Home decor and renovation craftalong

[MistressJennie (Moderator - Jennie - she/her)]

Guys, I’m on a roll, and it’s truly helping my mental health. I had no idea how upset my kitchen was making me. There’s a counter/peninsula that runs between the cooking area, and the dining area. My stovetop is on that, so when I’m cooking, I’m looking at the kitchen table. On the very end, in the corner, was a small collection of random stuff. One of my former co-workers called a collection like this a “nest”. It’s stuff you need, and use, but doesn’t have a place, so you can never put it away or clear it up. A box of tissues, a little wooden calendar our neighbors gave Ada, the dog’s reward cookies, the dog’s joint supplements, a pack of baby wipes for cleaning up the toddler post-dinner, the kiddo’s comb & hair elastics, etc. Every time I needed to wipe down the counters, I’d have to move it all, then put it all back, where it just annoyed me. No more!

I used Command picture hanging strips to put up the calender, then I found a vintage basket to hold the most used calendar pieces. I put the less-used pieces like the seasons, and emotions and later holidays in a nearby drawer, in a small organizer, so I can grab them easily when I need them.

Then I took the old breadbox, and used it to hide a bunch of crap! The kids hair stuff, dog’s joint chew’s, and pack of baby wipes are in there. Out of sight, but not out of reach. Then I added a candle warming lamp with a pretty shade, to help my good vibes. It necessitated swapping the rice cooker with the air fryer on various counters, but I think the new layout not only looks better, but will work better when I’m cooking dinner.

And best of all, I’m legitimately happier when I walk in the kitchen now. The sense of unexplainable dread and stress associated with the room is mostly gone. And there are some cast iron coat hooks on the way, to turn my next annoying corner into a hopefully more beautiful AND useful area… And I found a pattern to make a quilted cover for that ugly tissue box…

[AntBee (Jen)]

This is great. I know just what you mean about mental energy being sapped by spaces that just aren’t in tune with you. I’m also in the “find solutions for this malarkey” in various spots of my home. Great solutions!

[marionberries (Carol - formerly cmarion3)]

Great solutions, organized and stress relief in one.

[Immaculata]

I have been a bit rigid about not letting ugly things back into my house, but no regrets now it’s done. Ugly and unpractical things steal my energy. I got rid of some ugly wornout cheap furniture that we couldn’t instantly afford to replace so we lived with boxes for too long, but I know myself - if we hadn’t physically throw them in the skip they’d still be here.

Our amazing friend who can fix all the things has offered to help us along a little bit! He doesn’t have all the energy either so the offer is extremely generous. I’ve made a long list of all the little jobs around the house that need fixing and I’m prioritising them as we speak.

[MistressJennie (Moderator - Jennie - she/her)]

When you’re a grown ass woman, you get to do whatever you want. Like bringing home an awesome pearlescent cauldron, and filling it with candy. It might be the best $10 I’ve ever given to Walmart.

The fact that it’s ivory instead of black, means I can leave it out year round, right? (They also had it in pearlescent black. And yeah, I want that one too…)

[Immaculata]

I would 100% leave a black one out all year. The perk of being a grownup is that you can have Halloween every day if you want to!

Our friend was coming over to help with DIY today and I gathered all of our projects, but we had to cancel because Mr. Imma has a high fever I might do a couple of small jobs today on my own today but I had really looked forward to the few jobs we need his help for - extra storage in the pantry, an outside laundry line, curtain rails for the front door. These will probably be postponed by months now, but it can’t be helped.

[marionberries (Carol - formerly cmarion3)]

Witches always need a cauldron near at hand year round!

We were going to tile the backsplash in our kitchen ourselves, but August and now September are just full of obligations.most are fun and take up weekends.

So I hired a contractor. He did our friend’s kitchen and did a lovely job. Just a little over a week to wait.

[Immaculata]

I can’t wait to see what your kitchen will look like when it’s completely done! You’ve already done so much by yourself, I can imagine that you want to do other things with your time now.

[TheMistressT (Tara - she/her)]

So nice to hear you’ve found a solution to make you feel better in one of the most used rooms of a house, @MistressJennie ! And so nice to hear that you decided to give the gift of hiring out the tiling to you and the Mrs, @marionberries !

I have had several delays in my reclaimed wood project. I got lucky when I asked a neighbor for recommendations for someone local to plane some wood from our old deck. He remembered that he was given a planer and lent it to me! I watched some videos on Craftsy and ordered a few parts to make it attach to my shop vac for “dust control” and got to it! BUT it turns out that it needs a more serious dust control situation to work properly. It’s really not about keeping a clean work area, the planer literally will not work if you don’t suck the wood shavings and saw dust out of it. I’ll have what I need on Tuesday AND I’ll be able to use this on many or even most of my other power tools. YEY! Perhaps I’ll have a dining table for the deck by next weekend… just in time for the end of al fresco season.

I’ve also received picture moulding for the “library” and have started installing that. It’s primed, finger-jointed wood, so it will need painting. It turns out our ceiling is not only kind of wavy where it meets the walls, but also not level. So I’ve decided to choose a color of paint that will work for both the ceiling and the moulding, as well as the gap between. In the meantime, getting this up will mean I can get a painting we recently received from my MIL off the floor and move another one which allows to me to move some other stuff out of the guestroom. I have ordered up hardware and wire-core cording which will hopefully be here this week, too. WOO!

