Saturday, August 31, 2013

Board and Batten Installation: Day 2

Well, I'm back to give you a report of day 2 of our board and batten project. If you missed day one, you can find it here.

So, let's just call day 2 "Getting in the Groove Day". It's going slower than anticipated because we had to make a million trips from the garage to bedroom to carry in all the lumber and tools, then we had to stop working for Little Boy's nap (power tools are loud!) and the yard needed to be mowed this afternoon. But, we did get a section finished and developed a good installation system.

Jeremy started next to the crawl out attic door since we wanted the boards to be as tall as the attic door. He installed 1x6 boards for the baseboard, making a 45 degree cut for the corner. He used his nail gun to nail in 2 inch, 16 gauge finish nails.
After the baseboard was on, he cut the top board (1x4 boards) and I held it up flush with the molding around the attic door. We measured the vertical height between the top of the baseboard and the bottom of the top board. Once we had that height measurement, he cut the vertical boards (1x3 boards) to size.

Jeremy used a stud finder to find the studs in the wall and marked them on the walls. Then, he nailed the vertical boards to the studs using his nail gun. After the first two vertical boards were attached to the wall where the stud were, we measured the distance in between the vertical boards. We used that measurement to make a spacer board out of scrap wood so we wouldn't have to remeasure in between each set of vertical boards.
Next, he nailed on the top board, the trim board, and the ledge board (1x2 boards).
He finished one complete section and was able to get some baseboard, a vertical board, and some trim work done on the wall with the windows.

Tomorrow should go much faster now that he's in a rhythm and all his supplies are all ready to go!

Friday, August 30, 2013

Board and Batten Installation- Real Time Blogging: Day 1

I have three blog posts in the works right now, but am going to take a break from my typical blogging to do something a little different. Usually, I show you a room or project from start to finish all in one post. But, Jen over at IHeart Organizing inspired me with her bathroom remodel series to do a real time blog series documenting us installing the board and batten in Little Girl's room. It'll give you a better sense of how projects go, how long they actually take, the giant mess they actually make, what troubles we run into, and the fun of getting it done!

My hubby has a nice, long weekend for Labor Day, so we decided this would be the perfect weekend to tackle the board and batten for Little Girl's room. Too bad I forgot to take a before picture. :( But, here it is after Jeremy removed the baseboards and taped the room so he could prime.

I love these windows!

Jeremy has been putting in 11 hour days at work lately, so he hasn't had much time to do projects. To prep for the board and batten, he worked on Little Girl's room for 10 minutes a night, just to keep moving. Over the course of a week, he finished taping and over the course of the next week, was able to rip off all of the baseboards.


Construction phase started today! Jeremy started off by sanding down the paint line where the wall paint and the baseboards used to meet. It was just enough of a bump that he was afraid the new baseboards wouldn't lay flush against the wall, so he just went over the area with his orbit sander.

After he wiped the dust off the walls from the sander, he started priming the walls to make sure all of the existing green was covered. Here it is all primed! Excuse the phone pictures sprinkled into this post, but I don't have a wide angle lens, so it's impossible to get a picture of the room that's not a close up with my regular camera.


Last step for today was heading to Home Depot to pick up all the lumber he needed for the board and batten. We purchased all pre-primed pine boards. The pre-primed pine boards were actually cheaper than the unfinished pine boards, so getting primed boards was a no brainer! Hooray for not having to prime all that wood and even more hoorays for it actually being the cheaper option! :)

Tomorrow, Jeremy will start installing boards! Stay tuned for more updates!

Monday, August 26, 2013

Target Clearance Alert

I had to run to Target for a couple things today (which always ends up being a dozen things, haha) and did a happy dance when I saw their adorable Threshold kitchen items freshly marked down on clearance!

I've been eyeing these canisters for weeks, but just couldn't bring myself to pay full price even though I love love loved them. But today, they were 50% off! Holla!!!
Don't they just add such a nice touch of happy to my counter? I'm going to put coffee in one and sugar in the other to make a nice little coffee station.

There was a bunch of other kitchen items on clearance as well, including the adorable Threshold color dipped baskets. I was this close to buying one of those, too, but then remembered we're on a budget. Duh, Sam. ;)
So, if you've been eyeing any kitchen items at Target, hurry in and scoop up some great clearance deals! Again, I'm not being paid or perked for writing this, just another nerdy decorator moment. :)

Saturday, August 24, 2013

Rooms to Go isofa

Have you seen Rooms to Go's new isofa? I'm ridiculously excited about it! You design your own couch by picking your style, color, and couch pillows! And have I mentioned it's actually affordable?! I'm stoked!

