Taking paint off melamine

Posted on August 18, 2014 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

The question of the day was can I strip paint off of melamine? The answer was kind of.

This is not my favourite piece of furniture. (Not the TV. I love my TV. My problem’s with the TV stand.)

I attempted to build it when we lived at our old house. We had gotten a new TV. We needed a TV stand. I had some white melamine left over. So I sliced it up and went to work.

Cutting went fine.

Assembling not so much.

I didn’t have the right tools or fasteners and as my rocky, shaky shelf collapsed for about the fifth time, I called my Dad.

My Dad and I knocked it together in no time, but when I painted it I ran into trouble again.

My roller was disintegrating as I painted, and I ended up with all kinds of bits stuck to my shelf. It didn’t improve with time. The dark brown paint showed dust really easily, and when I tried to wipe it down, the dust just got caught in the flecks and it looked even worse. Believe it or not, this is the bottom shelf after I’d wiped it down.

I decided to include the TV stand as part of my bookshelf makeover this month. I’m not planning to strip the paint off of all the bookshelves, but the finish on the TV stand was just too awful. I needed a fresh start.

I went with my usual chemical stripper, and it worked pretty well. The stripper made quick work of the paint, even though it’s a heavy-duty oil-based enamel. The stripper also took off the white coating on the melamine. I’m not too worried because I’m going to be repainting, but the finish was a little bit rough. I went over it with my sander to smooth everything out. It may not look great, but I think it’s going to be okay.

This week my Dad and I are tackling the rest of the shelves. We’ll be cutting down, putting back together and adding trim. Painting will come soon after. The TV stand should be looking much better the next time you see it. Maybe I’ll even like it by that point.

Have you ever tried to take paint off of melamine? Have you ever painted melamine in the first place? It’s not that hard to do… as long as your equipment is half decent. Has anyone else run into problems with disintegrating rollers? Do you have a piece of furniture that you don’t love?

Raised dog food stand

Posted on July 11, 2014 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Special occasions should be marked by presents. So for Baxter’s Gotcha Day, I made him a dinner table all his own.

I took inspiration from the DIY Pet Food Station that Kim and Scott made for their Jack over at Yellow Brick Home. As much as I coveted the hairpin legs that they used (love the industrial-rustic mix), I didn’t find any at a price I was willing to pay. So I went to the bench I made for the mudroom and adjusted it to be doggie size.

Like with the bench, I dug into my beat-up antique lumber stash in the barn. People, these planks are absolutely amazing. Sure they weigh 3 tonnes and are covered in poop and who knows what, but they’re phenomenal. The plank I chose was too big and heavy for me to move on my own, so I lopped off a 4 foot piece with my circular saw and got to building.

I think the details on the construction are pretty self-explanatory, especially if you reference my bench plans. I used my Kreg jig to attach the legs with three screws each. In terms of finished measurements, the stand is 10 inches high, 24 inches long, and 10 inches deep. The legs are at about a 15 degree angle and are 8 1/4 inches end to end. The bowls are 7 1/2 inches in diameter.

Cutting the circles for the bowls was the hardest part. I drew my circles using the bowls for a template. Then I drilled a hole so that I had a spot to insert my jigsaw blade, and I cut along the line. I think I figured out why this wood is so darn heavy. It is super duper dense. My jigsaw blade broke before it was even halfway around the first cutout. Initially the cutting was so slow that I thought my blade was dull. But when I installed the new blade after my first one snapped, it still took a significant amount of force to push the jigsaw along the line ever, ever so slowly. And I had to do it twice! Darn dog needing water as well as food.

To seal and protect my dense, hard, beat-up beautiful wood, I turned to Waterlox, the same solution we used on our DIY kitchen counter. It’s food safe for humans, so it’s an appropriate finish to use on a stand whose sole purpose is to hold (dog) food. Nothing’s too good for my puppy.

From my past experience with the bench when it turned black because it sucked up so much stain, I knew that the wood would be thirsty, and boy was I right. It took about three coats before the finish started to build up and look shiny on the wood. Even then, there were some sections (the ones with the most worm holes) that just sucked the Waterlox right in. All in all, I did a total of 6 coats of finish.

After that, it was simply about putting the bowls in the stand and filling them up! Tip: kibble on its own isn’t very appetizing. Sweet potatoes make it much more palatable. (That is, if you’re Julia. If you’re Matt you give in to the sad eyes and put ketchup on it. Yeah, my husband and the dog are totally related.)

