Month: February 2014

Board and Batten

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What’s the difference between Board & Batten and Wainscoting?  Hell, I don’t know!  But I know that when I did web searches on both, board and batten pictures were more what I was looking to do, it was higher up on the wall.  If anyone knows the real difference, please let me know!

After researching professional sites, I made my plan of attack and headed to Home Depot.  First, they cut an 8′ x 5′ piece of 1/4, sanded plywood into 2″ strips.  They were so happy to do that for us.  I was ready to buy the precut 8′ strips (lath), which came in 1.5″ wide x 48″, which is the height I needed.  But the guy strongly suggested I have him cut the plywood since it would only be $13.00 vs. a lot more if I purchased the strips already cut out, so shoot, I said you betcha!  

I next needed moulding for the top.  I picked something pretty plain.  I didn’t want it to be too decorative.  Since I wasn’t going to put a wood “wall” on there, the actual wall became that part.  So all I needed was some good white paint and nails for my nail gun.

I wanted my board and batten to be 48″ high and the wood strips about 17″ apart.  I cut one piece to be my guide.  However, what I found useful was measuring the wall I was working on and dividing that width in inches by 17″, that way I wouldn’t be short.  I was able to adjust the width accordingly.  You can’t tell at all that some of the distances between vertical strips is 16″ and some are 18″. 

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Next I painted.  I decided to paint the moulding separately and just put it on the prepared walls.

On a side note, you can see that we had also pulled up our carpet and were installing vinyl plank flooring.  More on that later.

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The entire project only took me about a week.  Not bad since I did quite a large living room, foyer and hall. 

Here are a couple of “after” pictures a few months later.  I decided to get rid of those tan/orangey walls and I’m SO glad I did.  The hardest part of that job was deciding on which color gray paint to use!  I never realized I’d get so crazy about it.  Used below is Sherwin Williams Dovetail. 

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I’m So Excited, My Cow’s Head Was Delivered!

ImageI LOVE this guy!  Very quirky.

I’ve had this old red door for quite some time.  I bought it to bring up to the Lake, but it really doesn’t have a place there, so it’s been sitting in the garage.   This Christmas I decided it bring it in the living room and I liked it with a Christmas wreath on it.  I decided to keep it in there, but not sure it looks good.  What do you think?ImageI wish I could take credit for the idea, but I’ve copied it from Miss Mustard Seed.  Not only do I love her ideas and blog, but her Milk Paint is awesome!  I’ve done a few projects using the paint and they’ve come out wonderfully.  I will post those soon.

 

Backsplash Using Ceiling Tiles

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Our house was new when we bought it.  It had high end finishes throughout the house.  Except the kitchen!  The builder didn’t put any backsplash on the walls and also didn’t put a lip on our rather large island.  That seemed odd to me, no lip so you aren’t able to put a stool there?  Well, I fixed both issues!  ha ha

I honestly didn’t feel that I would be very good at hanging tile and it seemed so permanent to me, so I decided to use ceiling tiles.  I found a place online that had so many different finishes to choose from.  But for me, the DIY was what I wanted.  So I ordered 15 unfinished tin tiles in silver.   They were only $10.00 each so shoot, I didn’t feel I had much to lose if I ended up not liking it.

I tried several different finishes on one of the tiles, as a guinea pig, and decided that I really just liked the one that I spray painted white and then sanded the edges of it.

I didn’t continue it behind our sink.  I like it the way it is, on the wall behind the oven.  The wall only took 6 tiles, so I have quite a bit still left.

I only put nails in the four corners of each tin.  Another good feeling, because I know if I want to change it, I haven’t wrecked the wall, not to mention that I seem to change things really often!

This is the way the tiles looked when I received them.

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Here is a broader picture of the kitchen and how they look now:

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Office and Guest Room Combination Or “Hide all the stuff for your home business”

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When our daughter graduated college and moved back home to continue school, our guest room became my office. Making window decals sometimes entails rolls of vinyl all over the place.  i had really let it get awful.  We had no place for guests to sleep on their occasional visits, so I decided to reclaim it as a spare room.  But what to do with my vinyl cutter (quite large) and my computer, etc.?   In the closet!  It’s been perfect.  At the end of working, I tuck the chair in and close the doors.  The cutter is to the right of the window and yes, it can’t be hidden, but otherwise, the room looks inviting and
comfy.  

ImageImageI stole the headboard idea from my niece, Kristen.  When I first saw their guest room with one, I thought it
was the coolest idea, So…..$22 and a can of spraypaint and we have a headboard!  Thank you Kristen
and Nick!  This is a queen size bed so it would work very well for a king sized bed.

Coffee Bar

I have to admit, I am a coffee snob.  Worst yet, my daughter has become one as well.  Ugh, how I have failed!

Since I have my “one appliance on the countertop” rule, once my husband begged me to let him put his convection oven on the countertop, I knew I had to do something with my coffee pots.  Yes, plural.  I use two.  I use our Bunn for morning coffee, and during the day I use my Keurig Vue.  I love BOTH of them.

I found a great looking wall shelf on Houzz and was so happy to see that it was sold by Hobby Lobby.  I was lucky enough to catch it on sale so I bought two of them.  One for our home and one for the lake. So here is my coffee bar, which is in our dining area (open to the kitchen). 

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Appliance Garage or in my words Hide that Hideous Toaster

The “rule” is only one appliance on kitchen countertops.  I love that idea and it’s the way I like things, no clutter filled countertops.

My husband was not happy when I started to put his toaster in the cabinet.  Nope, not happenin’.  I searched and searched for a way I could hide the dang thing.  The roll down appliance garages are cool, but it just wasn’t going to look good in my kitchen.

So I happened on this from Hobby Lobby (at 50% off, it was about $15.00):

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I actually bought two of them.  I got ’em home and started to hollow them out.  I took all the drawers out and just stapled the drawer fronts back on.  I didn’t care what the inside of them looked like.  So here is the one that covers the toaster!

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Here you can see a better view of the way they look in the kitchen.

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