A Fan!!!!

The exclamation points are very necessary. There may have been jumping up and down at the completion of this project. We installed a ceiling fan in the master bedroom! Glenn and I have never attempted any electrical work before and my hubby sure impressed me with his skills!

Even more impressive in my world, a switch! We have three ceiling lights in our master bedroom and they are all connected to one switch. Which was fine, but we didn't want to go to sleep at night with the fan on AND the lights on which is what we would have had to do.

Our first step was to do a little research. Glenn busted out his Home Depot Home Improvement 1-2-3 book which was a Christmas present from my Dad. It was very useful. We made a list of what we needed: romex wire, a jab saw, a switch, switch plate, junction box, etc. Amazingly, we got everything on the first and only trip. Love when that happens.

Our first step was to turn off the power, of course, and then unhook the lights. Our original plan was to hang the fan over the bed since it was the light closest to the wall with the access panel. We figured we could get behind the wall and it would make wiring everything so much easier. Once we unhooked the lights though, we realized there were two wires where we thought there would be just one. Meaning what we thought was light #3 in the series of 3 was actually #2. Since we still wanted #3 to work, we had to switch up the location. We put the fan over by the windows which is actually more symmetrical so I'm happy.

We connected the wire that went to the fan to a new piece of wire that we ran across the ceiling and down the wall to our switch and the outlet where we would be getting power.

We thought we would be able to get away with one hole in the ceiling, in the closet, but even with a fish tape, we ran in to trouble getting the new wire over the joist. There was too much insulation in the way. So we just a second hole (not counting the one that the light would cover). Luckily, we didn't have to cut another hole to feed the wire down in to the wall. There was already a wire running from the light to the outlet so we could fit our wire in the same hole in the stud. Phew. I was already worried about repairing holes in our plaster textured ceiling. You can see the texture pretty well in these pics. I don't think they sell this in one of those aerosol cans.

Another piece of wire from out switch hole down to the outlet and the wiring was done.

Lastly, we disconnected the fan from the dining room and hauled it upstairs. We had three downstairs between the living/dining rooms. We also stole the junction box since we needed a shallower size box that we had not purchased, but a little switcheroo and we were good. Did I say yet, I'm impressed with my hubby's skills?

The last, and worst part is the patching. I've still got another bit of sanding to do and then paint, but I'm surprised how well it is turning out. You'll always be able to tell a bit, but since we saved the piece we cut out, the texture at least matches a little.

                                        

I still have another layer of spackle to sand and then paint, but I don't think it is too bad. I used a few scrap pieces of wood to brace the hole and then screwed the piece that we saved in to that. I did the same in the closet. Not to shabby, as my dad would say. I know it won't disappear, but I'm happy with it so far. I'll have to take a picture once the paint dries.

The chandelier from my brother's house is in the mail, headed our way. I'm thinking a little spray paint, maybe some small shades and it is going to look great in our dining room! Stay tuned for that.

House happenings

Two weekends ago we finally got around to using that old door that I posted a couple months ago. We found it in the back room of a thrift store down the street. I bought it with the intention of making a headboard so I bought a door that was at least 60" wide (for our queen) and that had the panels space such that I could cut it around 60" and it would be symmetrical.

We scraped and sanded the old paint which came off pretty easy along the edge, but on the panels it stuck pretty well so we just left it.  Then we gave it a good sand again and then started building.

I didn't a little research online, put a few of those together with the tools available and this is what we came up with.

Originally I thought to use a 4x4 for the posts but without a table saw it was too difficult to make notches. We decided to do 2 1x4s on each end a 1x6 on top and a little trim underneath. We found an old 2x2 in the yard and put that at the bottom to reinforce the 1x4s. I filled all the holes and a few gaps in the trip piece with wood putty, sanded again and primed and painted it!

I used the leftover paint from the china cabinet in the bathroom so it is Benjamin Moore impervo paint in white dove.We attached it to the bed frame with 3 1/2" bolts with a few nuts and washers.

Hopefully the pictures explain a little more clearly. I make the plan and Glenn does most of the executing. I think we did pretty well. What do you think?

 The door cost us $30 and the wood pieces cost about $30 and the putty and paint were leftovers. A lot cheaper than the $500 headboards I was looking at online! I told Glenn that now I want a matching foot board, but I think I'll wait a few months before I ask him to make me something else.

