill.  So close in fact, it was just the rim that made it not fit, and flare the curtain out a bit.  We just flipped the boxes upside down and it was fine!  There's nothing breakable in them.

And a photo during daylight.

Four bins fit up there, but I only needed two, which means I have two to grown on!  Here's a peak at what the bins look like and, of course, the OCD in me labeled them all (upside down so it's readable in the upside down bin). 

When summer clothes are in them we can face this side out, and when winter clothes are in them, we can turn it around and have a different label face out.

I'd say my first adult sewing project was a success, although not terribly exciting.  Next will probably be some FUN throw pillows!  With zippers!  Maybe.

Master Closet Storage

Not too long ago, our master closet looked like this:

We added the rods right after we moved in because we were just living out of a suitcase.  Then came the upper shelf.  Just like with the pantry and laundry shelves, we salvaged the melamine boards used to form our concrete counters and made shelves out of them, saving us $100-$200 in all.

This big blank wall is where shelves for more of my clothes will go.  I tossed around lots of ideas from a built in unit similar to the bathroom, to free standing already built bookcases and cubbies from Lowes or Ikea.  And cheap was definitely a priority.  

This is the awkward shelf space that we almost didn't have at all.  They were going to build those walls straight up until I stopped them.  The reason it's there at all is for head clearance on the stairs (the part where it turns and going out onto the deck).  So, I said make it as high as head clearance needs, then put a lid on it.  Thus, creating this awkward ledge area.

Notice how the top of the ledge still shows sub flooring and the drywall shows a raw edge on top.

A trip (aka "date night") to Ikea (that's right. we know how to party) was planned, complete with dinner in the cafeteria.  I was getting discouraged because I didn't see anything that would work for our narrow wall and in our budget, that is until we got to the shelving department.

I can't find the exact shelf online (ours was $7 and solid pine), but it looked kinda like this one.  They come unfinished and needed to be sanded, stained, and sealed.  Sorry, I didn't photograph those steps since I've shown it before on here.

And I picked out these brackets because...well isn't it obvious?  They were 50 cents!  And not bad looking.  I got white ones so they would blend in with the wood trim in the room.  Because they are small and made of plastic, they aren't very strong, but the only thing I'm putting on the shelves is clothing so it will be fine.  I would only worry if I was going to put books on them.

I contemplated spray painting them a cheerful color, but couldn't decide on one, so they are still white.

On top of the really high shelf is where I store my totes and handbags.  Everything was just tossed up there and I couldn't get them down without getting the folding step stool from the kitchen.  I was going to buy a storage bin, until I went in the garage and saw a huge pile of moving boxes about to be burned/recycled.  One of those would be the perfect size.   And perfect price ;-)

I cut the flaps off and cut out some hand-holds for easy usage.  A scrap piece of card stock label was fast and easy and makes it look less like a random cardboard box.  It serves it's purpose.  I might add another one for the larger tote bags.

Over in the awkward area...it got less awkward.  Matt capped it with melamine board (yes, one more repurposed piece), and trimmed the edge with a piece of wood to hide the ugly "innards" of the pressed melamine board and also the rough drywall edge (still needs to be painted!)

Also, purchased at Ikea that night was this step stool I'd been eyeing for quite a while.  I've seen it featured on other blogs and even used as a small side table.  I needed it to reach the top shelf of the closet.  When you utilize your tall shelves with storage, you need step stools within arms reach.  

Everything from Ikea "packs flat" in other words "if you want a low price, you assembly yourself".  I couldn't wait to unpack and assembly it...by myself.  It wasn't too difficult.  And NO, this is not "building your own furniture"!  Why do people say that??  "My husband built this."  No, he "assembled it".  Kinda like when people in new subdivisions say "When we built this house...".  You did not build that house.  The developer did.  I don't even like to take credit for building our house!

Anyway...

Getting back on track.

I've seen it painted all different colors too and thought it would be fun to paint mine a fun color.  It would need to be a color pulled out of the rag rug on the closet floor, which was easy because there are so many colors in it.  I almost went with coral, but the rug already had a lot of coral, I thought it would be too much.  And aqua is one of my top favorite colors and goes with my clothing well.  So aqua it is.  I picked out a valspar color because Lowes will mix up any color for just $3.  One little jar is plenty for a small piece of furniture.

All new wood will need a little sanding before and after the first coat of paint(or primer) goes on.  I didn't prime it because I was lazy and didn't want to dirty another brush.  It'll be fine.  After the first coat of paint, all the little wood "hairs" will stand up and get hard and dry from the paint.  Another round of quick sanding will take care of them.

As I was painting, I wanted to do something fun that I had seen on dresser drawer fronts and table tops: stencil or tape off a design and leave the wood showing through.

I don't have a photo, but I just applied a bunch of water tight painters tape (I used Frog Tape that seals as you paint).  Then sketched a design onto the tape and used a sharp knife to cut it out.  Only thing left to do was paint.

Be sure to take the tape off while the last coat is still wet.  This helps keep clean lines and prevents the paint or tape from tearing.

The last step was the apply polyurethane to the top of the stool.  I don't have a before and after of that but, it deepens the wood color slightly and also creates a seal on the wood.  Since the unpainted wood has no protection, it's important for durability since there will be feet on it.

In it's new home.

