Thanksgiving Weekend

Yay for four day weekends! It feels like it wasn't long enough but it never does. I've gotten some things accomplished though some of them were fiddly detailed things that really took a while. 

I started out with the barstools. I'd gotten the seats colored last weekend and I needed to get the legs done. I decided to go for a look I remember from childhood. With the leg screwheads showing on the seat. And metal feet which helped keep the chairs level. Earring backs coming in handy again.

But they looked a little unfinished and the general consensus was that they needed footrests. So I dug out my silver wire.

You can see the plastic cups holding the legs in place on two of the barstools. I needed something to keep the tension correct or the footrest would slide down and move the legs inwards. 

But it's a good look I think. Simple.

I spent quite a bit of Friday on the closet. Got everything glued in place and then added wallpaper. The glue tends to warp the wood and cardstock a bit so I used my square to keep everything in place.

I never have much luck hiding wires under wallpaper so I went and added it to all the walls. The flowered feature wall matches the one on the lower level. I think it's just enough of a pop of color. And it gives me more options for the furniture upholstery than blue.

The outside of the bathroom wall

The reverse of the same wall

The inside of the container door half wall in the bedroom

The first floor feature wall

The inside of the exterior bathroom wall

Since I had the closet pretty much done I made some hangers. They'll look better with clothing on them.

And with no other reason to delay I hung the barn doors on the walls. I think they look pretty good. Modern industrial-ish?

The bathroom door

The closet doors.

And on Friday my Shapeways order arrived and I got started on the living room light.  I love Jodi's lights and so I ordered her Moonbeam lamp and shade. 

I didn't want to do silver or blue again. And with all the color on the feature walls I decided to do red.  

I covered the shade with some of the scrapbook paper coordinating with the feature wall. And I painted the lamp base with Americana Country Red

I liked the color with the paper on the shade but I didn't like the matte look. So I added clear nail polish. The thickness of it fills in some of the roughness from the plastic and tends to self level so it looks much smoother and shiny.

The hardest part was finding some place to put it to dry where I wouldn't knock it over. (I'm very talented at being a klutz.)

Once it dried (and once I found my length of chain) I added a pull to turn it on and off.

I began the laborious process of adding the steal locking mechanisms and fasteners to the container doors while the lamp dried.  At the rate I'm going through head pins I'll end up needing to order another box. 

Six each for this holder...eight of this type... two for the narrower holders and eight of those... Sixty four pins. 

And then carefully added the holders to the locking poles (rods? posts? I have no clue) for which I used aluminum tubes.

I marked out where I wanted to attach them to the door and got everything glued down. And then because the aluminum just wouldn't stay entirely straight I used clamps to hold them down.

But they came out all right.

The handles took a little more thought but I figured something out for them Sunday morning.

Looks sorta like a container door doesn't it? 

I did a dry fit of the whole shebang before I attached all the 'metal fittings' to the doors because I didn't trust myself to do it afterwards. I mean, it's glue, cardboard, aluminum, wood and plastic. Not exactly super sturdy.

I have a little bit of work to do on the roof and how it fits but so far so good.

I glued in the windows and door to the first floor since it was going to be very difficult to get them in after I glued all the walls together. And I glued the handles to the front door.

Since I need to mark the ceiling for the lights on the first floor I added handles to the kitchen cabinets and glued the kitchen in.

I tested the barstools height under the breakfast bar but I neglected to take a picture. 

The last thing I did was cut up some of the kit's MDF for steps to the front door and the foundation.  Some of the pieces I had leftover from another kit so my hoarding paid off. Then I painted them with gravel texture spray paint.

 And I cut the supports for the carport/upper level out of wood and painted them.

The bathroom work continues. We're a few days behind schedule because the hot water heater is backordered. It's supposed to be in tomorrow.  But hopefully by the end of the week we'll be done. 

So I got few things crossed off the list.

1. Support beams for the ceilings of the upper and lower level.
2. Build the corners of the containers 
3. Paint the corners of the containers
4. Glue corners to the long walls.
5. Glue in flooring for the upper level, stain and sand it.
1. Figure out bathroom flooring & put it in.
6. Build the bathroom wall
7. Build the closet
8. Build transom windows for upper level
9. Fold & prime the corner lift pieces
10. Make the four handles for the container doors
11. Stain closet & Bathroom doors - convert to barn doors
12. Cut the roof
13. Prime the walls, roof & stairs
14. Paint the walls & roof
15. Make supports for the overhang/carport
16. Base & steps for house (cinderblocks? or skip this)
17. Landscaping?
18. Posts & railings for roof patio
1. Roof patio decking? Tongue depressors?
19. Prime & paint posts & railings of roof patio
20. Make bifold doors for upper level
21. Make floor to ceiling window for lower level
22. Make floor to ceiling windows for upper level
23. Make frames for all floor to ceiling windows
24. Install stairs
25. Wallpaper
26. Make sink cabinet for bathroom
1. Attach faucet
27. Towel rack/shelves for bathroom
28. Make 'glass' door for shower
29. Tile shower walls & soap niche (revise soap niche)
1. Grout shower walls
30. Lighting.
1. Bathroom overhead (chains & bulb)
2. Over front door
3. On either side of bifold for roof patio
4. Kitchen pendant lights
5. Living room lights
6. Light in upstairs office
7. Bedroom lights
8. Install lights
31. Furniture for bedroom 
32. Furniture for living room
33. Add handles to kitchen cabinets
34. Install kitchen cabinets, faucet, appliances, backsplash & floating shelves
35. Install bathroom fixtures
36. Rugs & pillows
37. Books
38. Cats

