DIY chalkboard

I love to up-cycle so when I knew we had extra cabinet doors (from removing the cabinets above our fridge in the kitchen), I got to thinking ...what can I make?? Well, guess what - I'm making a chalkboard. It was rather simple (aka my kind of project).

Supplies:
1 kitchen cabinet door
1 sm. can of Rustoleum chalkboard paint
Frame paint (we used left over wall paint)
2 foam rollers
1 foam brush
1 paint brush
Sawtooth frame hangers
1 door handle

1. Prepare space. I was daring and used my kitchen table, so I put down plastic. I also elevated the cabinet door on a small box so that I could easily paint the edges.

 

2. Sand, degloss and prime the cabinet door. I used my same go-to primer I've been using all along: Zinsser's Primer.

3. Paint the "frame." I used left-over wall paint for the frame. To easily get in all the nooks and crannies, I used a normal paint brush. Then I used a foam roller to smoothly paint the flat surfaces. I had to do about 3 coats of paint for the coverage I wanted.

 (Can you tell I started the project late at night, got tired, and started again the morning? So pardon my lighting change.)

4. Tape off painted frame.

5. Let the chalkboard paint begin! To get into the corners and edges, I used the foam brush first. Then I used the roller for the rest of the coverage. I chose to do 3 coats of chalkboard paint, with 4 hours of drying time in between each coat (per the can's recommendation).

6. Remove hinges (after removing the painter's tape). In hindsight, I probably should have removed the hinges before I even started. But here, in my timeline, is when I chose to take them off.

7. Attach sawtooth hanger. This is for hanging up the board on the wall - I chose to only have one in the center. Here, you can also attach bumpers to each corner of the board so that it isn't constantly banging against the wall.

8. Attach the door handle. I found a handle for $3.50 at Menard's that I liked. I also made sure it was wide enough and deep enough to actually hold chalk. I also kept in the mind the width of the frame.

9. Admire! Now all I need to do is buy some chalk...

Because I love Before/After!

Here is an OFFICIAL Before and After for our downstairs bathroom. I'm sure I'll decorate a little differently once I find things I love (always buy things you love, not things you can live with), but here it is!

Before:

After:

Yay! Tomorrow another post about our never-ending list of projects, but for today - Yay for celebrating another project coming together!

Stain is a Pain - I'd Rather Paint!

After my staining disaster, I've decided that painting is more my forte. Deciding that the staining project simply was not going to happen, I went back to Menard's and did what I should have done from the beginning - asked for help. After explaining to the employee my problem (the oil-based stain not soaking into the laminate wood siding), he agreed that no matter how many coats of stain I put on it would still be streaky.

So he suggested finding a paint that mimicked the look of the dark stain that I was going for. So I started my hunt. It's surprising how many medium to light colors there are available and how few dark colors. Apparently, America, we are not as daring as we believe. Finally, I settled on Pittsburg Paints' Grand Distinction in Dark Granite (we chose a semi-gloss finish because it's reccommended for bathrooms; we also only bought a quart of paint and it was more than enough). I also picked up some more foam roller brushes because they're SO perfect for streak-free painting. Below are pictures of how the bathroom cabinet doors before (in their sorry-stained-state) and after the first coat of paint.

Much better! In my opinion anyways. I waited about 30 minutes between coats so I started on the cabinet structure itself. It was still taped off from my staining disaster so all I had to do was hold my breath and hope it worked. And WAH-LA! Below you can see a picture after one coat on the laminate siding. SO MUCH BETTER.

Overall, I applied 2 coats since this paint had good coverage and I didn't want it any darker. You can't really tell in the pictures, but in person you can still see the wood grain making the color even seem like stain instead of paint! So here is my finished product:

I'm so proud! I wish I would have thought about painting it sooner, but you live and you learn (especially when you're me - meaning that I'm overly-ambitious at times). I also would like to mention this was a completely Mike-free project (except of course for the hanging the doors - I'm not suppose to use power tools......) which is quite amazing (if I do say so myself)! Eventually we'll add on handles (the same as our kitchen since they're free and we love free) - so I'll post a picture when that happens!

UPDATE: Here's the official Before & After pictures!
ANOTHER UPDATE: Here's another "After" with our new sink!

Front Door - Part 1

We're back from Mexico and back at our home projects (yup, I was sitting on the beach making a mental lists - gift and a curse of a born list-maker)! Our front door is one of the first things Mike and I knew we would have to replace. It's almost completely glass (so no privacy) and it doesn't seal properly on the bottom so the first couple of cool nights we really felt it.