We've been planning to replace our couches in the spring and have been wanting an ivory or khaki colored couch. Problem is, the couch cushions are usually hideous that come with the couches and I'm not always in love with the fabric. But, now you can pick!



Here's what I have picked out. I'd just add some pillows with light green in them. Is it spring time yet?!

And, no, I'm not being compensated or perked for posting this. Rooms to Go has no idea who I am or that I posted this. I'm just a nerd and am excited about designing my own sofa...affordably! :)

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

A Big Ole List

I've been off my A-game when it comes to blogging lately...mainly because I haven't felt well and have zero energy thanks to Little Girl. But, she's healthy and growing and kicking away in my belly, so I'm super thankful! :)

Hubby and I have been dreaming again. We both love house projects and dreaming of how to make our house better. I love when we stay up late at night just talking about and planning out our house projects.

Last night was one of those dreaming and planning nights. We have a list on our computer of house projects we'd like to do, but I figured I would put them up here so you can dream with us! So here's what's in our heads these days, both things we've finished and things we want to do. Some of the room titles are links that will take you to all of the posts from that room. Enjoy!


Front Porch:

-Redo rocking chairs
-Hang a swing
-Put plants on either side of door
-Hang a wreath
-Grow a vine on the sides for privacy


Front and Side Yards:

-Put in natural stone edging
-Redo some of the bushes in front and side
-Plant a cherry tree out front


Back Yard:

-Level yard. This is a HUGE project that we would have to hire out, but would give us much more usable yard space. Our house is on a hill, so part of the yard has a steep slope. We would love to put in a new retaining wall and build up the hill to make it even with the rest of our yard, then fence the entire yard in.
-Plant an Autumn Blaze and a fruit tree after yard project is complete.
-Possibly build a small swing set


Back Deck:

-Purchase a couple large planters to garden in.
-Purchase a deck table with umbrella for shade.
-New door mat and decorative plants.
-Eventually, we'd love to turn the deck into a covered porch or sunroom.


Living Room:

-Hang curtains for privacy (phase 1)
-Replace couch pillows for existing couches
-Purchase rug
-Decorate wall above couch
-Eventually replace shades with plantation shutters and possibly get rid of curtains (phase 2)
-Replace couches (soon!)
-Repaint
-Finish large scale decoration for above fireplace
-Purchase new couch pillows in light blues, light greens, and khakis (after new couches)


Entry Way:

-Purchase entry table
-Replace temporary shade with something permanent
-Decorate walls
-Purchase new rug
-Repaint


Dining Room:

-Redo table and chairs
-Hang curtains
-Purchase buffet/cabinet
-Repaint
-Decorate walls (about halfway done on this one)
-Eventually put in board and batten


Kitchen:

-Reorganize drawers
-Hang organizer for baggies and wraps
-Install pull out shelves for pantry cabinet
-Install cabinet door on back of bar to gain access to corner cabinet space


Breakfast Nook:

-Install plantation shutters on door
-Purchase new table and sell old table
-Purchase bar stools
-Figure out shoe storage solution
-We would love to figure out how to build in a pantry, but that's for another day ;)


Laundry Closet:

-Reorganize


Downstairs Bath:

-Purchase new shower curtain and towels
-Install hooks for guests to hang towels on
-Replace toilet
-Replace vanity and sink
-Replace tile floors
-Repaint
-Install plantation shutters
-Possibly replace tub with stand up shower if we do a massive pantry building project


Playroom:

-Repaint room and add striped accent wall
-Replace window coverings
-Replace or repaint counters
-Reorganize closet and build shelves
-Hang gallery wall
-Hang frames for kid art work
-Replace gold boob light


Coat Closet:

-Purchase shoe shelf
-Hang hooks for scarves
-Reorganize


Linen Closet:

-Reorganize


Master Bedroom:

-Repaint!!!
-Replace curtains
-Purchase chair for corner
-Install bedside lighting
-Replace gold boob light with ceiling fan
-Replace vinyl shades with blinds or plantation shutters
-Hang all hanging art and frames (there's nothing on the walls right now!)