And I need to get going on my Christmas shopping too. Just what I needed. One more thing to do!

Only 19 more days to the deadline!

Lights and Closet

 This weekend I worked on the lights again, I need three lamps, one for the living room, one for the desk and one for the bedroom. And I wanted one to have the look of a Mid Century Modern lamp. 

I've never done a Mid Century Modery inspired lamp before so of course that was the one I started with. Figuring out the logistics of making it took me a while. But I finally figured it out.

I started with two little plastic cups (the kind you put ketchup in at Braums) and cut out the bottoms.  Then I punched holes in the middles.

I got an aluminum tube, a little round woodsie and three dark brown wooden beads.  And I had a plastic tube about the diameter of a pencil. With that and the plastic part snapped off this earring back, I had a good start to my lamp.

It's not easy to see the little tube and the earring back but it's to the left of the brown beads.  So the plastic lids are going to serve as the holders for the shades. And the tube will go through them to hold the light bulb.  The beads, woodsie and aluminum tube are the lamp base. 

The shades were not easy... I had to find something the right diameter to wrap them around, cardstock with scrapbook paper over it, with glue to hold them in place. Eventually I found things that were the right size and got the shades shaped and glued.

Slowly but surely I got it put together. A lot of waiting around for glue to dry on Saturday. Which was okay because I worked on other things. I just had to be careful to not knock anything over. This was difficult for me.  I'm a klutz. 

But the end result was worth it I think.

It's a tall lamp but I plan to have the bed a bit lower so things will even out I think. 

But I wanted a smaller lamp for the desk. So I got a wooden filial and drilled a hole down the middle.  Another woodsie, earring back plastic and the leftover plastic tube and all I needed was a shade.  So I went with one of the little plastic bowls I'd ordered thinking they could be light fixtures.  

I painted the base black metallic and the woodsie silver. and for the shade I went with my bright blue nail polish. It's a nice bold pop of color.

I liked the color so much I decided to do my barstools the same color. A couple of layers of nail polish and they have a nice plasticy gleam to them.

I cut the legs for the bar stools but I haven't painted or attached them yet. 

I'll need to add something to hold them to the chair besides glue.  But I'm thinking I'll paint them a nice black. They'll contrast with the penisula cabinets that way.

And then I began to work on the closet. I needed to add a shelf, add supports for the clothes rod and also add a false ceiling. Plus glue the 'built ins' together and to the closet wall. 

And I painted everything a warm white. I thought about painting the drawer handles black or silver but the gesso just came right off. I'll give it another try later. Maybe.

But that's pretty much it for me. Though I did get the container corners spray painted. I just forgot to take a picture.

For the living room lamp I ordered Jodi's Moonbeam Lamp.  I'm not sure how I'll paint it yet. 

The bathroom is continuing... I'll show you. 

The washer and dryer used to live in the place where the toilet is now sitting. Right now they live at the foot of the bed. 

The new toilet will go where the closet used to be. You can see the outline of the old closet walls on the ceiling. The new closet will be where the desk/vanity and toilet are now. The window is going to be smaller to accomodate it.

The shower is partially framed in as you can see. The new double vanity will go right next to it, to the left of where I'm standing to take the picture.

The shower will have a bench in it too. That's another big deal for us.

The water heater is to the right of the door where I'm standing to take the pictures. It's going to go away and be reincarnated as a tankless on the side of the house. The washer and dryer will live there. 

Our contractor is specifically arranging everything so that as much as possible we don't have pipes in exterior walls.

So all in all, another week and a half and he thinks we'll be all done. The last couple days of November he says should just be cleanup. This is all very exciting.

I hope everyone is having a good weekend!

A few things crossed off the list though.

