Let the Nursery Begin...Closet Doors Be Gone!

With the craft stuff out of the nursery let the fun begin!

Before I even thought about color schemes and nursery themes I was thinking about storage.  As I stated in earlier posts I am a bit obsessed with organization right now!  I like to have places for things that are not all stacked up in a corner. With a girl on the way we were going to need a bunch of closet space for clothes (even if the husband doesn't agree).

Step one of the nursery was to rip up the closet!  I have always hated our closest doors in the nursery room as they are the sliding kind which just seem to always get in the way.  The problem is that swing out doors would just take up a bunch of space in the actual room, so...

First step was to take down the doors.  They just get in the way and curtains would look way cuter, right? Next came ripping out the shelf and painting.

I knew I wanted a bunch of shelves and drawers to maximize the space.  Having one large shelf and clothing rod really limits the amount of small, cute, and cuddly clothes one can cram into a closet.

With the prep work done we needed to make a decision on build or buy.  The husband had convinced me that for the sanity of all involved it would probably be best to just buy a closet organizer from IKEA.  He was concerned about the length of his project list and the current NFL season.  I won't allow a TV in the woodshop (aka the garage) for fear of lost fingers and other appendages so he tends to not get much Wooding done on Sundays. 

We had used a PAX system organizer in our old house and it really did add a bunch of functional space to our closet.  The one we had was pretty small but for the nursery I wanted to get a pretty big mamma-jamma with a combo of shelves and pull out drawers.

The building and placement of the unit did not go as planned. Unfortunately it was a bit bigger than I anticipated.  Yes I did measure, (this isn't amateur hour) but I didn't think about being able to get around the depth of the unit.  The problem was that it was so deep that we ended up blocking one of the corners making it unusable. 

The husband thought we should scrap the plan for the organizer and just use the closet to it's fullest.  The wife thought we should just knock out the little jut in the wall which would open up the space in the corner (it would be really easy...).  After a large amount of negotiation the organizer and wall stayed put. 

Even though we are losing a bit of space on the one side we are more than making up for it in functionality of the organizer. 

 

Next up was the shelves and clothing rods.  One advantage with children's clothes, especially baby clothes, is that they are small and don't hang all the way to the floor making multiple stacked clothing rods a possibility.  The husband used 2 brackets per shelf. 

Cut and painted the boards. Attached the boards to the brackets, and finally installed the clothing rods.  They turned out perfectly and I couldn't be happier with the end result.

Now I'm off to sew the curtains!

Wood & Cloth - Laundry Room Update - Painted Vertical Stripes

What is black and white and looks amazing....?  The wall in our laundry room!

After the wallpaper debacle I was expecting a complete mess on the painted stripe front.  The husband was completely dreading this part of the remodel as he was certain the stripes would just come out messy and need a ton of touch up. 

Thanks to some helpful tips on Pinterest we were able to complete this entire project in a few hours.  If you are thinking about stripes...do it!


Project Ranking
Difficulty - Medium
Frustration - Low
Makeability - 100% worth it

Materials
Laser level
Paint (We used Valspar Clean White in Satin & Valspar Barn Door Black in Satin)
Good quality blue painters tape
Paint rollers
Paint brush

There are a bunch of tutorials for stripe painting on the web.  All go about things in a slightly different manner.  Most recommend that you try to stick to neutral colors that are similar in shade to each other.  The thought being if the colors are similar little mistakes will not be as noticeable.

So what did Wood & Cloth do...?  We picked colors that are the polar opposite from each other.  That is just how we roll.  We like to live on the edge and throw caution to the wind. 

We are pretty bad ass.


Instructions

Step 1 -  Paint your wall with one of your colors.  Choose your lighter color.  Obviously for us it was the white.

Step 2 - Make sure your initial wall color is completely dry before moving onto any of the stripe work.  If your wall is not completely dry you may have issues when you put down the tape for the stripes.

Step 3 - Figure out the length of your wall and how wide you want your stripes to be.  Our stripes are ~6 inches wide.  We ended up with 18 stripes.  9 of each color.  Mark off your measurements.  We only made marks on the bottom of the wall.  Not on the bottom and the top.  We ended up checking the measurements in the middle and top of the wall as we were applying the tape in an upcoming step.

NOTE:  Don't get too caught up trying to make all of the stripes exactly the same size.  Pick an easy size to measure, a round number works great.  We ended up with the first and last stripe being slightly larger than the other stripes.  The difference is so slight you can't even tell.

Step 4 - Get ready to begin taping.  Before you begin taping make sure that you can devote time to this project from the start of tape to the end of painting.  The key here is to get your tape on and off in a timely manner.  If you don't have enough time and need to break up the painting into 2 sessions...don't!  If you leave the tape on too long you risk pulling paint off when you remove it. 

