Extreme Makeover: Creepy Basement Edition - Phase 2

With the paint up on the walls and all dry (detailed in Phase 1) it was time to start preparing the board and battens.  Due to budget restrictions, we decided to use MDF.  During our Depot run, we picked up three 4'x8' sheets of MDF and had them make the initial cuts so we could squeeze them in the back of John's Escape.  They still stuck a bit out the hatch window, but luckily (not to our wallet), we only live about three minutes away from the Depot.

The MDF sheets chilling in the dining room.

Since we didn't finish painting until 3:00 a.m. Saturday morning, cutting these guys would have to wait until... later in the morning.  Poor John thought he was going to get a chance to sleep in, but unfortunately, was awoken by me around 9:30 or so.  I just couldn't help myself.  I'm definitely a would rather never see the morning person, but the excitement of power tools was too great for me.  After fueling up with some chocolate chip pancakes, we bundled up and headed outside to start making the B&Bs.  Using John's table saw, we worked out a system of John feeding the sheet in, me directing it, John pushing it through the end, and then I catch the pieces on the other side.  Once we got this figured out, cutting down the boards took no time.  I'm sure our neighbors thought we were crazy, out in the freezing temperatures, dashing about, tossing boards into a pile, and coating ourselves and backyard with MDF fuzz.

Our pile o' boards.

Me cleaning up in the wake of our MDF destruction.

A mountain of MDF shavings.

We started the process of affixing all these pieces to the walls by installing the boards (the horizontal pieces).  There was a snag with the air compressor that set us back (note to newbie air compressor owners: check your drain valve...), but once we got that figured out (thanks again, Papa Harold!), it started moving pretty quickly.  The boards were cut 8' long and 5" wide and we hung them 4' up the wall... except our basement is nowhere near level, so the boards are initially 4' up, but then vary as you move about... extremely annoying.  This oversight also resulted in the orange not being painted down far enough in about half the basement, so I was reunited with my Shur-Lines to fill in the gaps.  Definitely a pain, but also a learning experience.  *sigh*

The boards.  And yeah, we eat at KFC/Taco Bell.  Don't judge us.

The plan was to have the battens (the vertical pieces) to be 4' long, lying between the bottom of the boards and our floor trim, and 12" apart from each other.  Unfortunately, the sloping basement required John to individually measure for each batten and cut them each to size.  I'm pretty sure there was a better/different way we should have done this, but oh well.  We're just beginners.  To make the process quicker, John made a 12" template block and started measuring for each batten, marking the wall with a number and writing down the corresponding length so he could make several cuts at once.  He also cut the bottom of each batten at a 45 degree angle so they slope nicely down to the trim instead of sticking out and just looking like... well, a board nailed to the wall.

Our first battens.

My job in all this was to go through and patch all the little holes the nails left behind.  I started off using Elmer's Carpenter's White Wood Filler, which I absolutely hate.  Even more than the blue tape.  It's extremely hard to squeeze out of the tube, so anyone with limited use of their hands (due to arthritis or the such) would be unable to use it or in horrible pain afterwards.  I was and I'm young and viral virile.  Once you're able to squeeze out a bit, it's very hard to work with and often crumbles or just completely falls off.  Forget trying to patch anything larger than a nail hole.  You'll spend an hour trying to carefully mold the compound, only to have it just fall off or be destroyed in subsequent sanding.  Yeah, then you have to sand the junk down which also takes forever (especially when someone has gone drunk with pneumatic nailing power...) and creates all sorts of nasty dust to clean up and inhale.

Abandon all hope, ye who decide to use this junk.

After endlessly patching with this stuff, I felt full of despair and on the verge of tears as I saw I still had hundreds of tiny holes to patch and sand.  Luckily, John had mercy on my poor soul and bought a new option: Red Devil's Pre-Mixed Glazing Compound.  OK, so I guess it's not technically for patching holes, but it worked sooooo much better, it would make my Grandma say, "Well, goodnight!"  Instead of a nasty paste, it has the consistency of a putty, so it goes right into the holes without forcing it and scrapes off clean, thus eliminating the need for subsequent sanding.  It's almost immediately ready to be painted, so once we got going with our Red Devil, the pace picked up.  We used a system of John applying the putty and me following behind, scraping off the excess.  If you can see in the photo below, the board holes were patched with Evil Elmer's while the battens were filled with Red Devil.  Look how clean the Red Devil scraped off, without any sanding required.

As you can see above, I also went through and Frogged the boards in preparation of painting the whole deal white.  At the time, I thought it was a waste and my Shur-Lines would be able to handle it, but after painting, I'm very glad I did.  Otherwise, it would have been another round with Flaming Torch.