The last project featured was actually the first project completed.  I knew from the beginning that I didn't want a door on the closet.  With the bed centered under the window, it didn't leave much room for a door to swing out.  And there definitely wasn't much room for a door to swing in.  Lots of other bloggers have even removed closet doors and replaced them with curtains.  So when our house was built, we didn't even have a door jam installed, and saved a little money by not buying a door.

Again, going with something cheap and quick, I got one of those $2 rods from Target.  I thought about making a curtain panel, but I wouldn't really be saving much money and would still have to spend the time sewing it.  

At Target, I found a curtain panel that was the perfect shade of gray to match our duvet cover.  And BONUS, it's made out of this really chunky soft linen, which has beautiful texture to it.

Using tree branches is the "trendy" thing right now, and I hope that sticks around (haha that pun was a total accident) because I love the look, and I have lots of branches!  The style is very fitting to our house, ya know, since we're in the woods in all.

Now we can close the curtain to hid all the hanging clothes.  I was really getting tired of looking at them while I lie in bed.

Oh, and that texture I was telling you about.  It gave me a nice surprise at night with the light on.  Pretty cool effect, right.

Cost:

4 Mini Projects

Shelves (3 cut in half): $21

Brackets (12): $6

Stain: already had

Poly: $5

Sandpaper: already had

Step stool: $15

Paint: $3

Painters tape: already had

Melamine board: already had

Wood trim: $3

Curtain: $20

Curtain Tie-back: free from yard

Curtain Rod: $2

Starting To Feel Settled

When we finished our house and moved it, it was very deceiving to call it "done". It's far from done. There was not a single shelf in the entire house. Kinda makes it hard to unpack and get settled in. Even some of the kitchen cabinets were lacking shelves. I had to prioritize my list and put Matt to work measuring and cutting shelving boards.

The shelving boards are actually the same exact boards we used as our concrete counter forms. They were half our countertop budget, but would have been a lot of waste to just throw them out. AND we would have had to spend a couple hundred dollars in new boards.

First on the list was the laundry closet. We chose to put in two extra deep 18in. shelves. No, it's not pretty. It's functional. Eventually, I might make it look nicer and more organized, but for now it works. I have more important things to do. And I can just close the door and not look at it.






Next, was the pantry. It's hard to function in a kitchen when you can't get to any of your food. I know, I know. I have a lot of food. But I swear it's all in date and I use it all regularly!






The lazy susans were free from Ikea. It was one of my purchases with the two $25 coupons they mailed out. Just one of the perks of having had two mailing addresses. You get twice the junk mail everyday, but when an awesome store like Ikea sends out free money, you get it twice! They work great for our cans!

The blue trash can is our recycling. It fills up about every week and we don't have curbside collection (for trash either), so we're collecting the recyclables in the garage and plan to start taking it to the collection center at the county dump. You can bring household trash for free if you also bring recyclables.

The metal can is paper recycling and the gray tub is dog food.



Third on the list were coat hooks. I was going out of my mind having coats hanging on the backs of all our chairs. These are just the coats we are wearing currently and frequently. The weather changes everyday, so we have each have a raincoat, fleece, and heavy coat on the hooks. There are even more coats in our closet.





I love these coat hooks. My long term plan is to do a board and batten treatment under this 1x4, like this.



We've done a little bit in our master closet. Just enough to function. Matt installed two long closet rods (one for each of us, plus coats).



We still need shelving in there for all my non-hanging clothes. And we need to figure out what to do with this space.



My mom got herself new bar stools, so we got her hand-me-downs.



When my mom brought me the bar stools, she also helped me paint the bathroom.





Since then, I've painted the $10 goodwill mirror and heavily distressed it. The old wood stain color clashed really bad with the golden oak counter.





Matt is almost done with the column of shelves in the corner. It will serve as our linen closet for towels. Once it's finished and painted white, it will really help balance out all the green.




So that's half the linen closet. The other half is bedding and blankets. Since we don't have a linen closet, I was looking for a trunk to go at the end of the bed for storage. My mom found one about 6 months ago and got it for me from an antique store.





I haven't decided if it will stay that color. I'll make that decision this spring/summer after the dressers get painted.

I also finally put on our new duvet cover that I got at WestElm.com



Not sure if the shams will stay. They might need to be our summer bedding when I leave the comforter bare white. I'd like to find colorful shams to put the accent up there instead of at the foot. The lime green fleece throw was $3 from Ikea.

Another big improvement are the slipcovers that I bought 2 years ago from J C Penney and have been dying to put them on. I never did it before because the slipcovers were too close to the wall color. It looked too washed out in our cave of a living room.





Matt got himself heavy duty shelves for the garage. They were partly Christmas gifts from my parents.



The rest of the garage looks like this:



Kind of a disaster.

And behind the empty boxes is all my stuff:



We still have to:

-paint kitchen cabinets (that's done actually! pics coming soon!)
-build a well house (in progress!)
-install water filter
-finish bathroom shelves
-paint bathroom shelves
-paint all doors
-sand kitchen open shelves
-install kitchen open shelves
-hang door on garage bathroom
-prime/paint garage bathroom
-build shelves in master closet
-petition to get our mailbox moved to our side of the street (it's a dangerous/inconvenient situation)
-make colorful throw pillows
-install plywood in "the cave" so we can use it as storage
-build bookshelves in office
-make office/desk functional

Hmmm...I'm sure I'm leaving off a bunch of things. But that's what's on our/my "urgent" list in somewhat of an order. Hopefully it will all be done by spring, so we can focus on the yard and outdoor activities like painting furniture and having a yard sale.