Bon appetit, Baxter. Or as Matt says, “Mangey, mangey”–as in French “mange” with an “ee” ending. (He and the dog share their own language as well as the same taste buds.)

Do your pets get presents? How do you handle pet food at your house? What’s your pet’s favourite food?

How to make a tall narrow dresser

Posted on May 12, 2014 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

When I reorganized the tiny nook in my office, I knew that I had to add some kind of storage. A dresser was the ideal solution. Drawers would allow me to tuck things away, and the surface would give me a spot to write notes and set my purse and keys.

So I had some pretty specific requirements: drawers, about counter top height, oh, and it had to fit in the nook, which was 16 inches deep by 24 inches wide. Of course, it also had to be cheap.

Well, I had no luck finding a piece of furniture that met those standards. However, I soon realized that nightstands often have drawers and are usually small enough to fit this little space. While nightstands are much shorter than countertop height, they usually come in pairs. Couldn’t I just stack them one on top of another?

It turns out, yep, I can.

Here’s what I started with. Two little nightstands I found at the Salvation Army thrift store for $12 each.

First step of any furniture makeover: remove the drawers and the hardware. It turned out that one of the drawers contained a plastic hardhat, so I got distracted by that for a little while. Consider this your PSA to always wear safety equipment (hardhat, safety glasses and ear protection) while DIYing.

Anyways, back to work. I started taking apart the dressers. I popped the backs off of each of them. Then I took the top off one and the bottom off another. The nightstands came apart really easily. The backs were just stapled in place. The top was attached to corner blocks that were screwed in place. The decorative trim at the bottom was tacked with some little nails. I needed a few different tools, and I was thankful for my stubby screwdrivers that fit in some of the tighter nooks and crannies, but dismantling these pieces of furniture was not a taxing task.

Once they were apart, it was time for something that was a little more taxing: cutting. The nightstand that was going on the bottom had to be trimmed along the top, and the one that was becoming the top half had to be cut down along the bottom. Clear? I measured the spacing between the drawers to figure out exactly where to make my cut and marked the line with painters tape.

Four quick slices with my circular saw, and the dressers were the right height. I set them on top of each other and was super excited. It was looking like I envisioned.

Now I just had to figure out how to actually attach the two halves. When I’d taken apart the dressers, I’d removed some side braces. I was able to reuse those pieces on the inside of the dresser. I ran them half on the bottom and half on the top and screwed right through the side into the brace. My dresser was now all one piece and it was solid, but it was ugly. No amount of wood filler was going to fix that joint.

The solution was overlaying a very thin panel along the whole side. I had 1/8 inch MDF, which I cut down to the exact dimensions of the side of the dresser. I tacked it in place with small finishing nails, and it covered up the gap completely.

A bit of wood filler camouflaged the joint on the front of the dresser. While I had the wood filler out, I filled the holes on the drawers where the original pulls had been and a few other spots on the dresser where the veneer was chipped.

After a light sanding all over, I primed the dresser and drawers, and then they all got a coat of creamy white paint–Cloud White in Benjamin Moore’s Advance formula. This was my first time using Advance, and I really like it. The finish is nice and smooth (I used a foam roller), it has none of the stickiness that you sometimes get with latex after it dries, and it has been very durable. In the past, I’ve used heavy duty oil paints on furniture or cabinets. The clean up is a pain and the stench is noxious. None of that is an issue with Advance, and in my opinion it’s held up just as well as an oil finish.

The finishing touch for the dresser was new crystal (plastic) nobs. This is one area where I got a bit neurotic. The nobs that I chose had a metal post that went through the middle. The posts were brushed nickel. I’m not a fan. Plus, I already had oil-rubbed bronze and gold/brass elsewhere in the office. I’m not good with mixing metals, so I spray painted all of the metal pins with oil-rubbed bronze spray paint. It was easy, but probably not entirely necessary.

As you saw last week, the dresser fits perfectly in the nook. It ended up being the exact right height, and I’m loving having all of the drawers to keep me organized.

What second hand furniture have you made over? Have you ever made two pieces into one? How do you handle hard-to-furnish spots with specific dimensions?

How to refurbish a ping pong table

Posted on March 17, 2014 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

It’s St. Patrick’s Day, so today’s post is all about something green. Our new(ish) ping pong table.