So, we eventually got all the B&Bs up, all the holes patched up, and the only thing left was to paint them all white, or as we call it: Phase 3.

Extreme Makeover: Creepy Basement Edition - Phase 1

Despite it being cold, dark and sometimes spricket-infested, we spend a bunch of time in our basement... because it's home to our big screen TV, TIVO, and Xbox.  Sure, we'd like to be those people who don't own a TV and so proudly advertise the fact we never watch any, spending all our time being productive and awesome, but we're not.  I sit in traffic for hours, work all day, and dang it, I just want to come home and watch Glee.  I think it is only natural that our basement is our first room to receive a complete overhaul.

Here's our "before".  It looks so pitiful with just one piece of art, one candle and a Dyson handvac.

Our design plan was dreamt up by John.  I've got him reading some DIY blogs and he came across an idea to use board and batten as wainscoting.  He thought it would be a perfect way to add some interest and flair to our drab basement.  Or... he just wanted an excuse to finally buy an air compressor and pneumatic nail gun... the world will never know (I'm pretty sure it's the latter).

John pondering his evil design plan.

John's inspiration photo, taken from Ana White's website.

The first step on our basement fauxscoting project (John's clever term) was to paint the basement walls with our accent color.  We decided to follow suit with our inspiration and pick a bright, fun color to liven it up down there.  We chose Behr's "Flaming Torch", a warm, almost pumpkin orange that picks up on the tones of our oak floors.

Ta-da!

I started taping off at the ceiling and down the stairs (since our walls meet directly with the carpeted steps).  The ceiling taping came to a quick end as I got tired of trying to get the stupid tape up there and I was feeling brave and confident in my new Shur-Line paintbrushes.

Curse you, wicked blue tape!

Elliot quality-inspecting my work.

So, of course, I did the cutting in along the ceiling and nooks and crannies (alcoves?  do you know this word?... alcoves? - inside "In Bruges" joke) whilst John went to town with the roller.  Yeah, I'm trying to bring back "whilst".  If Conan can have "thrice", I can have "whilst".

If you can look past all the junk, there's me, up in the corner.

After Day 1 of painting, we were left with this...

Up the stairs (obviously).  Finally starting to cover up the damage caused in Couch v. Stairs

Anyone notice how in some lights (or lack thereof), the orange appears a little... Home Depot orange?  Eeks.  I think we might spend a little bit too much time there...

With the accent color up on the walls, we were exhausted (I should have mentioned this project didn't start until about 6:00 p.m. and we finished painting at about 3:00 a.m.), but happy with our results and excited to get started on Phase Two: Board and Battens.

A Brush With Destiny

This past Saturday started pretty slow for us.  Slept in late, had some lunch, watched some TV.  Over lunch, we started discussing our horribly cold and drab basement and launched a renovation plan.  We tend to make big decisions quickly (go in for an oil change, leave with two new cars...), yet for some reason tend to dwell on the insignificant/less important... I'm sure there's some psychology behind that.  Probably traumatized as youths.  Who knows?  Anyways, we made a late afternoon trip to the Depot and picked up a bunch of supplies for our Awesome Plan of Basement Domination (no domination actually involved, we're not those kind of people), to be detailed later.  Of course, one aspect of our plan is painting and I am here to tell you about the discovery that is sure to change your life.

My painting duty is always cutting in.  John takes over the rollers and within minutes, he's practically painted an entire room, while I'm still crouched in a corner/up on a stepstool/contortioning over a toilet/imagining a way I could suspend myself from the ceiling upside down, trying desperately to create straight lines and avoid painting on trim/doors/toilets/mirrors/electrocuting myself around outlets.  It's a wretched job that I love/hate and my OCD/control issues won't let me not do.  Frog Tape was a first step toward salvation from complete insanity.  I foolishly reverted back to the standard, blue tape this weekend, in an attempt to save a bit of money since the Frog Tape is more expensive and we had a whole ton of basement cutting in to tackle and honestly, I found it first.  What a mistake.  It quite obviously did not adhere to the ceiling nearly as well as the Frog, yet when I finally tore it off, it came off in multiple pieces... with one tiny speck of blue still stuck up on the ceiling.  So frustrating.

Now, cue my new find, descending from Home Depot Heaven, upon a cloud, all bathed in rays of sun: Shur-Line's Teflon Surface Protector brushes.  I've tried several of Shur-Line's products before, like the ridiculous little pad you scoot around and supposedly will give you clean lines.  Yeah right.  There's no way to dip the pad in your tray without also getting paint all over the gripper! 

