Absence Did NOT Make the Heart Grow Fonder...

When Superman came home in November, he was so happy to be home and so grateful to be out of his CHU ("Containerized Housing Unit") that he found most of our home "perfect".  Most of our home.  That rosy view of things did NOT extend to our stairs. 

Ugly Carpet, Squeaky Stairs

Nope, every time he went up or down the stairs, he got more and more disgruntled with them.  He started researching "How to Replace Your Stairs" online.  He started watching a lot of YouTube videos.  He started looking at materials at Home Depot and Lowe's.  He started his campaign to convince me it could be done in one day.  (Hey!  It was an important point...all the bedrooms are upstairs!)

Not one of the treads was made with a single board.  No wonder
the darned things squeaked and felt wobbly!!

Finally, the disgusting (yes, disgusting) carpet was ripped up and we quickly discovered that a) there was a good reason the stairs never seemed firm and b) of course, it was going to be bigger job than Superman had anticipated.

Hey, let's just use leftover 2 x 4s!!

The treads weren't actually treads...they were made of scrap wood left over from the initial construction of our home.



Ooh, yeah, let's use leftover particle board siding for the risers, too!

The risers weren't right, either...they were actually made of leftover siding and just turned around.  Fabulous construction, isn't it?  We were appalled.

The view from the top of the stairs...stipped down to the stringer.  Three
stairs at a time, so the upstairs wasn't cut off for too long.

So, it was all the way down to the stringers and starting from scratch...poor Superman!  He enlisted some child labor, though, the job went quickly.


Ah, this is what treads and risers are supposed to look like!

Superman kept his promise and were replaced in a day.  The end of the first day saw first phase of the project completed...but not before "someone" let the crowbar fall back behind the stairs and slide all the way to the bottom step.

And off comes the riser to retrieve the crowbar...and a few screws that were
dropped along the way...

A little "de" construction was necessary to actually finish the job for the day.  (Still not sure which of the men bears responsibility for the crowbar mishap...it is dependent upon which one of them you ask!)  Finally, to finish the job, the next day, Superman added stained bullnose treads and finished risers.

Aren't they gorgeous?  Best of all, they're so sturdy and quiet! 
Functional beauty...absolutely fabulous!

And, just like that, we went from disgusting stairs to beautiful stairs.  Well worth the inconvenience, wouldn't you say?

New Craft Table

I saw this table in Home Decorator's catalog. 

It is part of their Martha Stewart collection and has a hefty price tag:  $499!!  There is no way I can justify that kind of money for a craft table, plus it seems like an awful lot to pay for melamine covered particle board.

Still, I liked the idea of a table that I could open up for projects and tuck out of the way when I didn't need it.  What to do, what to do!

Then inspiration struck!  I remembered that last year I'd given Charming this Ikea table for use in his new apartment.  (I bought the table three years ago for roughly $150.  Mr. & Mrs. R were in Portland at the time and were kind enough to swing by and pick it up for me.  Wasn't that sweet of them?) 

Anyway, a quick call to Charming confirmed that he was amenable to a trade, so while Superman was home, we made the switch.  (I needed Superman...this table weighs 100 pounds...solid wood, anyone?!)

Six castors later, I have my own craft table for a fraction of the cost!   That Superman!  He's so handy to have around!  It opens up on both sides, or just one.

And when I'm done, it just sits under the window until the next time.

Pretty cool, isn't it?  I just love repurposing things and giving them a new life.

Because Superman Can't Wait!

So, we've been working on a few projects since Superman came home for Christmas break.  Since his return to work, he's been clamouring for pictures of our progress.  While we're not completely finished, I can't make him wait any longer.

Today's pre-reveal is the transformation of the room formerly known as the "Macaroni & Cheese" room.  Now that the kids are older, we don't need a "kid" room anymore, so Superman and I picked out a new "grown-up" wall color. 

To remind you, here is the before:

Bye-Bye, Macaroni & Cheese!

And here is the after:


Hello, Celery Sprig!

The view from the other side of the room...this is where I do all my sewing
and crafting and blogging...notice the bright white ceiling...it looks fabulous.



This is where the kids sit to watch television.



I still need to cover the ironing board in new fabric and we still need our new baseboards, but doesn't it look fabulous?   It is a much more relaxed space, that I, for one, am really enjoying.  I am so pleased with how it is coming along. 
Did you notice that we only changed paint?  Isn't it amazing how much of a difference a new wall color and freshened ceilings can make?

So, Superman, are you pleased?  Doesn't it look good?  Thanks for supporting my desire to change up this space.


 

Updated Pillars - A couple coats of spray paints gives cupboard dwellers new life!

Years ago, I liked the sleek look of brushed nickel/silver.   I loved these pillars.  Since then, however, my tastes have changed and these candlesticks have been relegated to the cupboard.  Still, I liked the shape of them and they came to mind when I was looking for a way to update my fall mantle.

I took advantage of the unseasonably nice weather we've been having and headed outside with my candlesticks, a flattened box, my bench cookies, and two cans of spray paint.