This ping pong table was a bit of an experiment. We found the top (in two pieces) in the barn when we first moved in. It was pretty dirty and had even been pooped on by the swallows that live in the barn.

I am always optimistic, so one day last summer, I dragged the two halves outside. I have no idea how I managed to move them by myself because each piece is extremely heavy. I haven’t been able to carry them on my own since. I scrubbed with a brush and sprayed with the hose until all of the poop and dirt (and a fair portion of the original green paint) washed away.

Matt did not share my optimism that the table could be rehabilitated. That night he tucked the pieces deep into a corner of the driveshed. I have no idea how, though, because the tabletop is heavy even for him to move on his own.

Despite his lack of enthusiasm for the project, Matt did help me carry the top into the house. Then, one weekend while he was out of town, I went to work.

This project was a total experiment, and I’m sure ping pong purists out there will be horrified. But (spoiler alert) everything worked out, so I’m sharing my technique with you.

There were two big issues with the table: 1) We had no legs to go with the top. 2) The top itself was not in great shape.

The leg issue was easy to solve with six trestle style legs from Ikea (Lerberg).

The top took a little more effort.

I started with a coat of fresh white paint over the lines. After sleeping on it for the night, I realized I really should have sanded the top first, so the next morning I basically started all over again. I sanded down the top, which was not an indoor task. Sanding resulted in a fine green powder over the whole room–not the best scenario with our nice light carpet. There was a defined line between where the drop cloth had protected the carpet and where the green dust had floated beyond the drop cloth’s reach. I was very glad Matt was not home to see the mess I had made.

The Shop Vac erased the green mist, and I was able to get back to the painting.

White paint went on again, and, then once it was dry, I taped off the lines. Since painter’s tape doesn’t come in ping pong line widths, I had to very carefully trim it.

Then the tape got a quick coat of white paint to seal it, and after some drying time I moved onto the green. Since I wasn’t sure if this was actually going to work, I used some regular latex paint that we had left over from Matt’s office. It’s Manor Green from Benjamin Moore in case anyone’s interested.

The green took about three coats, I think. On the final coat, I carefully peeled off the tape to reveal the white lines. Some of the white flaked off (I think giving the white more time to dry, or even doing two coats would have been helpful).

Chips aside, the finish was a massive improvement over the table’s previous state. In fact, Matt was so impressed when he arrived home that he started to think that maybe I wasn’t entirely crazy in wanting to save the table.

So now I had a tabletop and I had table legs. How to put them together?

It turned out that the Lerberg legs are a bit shorter than regulation ping pong height of 30 inches–hey, I have some standards. Using a few 2x3s and my Kreg Jig I built a frame to attach to the underside of the tabletop.

I screwed the frame to the tabletop… or at least to one half. The top ended up being too unwieldy and heavy as one big piece, so I didn’t screw everything together. We set the top on the frame and the frame on the legs, and we think each piece is heavy enough to stay in place on its own.

The six Lerberg trestles mean the table is very leggy. However, we really needed the support in the middle of the table as well as at each end.

We got a very simple cheap net at Walmart. It’s called an “everywhere table tennis” from EastPoint, and we just clipped it onto the table. Again, I wasn’t sure that this refurbishment was actually going to work, so I didn’t feel the need to invest in a professional net.

With the table set up, Matt broke out the paddles, tapped one of the balls across the net, and it bounced. It worked! We had a functional ping pong table.

I had no ping pong skills, but after a week of daily practice, I’ve improved a lot. I finally won a game against Matt yesterday (he also may have let me win one). My ping pong prowess aside, refurbishing the table was a definite win.

Have you ever rehabbed a piece of furniture that seemed beyond hope? Anyone have any ping pong pointers? How are you celebrating St. Patrick’s Day?

The furniture in my wallet

Posted on March 10, 2014 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

I have a few key pieces of furniture that I’m on the hunt for. I’m fairly particular about what they look like, but what size they are is even more important.

To avoid constantly running to my measuring tape, I sized up all of the spots that need furniture. Then I typed up the measurements, printed them out and slipped them into my wallet.

Whether I’m in a thrift store, at the office or browsing online (all places I’ve found furniture), I can reference this slip of paper and know if those nightstands, that sideboard or that table will fit where I need them to go.

Of course the other key part of this is carrying a tape measure with me at all times.

