Rommy plan: the

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Sunday, March 2, 2014

The Living Room

I thought it was about time to share some photos of our living room! Weve been slowly (since last August - yikes!) making some improvements to the room and its so nice to check another room off our list.

The living room was the first room we entered when we looked at our house. Ill never forget the feeling that came over me. We rarely get snow here, but there was snow on the ground and it was near Christmastime. Yes, we immediately saw improvements that needed to be made, but instantly I felt like I was home. It was warm, comfortable and well, cozy.

BEFORE:

Fortunately, our home really was move-in ready, but there were certain things we knew we would eventually fix. One of those things was the styrafoam tiles that covered the ceilings downstairs. Although weve had wonderful luck in other rooms of our house finding the original beadboard in good condition, when we removed the tiles in this room, we instantly knew there would be no way we could salvage it.

I think this picture about sums up a room renovation in an old house - not fun! The original owners had nailed 1x4 boards onto the ceiling before installing the styrafoam to ensure the room was level. But in doing so, the ceiling height was significantly lowered and every time we walked up the stairs, we had to duck our heads. So it was very important to us to keep the original ceiling height, even though we knew we would be dealing with leveling issues. We installed planking on the ceiling and it was a job. I even learned how to use a nail gun because Justus had to use all his strength to hold the planks together. Even after we finished installing the planks, Justus then had his work cut out for him with the trim. In the end though, we were able to raise the ceiling about 4"!

AFTER:

I know Ive mentioned before, but just in case you are new to reading, the walls are oak tongue and groove and are original to the house (about 80 years old). They have never been painted and it was important to us to leave them as they would have originally been.

We replaced the ceiling, most of the trim, drapery, light fixture and other cosmetic details, but we didnt replace any of our furniture. Between working with what we already had, trying to lighten the room but keep the walls in their natural state and dealing with the awkward layout, this room has been a huge challenge for me. But in the end, Im happy with how it turned out. It still feels warm and cozy, but hopefully a little fresher.

My goal in renovating our house is to make everything flow from room to room, but still let each room have its own personality. The original owners had painted the entire downstairs a cream color that neither Justus or I cared for and gradually weve been replacing it with white. I painted all the trim in this room and the ceiling the same color white (Simply White by Benjamin Moore) to match the rest of the changes weve made downstairs, but I also brought in some touches of gray, as the white can be a little stark against the wood.

See the piece of trim in the corner? The original owners had trim in these corners painted white. One day it occurred to me that a piece of trim stained to match the walls would look so much better. It was just a little thing - but something we felt dramatically helped. I used a stain that Rust-Oleum had told us about (Ultimate Wood Stain - One Coat Color) and I loved it! Only one coat is required and that is literally all it took on the pine trim to match the oak walls.

A lady I used to work with illustrated the two bird prints that hang in this corner and I absolutely love them. Originally I felt like I needed to add more, but I think their simplicity actually looks nice.

Weve had this table that sits under the window for several years. I found it at an antique store for about $40... the surface was made with two old cabinet doors.

Finding a room arrangement that worked was one of the hardest things for me. I cant tell you how many times I moved it around! I am a symmetrical person and the front windows do not line up with the fireplace, which drives me a little crazy. In the end, I chose to line the sofa up to be symmetrical with the fireplace.

Another thing I struggled with was a light fixture! I wavered between a schoolhouse light and a barn light for a long time, but in the end, Justus picked out this glass light fixture from Lowes. Its not something I would have ever thought of, but it was just perfect.

The pillows on the couch (and on the leather chair above) were made by Ann of On Sutton Place out of grain sacks (you can read about them here). They were one of the final touches that just brought the entire room together.

The console table behind the sofa was also something weve had since our early years of marriage, but I painted it a lighter gray to help lighten the room (you can read about it here). We also added drapery panels, which are sewn from linen (you can read about them here), and rods.

The shelves were another new addition (you can read about them here). I like the way they fill this empty space without taking up any precious floor space. I painted them the light gray (Titanium by Benjamin Moore) for a subtly softer look.

