Out with the old and in with the new-ish

Goodbye brown stripe.  I buy all my paint on the mistint shelf.  This can be a challenge.  I know my color wheel and am getting pretty dang good at tweaking the colors just so.  The blue/grey on the walls and the teal-grey-green on the cupboards are both "custom".  The savings are huge....but I'm learning it doesn't always work.  Although the recycled the cupboards were sanded the paint just isn't durable enough for the daily use. It didn't want to stick!  My dad always swore by the stuff he called "liquid sandpaper".  It just didn't work well for me this time.  I really needed his expertise.  But unfortunately he is getting too elderly to take to the worksite anymore.  I tried a clear a final clear coat,but in the long run I think I would go with a more durable enamel rather than painting 3-4 coats of a cheaper paint. whew.  Too much work!

These upper (left)  I created.  First attempt ever.  I learned my lesson with these quickly.  My large vintage square is my savior through out this whole job, but not lining shelves up was my mistake.   Although I wanted open shelving, it makes it impossible to put doors on in the future (because they didn't line up with each other.) Keep this in mind. 

New pony wall.  This should of been easy right?  It wasn't as solid as we wanted.  I didn't realis that that you have to frame in glass blocks so I bagged the staggered glass blocks  for the top.  I love glass blocks and I scored a bunch at Habitat for $2 ea.  I was bummed.  But I really like how the wood turned out on it.  I salvaged the tongue and groove from a 100 yr. old house on our farm.  I have wainscotting made with it around my adjoining dining room.  another possible issue is the fridge is pretty snug in it's original spot.  We just won't ever be able to buy a bigger fridge.  The flooring you can see (blue vinyl)  That is the original manufacturers flooring that was in when we purchased our snug little repo.  The "repo" experience was pretty good.  We have so many stories and are quite savy now......but we learned alot!  If anyone ever needs any advice about contracting your own Manufactured home placement or buying a Repo.....feel free to me here.We've been told to write a how-to.  I think we might do that here.

goodbye to the kitchen

The deconstruction.  Considering the lack of quality of this manufactured home cabinetry, I was very surprised how DIFFICULT it was to tear apart.  On top of the difficulty, I was trying quite hard to keep the dust down.  I didn't plastic it off from the rest of the living room.   BIG MISTAKE.

good bye disgusting fan hood & un-useable corner cabinets

 good bye strange pantry

The stripe is where I repainted with the uppers still intact.  It was kinda funky for a few weeks.  I don't miss that "brown".  Now the hunt for ingredients continues.  Below is my first find.....

Actual wood uppers and lowers.  They were on Craigslist for $60.  I can't believe the guy tore these out to put in "new" from Home Depot. 
I also couldn't believe that we fit them all in my short bed Ford. 

kitchen Re-Do

I hated my kitchen.  We had put in a new floor...again.  The cabinets were pressboard covered with a vinyl.  Standard issue for a manufactured home."Oh I can do that" I said to myself.  So I started collecting ingredients.  That's the way I approach most projects.  I scrounge and "score' before I buy it and sometimes takes a while.  My first find were cabinets from a 60's ranch house that were on Craigslist for $60.  The owner was taking them out to put in cabinets from Home Depot.  How is that and upgrade from Maple to pressboard?

These are the before photos.

left side - pantry door

right side - missing cupboard doors

It works!

The headboard is done!

I was torn on which color to choose...

There is always something that needs adjusting.
This time the hold up was the husband having to get different bolts from the shop twice!  Luckily, we didn't have to get in the car and drive 6 miles to Lowe's twice.
The color is hard to see, but it's a dusty blueish grey. I chose this Olympic Satin Enamel.
THIS PAINT WAS SO THICK!  Like pudding.  Because of this, I had to buy a really nice paint brush.  Also don't for get the best nail filler called Fast & Final.  Now for the next project!

why does this make me happy?

I took this photo at large antique show.  This guy was making a butt load of money.  Made me think it was time to sell my old hardware.  I snapped this photo with my iphone.  I'm not sure why, but I love this photo.  So ordinary....it must be the colors and the knowledge of what it feels like to dive in these and look through them.  They are all different.  Some sappy analogy here somewhere, but I won't go there.