Our laser level had a pin on the bottom which made it easy to hang on the wall.  Using the measurement marks as guides we placed the laser level close to the baseboard.  Depending on the straightness of your wall you may have to play around with the laser level in order to see the line all of the way up the wall.  Sometimes we had to pull the level away from the wall as much as possible to compensate for some waves in the wall. 

Before we placed the tape we did a quick measurement check in the middle and at the top.  Adjust your level if the spacing is not consistent.

This was probably the hardest part of the project, getting the level straight.  It involved the wife laying on the cold hard tile in order to see the level bubbles and making small adjustments while the husband yelled down instructions like..."clockwise a smidge" "too far" "not far enough" "back" "almost" "counter clock wise a bit" "the other clockwise".

Starting at the top of your wall place the tape along the laser line on the side of the stripe you will NOT be painting.  So for us we always put the tape on the white stripe side, not the side we would be painting black.  In order to help us keep from being confused we actually wrote a "B" on the black stripes.

You want to make sure that the tap along the side of the stripe that you will be painting is pressed down pretty good.  You want a good seal.

NOTE:  The stripes that you will not be painting will look a lot smaller than your to-be-painted stripes.  This is correct.  They are the same size but because the tape for both edges is part of the non-paint stripes it will mess with your head making them look smaller.

Step 5 - This step might be the best DIY trick ever.  It really works!  Using your lighter color paint (the one that is already on the wall) paint over the edge of the tape that borders your to-be-painted stripe.  The point is to seal the tape edge to prevent bleeding of your stripe paint underneath the tape.  This trick really will give you razor sharp lines on your stripes!  We did not use much paint for this step.  You don't want any drips and you don't want it to be too thick as you want it to be able to dry quickly. 

Let the paint dry for about 45 minutes before moving onto the next step.

Step 6 - Break out your darker paint!  This step was intense.  Black paint is intense.  Painting right next to white paint is intense.  I found myself not breathing as I was painting.  Truth be told the majority of the goobers we ended up with in the end had nothing to do with leaks under the tape.  They came from accidentally painting outside the lines. 

Some tips for this section....

***Make sure you are painting the correct stripe!  Double check before you put down your roller or your brush.

***Having 2 people works well and ensures you get the tape off quickly.  We had one person painting the tape side of the stripe with a brush while the other was rolling the stripe. 

***We painted 2 coats back to back.  By the time we finished up all of the stripes the first coat was pretty much dry so we just started right into the second coat. 

Step 7 - Remove your tape.  By the time we finished all of the stripes with a second coat the first ones were already pretty dry so we didn't really wait any additional time to let the paint dry.  You will have to make a judgement call on when to pull the tape off.  You want it pretty dry but not too dry.  Start at the top of your wall and pull.  Be careful not to let the tape hit your wall on the way down as it may still be a bit wet and you don't want it to hit your other stripes and make a mark.

This part was pretty scary.  We had no idea what to expect. 

We could not have asked for a better result.  There are a few touch ups here and there (seriously only about 5) but even with the black/white contrast the tape & paint combo kept the lines perfect.

Wood & Cloth - Update - Dyer is out of the hallway!

It was a gloriously beautiful weekend.  The sun was shining, birds were chirping, the whole neighborhood was out enjoying the first really warm day of the year.

We were in the laundry room.

At least we got a bunch marked off of the list.

We installed the cabinet doors....

We lined the shelves with contact paper...

We moved the dryer back into the laundry room...and did load after load of laundry!

We built the windowsill...



We did not finish painting the trim.  Partially because we ran out of time and partially because we may not paint it white.  Stayed tuned!

We did not begin work on the stripe wall.  That part of the project could be a bugger so it is probably better to start that fresh, not at the end of a weekend.

Another weekend has come and gone.  Stuff got done and other stuff didn't.  I am loving the way things are coming together.  Getting the cabinet doors installed really made the cabinets look finished and amazing if I do say so myself, and I do!

Wood & Cloth - Laundry Room Remodel - Little by Little

Every night when I walk in the door I am greeted by our clothes dryer.  It is a struggle to shimmy my way around the dryer in the middle of the hall while carrying my laptop and purse.

We need to kick this remodel into high gear!

Accomplished this week:
-Crown molding on top of the cabinets.
-Repair dings, dents, divots suffered during the cabinet install
-Finish painting the cabinet doors
-Order contact paper for the shelf liners
-Put additional paint coat on above cabinets

On tap for the weekend:
-Finish up all white painting (floors, baseboards, crown molding, windowsill)
-Attach cabinet doors
-Build windowsill and frame window
-Build shelves for the cabinets (the husband kind of forgot about this)
-Move the dryer back into the laundry room (Yay!)
-Do laundry
-Design and paint the black stripes on the wall

Even if we only accomplish the bare minimum needed to be able to move the dryer back into the laundry room this weekend, I will consider the next two days a success.

