The Very Popular Wipe Board

So my home office was featured on Unclutterer last week, which was very cool.  That post sent over seventeen hundred people to look at the photo on Flickr.  There were some very nice comments.

What people seemed most taken by was the wipe board I have up on the wall.  Did I put something behind it or do I just write on the glass?

It has to be the easiest re-purpose ever.  I just hung an old six pane window on the wall.  A dry-erase marker and I'm there.

I love that it has six panes - it's ideally suited for organizing three blogs.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do if I go crazy and start up another one...

Anyway, it's pretty cool having your pictures up on Flickr.  People trawl through and find you, sometimes leaving lovely comments, sometimes adding a picture to their favourites, or posting you on their blogs.

And then you suddenly realize - over seventeen hundred total strangers now know what your home office looks like.

Oh.

Bedroom Renovation Wrap-up

If this project has inspired you to start tearing down the walls in your house, a word of caution:   MAKE SURE IT'S NOT A LOAD-BEARING WALL!!!

Ours was not, so it was easy to take out.  Load-bearing walls hold up the floor or roof above you.  They can be taken down, but you will need to find a way to support that load!

It's really worth getting professional help for a project like that.

That said, let's see just a few more pictures....

In taking down the wall, we also took out the closet. So we needed some storage.

I think one of the best design features a room can have is an unbroken expanse of wall.  Cluster all your storage (closets, shelving...) on it and the rest of the room is free to play.

I wanted to reflect the light from the patio doors at the opposite end of the room.  Alan wanted us to each have our own space.  Two Ikea STARK hall units fit the bill (and were the only major Ikea buys for the whole renovation!).

We built them out from the wall a bit and added closet rods and a shelf on either side.  The dresser belonged to my parents and the round mirror in the middle came with the house.

Right next to the patio doors was a small closet.  One of the first things I did when we moved in was to fit it with shelves to hold some of my books (you can never have too many bookshelves!).

The rest of the books (er...some of the rest...) are in old metal shelves that my Dad picked up from a science lab years ago.  They're way sturdy and still have the labels on them  for the physics magazines he used to store on them.  I really love these shelves - they have that wonderful 1950's office feel that I'm so fond of.  And the fact that they belonged to my Dad...

The only problem with them is that they're open at the ends, which makes it hard to keep the books upright.  I bought some 1X2's, painted them brown and cut them to fit.  Problem solved!

 

We were so excited by the way this project (and everything else we worked on this winter) turned out, that we ordered some new signs for the windows....

Yup.  It's for sale.

 

Bedroom Renovation

It was too cloudy to get really good pictures today.  So I spent the afternoon reading other people's blogs.

The bed is two Ikea TV stands, with an old door as a footboard and two pallets as a headboard. 

Possibly a little too comfy...

Bedroom Renovation, Step by Step

It's finally done!  I took pictures, standing in pretty much the same spot, from the day we decided to take the wall down until this morning.

Which is pretty amazing for me.  Usually, we get to the end of a renovation and someone says, "Did you take before pictures?"

And I'm all, like, "What?"

Papered Wall

Just because I love the faded, time-worn look, doesn't mean that's the only direction to go in when making your own wallpaper.

Here's how it looked before I whitewashed it.  Had I not been planning to do that, I'd have been more careful with the composition of course, but...

Just think of the possibilities!

I have a couple of projects that need my attention, so I will be taking a bit of a blogging break.  I'll be back after Easter.  Hope you all have a lovely holiday!

Design Sponge Finalists

The Design Sponge DIY Contest finalists have been posted.

Sadly, I didn't make the cut.  Well, with five hundred entries, it was a bit of a longshot.  Do go have a look at the twenty that made the list, and vote for your favourite.  Though it might take a day or two to narrow it down to just one...

My entry?  The "wallpaper" in my living room, made from bits of torn paper, theatre tickets, gift wrap and tissue paper.

Bits and Pieces Week - Hanging Pictures

I think I've figured out why we see more stories about big, spacious houses in magazines than tiny, little ones.  The little spaces are nearly impossible to photograph!

