18 Days and Counting ~ Guest Room Redo @ The Ranch

Day 1 - Saturday I moved all but the bulky or heavy pieces of furniture out.  

Day 2 - Sunday scrape popcorn off of ceiling and begin the long slow process of removing the wallpaper. This is the 4th room in this house I have removed wallpaper from and I still have 2 rooms to go. The master BR was pretty easy, it was a grass fiber fabric type and really soaked up the vinegar laced water. The small laundry room and hall took days. No amount of perforating, sanding, steaming and crying would get that paper off it was some sort of vinyl stuck on with what looked like wood glue mixed with Elmer's glue. It came off in emery board size pieces. This part was the most daunting because it was very similar wallpaper and I had a tight schedule.

JD Scraping off the popcorn

It took JD about 45 minutes to get the popcorn off. He told me he was starting and I walked out to the garage to get my pole scraper and by the time I found it and came back in he was almost half done!

About 10:00 am I started on the wallpaper. Luckily for me a friend came by about 2:00 and helped for a few hours. She had brought us dinner so I didn't have to stop to cook. I worked until about 8:00 and had almost half the room done which sounds impressive but included the closet and door walls so, not so much.

JD pulled off all of the baseboards and molding.

End of Day 2

I should mention this was a budget makeover. We did about 90% + of the work ourselves and wanted to stay at about $800 or less. At the end of day 2 we were still at labor only, zero expense.

Day 3 - Monday JD went off to work and I spent the day between filling orders and packing boxes for my Etsy shop and scraping wallpaper. By late afternoon I had about two thirds of the room done including the biggest wall! JD came home and we took out the rest of the carpet and much of the padding. We felt pretty good but had encountered a few problems.

1. The closet doors which we were going to keep temporarily as we knew we wouldn't get the new doors built in time had to go. The framing out of the closet was done by someone who must not have owned a level or any proper tools. The track was ruined because of poor installation and the framing being off. It was decided after trying to reset the track and doors after having removed the track to get the carpet and pad out it was a waste of time. About an hour wasted.

2. The walls needed a lot of work. I knew from the other rooms that the former owners had wallpapered because they didn't want to finish the walls. This room wasn't as bad as some, but I would need a full day or more to fill, sand and smooth the walls.

3. With the closet going south we figured we would not get the ceiling done in time for our guest. 

15 days and counting ~

Measure Up ~ Upcycled Assemblage Earrings for Carpenters, Contractors, Remodelista's & DIY Queens

Yesterday I was working on a custom order and staring back at me from my workbench was this piece of broken tape measure. 

It had been sitting there a long time, a couple of years I'd say, patiently waiting... So in the middle of the custom order it said "marry me to that piece of tin shed, earrings would do". 

Seriously, I stopped what I was doing and set to work on this marriage!

"Measure Up"

Available on Etsy $36.00

I had the sense to grab my camera because heck, how often does a broken tape ask for marriage to a broken shed? 

The white tin is the destroyed shed I also use to harvest my LOVE letters. The white is part of the shed trim. The large red bead is coral that I have had for many years and the ear wires are oxidized sterling. I felt the dangles made enough of a statement and a simple wire would show them to the best advantage.  

Shout out YAY for Milwaukee Tin Snips!

I had a lot of fun photographing these too ~

Have a great weekend!

Guest Room Redo @ the Ranch

So PJ was coming for Christmas and was pretty much going to have to sleep on the couch or in my vintage trailer "Ethel". At first I didn't think much of that because I was so excited she was coming! We hadn't seen each other since I visited her last Christmas... 

Also, Ethel is also know around here as "The Guest House". Some guests love Ethel so much they take "first dibs on Ethel".

Ethel

A little over 2 weeks before she was due to arrive on Christmas eve I realized that it was ridiculous that we didn't have a comfortable place in the house for a single guest due to every room being either under construction or being used as storage for stuff removed from construction rooms. Sigh.

This house has nine rooms and six are in various stages of either "renewal" or "total makeover". Double sigh. Worse, some of it has been under construction for much longer than most would consider normal...

So on 12/6/14 eighteen days before PJ was to arrive I decided that we were going to have a decent guest room for her to stay in!

This is what that room looked like on 12/6/14

You cannot tell in this picture how horrible the wallpaper is and the wallpaper border isn't shown. The carpet is at least 14 years old. The ceiling is icky popcorn. 