[marionberries (Carol - formerly cmarion3)]

Using reclaimed wood is not only environmentally fantastic, but it’s a beautiful choice too. We will send good tool vibrations your way for the planner! Getting closer to finishing projects is a joy, @TheMistressT .

Oh, the fun we’ve had with wonky ceiling levels and floors. In the kitchen, we installed new cabinets on a formerly empty wall that turned out to be the highest point in the kitchen, so when the new run of cabinets caught up with the old, the old needed releveling too.

And just don’t mention the wavy knee wall ceilings in the upstairs bed rooms!

[TheMistressT (Tara - she/her)]

Now that I think of it, maybe disguising the wavy drywall is one of the reasons behind the various ceiling textures, all of which I do not like one bit. But our ceilings are just shy of 8" and cladding them with anything would make them just that much lower.

I don’t think that my table from reclaimed lumber is going to be beautiful - the lumber isn’t that old to begin with and nothing special in terms of species, but I think it will be cool-enough-looking and will have the fun backstory of having been our original deck.

[MistressJennie (Moderator - Jennie - she/her)]

Another tiny project. In the midst of cheering up the kitchen, I finally found these curtains, which had been eluding me since we moved. I had bought them to stage the last house, so they already coordinated with the rug, which I bought for the same reason. They hung there for about a month before we sold and moved.

I ordered curtain rods and they arrived a few weeks ago, but have been sitting on the dining room table, waiting for a spare moment for us to hang them. The window is higher than the slider, so I marked the placement based on that height so they could be even. (The faux wood beams mean we couldn’t place them much higher either.) Sadly, that height means the curtains are about 5” too short. I unpicked the hems to let out every little bit, and there isn’t even enough fabric to do two 1/4” folds, plus the boucle fabric is shredding apart, so I’m going to have to use some iron-on hem tape. But I’m pleased with how they look, and they deaden sound a bit in the large room.

[Immaculata]

If you have a serger, I serged our curtains and it turns out it’s almost not noticeable that they aren’t hemmed (unless the curtain is closed and you sit on the floor)

[TheMistressT (Tara - she/her)]

@MistressJennie look great! Something about window coverings make a room feel finished to my eye. It seems the universe is giving you the opportunity for pretty trim! I have almost everything I need to make new draperies for our living/dining room, so maybe I’ll actually do it this winter!

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to work on the picture moulding in the library, since TheMisterT went into the office to work. I got pieces 2-4 (of 5 total) cut and installed. You can really see how out of level and wavy the ceiling is.

I plan to diminish how noticeable this is by painting the moulding, the wall above it, and the ceiling all one color. I’m not sure yet what color. It won’t be white and I don’t think a dark color would work for us here. I am going to research some translucent pearlescent/metallic options over greige or taupe-y color to start, I think.

Something kind of fun on the woodworking side is that I decided to cope the inside corners rather than miter. This is my first of 3 coped ends.

[MistressJennie (Moderator - Jennie - she/her)]

Heck yeah, getting even part of a bigger project done! It’s going to make a great difference with the wavy ceiling line.

[MistressJennie (Moderator - Jennie - she/her)]

Finally wrote up a post about cheering up the Library/Bonus Room…

Creating the Lovely Little Library of My (Child's) Dreams

[IMG_1245] Our house has a bonus room above the garage. It’s a odd room, 40 feet long, and 12 feet wide, with eves. One end has larger bookcases, that we have filled with our grown up books. But the other end (which is the first thing you see as you come up the stairs) has smaller shelves that held games, most of Ada’s picture books, and a couch where we read her stories at night. It’s kind of a low-tech second living room, and Jim often likes to hang out up there with Ada in the afternoons…

[Immaculata]

Some of you might remember that last fall we returned from a family visit to find mice in the pantry. We found that they’d gnawed holes in the wall, used mortar to close the holes, then tiled the floor and walls. We also sealed all the gaps using silicone sealant.

This week, I think I may have heard tiny little sounds at night that remind me of mice. And I found a bag of macaroni in the pantry that had a hole on top. It didn’t completely look like a mouse gnawed it open, I could have damaged it accidentally when I bought it. But then again the damage was pretty visible and I didn’t notice previously.

I have a gut feeling the tiny visitors are back and this time I might need to call a pest control person. I have no idea how these guys got in again. We never had mice in the pantry ever before the renovation.

[AntBee (Jen)]

Ughhh my little visitors are returning now that the weather is turning, too. The cats keep watching the kick boards in the kitchen. I love Brambly Hedge and Tum Tum and Nutmeg but oh how do I hate having the invaders in my home! Good luck!

[marionberries (Carol - formerly cmarion3)]

Oh no, @Immaculata ! Mice can fit through the tiniest holes or enlarge them just enough. I can picture old Granny Mouse telling the young ones about the cornucopia of delicious food available, if only they could find a way back to the mother lode.

We finally admitted that we were never going to get the tile done by ourselves with our busy fall obligations. So we hired a highly recommended tile guy. He did our friend’s kitchen and what a pro. I need window treatments, and we will be done, well, there are a few finishing touches left.

[Immaculata]

Your kitchen looks amazing and I love the tiles!! We haven’t decided on kitchen tiles yet but this colour is a strong candidate.

My only tiling experience is the pantry and it was pretty hard, I suppose the walls being irregular didn’t help.

I was trying to see if I could figure out which parts of your kitchen are new or old, but I can’t. It looks very coherent, like it always looked like this. And the lay-out looks very practical too. I bet it’s a joy to cook in your new kitchen!