BEFORE:

Painting the stairs was a huge undertaking. Once the ceiling was raised, Justus was able to remove the piece of trim on the bottom. The above picture was taken on our first walk-through... the stairs were painted a brown color and were so slippery. After Jillian and I both slipped and fell down them in the same week, I had carpet installed two days later, and Ive never once regretted it.

AFTER:

I painted the top of the treads and the handrail the same gray as the shelves and the rest white. I actually painted the stairs a couple months ago, but I found they didnt hold up very well, so just last week I applied a coat of satin poly over the paint to help protect them.

At first I tried painting our door gray too, but in the end, I decided white looked better and I repainted it. The door is original.

Are you getting a feel for how awkward this room is? I needed to keep this walkway as open as possible, as it leads from the front entrance into the dining room, but still try to accommodate our furniture. In the end I put this checked chair up against the wall and the wooden crate beside it holds some toys.

Just last week I was still struggling with what to hang in this corner. My mom had painted this wooden quilt square for their home, but wasnt happy with it, and asked if I wanted it. It fit just perfect in this spot! We replaced an outdated lamp shade here with a burlap drum from Lowes.

The fireplace doesnt look all that different. I repainted it the same light gray Ive used around the room, as the white was just too much against the wood. I put up the same artwork (made from wool) and for now the mantle is simply decorated. The basket of blocks in front of the fireplace was a gift from a previous boss for our girls. As you can imagine, most of the time blocks are scattered around the living room floor (smile).

Thanks for letting me show you around! I hope youll forgive me for talking so much!

One last thing... there is still time to enter the grain sack giveaway from Anns shop (you can find that post here). Have a wonderful rest of the week!

Monday, February 24, 2014

HOW THE MAGIC HAPPENS blue black and white dresser

SO when the rain comes before expected sometimes my furniture doesnt get

photographed the way I would like.

Case in point this blue dresser.

On a lovely warm sunny day Ill pull something out of storage and start working in the yard.

Ill fix all the broken bits including drawer glides, and replace missing drawer guides.

Nailing a backer on, and glue a chipped drawer corner back in place.

At some point I decide what color Im going to start with,

this day it was blue for a piece Shelly had done over at A LITTLE BIT OF SHIZZLE

I wasnt trying to reproduce her work of art,

its just the piece that inspired the color choice of the day.

Ive added a link to see more of Shellys work at the bottom of this post.

Masking, spraying, distressing, and waxing all happens before installing new hardware.

A finish for the top gets underway.

Once finished but before I can move things around to style for photos,

the rain comes or even simple life happens.

So this is what happens .....

Photo editing!

It doesnt happen too often because I work hard at getting good photos,

but it is a necessary evil when you have bad lighting, bad weather, or limited time.

Pop over to see more of Shellys masterpiece at A LITTLE BIT OF SHIZZLE:

http://alittlebitoshizzle.blogspot.com/2011/10/my-very-first-annie-furniture.html

Friday, February 21, 2014

Continuing The Craftsman Desk Repair

Broken tenons are a problem thats fairly common when bringing a beaten up piece of furniture back to life. The best option Ive found in my time has been to create a floating tenon, but first you have to clean up the end grain nubs hanging out from the damage. A block plane works great for this

I cut mortises a number of different ways, depending on my morning tarot reading and the position of the spots on the sun relative to the phase of the moon. This time I fired up the drill press and hogged out the waste.

Then I cleaned up the mortise with a little chisel work. Because of the size of the pieces I decided it would be a good idea to downsize the mortise on the rail and leave a little more meat around the floating tenon, I had already cut the leg mortise bigger when I made this decision. This meant I had to do a little more work making a floating tenon to fit both sides.

With the structural repairs done I had another big decision. Try and fix the existing finish that was on the losing end of a twelve round prize fight or just take things back to bare and start from as close to scratch as possible.

I went back to square one with some sanding, some planing, and some scraping. The oak under the finish, beautiful.