This had been my office for years and I hadn't done anything to it. It was as is from when I moved in. It was a room I went in, did my business and went out closing the door. In the greater realm of well laid plans I always thought this room would be the last to get done.

What had changed besides PJ's impending arrival was I never liked this room as an office. One of the two windows was under the patio cover. Dark except for a couple months in the winter (shown in this pic, looks so bright). The other was a western exposure that every afternoon was unbearable from the sun. I pretty much never opened the blinds on that side. It was perfect for the guest room because most guests only sleep in there! 

I had moved most of my office to a corner of my bedroom and frankly I was much more comfortable there.

The light was better. The mood of the room was somehow better. I was more productive here. Perhaps because this room was mostly done and I LOVED it! 

Next post, 18 days and counting...

Building Horse Jumps - Part 2

Click for part 1

The next jump we built was a Straight Plank and was the easiest one of all. The materials used for the plank were 1" plywood and 1 x 4 lumber and staples. The plywood was cut into two sections at 4' 6" for a total of 9' long and 12" tall. As mentioned in the previous post, the customer already had standards and 10' poles so everything we built is 10'.

Straight Plank

I need to make a correction here, the ends are all 6" NOT the 3 1/2" I previously stated. A mars / venus thing...

The plywood is stapled between the two 1 x 4 boards and a 6" section of 1 x 4 is stapled into the middle on the ends for durability and stability.

I had to put a smile on JD's face because I said this was fun and his face did not express that in this shot. He was saying "hey bartender put the camera down and get me a beer!" He looked like he was about to howl at the moon.

I decided to add a hat because hey, it's PicMonkey!

Here's a preview of the Wall and Roll Top for my next post~

Happy trails~

We Built Horse Jumps & It Was Fun~ Part 1

And I used some junk hose! 

JD is a carpenter by trade so this project was easy peasy for him. But some of these jumps could be built by anyone who has a skill saw, a staple gun and the desire. 

The Gate

The Gate was built 100% from 1 x 4 lumber, 12 ft. lengths. The lady we built the jumps for already had standards and 10" foot poles so these jumps are finished at 10'. Unfortunately I didn't start taking pictures until this one was completed. JD cut the 1 x 4's into 2' sections and stapled to a 10' board with 4" spacing. Then he sandwiched between a second 1 x 4 top and bottom. He allowed 6" on each end of the top board to accommodate the cups.

Brush with Flower Strip

For the Brush with Flower Strip we considered using pallets as that's what the customer suggested. We didn't have any pallets in the proper size and after walking around the property measuring every pallet JD declared "I could have made it by now"... so back to the garage. This jump is constructed similar to the gate but also uses 2 x 4 lumber for the 3 vertical boards to allow room to add "brush" to the middle. The top horizontal piece is also a 2 x 4 holes were drilled across the length for a flower strip. Small scrap 2 x 4 pieces were used in the bottom rail to add strength and stability.

Detail

Picket Fence Plank

The picket Fence Plank was built with 1 x 4 lumber and common landscaping stakes the customer supplied.

The pickets were cut to 1' and the customer will use poles above to create the height she needs for beginners to more advanced riders. 

Layout

JD spacing the pickets

Cutting more pickets

Part 2 will show the 3 other jumps we made. A wall, plain plank and a roll top. We delivered all of these unpainted per the customer but I'll also update later after she's painted them and set up the course!

Wishing you nothing but clear rounds~

Follow Up - Collecting Arugula Seeds

I saw something while I was perusing Pinterest and had to post! 
This is cute on it's own but it's also a follow-up or more like an addition to my seed collecting post (here)

Flowers and a seed packet pattern... | Content in a Cottage

Woman's Day offers us this darling mini pattern and accompanying label template:

And as one is prone to do clicking about Pinterest and one click leading to another I found one more for us seed collectors:

This one from Heavy Petal

Happy gardening & seed collecting~

More Junk Hoses in the Garden - Words with Hose~

The Junk Hose Birdhouse is my most viewed post to date. In honor of that here’s another fun thing to do with an old junk hose in the garden. Use them to write words on your raised beds!

Here I have used an old grey hose that I had butchered so badly with the mower I had to put the mower on jack stands and unwind its tattered-ness out of the blade housing where it was all wound up and sliced almost through in several places... what that means is there wasn't enough to do a large birdhouse. Or a small one for that matter. 

When I saw JD trying to bury it in the dump trailer under some real trash we had words, some of them were colorful. I have been known to cuss like a sailor and when my good junk is threatened it's all hands on deck! I got the "these pieces are to small to do anything with" argument. Right matey! Are you kidding me? 