In the narrow entry to the guestroom, I've hung a couple of pictures (I did this before reading Tara's very helpful tips - I usually just measure and swear...).  The top one was a shop-warming present from my friends Douglass and Stephen.  And the one below was painted many years ago by a family friend. 

They look great in the room and you can see them when you're passing down the hall.

Just don't try to photograph them....

We're off to Ikea today with a very short shopping list.  And a few orders from friends. And Alan just mentioned that we need wine glasses... oh dear.....

Bits and Pieces Week - Magnetic Board

Apparently strange things are happening on the internet. Hotmail is down. And I can't open Windows Live Writer. So I'm doing this post the old-fashioned way... in Blogger.

The more sensitive among you may want to cover your ears.

As we chip away at the new room conversion, I'm able to do a few smaller projects.

This piece of ceiling tin was part of a box lot from the auction last summer.

When we moved the dough fridge upstairs, there was an awkward moment resulting in broken glass in a framed photo at the top of the stairs. Fortunately, the mover wasn't hurt. I took the photo out of the frame and thought.....

So now I have my new magnet board. It will hang above my desk, once the room is done.

Out of trash comes treasure.....

Bits and Pieces Week

Our favourite handyman is on holidays this week, so we're a bit stymied as far as the renovations go.

We're coping by chipping away at all the other things on the To-Do list that we don't need Jeff to help with.

One of the bigger jobs was painting the ceiling and front wall of the living room.  Not normally a big job, but with twelve foot ceilings...

Once the wall was done, I was finally able to fill up the old fridge from the bakery.  I'd been holding off, knowing it would have to be moved for the painting.

It looked really stupid, sitting there half-empty, and I'm sure our friends wondered what had gone wrong with Barb's thinking.

Better now, I think.

The elephant vase is a project from a few years ago.  I really love mosaics and did a fair number of them awhile ago. This was an ugly vase, plus a dark green teapot and a few bits and pieces.  She looks really festive with a big bouquet of flowers.

I'll have more bits and pieces to show you through the rest of the week.  And I apologize for the long silence.  I was hit with a case of Blogger's Block.  Can I blame February?

Comfort Food Mondays

I've posted a new recipe over on my Food Blog.  This week it's Cranberry and Orange Bread Pudding.

Details

Picky work the last couple of days.  I'll have better stuff to show you next week. 

At least, I'll try....

Progress is Being Made

The wall is down.  The holes are patched.  The electrician's been.

The rest of our apartment is a complete disaster.  Ah.... I love renovating!

Workmen in Da House!

We called the electrician yesterday to see if he could do a bit of rewiring for us in the new bedroom (it's important to know when to call in the experts). He and an apprentice showed up at 8:00 this morning.

So I'm a bit scattered. But in the best possible way...

The stairs are finally finished. It took about a million times longer than any job should. But they look really, really pretty.

Which is a good thing, because, even if they didn't, I'm never painting them again!

Well, well...

Looks like Mother Nature has  been reading my blog!  Here's what she put on my back window this morning.

 

I've Found My Look

OK, I know when people say that, they're usually talking about what looks good on them. But, really, I haven't got a clue about that.

What I mean, is that I've found my look for where I live. And it's this - a pale colour on the walls and white trim.

I've been doing this since we owned our second house. The first one had natural wood trim. Everyone said I'd regret it if I painted over it. I was so young, I listened.

I never tire of this combination. To my eye, anyway, it always looks fresh, clean and soothing.

Now if only I could figure out my footwear...

Painting, painting, painting...

I got nothing today.

Except possibly this.


I was painting inside the closet and noticed the trim around the door. The outside looks like this.

Why, in a room that is utterly devoid of charm, would they put the good stuff inside the closet?

We started work on what will become our bedroom today.

Here's how it looked this morning. What is it about horizontal surfaces in unused rooms?

I am the girl who will try to reuse just about anything. But this carpet is completely beyond even me. I had hoped we could just pull it up and paint the floor. But...

