Saturday, January 28, 2017

WINDOW SEAT LOVE

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Your home is your castle, so to speak. Whether it is large or small, old or new, Contemporary or Traditional, it is your living space. It is where you eat, sleep, grow, work, raise a family, share with friends, relax and come home to at the end of each day. Also for me, a place to dream. And that dream includes looking at my home and wondering what I can do with a space to make it more livable, more organized, more home. Or, as I am constantly being reminded, another place to feather my nest. This nest has unlimited potential for improvements, I’ve been dreaming for a long while about some of these nooks.


Right Dormer...


Left Dormer... Yes, an embarrassing spot in need of a little love. No judging, please.

One, or actually two of these nooks are the two dormers in my loft/home office/workspace. They are an invitation just waiting for a party. I think the perfect solution would be window seats with a removable lid for storage. You don’t need a dormer to make a window seat, just a little space and if you are lucky, a window. Take a second look around, you may find several micro spaces just waiting for your attention. What space do you have that is waiting to be transformed? Dream, create, build and live. Start here.


This is what you will need to build your window seat-

Frame:
2” x 4” Wood Boards
Front:
½” Cabinet Grade Plywood
Lid:
½” Cabinet Grade Plywood
Trim:
½” x 2” Select (no knots) Wood

Power Drill
Nail Gun or Hammer
Jig Saw
Counter Sink Drill Bit
Screws
Wood Glue
Finishing Nails
Felt Furniture Guides
Tape Measure
Pencil
Primer Paint
Paint
Paint Brush
Wood Putty
Fine and Medium Grit Sand Paper
Safety Goggles

Measure your space and determine the size of your window seat.  Mine will be 43” wide, 27” tall and 24” deep.

My local hardware store happily cut my large pieces of plywood to they would fit in my car. They will also cut your smaller pieces too, if you ask. 









Cut and assembled the bottom frame. Pre- drill (pilot holes), glue then screw together. Note the orientation of the boards.


I placed the bottom frame on the floor to make sure it will fit nicely in the space. I did not want a snug fit because I do not want this window seat to be permanent.


Add your felt furniture guides to the bottom of the frame.





Measure and cut 8 boards to glue and screw together to form four “legs” or the corners.







The legs need to be attached to the bottom frame with screws using a counter sink bit, at an angle.



Cut and assemble the top frame. Note the board orientation is not the same as the bottom frame orientation. This placement of the boards is to give the top additional support.

You will have to use the countersink drill bit to attach the top frame side boards to the top frame front and back boards.






Attach the top frame to the four corner legs. Using the counter sink drill bit, pre -drill the holes to make sure the head of the screw will be below the surface of the frame so the top will lay smooth and even.


Measure your front panel of the plywood and cut with the jig saw.


Sand all edges with medium grit sandpaper. Watch out for splinters!


Apply glue to the front panel.


Attach the front panel to the frame. I used a nail gun, but a hammer will work nicely too. Just make sure you pre-drill your holes and use small finishing nails if you use a hammer.



Measure, cut, glue and place the top horizontal trim piece up 1/2” from the top edge of the front panel. This is to hide the cut edge of the plywood top. Nail in place.

Measure, cut and glue the bottom horizontal trim piece for the front. Nail in place.


Measure and cut the two vertical trim pieces. Glue, then nail in place.


I added a third vertical trim piece, but only glued it in place. I used painter's tape to hold the trim piece in place until it was dry.





Fill nail holes with wood putty and sand smooth when the putty is dry.


Paint first coat with primer. Let dry and lightly sand with fine sandpaper.

Paint a finishing coat with semi-gloss paint. Let Dry. Paint a second coat of the semi-gloss, if needed. Sand lightly between coats.

Place lid on top. And dress.


Right dormer...

 Left dormer...

A better feathered nest.















Saturday, January 14, 2017

MY HOME JOURNAL

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January. The Christmas decorations come down. New Resolutions are made. And then you take a look around the house and just want to go back to bed. Right? So why do we think we that this is the month to get the house organized? Good intentions, but really, why overload yourself with big project hopes so early in the year? Why not ease into the New Year with a fun and simple project? A House Journal. A cleaver little book that keeps all your house secrets in one tiny little space. A reference. Plans. Dreams. Records. And you don't have to clean out the basement first to get started. You will be amazed by how great you feel once you get started. The best New Year Organizational project EVER.



This is what you will need to get started-


My House Journal, To buy... Link Here.
Drawing Paper
Tracing Paper
A Soft Lead Pencil
A Sharp Point Pencil
Straight Edge
Black Pen (More about this later)




This is the journal I used. It is beautiful and perfect. Made by hand. The journal is a keepsake. The link to buy is in the "what you will need" list above. One of the nicest artist ever to work with.



Start by downloading these house thumbnail sketches. Or you could make your own designs.

Photo copy the thumbnails.




With your soft lead pencil, trace over the lines of the sketch.


Place one sheet of tracing paper over the sketch.



Trace over the sketch with your sharp fine point pencil.


Remove the tracing paper.  There will be a light pencil line that has been transferred to the paper.


I used this permanent marker. This marker can be purchased at office supply stores. It is important to test your marker first before you use it on your journal. Some markers "bleed" through the paper. Sharpie brand markers will run right through to the other side of the paper and ruin everything.


With your pen, or pencil, trace back over the transferred lines of the thumbnail. You can use a straight edge if you like a cleaner look. Gently erase any pencil lines.


With the straight edge, make a border line around each page.







Here are a few of the rooms I added to pages. I copied and included a floor plan to each page.




Include a few pages for the exterior.







The single best information you can gather is paint colors. For each room, interior or exterior elements, this could be a life saver for you. When you go looking for that can of paint to touch up or repaint, you realize that the can was tossed out long ago. No record. How smart to have the color number at your fingertips. Even if you change paint colors, it is nice to have a record of the different house colors over the years. I added a few fabric swatches to some of the pages.


Photos are nice.

Anything you feel to keep a record. This isn't very exciting, but you could even keep record of major care of heating, cooling, roof, repairs, etc. Adding photos, sketches or dates of additions like a deck, patio or sun porch is nice to include too.

This little journal can fit nicely in a tote and can come in handy with matching colors when shopping.



Leave the cleaning of the garage or organizing the basement for someone else. Stay in bed a little longer. A house journal is the best way to start the new year. Happy sketching!