Truth be told I didn't know what I was going to do with some of these smaller pieces but thank goodness I'm quick on my feet because I wasn't going to be the one walking the plank on this day. It just so happened the dump trailer was backed up the drive near the junk raised beds we had completed but had not yet finished decorating! Que the music from Jaws. Dawdumph, dawdumph dawdumph! Next thing you know I said you go get the drill and some screws and I'll meet you back here with scissors and a pencil.

I beat him back and started lightly sketching in pencil the word "Grow" on the wood. When he got back with the drill and wood screws I had already cut the G and was holding it in place to take the first screw. 

This is a simple, easy and fun project for the garden.

Ahoy! I mean happy gardening~

Collecting Arugula Seeds

Yesterday I signed off to go collect arugula seed from my garden. There’s all kinds of info on the net on how to do it; here is my process. Make sure it’s been about 24 hours since watering, 48 for rain. Do it on a warm dry day (rarely a problem in CA) moisture in the seeds is the only enemy here.

I use a glass jar so I can see what I’m getting. You can use a paper bag or a bucket too. Arugula seed pods when ready to harvest burst open if pinched in the middle. I hold the jar under selected pod and pinch. The seeds, and sometimes parts of the pod fall down into the jar.

Once you are done collecting you will need to remove the seed pod parts. A fork works pretty well.

I let them sit in the jar for a day, stirring a few times to make sure they are all dry and we don’t have any moisture. Now it’s time to store them. You have some options here.

Williams Sonoma offers these awesome seed storage envelopes by a company in England.

Williams Sonoma Seed Storage Envelopes

Or you can make your own out of regular envelopes or do like I do and use a brown paper lunch sack. I place about a tablespoon of seeds into a packet like this one below for my own use. If I'm gifting, I will fold over again so it's closer to the size of a postcard (and less likely to spill seed) and I'll place a teaspoon of seeds in the sack. 

I'll be collecting more seeds soon and if I pack any for gift giving I'll follow up with another photo!

Happy gardening~

The Junk Hose Birdhouse~

I’m literally hell on wheels on my Garden Tractor which is a fancy name for a riding mower.

At least any hose I have had longer than 6 months thinks so anyway… needless to say I have a few, or more, mowed hoses in my junk pile. Obviously, to me they aren't junk just because they are now more suitable as a soaker hose or sprinkler. 

I cannot say how many times JD has tried to haul them off to the dump and I have pulled them right back out kicking and holler’n!

Then I saw this birdhouse on Pinterest. A game changer it was! 

Photo credit unknown - Birdhouse believed to be on the grounds of http://www.mcmenamins.com/Gardens

You see, we needed to donate a handcrafted item to an event for a charity auction and soon. I told JD we are making a birdhouse out of one of those old hoses for the auction. I got the deer in headlights look. Never fear, PJ was here and soon we were building it! The best part to this junk collector is we didn’t spend a dime. It was all time and material found in my junk pile or lying around. Here is the one we made. 

Now JD still wasn't convinced even with my and PJ's oohing and ahhing. We decided it needed to be put on a post to better "show" at the event. It even had a built in perch!

The junk hose birdhouse sold for $150 at the silent auction and JD had a small serving of crow and an ice cold one to wash it down :)

May all your junk be treasure!

Anvil

For PJ

My dear friend PJ suggested I blog.

We used to live in the same neighborhood, one house in between hers and mine. She’s a designer with a great eye and as a southern girl her projects always have what I call a “southern comfort” about them. She recently moved back to Texas and I miss her so much, but the upside is getting to visit.

When we talk on the phone the conversations always lead to “I need to send you pictures of the project/s I’m working on”. Of course, that rarely happens. It’s not fair, this gal came over and wielded a pry bar, sledge hammer and Sawzall to help me demo my master bath.

This is where the blogging comes in. She thought other people might be interested in some of these projects too. So here I am. 

This one's for you PJ!

The photo on the left before - On the right, a progress shot.

The staining is finished and holes have been drilled for the hardware on the drawers. It needs one coat of sealer and then we form the pour in place concrete counter top template.

Welcome to Anvil Designs Blog

Hi All,

This is my first go at blogging. I'll be writing about and posting pictures of my before and afters as a DIY re-modeler, gardener, recipes, projects both personal & for the shop and more!

Thanks for stopping by!

Anvil