Too many holes and varying levels. Sigh.

Still trying to do as little environmental damage as possible, we bought a carpet remnant. It's still new, and synthetic, but I think once it's at the remnant stage, it's getting close to being hauled off to the dump. So maybe I did some good?

Then I came home and had my nap.

Tomorrow, we paint!

Lies My Decorator Told Me

OK, I've never actually hired a decorator, but I've read a lot of books and watched a lot of TV shows. And one piece wisdom that keeps being repeated is that painting a floor is the option of last resort. It's what you do when you can't afford anything better.

And why do they say it's such a bad option? Because it doesn't last. That the finish is fragile and won't stand up over time and, for Pete sake, if you're going to go to all that trouble at least make sure that you put multiple layers of varnish over top the paint to give it a fighting chance to last the week.

Well, I'm here to tell you, this just ain't so!


Remember this floor? I painted it at my side door - the main entryway to our apartment - a couple of months ago. I meant to varnish it right away, but, as sometimes happens, life got in the way and I haven't gotten back to it (am I the only one who gets distracted like this?).

So it's been walked on, had slushy boots deposited on it and been subjected to quite a bit of wear and tear.

I washed it today. Not a scratch! It looks just as good as the day I finished it.

I will, eventually put a couple of coats of varnish on it, to make it easier to wash, but any of you wondering how long a painted floor will last? Till you get good and sick of it, is my estimate!

Thoughts on Redecorating - Part 3

The apartment we've been working on is blessed with a nice, big kitchen with lots of light. At first glance, there's not a lot of storage - just one bank of cabinets. But it also has a walk-in pantry. Whoo!

So the work there was pretty easy. We freshened the paint and cleaned it. The floor, though very dirty, was in good shape. No need to replace it. And I don't think I would ever get rid of original wooden cabinets in a kitchen. They just don't make them like that anymore.

The other thing we could have replaced but didn't was the hall carpet. It's dark green, in a hallway that has no windows. In Barb's Book of Decorating Rules, that is Clearly Wrong.

But I took a step back and looked at it objectively. I have very definite ideas about carpet that I realize are purely personal. And since we're not going to be living there, the carpet stayed. My colour choices for the paint were based on that.

So now the place is clean, fresh and ready for the new tenants who, hopefully, will stay there a good long time, not flush anything they shouldn't and clean up after themselves!

Thoughts on Redecorating - Part 2

The bathroom in the apartment needed the most work. There was plaster damage. The floor was what a friend of mine calls "peel and suck tile" and there were gaps between the tile. The sink was an old wall-hung model with no storage. In a former life, we might have torn the whole thing out.

A more thoughtful assesment showed that, though the floor did need replacing (those gaps would eventually allow water damage to the subfloor), the tub and toilet were sound. Alan did some plaster repair and we painted the whole thing.
We did get a new sink. If our skills were up to it, I'd have opted for building a new cabinet under the existing sink. But we're not that good, yet.

All in all, a "new" bathroom for about half the environmental cost of replacing everything. And, while it's still small, I think it works.

Thoughts on Redecorating

I finally have some pictures of the apartment we've been redecorating (we have a tenant, too, so the Christmas getaway is back on!).

I spent a lot of time, as I was painting, thinking about redecorating in light of current environmental concerns, and how that's changing my thinking.

It used to be that we would move into a house and totally repaint each room - walls, ceiling, the works. I just assumed that that was How It Was Done. But even something as simple as a coat of paint carries an environmental price. And the question I always ask now is, "Is this justified?" Is the benefit worth the cost? Even, is it necessary to paint the entire room?

Instead of just moving in and taking over, I now try to do the least amount necessary to bring about the desired change.

For example...

I painted the walls and trim in each of the rooms, but the ceilings were in good shape and really didn't need painting, so I left them. This goes against conventional decorating wisdom that would have you do everything at the same time so it can all have a fresh start.

But, let's face it, conventional wisdom is what got us into the trouble we're in.

I'll show you the bathroom tomorrow, and the questions we asked when deciding what to keep and what to replace.