I have really enjoyed my iphone camera.  It's a great camera. You've seen some here.  I have a few other places that I share my photos. Instagram and Foap are my favorites. You can buy them on my Foap account.  Click the links to see my galleries. 

King sized continued....

If you have the desire to build things for your home you must invest in a nail gun and air compressor.  In this day of carpel tunnel and joint issues you might save yourself alot of pain and physical therapy charges.   I have gone through 2 - 18 gauge guns in my building lifetime (17 years ). My latest and favorite are these made by Porter Cable.  I got a great deal from Overstock.com on a Refurbished set.  The set had a 16 & 18 gauge nailers and a stapler.  I worked with a 18 gauge for years.  The 16 is the best for the actual building and the 18 is good for the final more delicate trim & etc.  This would be a good one......

Well, let finish up this project!  The above tongue and groove wood is what I came up with as ingredients. I wanted to use it because it would give interest in texture and pattern.  it's kinda special.  The bead board stuff came out of a family home that was de-constructed.  I've used it for a wall, and wainscotting.  This is the last of it. Although I don't have enough of either to just use one kind so I came up with this pattern. You could use any wood.  Mix it up.  Use wood that already has paint and make it colorful. Clear coat it with something.  I almost did that myself, but I didn't have time to "dilly dally".  It's freezing out and its time to get a headboard!  
It's easier to show you the photo of the tongue and groove wood laid out and then I can explain your best route of completion. I started by cutting the right and left sides with a random 1x4 that I had.  Cut to be flush with the top and bottom.  Glue and Nail ONE end only.  Then cut a board for the top edge.  When you get those 2 established (nailed) then you have a solid edge to butt up to get the decorative parts settled.  I needed to stretch out my tongue and groove boards so I created "spacers" with leftovers from the top and bottom boards.  I bought cheap pine 1x3's.....the rougher less pretty stuff from Lowe's.  The spacers then now are my template for "height" for the rest of the vertical boards.  Once you get your boards all cut - test them out.  I was in a hurry and didn't change my nail gun.  So I had some go through, but I figured the back side of the HB won't over be exposed so I just clipped them off.  Not always a good option.
You'll see in this close-up photo the small nail hole and some gaps that occurred.  All this type of thing can be filled with nail fill. ( Keep an eye out for an upcoming blog for "Hints and Tips" that I've learned and types of things I use. )

Get your ingredients all laid out before nailing.  This is spoken from experience.  I put the bottom on last to make sure all are forced up.  What I figured was that if there are any flaws I wanted them hidden behind pillows......so if you have a short board, make it short on the bottom side. 

Lastly I added the top ledge.  Below is a photo from above. From left to right : trim, plywood backing and then the top of the 2x4 leg.  All the boards are flush (even) on the top it was easy to cut a 1x4 to top it all off.  I added 1' hangover to each end.

top view showing layers of wood

Gluing that top board is important.

primer coat on the finished headboard

Most likely it will be lifted by that board so it needs to be strong!  Fill your holes and cracks.  I had one piece of bead board I put a line of caulk between as the gap was a little bigger and obvious.  I often will put one coat of paint on my creation before filling holes because you can see what fills up with paint and what can be ignored. Tomorrow's the final painting day.  I'll show you the results then.

King Size!

Recently we upgraded from a full to a king size mattress.  One thing I didn't take into consideration when I chose a "king" was that everything associated with king sized beds are king sized in price.  I ordered a bargain priced "hollywood" frame on with our Amazon Prime account.  Got my moneys worth on that free delivery!   Having a frame made the bed useable, but we really need a headboard I've scoured Craigslist....nothing.  I'm a little picky and broke.....since I'm handy with wood....I'll make one.  I've got interesting wood, but I did have to buy a nice 2x4 and some 1x3's.  So far I've spent $11.   I chose my desired height and cut the 2x4 legs to that length. I had scraps of plywood that was purchased for the hollywood frame. I used that as the main base for the wood that I will add so it doesn't need to be pretty. Attach with screws (they'll be hidden.)