Now that the cool nights are going to become common we knew we had to jump on this project. Thankfully (another perk of Mike's job), we were able to get our hands on an extra front door and storm door (which we don't even have at this point!). So, bye bye old door and hello new door!

The first thing Mike did (which I don't have pictures of because he started when I wasn't home) is route out the hinges. We had to move them from their original position so fit the new door - the process was essentially like the process for installing our interior doors. My job is to slide the pins into the hinges. Mike keeps the hinges on both the door frame and door screwed loosely on so that there's some give when lining up the two hinges. Then he drills them in more securely after.

 

Here Mike had to adjust the hinges multiple times so the door would close properly. Then we (he) had to sand off the interior edge of the door so it closed easier. Once all that hoop-la was done, Mike started installing the dead-bolt and handle.

 

 

 

After fitting in the dead-bolt, Mike installed the face. For lack of a better description, it's like a puzzle. He had to fit the pin into the lock along with the screws.

 

 

And then, wah-la! We now have a deadbolt! So safe I can't even stand it!

 

Then came the handle portion of the door. My favorite part considering our old front door had a dinky handle that was more fit for an interior door. Again, Mike fit in the latch (oh, and by the way, we were lucky that this door already had been cut out so Mike didn't have to do that work this time).

 

Then Mike put on the front handle, and then the indoor handle.

 

Now that the handles are here, we're only one step away! The last step is drilling out a hole in the frame for the deadbolt and then, using the template that we used on our indoor doors, for the handle latch on the frame.

 

Once Mike put the latch where the template said the door was installed! WOO-HOO! Here's the final product - now all we have to do is paint it. Not a find of the evergreen going on, but that's for another day. We're tired. (And I should probably start decorating that wall....)

 

Stain is a Pain!

Ah, the title - I'm practically Dr. Suess. The downstairs bathroom improvements continue with this post. All along I've wanted to stain the cabinets a dark mahogany color. Well, this weekend I've started.

Here's a WAY Before picture when we moved in alongside a Before picture from earlier this week.

 

So first things first, below is a list of supplies for my project (I say "my project" because this is a completely Kristin's-hands-only project since Mike is preoccupied with the doors. SO WATCH OUT.)

 

Supplies

1/4 gallon of oil-based stain

Latex gloves

Old men's dress socks (they're longer and cover more of your arm!)

Tarp

Painter's tape

 

It's a pretty short list which means it's budget friendly! Now onto the project itself.

 

#1: Remove hardware and doors. With this step I also took the time to wipe out my cabinets. They needed a good cleaning anyways.

 

#2: Tape off the area. Make sure you cover the floors and any walls or countertop that could possibly get stain on them.

 

 

#3: Sand and degloss the cabinet area. I used the same deglosser we used on our cabinets and trim. It's great because it gets off all the grit off the surface along with any remaining stain or gloss that's left behind.

 

 

 

#4: Start staining! I put on my latex gloves, one hand covered with the sock for staining. I started with the back of my cabinet doors since I was nervous about the process. Note: I also chose to use the sock-method instead of a foam brush for more even coverage. Here's a picture of the back of the doors and the cabinets after the first coat.

 

 

 

 

 

After this coat I waited 12 hours before starting the second. From what I've read, drying time is one of the most important things about staining. Since I'm a very impatient person, this part was definitely difficult! So I waited and waited and waited.

 

And everything looked great ...except the side that's laminate is SO streaky (see above - it stayed that way)! So what do you think I did? I tried again and again. Below is a picture after the third coat. It got darker, just not less streaky!

 

 

 

So now my project is on pause because I think it's the oil-base (instead of a gel-base) that is my problem. Back to Menard's I'll go.... AFTER Mike and I get back from our vacation next week! Sun, fun, and small little-umbrelled drinks here we come!

Painting!

I say "painting" with excitement for this post, instead of my new-found disdain because of the ridiculous amount of painting Mike and I took on in our first 2 weeks. That's because this time it's painting on canvas! Not sure if I've shared this, but I love art and paint when I have the spare time. Lately, I haven't had so much spare time because of the house - but I made time this weekend so our bare walls can finely start becoming cluttered with art and pictures and other items I love.