Wood & Cloth- Laundry Room Update - The Install

We have all had those times when you look back at a situation, that at the time was not funny in the slightest, and laugh. 

Such is the cabinet install.

The husband had installed a runner board along the wall for the bottom of the cabinet to rest.  This not only made it easy to get the cabinets straight but it gave the a place for the cabinet to rest so that it wasn't all up to the husband and his brother to keep it held against the wall.

The first cabinet went up without a hitch.

The studs were located and screws attached to the wall.  Every time the stud finder came out both the husband and the brother made comments that there were "2 studs over here" while pointing at themselves.

The second shelf went up without a hitch.

That is where the good times stopped rolling.

The husband had taken numerous measurements along both of the walls to determine how square and straight the walls where before he even began building the units.

For the record...walls are not perfectly straight.  If you are under the delusion that the walls in your home are indeed straight I hate to be the one to burst your bubble.  But they are not.  They ebb and flow a bit making installation of wall to wall cabinets tricky.  Typically professional installers will actually cut some of their cabinet edges on site to fit the wall.  We did not have that option.

From the initial measurements we knew it was going to be a tight fit.  However after the 40 billion coats of paint and one small section of the wall that jutted out a smidgen bit more that the rest it pushed us over from tight to an hour and a half of work to wedge it in.

We pushed it...we rocked it...we tried to brute force it.



After a ridiculous amount of effort and a good deal of swearing an attempt was made to sand some of the wall down.  Seriously we were so close it would make you cry even one less coat of paint on the stupid cabinets and it probably would have gone in.

Finally after so many attempts I thought arms were going to turn to jelly they managed to shimmy it in. 

Is it aligned perfectly...nope.  Do I care....nope.

We did suffer a bunch of collateral damage in the attempt to get the third cabinet jammed in there.  The brother's mad strength lead to a piece of cabinet breaking off and a hand sized indent in the back wall.  Apparently bracing yourself against the back wall to get traction to push up on a cabinet isn't a good idea.

Good thing we had Spackle!

Wood & Cloth-Update-Laundry Room Demolition

The demo for the laundry room was a relatively easy one.  Not much in there means not much that needs to come down.

We tore down the shelf (and by we I mean the husband...wood was responsible for the majority of the room prep as I wasn't even able to budge the shelf with the crowbar!)

We filled with Spackle.  This was our first time using this brand of Spackle. It goes on pink and dries white.  It actually worked really well for anyone that wants to try it out.

Next came sanding.  Note the Sophie pug behind the husband.  That dog loves power tools!

Finally the room was ready for paint.  We wanted to get a couple of coats on the walls before the cabinet install.  Without the cabinets in the room it was much easier to move around while painting.

Next up the epicness that is the cabinet install....







Wood & Cloth-Update-Laundry Room Remodel

The laundry room project has been one of give and take.  Just when we finally take a few steps forward…we immediately take a couple back.

FORWARD

1) All 3 pieces of the cabinet are complete, sanded, and ready to be painted!

2) All 4 cabinet doors are complete, sanded, and ready to be painted!

3) Yellow chevron fabric came and the wall decoration I have been planning is finished.  I can’t wait to show it off but I want to wait until I can actually show it against the striped wall paper.

4) I think every room should have a splurge.  Something that can’t be DIY’d (or at least not by us).  My splurge for the laundry room is the cute yellow owl that was part of the inspiration for the room.  After looking around for something similar I kept coming back to the owl.  My test for if I really want something is to walk away from it.  If I keep thinking about it and it is still available it was meant to be.  Unfortunately sometimes you walk away and when you come back it is no longer there….that really stinks and it will haunt you for the rest of your days (sigh…cherry bowl from Sur la table…).  Thankfully the owl didn’t get away and it is currently being kilned (is that a word?) and will be on its way to me very soon.

(From Fruitfly Pie on Etsy)

BACKWARD

1) The wallpaper is on backorder until April 16^th.  It was supposed to be here on the 2^nd.

2) Due to a slight error in measurements 2 of the door panels needed to be redone.  (We do not speak of this with the husband.)

3) Painting has become a ridiculous folly.  Covering up some black stamps on the wood has taken 3 coats of “high hide” primer, 4 coats of white paint, and a ton of the wife’s sanity.  (We do not speak of this with the wife.)

NOTE:  I truly believe that the wood we have is possessed by the devil himself.  Pure evil is leaking out of the black stamp.  An evil so otherworldly that just when you think you have covered it up it sneaks back out in the middle of the night ready to devour your soul.

NEXT

1) Next up is to demo the old laundry room.  We need to get the current shelf out and begin to prep the walls for painting and wallpapering.

2) In order to move forward on the painting we will be looking into a Catholic priest that is willing to come out and perform an exorcism on the black wood stamping.  Hopefully the cost of the exorcism is covered in our laundry room budget as I already used my splurge on the owl.