With all the gimmicks out there, I was extremely skeptical.  However, these brushes are amazing.  The Teflon helps keep the bristles together and apply paint in a smooth, uninterrupted stroke, versus the usual bristles flapping everywhere and leaving gaps along the way and streaks on the trim.  They're conveniently sold in a three-pack of sizes (advertised as: "1" Angle Rattail, 1-1/2" Angle Sash, 2" Beavertail").  Who says that?  Oh yeah, "Hey John.  Can you pass me my Beavertail?" 

Note: Mine came in a user/environment friendly cardboard package and
they've switched to bamboo handles.  Guess it makes up for all that Teflon...

Using the one-inch angled brush, I was able to cut in, without the use of tape, throughout our entire basement, with extraordinary success.  I did have to tape off a bit around our carpeted stairs (which, the Frog stuck to just as well as non-fluffy surface and not one drop of paint snuck through onto the berber) and around the utility sink.  I should have taped off along the ceiling down the stairs, as the meeting of the walls and ceiling do not form any sort of straight line and it ended up looking wavy, though not to the fault of my beloved Teflon Rattail.

So, there's my advertisement for the day.  If anyone out there has any painting in their future, I would definitely, definitely recommend picking up a set for yourself.  The three pack was only about $15.  Who can beat $5 a brush!  Especially if you're the poor sucker that has to do the cutting in.  Trust me, it'll save you a whole bunch of time, money, and agony.

Now, stay posted for updates on the project itself.  It's quite the tale.  Not tail, as in Beavertail brush.  Seriously?

*Note: No beavers were harmed in the writing of this post.

Extreme Makeover: Slanty Bathroom Edition

Since we moved into Grafton, I've been itching to paint our walls.  John thinks I'm a little crazy because the current wall colors aren't all that bad, and painting is really such a tedious pain.  There's just something about painting a room, though, that provides a better sense of ownership.  What's more exciting than a trip to Home Depot, standing under those blazing lights and inspecting every paint chip, as if choosing the right one will unlock all the secrets to your design destiny?  Then there's the reveal moment, so often used on HGTV, when you pry open the paint can and get your first look at the color.  Of course, resulting in squeals of delight while waving your hands about like you just won the Miss America crown.  You get all cozy with every nook and cranny of your room as you cut in, discovering every flaw on the trim and walls.  In the end, when both you and your walls are covered in paint, you can step back and revel in the glory of a freshly painted room, all lightheaded and giddy... or maybe that's just the paint fumes...

So, over the long MLK weekend, John and I waged battle against our mint-colored, slanty-ceiling upstairs bathroom.  Don't get me wrong, I love me some mint.  Mint and I go way back.  I have many a fond memory of attending St. Johns' Mint Festival every summer.  I could probably subsist off of mint chocolate chip ice cream.  When we leave restaurants and they offer those starlight mints, I have to restrain myself from dumping the entire bowl into my purse.  Best part of going to Olive Garden?  The Andes mints. 

 

However, mint had no place in our bathroom.  Not with the dark cherry cabinets and almost-black granite.  Plus, the angle of the ceiling paired with the pale walls resulted in light bouncing around and causing temporary blindness.  Not really the relaxing, spa-like atmosphere you try to achieve in a bathroom.  A late Friday night trip to Home Depot was in order (you can definitely tell the honeymoon is over when date night turns into Home Depot runs) and after sweating under those aforementioned blazing lights, we finally came to a mutual decision on two Behr colors: Simply Sage and Mission Hills.

After carefully taping off the ceiling using Frog Tape (which worked amazingly well and resulted in the cleanest lines we've ever achieved... definitely worth the slightly higher cost, in my opinion), we finished sageing up the ceiling.  Letting that dry overnight (and really, how much painting can one do on a Friday night?), we once again Frogged and then applied the Mission Hills to the walls. 

Frog Tape in action.  Adios mint!

Simply Sage... looking simply lovely.  Watch out for low-flying vent covers...

In case you're wondering how we came to choose these colors, we carefully examined our granite to look for inspiration.  Although it appears mostly black, there are many specks of green, gold, silver, brown, and taupe intermingled.  We wanted to accentuate the greens and pull out that color in a bolder way than the mint did, so we felt Simply Sage gave us that effect.

Our granite... it's hard to photograph.  :(

We couldn't resist the milk chocolately goodness that Mission Hills provides.  Plus, it's a near match to the tile inlays in the shower and doesn't compete or clash with the cabinets.  Together, I think they create a much more soothing atmosphere and provide some interest to a small space.