Then I reassembled the leg section. The difference sitting next to the surviving leg was pretty striking.

Of course I had to take apart the other leg section and clean the crap off it as well.

Then I scrubbed the crap off the repaired table top and off the apron section and reassembled the desk.

The desk looked very different from were it started.

There was still some work to do. I had a drawer to repair and refit and I had to make the only major part that was missing when we found this. The bottom stretcher between the leg sections.

Ratione et Passionis
Oldwolf

The Easiest Mortise I Have Ever Cut

Finally, a relatively slow day for the Oldwolf Clan, slept in a bit, got up and watched a movie thats been waiting to go back to Blockbuster Video for a week, and hit the shop. Got to spend most of the day working there to. Pretty nice day if I do say so myself.

Started it out by fulfilling a plan I made a while ago on this blog. I was talking about the four full size hand saws I own, I call them the Four Brothers, The trouble is one of the four brothers was embarrassed, He is a good Disston saw, but he was just born in the wrong era, all he had to hold on to was a cold and heartless chunk of plastic. I had vowed to make him a new wood handle, but then the weather turned and I could take the opportunity to use some space outside to cut and begin the saw benches, The saw has waited patiently ever since.

Patience turns out to pay off because yesterday I picked up several old saw handles at a garage sale. I went through the handles and chose the one I thought would fit best. Sanded off most of the green paint that was on the poor guy. Marked and drilled some new holes in the blade. (you can see the multitude of holes in one of the pics, getting the holes drilled was actually a little of an ordeal, some of those old saws have tough steel) Popped the saw nuts in place and Ta Da. Now little brother doesnt have to be embarrassed any longer.

Then I did a little rearranging on the peg board. I had my dividers and calipers all bunched up and on top of one another for a while. A few days ago I went to pull a hammer off the board and bumped one divider, and Ill bet you can guess the rest of the story. A couple of them swung about a bit and then fell down. All I could think was how I didnt want either of these casualties of gravity to get bent when they landed on the concrete floor. Thinking quickly and disregarding my own personal safety, I stuck out my foot to cushion the blow.

I wasnt wearing shoes.

The point of my small divider is a pretty sharp point.

It bit me. Not deep, but enough to remind me what a dumb ass I can be sometimes, and that I should have taken care to set things up right from the beginning. Same ol story.

But then the rest of today was interesting to. I was working away on the saw horse. Gonna try to finish it up today and I marked one of the thru mortises on the legs and began to chop away with a chisel and mallet. A small crack in the wood developed early but I didnt think a whole lot of it. I had similar crack that I repaired on for both legs on the horse thats finished. All I did was finish the mortise, then spread the crack a bit, push some glue in, and clamp it for a while. Stronger than ever. Today the crack went from hairline to complete split in three blows of the mallet. I stared at the piece for a minute. The split followed exactly along the line of one edge of the mortise. Well this was interesting. I didnt see any reason I had to replace the leg from scratch, its a saw horse for gods sake, and the split was clean with lots of glue surface. Only had to finish the mortise.

You see instead of measuring, when I dont have to be perfectly perfect but I need matching mortises in pieces, Ill cut one and use it to mark for the other. If I couldnt cut the other mortise I would have stalled out in the shop for the day and it was still early.

I put the vise on the table. Clamped in the leg, grabbed the backsaw, and cut a series of kerfs working to bottom out as square as possible. (but not killing myself for it, this is a saw horse not a highboy) Popped out the slices between the kerfs, cleaned up the side with the chisel, Fasted and easiest mortise I have ever made with hand tools

.

I was able to use it to mark the other leg, and that gave me something to work on while the glue and clamps worked their magic on the splitter.

It sure made for an interesting way to check the fit of a tenon though.

All in all an interesting day, but most days in the shop are. The glue wasnt quite set up when I broke to come upstairs, eat supper and update the blog. Heres hoping I get down to the shop again to finish tonight, either way the second horse should get finished tomorrow or Tuesday. Then its on to a bigger project.

Cheers

Oldwolf