Chevron Nursery Wall

Since this blog is not just for my cakes, I figured I’d post about the chevron nursery wall I just did! I referenced a link from pinterest to get me started: http://inspiredesignandcreate.com/chevronwall/

I finished this entire wall within a 5 hour time period, save for the initial base painting (which I did in Dove White). I spent the better part of an hour just working on the math to calculate 5 chevron stripes for my wall. Since the dimensions of my wall were pretty close to the tutorial referenced above, I decided five stripes would be adequate for me…you’ll have to pick what works best for you and your home!

I measured and dotted all the reference points (see tutorial) and also measured each dot against one another. This kept my lines even. Then I used edge lock painter’s tape and cut the corners as shown in the referenced tutorial. I’d say the most time spent on this project was measuring a wall full of dots.

After painting the stripes, we removed the tape and used Mr. Clean Magic Eraser to erase the pencil marks! Easy peasy 🙂

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A whole House Remodel: Part Eight

With the cabinets installed and the stove hooked up, it was time to do the countertops. 

The cabinets came with counter tops but they were the wrong shape, one of them cracked and they were red, really red.

So after pricing out granite, marble, limestone and other options I decided on concrete.

Of course having someone professionally pour concrete countertops is almost as expensive as natural stone. So I did some research on techniques, weighed out my options, did a few test samples and decided to go with concrete forms from”Z concrete” The whole kit and all of the materials needed as well as equipment rental and tools came out to about 800$.

I built the frames over the counters during the week and my Brother helped me pour and smooth the concrete over a weekend.

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They turned out far from what would be considered perfect but in all honesty I am very happy with the results. They are well sealed and smooth, have a nice look to them and I like the color and pattern as well.

I also ordered a butcher’s block from John Boos’, side grain walnut, for the island. (sorry I don’t have a good pic)

Lastly I needed a backsplash, we decided on this small block glass tile all the way around. I really like the color and how it accents the kitchen.

Just a few more details to finish the kitchen.

A whole House Remodel: Part Seven

Ok, now that all of the framing and prep work was done I had to install a lot of drywall. 

I hate Drywall.

But with it finished I could put down the tile. I got all of this beautiful marble tile for 2$ a square foot! You can’t hardly find crappy ceramic tiles at that price, I just wish I’d bought more.

 

 

After that I test fit and then installed the cabinets. 

I got these from a kitchen installer that was going out of business, these cabinets were a floor model and I got all of them, the sink and the dishwasher for 2500. Not bad.

 

 

 

I also got diamond plate steel to make a better trap door and installed the stove.

A 1950’s original that still works like a champ, 50$

Next up, countertops.

A Whole House Remodel: Part Six

Now that I ripped out the stairs in the kitchen area, there are holes every where.

Holes in the floor, holes in the ceiling, holes in the chimney… hmm

First up I need to reinforce the ceiling and run some 16 foot studs across the whole room.

Then I needed to fill in the hole in the floor. Now since it is very difficult to get a washer and dryer up and down a set of spiral stairs I elected  to install a trap door as well. 

I also left a heavy duty bolt exposed in the ceiling so that I can attach a block-and-tackle to it.

Time to patch up that hole in the chimney, no carbon monoxide poisoning  for me thanks.

After all that it was time for tons and tons of drywall to go up.

A Whole House Remodel: Part Five

At this point, now that the cockroaches were all dead and the house no longer smelled like stale piss, I was thinking about trying to live in the house.

I quickly sanded and scraped away all of the paint in one bedroom and repainted the whole room.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was to become the make-shift kitchen so I installed a sink temporarily as well.

 

It became much more livable than this however I can’t seem to find any pictures of it.

 

 

 

I repainted the other bedroom as well and set myself up a proper place to sleep.

 

 

 

 

 

Luckily all three of these rooms were adjoined by a small hallway so I now had a tiny 300 sq foot apartment to live in.

A Whole House Remodel: Part Four

Next up I wanted to make more room in the kitchen.

Well the stairs going both up to the loft and down to the basement were behind the oven and cabinets in the kitchen.

Also, they were right in the middle of the useable space upstairs; so we ripped them out completely.

 

 

And my brother had an excellent suggestion to replace them with a spiral staircase!

 

I ordered a kit from the Iron Shop and cut some holes in the floor. I also had to do some extra bracing for the floors of course. 

 

Here is the kit being installed in the basement.

It comes in two sections so after the ground floor is done, you stack the second story stairs right on top and continue up to the attic.

 

 

And the finished product!

A Whole House Remodel: Part Three

Now that the Bathroom was adequately demolished, it was time to start rebuilding it. I had gotten this excellent claw-foot tub for free off of Craigslist several years prior. it had been sitting on my porch since then; used mainly to fill with ice and put beer in. (I did also receive stitches in this tub on one occasion.)

Anyway, It was sandblasted down, cleaned out and re-painted on the outside. I ended up leaving the porcelain as-is even though it was not perfect since I didn’t see any cheap and reliable ways to refinish it.

The marble tile for the floor was left over from my brother’s bathroom and he sold it to me in trade for a case of beer.

I found a new toilet, again on craigslist and I believe it was also free. I did have to replace all of the hardware of course but after that it literally looked brand new.

