Home decor and renovation craftalong

Crafty Shenanigans Craftalongs
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Sounds like an excellent offensive in your war against these rodents!

We’re currently “fighting” the local stink bugs. They are always around this time of year, but we seem to be having a boom this year. Mostly they’re outside, of course, but they manage to come in when we use the doors, probably come in on Vivienne and us, too. I thought not brining in firewood would minimize their presence, but not this year! Usually, I find them just an unpleasant nuisance and patiently wait out the few weeks of their presence, but this year I have had it! That said, there’s really nothing to do about it. Moving them outside usually makes them spritz their stink and I imagine squashing them would, too. :nauseated_face:

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I use a few drops of peppermint oil around my window sills and then just vacuum any that get inside with my dust buster and then empty it right away. We have been fortunate this year because our bug service hits the yard and around all windows, doors, foundation, etc. with bug powder (safe for humans and mammals).

We are struggling with the lantern moth here. Everyone kills them the minute they see them. Lots of squished moths all over the place, restaurant entrances, mall floors, parking lots…ugh!

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We now officially have real floors everywhere. For the first time since December 2022.

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It’s still untreated, when the glue has dried I will treat it with hardwax oil. But it already looks so good. We picked an oak floor with lots of knots. We like the character it adds. I had no idea that these floors are actually cheaper because many people don’t like that look. So I guess we were frugal by accident.

It’s almost a shame the rug and bed will cover a lot of the floor soon!

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Congratulations! It must feel so good to have this part of your reno done!

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Looks good! I also like all the knots. Once stained it will go nicely with that wallpaper. I love the midcentury vibe of it! I forgot–what room is this?

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It’s gorgeous! The knotty oak is very visually interesting, and your wallpaper kind of looks like stylized wood knots, too. It looks very deliberate. In my (limited) experience, knots just make accurate cuts and driving nails more difficult, but when used for flooring, any structural issues with knots wouldn’t really have much effect. IMO, that makes it perfect place to use such dramatic materials!

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I was told in the shop as long as the knots are tight, it doesn’t make a difference for flooring, which makes sense. I thought it was just a style difference, I had no idea there was a price difference. We would have picked it regardless.

I did find out a small mistake next to the door. It’s not a huge deal but it was hidden by a strategically placed glue bottle (which is why I think they probably knew they messed up). The flooring guys generally did a much better / faster job than we could have done, but they likely made this mistake because they were in a hurry and it was a little bit different than what they normally do.

Maybe I’m also more precise than other people - I’m quite a laid back crafter but I work in the financial field and anything not “first time right” is a big deal. We put in three timber floors ourselves and none of them are perfect, but I guess I had different expectations from a pro. 99% of the floorspace looks great though!

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I caught my very first mouse ever today :mouse_trap: 1 gone, 1 million to go…

It took about a week but this means the new traps work!

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2474

Does anyone have experience with LED strip lighting? I want to add some ambient lights to my studio and from my brief googling Govee seems to be the current winner (adjustable colors, configurable color zones allowing parts of the strip to be on/off or different colors). My plan is to run them around the ceiling perimeter of my studio. Any other brands I should look into or things I should consider?

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I have a self-adhesive led strip around the door frame of a closet, as there was no light fixture inside. Ours is a cheap dollar store one but the quality is better than I had expected. It’s been there for years now. Not sure how useful this is for you, but I’m a fan.

Before we had underfloor heating, we had a rug in the living room. I recently cleaned it and moved it into the bedroom, to add a bit of colour. Someone more fashionable than me told me the print is outdated and very millennial. Well, I guess there’s nothing untrue about that statement :joy: but the bright colour still cheers me up and now my feet will land on a soft warm carpet in the morning.

(Trying to upload a picture but it doesn’t seem to work right now).

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Funny by the way - the rug is indeed very 2010s. At the time we bought this we didn’t feel like we were buying a rug that was really on trend, but in hindsight I bet half of the people my age owned something similar at some point.

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It looks great with the walls! It looks very much on trend but also very classic mid-century modern!