Since writing this list, I’ve actually been pretty successful at finding the furniture that I’m looking for. Since taking this picture, Matt found the cabinet for the laundry room (which we assembled yesterday), so I can cross another item off the list.

I’m sure there’s an app for this, and I know I could just save the measurements on my phone, but I’m old school. Plus, there are lots of times I forget my phone or let the battery die, so paper is actually more useful for me.

In fact, now that most of my first list is crossed off, I’ll be printing myself a new one. Next up on furniture most wanted: a cabinet for the dining room.

How do you keep track of furniture measurements? Who else always has a tape measure in their purse?

How to make a DIY ottoman

Posted on January 31, 2014 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

The search for the perfect footstool for my basement reading nook took a little while. I knew I wanted something round. Between our sectional, the ottoman, the entertainment unit, the TV, and even my Austin chair, we have a lot of squares and rectangles happening in the basement, so I thought it was time for some contrast. And I wanted to make it myself. But how? What would give me the size and the shape that I wanted while being sturdy enough to sit on but light weight enough to move around? Maybe a Sonotube? But I couldn’t find one that was big enough in diameter, and I really didn’t want to buy a six foot tube and use only a short piece of it. Maybe I should just use one of the Moroccan poof patterns available online and upscale it? But that would take a lot of stuffing, and I wasn’t sure how it would work as a seat. Then one night it came to me just as I headed to bed. (Isn’t that always the way?) The next morning when Baxter and I headed out for our walk, we took a brief detour to our junk pile. (Doesn’t every farm have one?)

“Uhhh… I don’t see anything that you’d want to put in the house over here…”

Are you confused like Baxter, or do you see it?

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I upholstered a giant plastic barrel.

It was big. It was round. It seemed sturdy, but wasn’t too heavy. I had found my base. Now how to make it into an ottoman? I mulled the question of how to upholster it over for a little while. Here’s the technique I came up with. 1) Cut the barrel to my desired height–roughly equal to the height of Strandmon’s seat. I initially planned on using my hack saw, but then I realized that between the thickness of the plastic and the massive circumference of the barrel, cutting it manually would take forever. Plan B was my circular saw, which was much, much faster. Note: an extra person (thank you, Matt) to hold the barrel while you’re cutting is essential. Go over the cut edge with a file to smooth out any rough spots and remove any plastic strands. 2) If your barrel still looks like something that’s been sitting outside for who knows how long and really isn’t something you can see yourself bringing into your house, give it a good scrubbing. This is probably a good step regardless because you never know what’s been inside the barrel. Well, some of you might, but I sure didn’t. 3) Pack on the padding. I used a piece of 2 1/2-inch thick foam for the top. Using my barrel as a pattern, I traced a circle onto the foam. The foam cut easily by hand with a serrated bread knife, although I’ve heard that an electric carving knife also works. Using spray adhesive, I attached the foam to the top of the barrel.

Cutting and attaching foam to a foot stool

Note: Working in a barn avoids spraying sticky glue onto your floors, but you may end up with a few pieces of straw stuck to your stool.

4) To soften up the sides, I took batting left over from my dining room chair upholstery project and glued it to the sides of the barrel. It was at this point that I realized I had less batting left over than I thought. As in not enough to complete the ottoman. So the padded barrel came into the house and sat until I could go to the fabric store. During the waiting period, I found out that the spray adhesive maybe wasn’t going to work quite as well as I’d expected. Basically, the barrel shed its fluffy skin. 6) However, I was undeterred. Once I had more batting, I reattached the first layer using the same spray adhesive. By this point, it was cold outside, so I was working in the house. Note: Be prepared for some overspray. A drop cloth will help, but you will end up with sticky socks. 7) You’ll notice that my batting was a little patchy. To smooth it out and hold it in place, I added two more layers of batting over top of the whole barrel. I’m going to try to explain how I did this, but if it’s not clear, feel free to ask for more information in the comments. I draped the big sheet of batting over the whole barrel making sure it hung evenly down each side. Working in sections of about a quarter at a time, I sprayed the barrel with the adhesive, smoothed the batting down the side and stuck it in place. If you think of the barrel like a clock, I worked at 3, 6, 9 and 12 o’clock. In between each quarter section, I had extra batting. These looked like big triangle wings. I carefully took my scissors and cut off these wings. I wish I had a better picture of this, but my scissors hand was busy being camera hand in this moment. I snipped roughly where the arrow is pointing. The nice thing about batting is that it doesn’t fray, so I could just snip it off and the smoosh the edges together. The join wasn’t perfect, but close enough ended up working just fine. At the bottom of the barrel, I trimmed the batting so that I had about 6 inches overhang. Then I pulled it taunt, smoothed it out, wrapped it around the edge and tucked it up inside the barrel. A spritz of adhesive held it in place. Now I had a giant fuzzy marshmallow. Um, yum? 7) To protect the batting, make sure it stayed attached to the barrel and ensure a smooth surface to overlay my fabric, I decided to make a lining or slipcover before putting on my final upholstery fabric. This was also an opportunity to test my pattern for my outer fabric. To figure out the pieces for the slipcover, I measured first the circumference of my ottoman and then the height. I cut out a rectangle that was as long as my barrel was round (80 inches) and 8 inches wider than my barrel was tall (25 inches). Using the circumference measurement, I was able to figure out the size of circle that I needed to cut for the top of the stool. After a brief consultation with my resident math teacher, I remembered that Pi x diameter = circumference. So for my 80 inch around stool, I needed a circle that was approximately 25 1/2 inches in diameter (80 / Pi = 25.47). I started by cutting a 25 1/2 inch square, folded it into quarters, and then using a very makeshift compass I drew an arc that gave me the curve of my circle. I cut along the arc, and voilà a circle.

