Making it Lovely

Category: Projects

  • The Studio Has a Floor

    The Studio Has a Floor

    We installed the bamboo flooring this weekend in the studio!

    Day 1
    We emptied the room, shoving everything into the library and future guest room. Brandon ripped out all of the carpeting, pulled up the baseboards, and removed all of the staples and carpet tack strips from the subfloor.

    Down to the subfloor

    An underlayment had to be rolled out and trimmed to size before the actual flooring could go in. One should use a sharp blade to cut through the material. One should also exercise caution when dealing with sharp blades.

    Ouch.

    Day 2
    We started working around 10:00. Two hours later, it seemed we had barely made any progress.

    Floor in Progress

    The first few rows are the most time-consuming. There’s a lot of measuring and planning to center the planks, and they don’t stay together very well in the beginning. Another three hours later, and we were much further along.

    Floor in Progress

    By 6:30, we were done! Yes, the bamboo floor took a mere eight or nine hours of hard, hard work (we are so tired).

    Happy! Floor! Done!

    Bamboo Floor

    We still need to:

    • measure for the baseboards
    • buy the baseboards
    • paint the closet and alcove (and do touch-ups around the room)
    • install the baseboards
    • prime and paint the baseboards
    • clean up
    • move the furniture back in
    • move everything else back in
  • Painting the Stairway

    Painting the Stairway

    Brandon started priming the knotty pine in the stairway last night.

    Painting the Stairway

    My dad was horrified when we said we planned to paint it. “That’s nice wood!” Sorry dad.

    We actually found out from our neighbor that the previous owners had only recently put it up when they decided to sell! The addition was done sometime in the 50s (we think), so what was there before? Bare studs?

    I’m not sure what color to go with now though.

    You can see the stairway when you’re sitting in the living room and it opens up to the library, so obviously I want a color that will look good with both of the other rooms. You can also see into Brandon’s office when you’re in the living room (it’s on the same elevation), so there’s another color to consider. Oh, and the carpet is beige.

    Surrounding Stairway Colors

    The living room has mustard/gold curtains and an orange chair, so I’m looking at those as possible choices. I also like pink (!), but I think the house has a lot of pink already and Brandon’s probably ready for a different color by now.

    I’m going to change the curtains in the library, but I don’t know what I want yet. I have a bunch of Laceworks from Amy Butler that I bought for the room:

    Amy Butler Lacework Fabric

    I’m not so sure about it now, but the fabric would work with the green ceiling in the library (“Flowering Herbs” by Benjamin Moore). I could repaint that if I need to, but I don’t want to. I’ve had enough of painting ceilings! If I go with that fabric, I could use the pink that’s in there… ;)

  • Oops, Wrong Color.

    Oops, Wrong Color.

    I painted the bathroom a few days ago. It looks much more blue than I thought it would. Oops.

    Here’s what the bathroom looks like so far…

    bathroom progress

    That’s “Antiguan Sky” from Benjamin Moore. It’s a pretty blue/green color that I pulled from the shower curtain, but it’s much brighter than I was expecting. It doesn’t look so terrible in the photo, but I just took that picture a few minutes ago (it’s midnight). It’s a very *ahem* cheerful color during the day.

    I hated it at first and immediately thought I would repaint. Now that I’ve added some towels and a bathmat from IKEA, it looks kinda cute. Kinda.

    *addendum*
    Here are some new photos, taken at 10:30 a.m. with lots of daylight coming in:

    bathroom progress

    another progress photo

  • Much Better!

    Much Better!

    I’m much happier with my second attempt.

    So much better!

    It’s still not exactly what I had in mind, but I like it.

    new painting

  • I tried.

    I tried.

    I’ve been sketching a lot lately and feeling very creative. Last night I felt like painting, so I went to buy some canvasses. I returned home and immediately went up to the studio to start. I told my husband (Brandon) I was feeling a little anxious because my paintings never turn out the way I want them too. Well, this time was no exception.

    attempted painting

    I had fun doing it until the very end (when I knew, almost immediately, that I messed up). I’m going to try my hand at another though. Try, try again!

  • eBay + Syroco

    eBay + Syroco

    OK, I must stop bidding on Syroco items now. I had never even heard of “Syroco” until about 2 weeks ago, but apparently Syroco = awesome (but potentially very tacky).

    My first treasure:
    syroco flowers

    That paint just had to go. Glossy orange spray paint to the rescue! It looks so much better in a solid color – much more modern.

    Er, in full disclosure… I had a bit of a mishap with the painting. Eager to get started, I decided to lay out a tarp on my front porch last night and get to work. Wind carries, lesson learned. The porch needs to be repainted, but we weren’t planning on doing so right away. Now we have an orangish porch with a big rectangle outline where the tarp was. Oops!

    My second treasure (just won, hours ago):

    $10 for all four! I kind of like the bronzy color of them, so I don’t know if I’ll repaint. I need to see them in person to decide. I’m quite fond of them. My husband? Not so much.

    Also, I have these en route from day-lab:

    I don’t think they’re by Syroco, but they’re similar, no? I must be stopped! No more carved wall hangings!

    … but first I want this, this, or one of these. Mobiles don’t count, right?