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It seems like for the last several years, the only affordable options in things like rugs are on-trend things, especially purchasing at a store with in-stock items. And I don’t mean just the absolute cheapest, but even the mid-range stuff that non-rich people can afford. I looked for years and years online for a rug for our living room. Then one day I found The One. It was $11,000! So, it was not The One For Us. Then our senior dog needed help getting around and I ended up buying cheap (trendy) rugs and runners at Costco that I kind of hate. The big rugs are still down and I think our young dog relies on them, too, so now we have two crappy, ugly/trendy rugs. Sigh.

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I think when you have pets you have to give yourself some leeway on what you put on your floors and what you buy as furniture. I don’t want a $12,000 couch that my cat will scratch or a hugely expensive rug that they might vomit on. I think that if you have a sensible budget, you have to find things that fit your current lifestyle.

Your house is lovely and you have made some beautiful furniture. Mixing and matching expensive with cheaper things is smart, I think. You have a welcoming home and no one is going to be peeking under the rug to see how much it cost!

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Thank you! Oh, yeah. I don’t care that these rugs were inexpensive, I care that I don’t like the look. And I can never find an affordable rug in the size I think is right for the living room that I actually like. I find a lot that are very close, but have a significant amount of colors that don’t work for me. This is part of what I was talking about in my first comment on this; anymore they only make them in the trending or best selling colors - for obvious reasons, but still. Except that $11,000 one! Sigh.

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We noticed that when we were shopping for a new sofa as well. I suppose it makes sense, because the cheapest products are only made to last for a few years.

We’d always had used sofas before and now we wanted one that would last a long time and looked nice. Most mid-range stores offered a very limited range of colours and models. We eventually found a local store that actually still produces their own furniture, so you could pick any colour / material you want. I was most surprised that it wasn’t that much more expensive than other stores.

We still like the colour of the rug, and after one day I can say with certainty that having a rug in the bedroom is nice! So it’s going to stay. But I was kind of surprised that several people were surprised that I cleaned a 10 year old rug that’s no longer trendy, and found a new spot for it, instead of just throwing it out. As you can see there’s nothing wrong with it, the one coffee stain is strategically hidden under the bed.

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Yeah…I also seem to find the near perfect rug…with one color that I really can’t figure out why they put it in!

I mostly like what they used to call “oriental” rugs. They have a lot of pattern and colors and can go with so many styles and are a nice cushy wool. I have three, all different, but my decor is quite eclectic! I know you can order specific colors but I am not in the market for a custom rug with three cats.

@Immaculata I am finding it nearly impossible to find a real wood dining table! I know the Amish have beautifully built wood furniture but most of it is very traditional. I have been told that some places are featuring more modern, sleek designs but I haven’t had time to look!

For Thanksgiving, I used a folding table, a card table and rented chairs! It worked until I can find a permanent solution. My husband does not want to spend money on dining furniture when we rarely would use it (we have a kitchen set for 4 that works for just us and two friends!). Ugh. I hate furnishing.

BTW, I think your rug is exactly what the room needed!!

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@TheMistressT, have you checked out Ruggable at all? They aren’t really cheap, but they aren’t $11,000 either. When we were trying to stage the last house for sale, we bought one for the living room, in a color and pattern I loved, planning to use it in the next house. It is in our new living room, and I still love it. It is 8’x10’, and completely washable in the washing machine. (Which came in really handy when the kiddo projectile vomited all over it last winter.). The texture isn’t the same as a traditional rug, with a thick nap, but it’s really soft. Like an ultra dense chenille. I love how it feels under my feet, and Astrid loves napping on it. I just checked my email receipt, and it looks like I bought it on Black Friday in 2022, for $500 (down from $580). I’m sure they’ve gone up with inflation, but it can’t be up to $11,000. They have tons of styles, both traditional and trendy, and each design comes in like 10 colors.

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We have smaller ruggables and I have washed them a few times.! I also love the feel of them. At first, they seemed thin and not very ruglike, but with the underpad, they are cushy.

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I just looked up the one we bought. It looks like they have evolved a bit, so our old style 2-piece rug (thinner washable top and underpaid it sticks to) actually went down in price. The 8’x10’ is $519, on Black Friday sale for $363. Their new one piece version is $669, on sale for $468.

Sorry, not trying to shill for them, but I really liked their designs and the product has stood up to an insane toddler and a sweet but gross old dog, and looks good as new. It also vacuums well, and doesn’t hold onto dog hair.

Good luck in your rug search.

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