Note that length of the string should be equal to the radius of the circle (half the diameter).

Before unfolding the circle, it’s helpful to mark the outer quarters (basically 3, 6, 9 and 12 o’clocks again). They’ll come in handy later. Now that I had my top, it was back to the sides of my slipcover. I joined the short ends of the rectangle to form a tube, stitching them together on my sewing machine. This is a good point to “try on” the cover. I slipped the tube over the footstool and adjusted the fit as necessary. You’ll notice I haven’t talked about adding seam allowances. I had them at first, but I found that the cover was looser than I wanted. To get a smooth, close-fitting cover, I found going with the actual measurements of the ottoman worked best. Once I had the fit I wanted, I marked the tube in the same way that I’d marked the circle. Using the seam as 12 o’clock, I marked the tube along one edge at 3, 6 and 9 o’clock (rather than measuring, I just folded the tube in half and then half again and pinned at the creases). Then, I pinned my circular piece of fabric to my tube, starting at each of my marked clock points. As I made my way around the circle, I had to smooth things out a little bit since I was joining a straight edge to a curved edge, but with some patience and adjustments everything lined up. 8) Finally, I could sew the cover. I took it fairly slow as my machine stitched around the circle, and then I held my breath as I flipped it right side out and slipped it over the ottoman. Victory! It fit perfectly. 9) Now to finish the bottom edge. Remember, it was about 8 inches longer than than the barrel. I turned the raw edge under by a 1/4 inch all the way around, and then I turned the bottom up an additional 3/4 of an inch. I stitched this hem almost all the way around. I left about a 2 inch gap so that I could insert a drawstring. 10) It was time to dress the ottoman. I slipped the slipcover over top and using the drawstring cinched the bottom tightly. I turned it over and… Victory #2! A pretty smooth, albeit slightly crooked, slipcover.

Note to self: In the future, straighten out the cover before taking the photo.

With my pattern perfected, it was time to move on to the official fabric. The search for this fabric had taken my Mom, her friend and me up and down the fabric district, in and out of every store. I was carrying one of the cases from the couch throw pillows, trying to find a fabric that was equally vibrant and equally fun. In one store, I went over to a particular bolt and said, “I love this fabric. I actually bought a few yards a year ago, just because I couldn’t bear not to have it.” My Mom’s friend said, “Hold your pillowcase up.” I did, and she said, “Julia, I think that’s your fabric.” It took me a minute, but then I saw that it was absolutely perfect. I bought some more because I couldn’t remember how much I had already, added some bright turquoise piping and carted it all home. For all of you who’ve admired the fabric, it’s Crazy Ol Bird Midnight by Swavelle/Mill Creek. To make the outer cover, I followed the same technique that I had used with the inner slipcover. I even did the drawstring at the bottom. The only change was that when I sewed the top to the sides, I sandwiched some piping in between the layers. The piping is a great pop against the black fabric, and I think it makes the ottoman look a bit more professional. And here’s my finished ottoman sitting with Strandmon and the stump table in the reading nook. I love it. This ottoman is such a fun addition. It makes the reading nook a really comfortable spot to hang out. If you have any questions about the construction please let me know. Have you ever used something unconventional (like a plastic barrel) for furniture? What upholstery projects have you tackled?