 

 

As for the sink, it took the most work after the tub. I found a dry sink for 30$ (can you guess where?) and then cut holes for the sink and plumbing into the cabinet. I had to spend some money on the porcelain sink and faucet in order to get the right size so I couldn’t use a freebee here.

For the mirror, I made one using the glass from the old medicine cabinet and some of the crown moulding I ripped down in the basement.

Lastly, I made some shelves out of some 7/8″ pine boards that I glued together and then used a router on the edges.

Candace of course took care of all the decorating. That’s one room down, a whole house to go!

A Whole House Remodel: Part Two

After purchasing this wreck of a house the next step was to wreck it even further! I ripped out all of the carpets and the terrible drop ceiling that was hiding another terrible ceiling. 

 

Afterwords, all of the kitchen cabinets were removed as well as the wall surrounding the kitchen.

Here is the chimney that was hiding behind the kitchen wall, in the background, you can also see the floor being replaced where the old furnace vent was.

 

Then I tackled the Bathroom, This was the first room I wanted to have finished so I ripped out the sink, toilet, Bathtub and the floor too. The floor boards were rotten away completely as was a small portion of the floor supports from all of the leaking water.

 

 

I ended up taking out the whole wall behind the tub in order to replace it as well as the floor underneath extending into the bedroom.

Next up, I’ll start putting the bathroom back together.

A Whole-House Remodel: Part One

So I have been taking photos since day one, but have been too busy/ lazy to post any of them up here. I figure I’ll start from the beginning with the whole-house restoration/remodel and try to bring everything up to date.

In the beginning, I found an awesome property with a 5 bays of garage space, right next to my job! The house was… less than great…

The people living in the house were on government assistance and drugs, lots of drugs. There were roaches everywhere and the whole house stank. I’m quite sure they had every single window covered up or boarded over and everything was basically so dirty and disgusting I didn’t want to bring any food into the house.

The floors in the bathroom were soft to say the least. Every appliance, sink, light fixture, countertop, and rug needed to be replaced.

All in all, I knew this house was going to need a complete gutting. However the foundation was solid and the basement was fairly dry. do-able.

On the up side, the house was built in 1915 and still had many of the original doors and hardware. The heartwood pine floors were in need of repairs but mostly very solid throughout. I started to see some potential in this old cape-cod, so I bought it up and the quest began to return it to former glory.

Mason Jar Chandelier Build

So, I finally got around to building that Mason Jar “Chandelier”. I’ll give you the basic overview and you can post any questions in the comments section.

Step one: Gather materials:

A box of mason jars, Lamp sockets, Lamp Wire, copper pipe and 45 deg unions.

Also, basic Electrical Know How. If you have never worked with electricity before I would not attempt this project! In fact, for everyone’s safety (and my own legal well being) I’m not suggesting that anyone try this project, I’m just showing you what I did.

 

Step Two: Drill out the Jar Lids

I used a drill press, as you can see, along with a hole saw.

I used a pipe clamp and some long bolts to hold the jar in place, then you just swap lids to drill the next one. It actually went pretty quickly.

Step Three: Install lamp sockets into lids

Fit the sockets and rings into the jar lids then mark the places where the little tabs hit the lid.

Cut a small slit with a razor knife where each of the tabs is    located.

Then you can press the tabs through the slits and fold them over with pliers. This will hold everything securely onto the lid.

 

 

 

 

Step Four: assemble and wire the lights. 

Once you have as many as you need it’s time to wire them up. The lamp sockets have two screws inside which you connect the positive wire to one and the negative to the other.

I do not have good pictures of the wires being installed but it’s pretty basic.The nice thing about a lamp is that there is no way to install a light bulb “backwards”just make sure the connections are good and secure and nothing is shorted out.

You can simply put a plug on the other end and hang the lights from the ceiling as desired or you can wire them directly into the ceiling.

If you plan on using a copper ring to set several lights through, go on to step 5. If not skip to step 6.

 

Step Five: Making a copper ring.

   I used half inch copper and bought a bag of bulk 45 degree unions off of ebay.

Really you can use any shape you want, I was going to do a circle but it is not possible to bend one as small as I wanted using half inch pipe. so I opted for an octagon instead.

Use a pipe cutter or hacksaw to cut 8 pieces of copper to equal length.

Fit the pieces together to make sure everything is correct. I used lead solder and a torch to connect the pipes but since it doesn’t need to hold water you should be able to use hot glue or just about anything else to connect them.

Once they are all together it is back to the drill press to drill a hole for each wire. This all depends on the size of your chandelier and you could probably get away with using a hand held drill for this step.

Step Six: Hang the thing!

Just run the wires through the ring, (or just bunch them together) at whatever length you like then clip the top of the wires even.

If you have more than about 4 lights, the wires will be too bulky to fit into an electrical box. You will need a separate box in which to connect all of the wires together and then from there have a separate single wire that connects to the wall or plug.

If you are going to wire them in the ceiling make sure to use a metal box with a clamp that will pinch and hold the wires themselves; you never want the weight of the lamp to be on the wire nuts connecting them.

And that’s it! I know I did not give detailed description or pictures of the wiring but if you are not sure what to do, please have someone who is experienced with electricity show you. Be safe and good luck!

-Sean