Master Bathroom:

-Repaint
-Decorate walls
-Replace vinyl shade with plantation shutters
-Hang a shelf
-Replace toilet
-Eventually replace vanity/sinks/fixtures
-Eventually replace large mirror with two framed mirrors
-Eventually replace tile
-Eventually expand shower and replace tile


Little Boy's Room

-Repaint
-Hang blackout curtains
-Replace vinyl shades with 2" blinds
-Replace lighting with ceiling fan and move existing lighting to playroom (it's a nice Schoolhouse Electric light)
-Hang artwork
-Hang shelf
-Reorganize closet and hang more shelves (almost done!)
-Purchase end table


Little Girl's Room:

-Empty Closet (almost done!)
-Repaint
-Install board and batten
-Replace vinyl shades with 2" blinds or blackout roman shades
-Hang curtains
-Paint tree branch on wall
-Purchase new dresser
-Purchase new end table
-Purchase bedding
-Purchase rug
-Reorganize closet
-Replace hardware and door handles
-Replace gold boob light with ceiling fan


Kid Bath:

-Repaint walls
-Repaint trim
-Hang new shower curtain
-Hang artwork
-Replace vinyl shade with 2" blinds or plantation shutters


Office:

-Repaint
-Reorganize
-Replace vinyl shades with 2" blinds
-Hang curtains?
-Move guest bedroom furniture into office
-Hang artwork
-Install digital thermostat


Office Bath:

-Repaint
-Frost window
-Hang artwork


Downstairs Hallway:

-Hang artwork
-Repaint


Upstairs Hallway:

-Hang artwork
-Repaint


Garage:

-Repaint
-Hang shelf
-Purchase locking storage cabinet for chemicals
-Reorganize (partially done, but still have a ways to go)
-Hang wall organizers for tall tools like rakes and brooms
-Redo flooring


Miscellaneous:

-Install tankless water heater
-Install digital thermostat upstairs
-Install digital thermostat downstairs


Whew, this list makes me tired, but really excited!

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Some News

Well, we finally spilled our big news to our friends and family, so now I can spill with you all! We are pregnant with a little girl!!!! We are super excited and expect her to make her big debut around New Year's.

So, if you've noticed how s-l-o-w it's been around this blog lately, now you know why. I have been sick and so far, still don't really feel much better. I'm getting a little bit of energy back, but not much. Enough to actually clean and cook a little, but that's about it. 

Hubby has been working his tail off getting the house ready. The new baby has us completely rearranging a couple rooms. Our current guest room will become the baby's room, so the guest bedroom furniture has to be moved over to the office. But, before we move everything, we wanted to paint the office since the existing paint was pretty nasty. Hubby just finished painting and has been reorganizing and purging everything in the office to get it ready to move the guest bedroom furniture into there. We sold a couple of bookshelves to make room for the guest bed, so our office will be a combined office/guest room when we're done. Making sense? :) Basically, it's crazy town up in here. 

After we get the guest room furniture out, we will be starting on the baby's room. I have some big plans for in there that I can't wait to get started on! Here's the initial plan of what we have up our sleeves: 

-First up, install board and batten on the walls. The baby's room has a short attic door, so I want to install board and batten because I love it and because it will help the short door blend in. We have something taller and simple in mind, like this from Centsational Girl.


-Paint the walls pink and purchase bedding. We're thinking a deeper shade of pink, not pastel pink. We are planning to use the Pottery Barn Penelope bedding. We LOVE it! We will probably only do the bumper, pillow sham, and possibly the quilt or sheets for money's sake. We purchased Little One's crib bumper and pillow sham from Pottery Barn and have been SO impressed by the quality. I have had to wash the bumper and pillow sham a million times and they hold up very well, not to mention how soft and plush they feel. Pottery Barn bedding is high quality and worth every penny! It's one of the few things I'm willing to splurge on.

Here's a picture of the bedding and the paint color we had in mind. It's a little bolder than I normally go for, but with the board and batten, only the top third of the walls will be pink making it less overwhelming.


-Install blackout roman shades. The old, curled vinyl shades in there now are awful! We're thinking of just doing plain, white blackout roman shades like these. Hopefully, I can find a similar but cheaper option!


-Hang floor to ceiling lightweight curtains to soften the windows. I'm thinking pink with tiny white polka dots or something. I love these, but they are a little heavier (and more expensive) than I want.

  
-Paint a branch with birds on it above the crib. We're thinking a simple branch that arches over the crib and has a few leaves and birds on it like the ones on the bedding. Nothing too fancy.

-Move Little One's (or I guess I need to rename him to Little Boy on the blog! And while we're naming, let's name the baby Little Girl. I'm SO original, I know!) crib and chair to the baby's room and purchase a dresser and rug. We will be posting the big things like the board and batten, tree, paint color, and curtains on the blog, but after that, we'll be saving the furniture and details for personal friends and family. Sorry internet friends, everyone has their own internet privacy and safety boundaries, and posting photos of our finished kids rooms is not in our comfort zone. It's just how we sleep at night. :)

Well, there's my baby brain dump! We are still working on Little Boy's bed rails, but hopefully we will have them up on here by the weekend. They are taking a bajillion coats of paint. Hubby did a really good job on them, though, and I can't wait to share them! 
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