Update: While I know everyone doesn’t have a plastic barrel lying around outside, it just occurred to me that a plastic garbage can would probably work in much the same way and be close to the same size.

Linking up to: Happy Housie DIY Challenge Party: Fabric Projects, Happy Housie DIY Challenge Party: Patterned and Textured Projects

Reading nook details

Posted on January 29, 2014 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

There are so many elements that I love in my new reading nook that I had to write a separate post where I can share all of the details.

At the core of the nook is obviously my much-loved Strandmon from Ikea. This is a seriously comfy chair. However, I like to lounge with my feet up, so I needed a footstool. Strandmon is not a tiny chair, so I wanted something that was a decent size and perhaps even could double as additional seating if we have people over. The bird ottoman fit the bill. It’s a complete DIY that ended up being super easy. You won’t believe what’s underneath that pretty fabric that so many of you liked. Stay tuned for a how-to post coming up next.

The stump side table is my rustic touch for the nook. It’s another DIY, this time completed with the help of my father-in-law. Most of the stump tables I’ve seen tend to be pretty short–and super expensive. I don’t know about you, but I wasn’t prepared to spend $200+ on a log when I have hunks of wood just lying around outside.

The nice thing about DIYing the table is that I could make it exactly the height I wanted. I don’t like to have to work too hard to pick up my drink–reaching kind of defeats the purpose of relaxing. So we cut the log so that the top of the table matches up with the top of Strandmon’s arm.

I’ve actually been saving this particular log just for this project for a little while now. I intentionally chose a log that had lots of knots and bumps and personality. After lots and lots of sanding, I coated it with three coats of varathane to seal it and glued a piece of cork to the bottom just to protect the carpet.

When it came to choosing art for the nook, the decision was easy. This monkey print hung in Matt’s grandpa’s house (not painter grandpa, other grandpa), and when his grandpa passed away Matt asked for the picture. Its bright colours and fun theme fit in perfectly with the feel I’m going for in the basement.

While Matt loves the picture more for its connection to his grandfather than for the subject matter itself, this picture has led to a bit of a monkey collection for Matt. He has a see-no-evil, speak-no-evil, hear-no-evil figure on the windowsill and another trio of monkeys stuck into the ivy.

Speaking of the ivy, you saw my yellow pot awhile ago. Somehow I’ve managed not to kill the ivy, and it’s actually thriving. The oversize games piece was made by my dad who is a wood turner and happily takes commissions from his oldest daughter.

I’m not quite satisfied with my windowsill vignette, but I’m not sure how to fix it. I think I might need something that’s a little more horizontal? Or something that sits on top of the books? In the comments on Monday, Margaret suggested lowering the monkey picture might help to bring everything together. Any other input would be most appreciated.

While the window gives us great natural light–a huge benefit considering we’re in a basement–during the reno we added an overhead light in the centre of the nook. I liked the idea of a pendant rather than a flush mount or a lamp. However, it had to be mostly glass so that it didn’t obstruct the view out the window, and we had to hang it pretty high so that I don’t konk my head when I stand up. After weeks of searching, this simple pendant ended up being just what I wanted and just $50. Score!

The newest addition to the nook is our fleece Hudson’s Bay point blanket that Matt’s aunt gave us for Christmas. I love the point blanket pattern, and the pop of white plus the brightly coloured stripes work really, really well with everything else that’s going on in this nook.

It’s so nice to have a quiet corner to curl up. Matt can be playing a game or watching a movie over on the sectional, and I can be in the same room, but doing my own thing. All of the little details come together to make it a very special, cozy space.

I’d love to hear what is your favourite part of the nook?

Source list:
Wall paint: A custom grey somewhere around Bunny Gray from Benjamin Moore
Trim paint: Cloud White from Benjamin Moore
Wing chair: Strandmon from Ikea
Stump side table: Made by me with an assist from my FIL
Bird ottoman: Made by me (how-to is coming), fabric is Crazy Ol Bird Midnight by Swavelle/Mill Creek
Light fixture: Catalina Bella 1-light pendant from Rona
Yellow plant pot: Rona
Monkey statues: Gifts
Oversize games piece: Made by my dad, painted Seaport Blue from Benjamin Moore
Monkey print: Family heirloom
Hudson’s Bay fleece point blanket: Gift (from The Bay… I mean, it’s from Matt’s aunt, but you can buy your own at The Bay)

Beautiful beat up bench

Posted on November 13, 2013 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

You may have thought that after a full week of posts we were done with the mudroom. No way! It’s my first finished room. I’m going to savour this for awhile yet.