The colors together.  Please ignore the horrible little towel... and the make-shift shower curtain.
It's a work in progress. :)

It is a little darker now, but I think we're happy with our results.  If we could just figure out a more attractive solution for the shower curtain, we'd be all set.  Now it's just on to accessorizing and I think we'll have a pretty nice little bathroom for our guests.

Making Lemonade

Moving is the worst.  I certainly wouldn't be surprised if some study came out announcing the process of moving results in a loss of five years from your lifespan.  Moving would be just be added to the list of everything else that kills us... you know, BPAs, cell phones, Sarah Palin's reality show.  I must say, though, on our actual moving day, just two short months ago, everything went unexpectedly well and no one was horribly injured and more importantly, none of our stuff was damaged.  Well... everything except for our unsuspecting stairway leading into the basement.

As you may recall, we faced a challenge in moving our ginormous La-Z-Boy sectional into the basement due to the narrow door and stairway.  Our poor friends were barely hanging on after a full day of lugging heavy boxes and furniture, and of course, the sectional had to be the very last task.  Once our friend, Paul, had removed the door frame, the guys were able to squeeze forcibly shove and kick the couch, piece by piece down the stairs.

Couch v. Tiny Stairway

A moving day miracle occurred and my beloved couch found its way home, but we were left with this... modern art?  I like to think of it as an expression of the frustration of today's homeowner... struggling to get by in a down economy, like you're just trying to climb your way up, get your piece of the American Dream, but something just keeps kicking you in the face.  Uh huh... that sounds right.

Then there is this scraggly door frame.  It kind of gives our basement an even creepier feel, what with the low ceilings, freezing temperatures, and two black cats darting to and fro.  Yikes... maybe we should devote more effort to making the basement a little friendlier before we wake up chained to a bathtub down there (a la "Saw")...

Anyways, we decided we wanted to commemorate this first adventure at Grafton.  At the time, it was just so frustrating, but looking back, I'd chalk it up to an invaluable experience.  It is an opportunity to be reminded of how great our friends are and there's nothing wrong with a getting a few bumps and scratches in life.  So, I gathered a few chunks of wall and Gorilla Glued them to an extra scrap of contact paper I had been using to line our cabinets, and stuck it in a little shadow box we bought at IKEA.

We hung it right inside our stairway and the almost happy face arrangement of the chunks greets us on each trip down to the basement.  So, there you go.  We got some cheap art, great memories, and a comfy couch to relax on.  Now that's what I call making lemonade out of life's lemons.  Those lemons better watch out because we're not afraid to kick, shove, and tear stuff up to get what we want.  :)

Mom Den: Part 1

Up to this point, almost all of our cleaning/decorating/unpacking efforts have been allocated to our first floor, a tiny bit to the basement, and even less to our second floor.  I'm pretty sure entire weeks have gone by where I don't even venture upstairs.  As he works up there, John has made a little bit of progress in his home office, and we have (sparsely) set up the guest bedroom.  It's really quite a shame because it's pretty charming up there, with the slanted walls and nice views of the yard... if you can ignore the lower ceiling heights and avoid meeting your doom in an avalanche of boxes. 

As one of my unofficial New Year's Resolutions, I have vowed to get back into knitting and finally learn how to use my sewing machine.  To aid in this effort and make use of a room we otherwise don't really need at this point (it's been marked as the future home of Baby Bedtelyon - who does not exist and will not exist in the near future, just to clarify), I have so graciously been given the room and it has been christened the "Mom Den".  I may not have any human children to call me "mom", but petsons most definitely count... right?

Too long ignored, we finally bought a piece of furniture specifically for my den.  Please welcome our newest IKEA piece, the 16-cubbied EXPEDIT! 

Ooooh!  Ahhhh!

Surprisingly easy to assemble (even though the boxes were crazy heavy, thankfully I have my He-Man to lug them up the stairs), we had it together in no time and put into place.  As you can see, I'm still working on filling the cubbies and making it look pretty, but progress is progress.  So far, it's serving perfectly as storage for my knitting supplies, skeins of yarn, and my pretty little sewing box my parents gave me for Christmas... and a photo of my favorite son.  Don't act surprised... we know parents always have favorites.

To the left of the room, I have a work table (previously used in John's office at Overlook, but now is too large for his room), which I think will provide the perfect work surface for projects galore.  I can almost see all the window coverings, pillow cases, and cushion covers I'll be making now... I think I'll need some additional task lighting, but hey, this is just Part 1.

For now, I just use cat slave labor.  Those tiny paws just move so quickly.