Curtains?

My new office is right around the corner from Target. Dangerous. I found myself wandering the aisles during my lunch break today. I came home with these. What do you think?

I can't decide if they clash with the duvet cover or not. I kinda like them. I guess I'll leave them like this til Glenn gets home. Hopefully tomorrow!

A Little Vanity

Since we moved in two months ago, we have had our old tv stand sitting in our master bedroom. Our new house has a fireplace so we've mounted the tv above that and we didn't have any need for the tv stand.

Here it is in our Japanese apartment.

I got the idea in my head that I wanted a vanity since we only have one sink in the master bath. It would be nice to have a place to put on my makeup while Glenn is getting ready and we wouldn't have to do the shuffle as we attempt to move around each other.

I drew up a few plans,  Glenn looked at me quizzically, but he agreed to help. First, I removed the castors and we removed the middle section of the bottom.

Next, we cut 4 2x4s into 3 different lengths to form the sides of two cubes. The height of the cube was 16" and the sides were 14" and 12".

We attached the two cubes to the bottom of the tv stand. See where I am going with this now? The cubes are slightly less wide than the top so that we could take off the bottom, attach the cubes and still attach it to the uprights again since there are bolts that attach the bottom. If that makes sense...

 

Cute right? Oh wait, not done yet.

I bought some fabric and some Decor velcro. The Decor part means that the hook side is sticky backed and the loop side is made to be sewed on.

I used iron on hem tape to hem a few rectangles of fabric and to attach the velcro.

I created 4 different panels. One for the side/front on each side and one for the inside sides since it looked less than pretty where we cut the middle section out.

 Ta da!

And the velcro makes it so I can access my makeup or whatever else I put in there, but I still need to find a mirror before it is actually useful as a vanity. It only cost about $50 for the 2x4s, screws, velcro and fabric!

Done! (almost)

I've been painting for the last 5 days and I'm finally done! On Wednesday, I painted the ceiling and went to bed at 7:45 pm because my body was so tired. I don't plan on doing that again, ever. Well, until I muster the courage to paint downstairs.

I painted the ceiling, trim and the walls and I love it. The couch and carpet look so much better against the new wall color. I chose Sherwin Williams Halycon Green but used Benjamin Moore paint which is so dang expensive, but the store is 5 min away vs. 20 to HD so it worked this time but next time I'll stick with the H Dizzle.

Here are a few pics!

Oh and when I said almost that is because I still have to tackle the almost 20 foot stairwell and ceiling. I'll have to get the extension ladder out for that and perhaps a little supervision.

Happy Friday!

Edging

I spent an entire day edging the bedroom yesterday. Seriously, ALL day. From when Glenn left for work at 10 am until he got home at 6. I still haven't even done the baseboards or door frames yet! Yikes. My goal is to be done by the time our friends come to stay on Saturday.

I absolutely love the color though. I can't wait to be done!

Pinspiration #1

I always see beautiful and fun ideas on Pinterest, but for the most part they are just ideas. I saw this cute picture idea the other day and thought it would be perfect! I not only had a bag of spare Scrabble tiles with my scrapbook things, but it is also my favorite board game of all times. I love me some Words with Friends!

Found Here.

And here is my version! I had to add the word family because Smith was lacking a few necessary letters.

I hung it in our bedroom with a collection of other photos. Mostly our engagement pictures and pictures of the two of us.

We still have to figure out what to do with the space in front of the windows. Until we do, it's the perfect place for our Insanity workouts. Today is a rest day, thank goodness because I'm not sure I could paint the bathroom AND work out. 

 

More room for dresses

On Monday, Glenn and I hung up a few more shelves and rods in our master closet. This time, we needed a few higher shelves for medium length dresses and long dresses/flight suits.

It of course makes the closet feel a bit more cramped but much more functional! We were much more efficient this time too and hung both parts in about an hour.

I think the last part will be to add several shelves to the left of the door for shoes. The shoes are just making piles all over the floor for now, but putting in a closet system is not cheap so I'm glad we are doing it in stages. This closet maid system from Home Depot is easy to install (easier with straight walls) but we have invested about $800 so far I think!