3) Hardware for the doors needs to be purchased as well as some cute knobs.


This project is turning into a bugger...and we still have a ton to do!

Wood & Cloth-Archive-Craft Room

I need a redo.

Last week was not a great one for Wood & Cloth.  Especially for Cloth.  I was so looking forward to last weekend as we had some really warm spring temperatures and abundant sun shine....or so the husband tells me.  I spent the entire weekend in bed with a stupid stomach bug.  I haven't been so wiped out in a long time.  All of my plans had to be put aside as I couldn't even sit upright for more than a few minutes without having to lay back down.  I guess if you are going to be sick over a weekend it is nice if that weekend has one less hour.  I usually bemoan the loss of my hour going to daylight savings time but this year I didn't even miss it...good riddance.

The hits kept coming as the week started.  I had to peal myself out of bed on Monday morning as I had something scheduled at work that I couldn't miss.  In my other non-blog-non-Cloth life....my I-work-hard-for-my-money life I had to fire an employee.  It is always a really hard decision and one aspect of my job that I will probably never be able to do without getting myself worked up.  I often worry that the firing will be the beginning of a downhill slide for the person that will end up with them homeless on the streets.  I don't want to be the cause of that.  I do pull myself back and realize that everyone is responsible for their actions and if the work is not up to par a change needs to be made.


So I went to work still ill, took care of business, went home and crawled back into bed for the rest of the day.


Time for a redo.


While I can't redo last week I can bust open the Wood & Cloth project archive and show the craft room redo we did.  While the bulk of the remodel took place a couple of years ago we have been adding furniture over the years and I recently redid all of my fabric and notion storage just a few weeks ago.

The craft room was one of the first rooms we remodeled in the new house.  I always wanted a room to be able to spread out all of my projects but not have to pick them up every day if I didn't want to.  It is nice being able to hide craft-explosion with a closed door.


Phase 1

I wanted the craft room to have a bit of a country feel with some bright cheery colors.  We put put bead board and a chair rail and painted the room a fun yellow.  The yellow is a story in itself...and why I always buy paint testers now.  The original yellow in the room is now referred to in our house as "retina searing yellow." 

The husband also framed in the window adding to the country feel.

The craft table is one of the first pieces of furniture the husband made for the new house.  It is extra long so that I can lay out a bunch of fabric or crafts and still have room for my laptop and sewing machine.  We actually found the table legs at an antique store.  I almost didn't want to sand them down because they had so much character but in the end I knew I wanted a red table so the old paint and history had to go.

Phase 2

The next big project was a window seat and cabinet/shelf tower furniture set.  This was a really fun project.  Wood got to make the furniture and I got to sew my first box cover and learn how to make pillow cording!  While I did have visions of spending numerous hours sitting at the window reading it is typically occupied by pugs.  I will confess that the husband and I have found that it is a good vantage point for spying on the neighbors.  (Don't act like you don't do it too!)

Phase 3

For the longest time the shelves sat bare except for a few random in process projects here and there.  Oh and of course the TV!  The husband in a move of shear genius got the wife a TV for Christmas one year.  It was a well played move designed to cut down on the complaints about NFL Sunday ticket and the fact the wife wanted to be able to watch Lifetime movies during her Sunday crafting. 


Sneaky.


I finally got around to organizing my fabric and putting to use a few things I had been picking up over the years at garage and antique sales.

The craft room has come a long way from the beginning.  It is truly a room I enjoy spending time in. 


Now I just need to get another project going so I can put last week behind me even if I can't redo it!

Wood & Cloth-Beginnings-Laundry Room Remodel

I'm feeling antsy.  The study is done (for the time being) and I only have the husband's undivided attention during the weekends for a short while longer.  As soon as the weather gets warmer he will be off playing tennis or mountain biking.
If I want big wood stuff built the clock is ticking.

Our laundry room is boring.  Not that a laundry room can be a ton of fun mind you, but I at least want to make it less blah.  It is a small room so I am not planning anything ridiculous like a laundry-shoot slide with a swimming pool at the end.  I do however want to be a bit on the bold side with patterns and color.  When it comes to color I typically land on the conservative side, although little by little I am coming out of my earth-tone colored shell.  I am also seriously entertaining the idea of wallpaper.  That scares the husband… which makes me want it an itsy bit more.

I have been batting around some ideas for awhile but this week things really started to click and I can see how it is all going to come together. 

*Black and white with bright yellow for accent color.

*Wallpaper or a painted stencil pattern on at least one wall.

*Handmade roman shade for the window.

*Hand built white beadboard panel cabinets with black pulls.

* Two double-wide/extra tall cabinets (one set on each side) with open shelves in between the cabinets sets.

*Hand built risers for the washer and dryer with slide-out drawers.

Where is my tape measure?   I want to get this project started!