I'm kicking around the idea of painting the room some shade of pink to really girl it up, but in the interest of not having to paint again in a few years should John get his heir, maybe I should pick something a little more neutral.  It's been 17 years since I had a pink room, though, and I must say, I kinda feel like partying like it's 1994...

And for now, I share the room with Dexter (who could ask for a better roommate?  don't do it, it would be too greedy) and a load of boxes, but we're working our way through those, as well.  Knowing myself and my laziness, I'm sure by the time I get the room set up, Baby Bedtelyon will come and snatch it all away, but for now, I have my own little room in my own little house.  Now, if I can just convince John to let me install a wine fridge up there, I'll be all set...

Does 50 bottles say "connoisseur" or "I have a problem"?...

Learning to Love: Turning a Foe into a Friend

I'm the kind of person who can hold onto a grudge for way too long, be completely hung up on one small flaw, and generally carry around a half empty glass.  Luckily for me, I married a man who dances on rainbows and beams enough light to stun my retinas and distract me from the things that would otherwise drive me crazy.  Like my own personal Buddha, he provides me with annoying inspirational thoughts like, "In forgiving others, you forgive yourself" or help yourself... or something basically telling me to get over it and move on.

For a few years now, I've been waging an internal war on one of my most dreaded enemies: the Baker's Rack.  We picked it up at IKEA way back in the day to provide some extra storage in our kitchen/dining area and it has just been one of those things I've never loved, never been able to find a way to actually make it useful or attractive, and can't help but dream of just launching it out a window.  Structurally, I think it just completely lacks any sort of style.  Aesthetically, the only thing really going for it are its clean lines.  Functionally, all it's able to provide is a surface upon which some item could sit (assuming it doesn't need any support) and hope to not fall victim to roaming Catzillas (as did a souvenir Bluemont Vineyard wine glass meet its end, may it rest in pieces).

The offender, who has been discontinued.
Apparently, I'm not the only one who hates the thing.

Baker's Rack followed us to Grafton, its cumbersome metal frame and heavy glass shelves once again sneaking into our home and taking residence in our dining room.  Not being able to find a perfect place for it to loom, it now sits up against the stairs, partially obstructing the view between the living room and kitchen.  Somehow, it knows we need it, though, as our greatly reduced cabinet space has left my collection of small kitchen appliances homeless and wandering, the pet treats scattered, and some other random things just lying about... randomly?

Maybe it was the week long break we had over the holidays that renewed my spirit.  Maybe my heart grew three sizes.  Whatever it was, last weekend, I finally found the strength to look past the horror of the Baker's Rack and try to work with it instead of against it.

First step: pet treats.  As the proud parents of three loved (and well-fed) petsons, treats are plentiful at our house and previously took residence in a clunky basket that was too big for the shelf and further obstructed the view.  My solution?  Unload all the treats into a bunch of cute glass jars, allowing easier access to the treats (you know pets can't get their treats fast enough) and the transparency keeps things open.  I added a nice black and white photo of Elliot John gave me for Valentine's Day a couple years back to bring in an artsy touch (he's so glamorous), and finished it all off with a golden prosperity fish John's mom gave us for Christmas for a bit of flare.  Who knew pet treats could look so nice?

Second step: gettin' spicy!  After cleaning up and moving some things that definitely didn't belong, I was left with one pathetic little mortar and pestle.  John's mom also gave us a small stainless steel spice/salt tray for Christmas, so I thought that would be a perfect companion.  I created some homemade "art" by cutting out the logo on a bag from The Spice and Tea Exchange, a great new boutique shop in Old Town, and reusing an old frame from our now-defunct gnome art.  Inspired by the red in the logo, I used a bright red box to give height to the tray and pulled out some reddish spices to bring in even more color.

Next step: baking appliances.  Although my stand mixer and food processor don't get as much use as I'd like them to, they still need a home and one that's relatively accessible since they both weigh about 1,000 pounds.  Plus, they look so nice, who would want to hide them?  Two appliances looked too bare, so I quickly flipped through a Stonewall Kitchen catalog and found the perfect addition... an image of some yummy looking whoopie pies accompanied by the inspirational message "Peace, Love & Baking".  What more could a person want out of life?  One more frame was reused and I got another piece of free art!

The next two shelves still need some TLC, but I'm proud of my progress and happy to report the Baker's Rack is no longer in danger of being pitched out the window.  Sure, I'd still get rid of it in a heartbeat, but for now, we need the storage and it will do.  I think it's a good step toward organization, decorating, and improved mental health.  Win!