I got this far and still didn't really know what I was going to create.  I contemplated using 4 cabinet doors I had stashed away but it wasn't quite the look I wanted.  I had built Ana White's Farmhouse headboard a while back so I knew I want a 1x4 flat on top so I made sure the plywood is flush with the top of the 2x4 leg. Always use wood glue at every joint.  My rule is you can never have too much glue.  Next I cut a 1x4 for each end.  Glue, square and clamp.....then nail with whatever you choose to use.  I have a 16 gauge Porter Cable Nail Gun.

Don't slack when it come to square-ing EVERYTHING! Make sure you have legs line up with the frame.  You should measure your frame but also do research about standard sizes. I found out you should add 3" to the width of a frame.  That was one websites theory. Sounds good to me....  continued tomorrow. 

black and white

Rust is the word of the day....

 

Freezing rain

 It's been cold here the last 3 days - especially for Oregon in November. We had freezing rain. 

The leaves just completed their thing and most are still on the trees. 

There was no "inbetween".

I have little flowers covered in ice....so sad.  Sleet is so destructive.

Late last night we were in the hot tub and we could hear a tree cracking and then the slow decent.

It snagged and the fell again.

It was disturbing.

I love snow. I love being snowed in. 

Everyone stops.

Everything is beautiful!

It hides all the grime and mud.  

It's always so peaceful.  All sounds are absorbed into the stillness. I'm hoping for a big snow year.

Reuse Recycle.....be creative with what you have.

This is a hall tree I made 3 years ago.  It was one of the last doors I had salvaged.....Now people have figured out that they are amazing sources of wood and I have to buy them....



















We went to the beach this summer and parked on a residential street around the corner from Mo's restaurant and found this.  First of all - I LOVE METAL! I even have a Pinterest board with fun metal reuse ideas.  I am big into reusing things for a new creation.  If you can't see...this is a fountain! ( I should of taken a video...dang it ) Super cool!  They also had a great fence made of this metal siding/roofing (seen on either side of the fountain.  I love it that people are getting original I'm so tired of houses painted taupe and looking all exactly the same.

This is a great fence.....Totally original.
Be original.....don't be taupe.

our old farm....

Needless to say there are a lot of rustic and worn surfaces to photograph here on our farm.  We live in Yamhill County.  It just sounds old.  My husbands grandparents bought the farm in the 40's. They had been farming about 45 mins south until WWII and the US Government wanted their parcel of land and many others to create an army training facilities.  So they packed up and moved.  Everything.  Even some buildings. 

 See the Adair Military history here

Although there are endless supplies of chippy paint to scrounge....I do long for some organization and someone to say.."hey, let's do some clean-up!"  I keep telling myself the scrap is like a savings account that the government can't tax. Saving up for the day when we really need the money....so until then it sits......

and I take photos.  If you'd like to

 see my photos - click here.

Hesitation will get you nowhere.

My love of wood has always led me to burn piles around the neighborhood.  I'm married to a farmer who feels it's important to follow the old school values of farming.  He believes there are "rules" to being a good neighbor.  One of those rules is "Don't bug people."  This means that if I see an interesting pile, I can't just go to the door and ask. (although I have....) There is a protocol and sometimes that takes a few days but not this time.  I didn't wait for anyone else to get this pile.  My latest find is a goldmine! A big pile of red barn wood cannot be passed by.  At least by me.   

Post by Laura Macy Lehman.

Colors.....love them!

Wintertime is so dull.   Once the leaves have fallen the colors are absent for at least 4 months.  For someone who thrives in color it can be a long 4 months. 

Red

Life has changed

I've been busy.  Things have changed.  I still have my deep desire to create but I've been redirecting those feelings.  I have only a wood shop as an outlet.  I have started some interesting projects this last year.  They have engulfed my world.  Now that things are settling down I have time to share this last year with you.  But only the good stuff.  No one wants to hear about the bad.  This photo is one that I turn to when I need to dream. 

Stay tuned for more details of my exciting life.  I promise I won't disappear for a year...or two....enjoy.  If you'd like to see more of my photos let me know.