For this project, I bought a 4'x5' canvas at Michael's (of course with a coupon). I already have an obscene amount of acrylic paint so I was set with that. The funny part of this shopping excursion? Well, I may have over-estimated the size of our 4-door Camry (even though Mike had warned me). We tried the side doors first - taller than the car. Then we tried the trunk - only about 1/4 of the canvas fit in. That's when I got that "Lucy, you got some splainin' to do" (c'mon I Love Lucy reference) look from Mike. Ergo, Mike had to go pick up his parent's truck while I sat around at Michael's with my over sized canvas. And in case you were wondering, while walking back to Michael's unattended with the canvas, I literally looked like a canvas with legs since I am as tall as the canvas. And it was windy. Awesome, right?

Anyways, the canvas made it home safely. And I went to town. I painted - whited out. I painted again - whited out. I painted again. And finally liked it - here are the final results of what our living room looks like now.

 

 

I'm so pleased with how it looks! I finally feel like it's not just a room with furniture. It's becoming part of our home. Along with the painting this weekend, I picked up that plant in the far corner (from Michael's on sale for only $17!) and this bowl on the coffee table from TJ Maxx for only $10. I love the stripes and funky shape!

The decorative balls are tiny globes - awesome! I have a thing for globes/maps. I picked them up at Kirkland's awhile ago. They've just been waiting for their place.

All in all, the room is coming together. We still need to get a lamp for the far right corner (there are no ceiling lights in this room; only right by the front door) and a couple big framed pictures for above the couch. Oh, and we may also make a small end table similar to the coffee table. But for now, I like to sit in there and look around like a pleased mom.

With our bare hands!

So we build a coffee table! By "we" I mean that I had an idea and Mike is handy so he built it with my supervision. Here's a step by step but first - here's the new coffee table!

#1: Buy the supplies. We bought 3/4" Mueller Streamline Galvanized Steel Piping from Home Depot but you can use whatever circumferance you prefer. Below shows a diagram of the table and a list of supplies

1. Two 10 in. steel pipes (one on each side of the Iron Tee connector) - 4 total
2. 8 in. steel pipe for legs (2 per leg) - 8 total
3. One 4 ft. steel pipe
4. Iron Tee (all 3/4 in/ openings) - 6 total
5. Iron Floor Flange (1 per leg) - 4 total
6. Iron cap (1 per leg) - 4 total

#2: Assemble brace bars (for between the legs). Use 2 of the 10" pipes and an Iron Tee (This is where Mike's muscle helped because we EXTRA tightened the connections)

#3: Connect the brace bars with 4 ft pipe. (Clearly it connects into the Iron Tees on each brace bar)

#4: At the end of each 10" pipes, add an Iron Tee. These are for attaching the legs of the coffee table.

#5: Attach the 8" steel pipes to the Iron Tees. These are the beginningins of the table's legs. Do this on all four of the brace bars.

#6: Attach the other 8" pipes (the otherside of the legs). To do this, we had to flip the table up omto its "hindlegs" for a lack of a better term. Also, did I mention Mike REALLY used his muscles to make sure everything was connected?

#7: Make sure it's all level. At this point, we got out the level and made sure everything was straight because at this point the legs are almost complete!

 

#8: Attach the floor flange and iron cap to each leg. The floor flanges (the top picture) is how the tabletop will attach to the legs. The iron caps (the bottom picture) are so my floors don't get scratched up!

 

 

#9: Spray paint the pipes now that they're all put together. Clearly we all know this spray painting was my favorite part. We chose black, but you could do a metallic spray paint too! I had to spray paint it once upside-down and once right side up. I also did thinner coats since it's good coverage (I used Rustoelm's Black Gloss spray paint) and I didn't want any drips!

 

 

#10: Measure the wood for the tabletop. We chose to do planks of wood since Mike was able to get his hands on some for free (and we love free)! Our table measuresurements are Mike measured the length and marked it; we have a miter saw so he used that to cut the boards.

 

 

#11: Sand. Sand. Sand. And more sanding. Mike sanded the wood down 4 times to make sure it was smooth. First with 80 grit, then 100, 150, and finally 240. You can use a hand sander, but since ours was lent out at the time Mike used his own hands (and muscles)!

 

 

#12: Brace the boards together. We did numerous braces for the boards. We had extra metal floor transition strips. Mike cut those and drilled holes in so he could attach the boards (those are the black strips). We also braced it with smaller pieces of wood that Mike screwed into each board (bottom, middle, and top).

#13: Lacquer the tabletop. We chose to stay with the original wood color but you could paint or stain it any under the sun. We ended up having to use 2 cans of lacquer. All that sanding resulted in the wood really soaking it up. Here we let it dry for 48 hours.

 (Before Lacquer)

(After Lacquer)

 

#13: Attach the tabletop to the legs. To do this, Mike just had to use the drill - worked like a charm!

 

 

#14: ENJOY!