The bench cookies let me get the candlesticks up above the cardboard to get a nice coat of paint all the way to the bottom of the candlesticks.

The first coat was black.

Then I sprayed on a light coat of metallic brown.

 Ta Da!  Updated candlesticks that look fabulous with my Fall pillar candles.

Now, I just need to wait until Halloween stuff gets put away and my beautiful candlesticks and be part of my Fall mantle.

Ta Da! The Bathroom is Done!

Last January, I started to tackle the last untouched room in our home.  I found one picture of the bathroom and you'll have to be nice, because I was being goofy for a kid with a camera! 

As for anymore pictures, I can't find most of the "before" pictures for the master bathroom, but these "during" few give you a taste of what I was facing when I began the project.  A chair rail that hid an unpleasant surprise.  (This is the true color of the red.)  They painted over wallpaper!  Should I replace the drywall?  Ugh...I hate surprises like these!

Red paint that was somehow flawed, so that the coverage was uneven and left a smear of pink on whatever I used to wipe the walls.  The Behr 2-in-1 Paint and Primer really did cover well.  It only took two coats of Water Sprout to cover that dark red.

 This is where I was testing the Behr paint to see if there was a smear or if it wouldn't cover.   (It was fabulous!)  We discovered that half the plugs in the bathroom were run illegally through the cabinetry, too.  Bye-bye plugs.  The bathroom was a disaster...truly.

Now look at it!

Water Sprout is a lovely pale green (it doesn't have as much yellow as shows in some of these pictures, but it isn't minty, either).  Combined with fresh white paint, we have a light and airy bathroom.   See how much bigger it looks? 

Superman and I decided not to replace the drywall.  Instead I lived with the room in disarray for a few months and we put up wainscoting when Superman was home in April.  During that same leave, we put in a new granite countertop with integrated sink.  Superman even gave me a valance over the window.  Then he headed back to work and left me to do the finishing touches.

I painted the wainscoting and the valance in Behr Premium - in Frost.  Shelves and towel hooks finished it off.   The vanity was painted for me by Mr. R (he's so nice and he's a much better painter than I) and we added drawer pulls to finish it off.

A few more decorative touches and it is done.  (Having first names that begin with letters found in cardinal directions makes it easy to find our initials in home improvement stores.)  A 3M hook holds my brush. 

Cotton balls and q-tips?    They're here, too.

See how beautifully they fit in here?  It may have taken us six months to make it happen, but I love how this bathroom makeover turned out and my beloved stained glass got to stay.  How cool is that?  It was all worth it.

Remember This? (A summer project!)

Just a few months ago, we were dealing with a flooded basement...9 feet in to be exact.  You can read about it here.

...that brought in mud...

...and ruined carpet.

Now look at it:

Superman was tickled to come home on leave last month and discover that we'd tricked him and the room was done!

Doesn't it look comfortable?   We still can use the treadmill, too.   A far cry from last spring, that's for sure.

The door was the start of it all.  I was just sure that adding a door with a window for some natural light would make this basement room perfect.  I think I was right!  Even better?  With a tile floor, I don't have to worry so much about flooding destroying the room (it is a basement, after all!). 

Glove/Mitten Organization

We're finally getting over whatever bug took over the Nagle5 last week, but I have no MYHSM post, nor do I have a wonderfully creative hand-made gift idea for you. What I do have is a clever idea for glove/mitten organization that I'm sharing with you all.

Moving from a one-season climate like Southern California to a four-season climate like we have here in Eastern Washington has left me scrambling for ways to organize our seasonal clothing. Truly, we need to shift our clothes from spring/summer to fall/winter each year and we have more clothes than we ever had before. One of the things I've struggled with is how to control the gloves and mittens throughout the season. Kids need numerous pairs of gloves/mittens because they get their gloves and mittens wet, which means they can go through three or more pairs per day. (Some in the dryer, some on their hands, etc.) This year, I think I've come up with something that will help us a) keep control of our own belongings and b) eliminate the often heard phrase "I don't know where my gloves are!".

This was a free solution, too, so you can jump right up and do it, too!

All you need is gloves and mittens, a few old skirt hangers, and ten minutes.

Skirt hangers normally have two clips.



Take the post off your first hanger and don't remove the clips. Take the post off your second hanger and remove one clip and immediately slide it onto the post that you've left the clips on. (It just takes a little tension to get the post out without breaking the plastic hanger.)


(Keep the clip squeezed together so the tension in the mechanism doesn't make it sproing apart!). Remove the second clip and slide it onto the post. Do the same thing with the third hanger. Then put the now-6-clip post back into the skirt hanger and, viola, you have a great way to store 6 pairs of gloves and mittens! (You can use fewer clips, too...if you notice, the one pictured is Buttercup's second one and it only has five.)

Pretty cool, isn't it? (Oh, yeah, don't forget to immediately throw away the metal posts that are now empty because your children might think they are weapons. Not that mine would ever, you understand, I'm just saying!)

We had enough skirt hangers hanging around from my used-to-wear-skirts-to-work days that we were able to do four mitten hangers - two for Buttercup, one for Valiant, and one for me.