1. Support beams for the ceilings of the upper and lower level.
2. Build the corners of the containers 
3. Paint the corners of the containers
4. Glue corners to the long walls.
5. Glue in flooring for the upper level, stain and sand it.
1. Figure out bathroom flooring & put it in.
6. Build the bathroom wall
7. Build the closet
8. Build transom windows for upper level
9. Fold & prime the corner lift pieces
10. Make the four handles for the container doors
11. Stain closet & Bathroom doors - convert to barn doors
12. Cut the roof
13. Prime the walls, roof & stairs
14. Paint the walls & roof
15. Make supports for the overhang/carport
16. Base & steps for house (cinderblocks? or skip this)
17. Landscaping
18. Posts & railings for roof patio
1. Roof patio decking? Tongue depressors?
19. Prime & paint posts & railings of roof patio
20. Make bifold doors for upper level
21. Make floor to ceiling windows for upper level
22. Make frames for all floor to ceiling windows
23. Make sink cabinet for bathroom
24. Towel rack/shelves for bathroom
25. Make 'glass' door for shower
26. Tile shower walls & soap niche (revise soap niche)
1. Grout shower walls
27. Lighting.
1. Bathroom overhead (chains & bulb)
2. Over front door
3. On either side of bifold for roof patio
4. Kitchen pendant lights
5. Living room lights
6. Light in upstairs office
7. Bedroom lights
8. Install lights
28. Furniture for bedroom 
29. Furniture for living room
30. Spider plants in macrame holders for kitchen window?
31. Install kitchen cabinets, faucet, appliances, backsplash & floating shelves
32. Install bathroom fixtures
33. Rugs & pillows
34. Books
35. Cats

Starting soon! Oh, And Some Dollhouse Stuff

 The bathroom remodel starts on Monday. So on Saturday I had to get everything out of the bathroom. Since it's pretty freezing back there we used the closet for storage. 

Soo... essentially two thirds of my Saturday was spent removing hangers, boxes of books, mattress toppers, lamps and whathaveyou out of the closet and into my SUV.

I kind of amazed myself. My goal is six thousand steps per day, and I try to increase it by five hundred more every week. I got to fourteen thousand five hundred steps before noon. No wonder my feet hurt!

And off to the Goodwill dropoff I went.

They only wanted the clothes and shoes. But there's a huge charity thriftstore near the Walmart and they were happy to take everything but the mattress toppers. Those I just tossed because no one wants them. They'll take bedding, like sheets and quilts but nothing like a mattress, topper or pillows. Too much risk of bedbugs.

And then I got home and started to do a few minis while I still had some energy.

I primed and painted a mirror for the bathroom and started work on the set of shelves/towel rack to go over the toilet.  I also found some of my little clock faces, stained and painted them and added hands. They'll be cute on shelves.

I got the shower tile grouted and then sealed it. I like how it looks so far.

The next thing was the lights. I started with the bathroom. I drilled four holes in the little weave bowl and attached chains with head pins. I'll run a bulb down the center to light it.

Painted the kitchen pendants and the outdoor lights and the hanging light for the upper sitting room/office.  And figured out how to hang them and hide/disguise the wires.

I ended up reducing the length of chain it wouldn't hang down to the middle of the room and hit people in the chest.

By the time all that was done the shelves/towel rack had dried.

I'll put one of the clocks on it, and the blue vase once I get a few flowers for it.  But I did get towels made and hung.

With limited wall space I liked the idea of a double towel rack.

Plotting and planning the wiring and wallpaper...I think I've got a good idea of how to do it.  At least I have a few ideas. 

We'll see how it goes. 

How are the rest of you doing?

Slowly whittling down the list:

1. Support beams for the ceilings of the upper and lower level.
2. Build the corners of the containers and glue them to the long walls.
3. Glue in flooring for the upper level, stain and sand it.
1. Figure out bathroom flooring & put it in.
4. Build the bathroom wall
5. Build the closet
6. Build transom windows for upper level
7. Fold & prime the corner lift pieces
8. Make the four handles for the container doors
9. Stain closet & Bathroom doors - convert to barn doors
10. Cut the roof
11. Prime the walls, roof & stairs
12. Paint the walls & roof
13. Make supports for the overhang/carport
14. Base & steps for house (cinderblocks? or skip this)
15. Landscaping
16. Posts & railings for roof patio
1. Roof patio decking? Tongue depressors?
17. Prime & paint posts & railings of roof patio
18. Make bifold doors for upper level
19. Make floor to ceiling windows for upper level
20. Make frames for all floor to ceiling windows
21. Make sink cabinet for bathroom
22. Towel rack/shelves for bathroom
23. Make 'glass' door for shower
24. Tile shower walls & soap niche (revise soap niche)
1. Grout shower walls
25. Lighting.
1. Bathroom overhead (chains & bulb)
2. Over front door
3. On either side of bifold for roof patio
4. Kitchen pendant lights
5. Living room lights
6. Light in upstairs office
7. Bedroom lights
8. Install lights
26. Furniture for bedroom 
27. Furniture for living room
28. Spider plants in macrame holders for kitchen window?
29. Install kitchen cabinets, faucet, appliances, backsplash & floating shelves
30. Install bathroom fixtures
31. Rugs & pillows
32. Books
33. Cats