To start, I’m sharing my favourite project, my beautiful beat up rustic wood bench.

I love this bench.

My nephew Nicholas and I designed it, built it and stained it. It’s made out of one single plank that I found in the barn. I looked for the most beat up piece of wood I could find. It’s full of knots, splits and gouges. We sanded and sanded the bench so that it was smooth enough to sit on, but made sure all of the “defects” still showed through. Unfortunately, when it came to staining the bench, the wood was so thirsty that it sucked up every single drop of stain (Minwax Provincial), so the bench came out much, much darker than we expected. Some of the knots and gnarls aren’t as obvious now because of the dark tone, but I still think it has good character.

We designed the bench to some very specific requirements. We wanted the legs to be wide enough that we could put two trays of boots and shoes underneath. The seat had to be a comfortable height for sitting and also high enough that Matt’s tall boots would easily fit underneath. And we wanted it to be relatively slim so that it didn’t take up too much space in the room.

My nephew and I went back and forth on the design of the legs and finally settled on a simple upside down V cutout. I used my Kreg jig to attach the legs to the bench top. This was the first project that I used the Kreg for, and I quickly learned that the Kreg is built for standard modern day lumber. This plank was milled back when 2x4s were actually 2 inches by 4 inches, so it’s fatter than today’s lumber. We made the jig work, but it was a tight squeeze in a few spots.

It’s a very simple rustic wood bench that’s perfect in a country house. I’ve dubbed it the “Nicholas” after my design sidekick. If you want your own Nicholas, you can’t have the nephew, but you can have the bench. Click here for the plans.

Who else has a construction sidekick? Have you ever designed and built your own custom piece of furniture? Are there any other Kreg fans out there? Who else has stained a “thirsty” piece of wood? Are you a fan of the “distressed” look of beat up lumber?

You can never have too many

Posted on September 25, 2013 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

I may have mentioned a couple of times that I have a bit of a thing for chairs. Just in case you missed it, this is the fifth post this month on the topic of chairs (out of a total 11 posts). I may have a bit of a problem, people.

Fortunately, I also have a supportive husband who does things like buy me a wingchair for my birthday and recruits his parents to go pick up another chair when the universe decides to support my habit by bestowing a chair on me as a prize for registering for BlogPodium.

So after a day spent absorbing lots of lessons about blogging, meeting a bunch of great people and picking up the second half of the prize, the decorating book Inspired Styles from Kravet, I came home from BlogPodium to find the Austin chair from Decorium sitting in my living room.

Here are the two halves of the prize together in Austin’s new home in the basement.

Inspired Styles is full of inspiration from different designers, including Candice Olson, who have all made fabric collections with Kravet.

Austin is already set up in the basement. His dark wood legs and deep grey upholstery go perfectly with our Decor-Rest sectional.

How good does he look?

Thanks to Decorium, Kravet and BlogPodium for a great prize. And thanks universe for enabling my chair ~~obsession~~ collection.

Birthday wish come true

Posted on September 23, 2013 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

See my full review of the Ikea Strandmon.

It was my birthday over the weekend. BlogPodium was my present to myself, but what about that other item that was on my wish list? A certain chair that I was hoping my family would give me…

Hmm… that’s certainly a new chair. Not sure about the style… or the comfort for that matter.

Let’s take a closer look, shall we?

Ooooh! Goody, goody, gumshoes. I think my birthday wish has come true!

Behold Strandmon in my basement.

Behold me in Strandmon (reading the Inspired Styles book that I won through BlogPodium… and wearing Mickey Mouse socks… hmm).

All of my previous discomfort is gone. I love Strandmon. He perhaps may have the title of most comfortable chair ever. It’s only fair. After all, he shares the room with the most comfortable couch ever.

Thank you Matt and all of my family members for going in on this gift.

Now for a footstool and side table… and boy do I have ideas, people. Stay tuned!

Did you add any new furniture to your household over the weekend? What are some of your favourite birthday presents? Does anyone else buy themselves gifts for their birthdays? Does anyone else wear cartoon character socks?