Cottonseed

More Kitchen Planning

noreply@blogger.com (MadMegan) — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 21:30:00 +0000

The good news: the kitchen renovation has been officially been scheduled! The bad news: it's not till July! Insert "whaa whaa" noise and pouty faces here. Martin is booked full time in Sacramento until late June, so I just have to learn to be patient, and just keep stockpiling building materials in the garage until he can get down here.

Speaking of which, I ordered my cabinets! And even though it's going to be several weeks until they arrive, I do have some conceptual drawings to share...

That's right friends, we're taking down the wall between the kitchen and the dining room! I know it's going to make such a big difference, it's all I can do to not run home and start sledge-hammering things right now.

Here are a few more views, to get you as pumped as I am.

The biggest change is obviously the half wall, but another major improvement is moving the sink. Currently, it's centered under those two windows. The plan is to move it across the room, so you face into the dining room while washing dishes. Not only is this more social, but it also allows me to get a full-sized sink and dishwasher! You heard me, DISHWASHER! WOOT!

The wall of cabinetry with the two windows is only about 18 inches deep because of that doorway into the laundry room, so it really made way more sense to move things around.

I can't wait to see this done! I'm thinking of enlarging the schematic and Mod Podging it to the dining room wall, so I can pretend that it already exists.

(Almost) Cooking with Gas!

noreply@blogger.com (MadMegan) — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 02:43:00 +0000

Now that Christmas is comfortably behind us, I am in full planning mode on the kitchen renovation. At this point I'm just sourcing materials, but I never knew how exciting weekend trips to Ikea and Home Depot could be!

I've been buying things as I find them, so that I don't run the risk of them being out of stock (and I can pay things off as I go, instead of a huge bill at the end). Check out the mood board I put together...

I am loving those grey cabinets, but they are surprisingly hard to find. I went to the Kitchen Store in Culver City the other day, and they looked at me like I had two heads when I asked for grey color samples. I said to the guy, "Mark my words, in two years you will be inundated with people asking for grey cabinets!" Turns out it was for the best, because Lowes not only had better prices, but also threw in free hardware and a free kitchen sink cabinet! Cha-ching!

By the way, did you notice the little vintage oven, above? It was a craigslist find for only $300! And it totally works! It's estimated to be about the same age as the house, so I'm totally feeling the synergy.

I can't wait to start knocking down some walls!

A Very Vintage Bathroom

noreply@blogger.com (MadMegan) — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 01:11:00 +0000

Almost as important as the bedroom, and only slightly more important than the kitchen, is the bathroom. I mean, you need a place to sleep and pee, but you can always go out for meals, right?

Fortunately, the bathroom was actually one of the smaller projects we have undertaken so far. The space is pretty well laid out as is, no need to re-plumb anything. But the fixtures were either dated, or downright nonfunctional. I think the vintage sink is adorable, but it is decidedly impractical to have separate faucets for hot and cold. Especially when the hot doesn't actually work. After 5 weeks of washing my face in cold water, I decided the time had come to do something about it.

Here, again, is the before...

The weirdly short vanity and old-fashioned sink had to go. I had wanted to add subway tile halfway up the walls on all sides, but the plaster was actually so wavy that Martin didn't think he could get a straight grout line to save his life. So we went with wood wainscoting instead. And actually (don't tell Martin), I think I like it even better.

I painted the upper half of the walls Faultline Grey in satin finish, by DutchBoy, and all the wood trim is Silver Lining semi-gloss (which is the color for all the painted trim in the house, and in eggshell for the ceilings).

The sink is American Standard, and the faucet is Kohler. I also replaced all the drawer and door hardware with satin nickel pulls from OSH, which is handily located about two blocks away. I also scraped off the yellowed window film that the old owners had applied for privacy, and replaced it with this awesome product.

I also beefed up the moulding around the medicine cabinet with some more ornate trim. And when I took the medicine cabinet door off to sand it down, I actually found a recessed mirror BEHIND the mirror the old owners applied to the top of the door. WHY? These are the mysteries that will never be solved.

Overall, I wanted a very classic look that could have been original to the house, but would function like a modern bathroom. I think I achieved that, what do you think?

Fun with Exterior Paint

noreply@blogger.com (MadMegan) — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 01:39:00 +0000

Add this to the list of "Things I Didn't Know the Government Cared About" -- the exterior of my house. I financed my home using an FHA loan, which is great because they only require a 3.5% down payment (as opposed to the 20% desired by most traditional lenders). The downside is that they have certain requirements about the appearance and upkeep of your home. So if there is work that is needed in order to bring the house up to their standards, you have to do it before you actually own the house. To a novice like me, this is a little scary. What if it all falls through, and you've spent money working on a house that isn't yours??

Of course that scenario didn't happen. And it was relatively minor work that needed to be done. Basically the paint on the South side of the house was peeling pretty badly, and had to be stripped and primed before the loan could be approved. Andrea, my fabulous Realtor (here's her site - if you're in the LA area I highly recommend working with her!), actually lined up the painter and paid for the labor as my housewarming present! How generous is that?

So when I finally moved in, one of the first things I had my contractor, Martin, address was the now-patchy exterior paint. I also cajoled him into removing the bars from the front windows (we left them on the other windows, but I just couldn't live in a house that looked like a fortress!). And we replaced the mostly-glass front door with a solid wood, Craftsman-style door. I think it's gorgeous, even if Martin did have to drive into Skid Row to pick to up from the wholesaler. We also replaced the scary metal security door with a clear, tempered glass weather door. Much better.

Do you remember the before (shown here with my parents relaxing on the front porch)? White with pink trim, wowsers.

Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to live in a little yellow house. And now that dream has finally come true!

I painted the underside of the porch aqua, just for a little added interest.

And here it is, all dressed up for Halloween! Maybe one day I'll have time to post a tutorial on how to make the bats.

All the paint is Behr Exterior, and the colors are Banana Split, Ruffled Clam, and Aqua Spray (I'll let you guess which is which).

From Bad to Worse

noreply@blogger.com (MadMegan) — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 00:14:00 +0000

I know this is not exactly revolutionary information, but I feel the need to point out that buying a house, and renovating it, is a very stressful process. It's expensive, it's hard to plan, and there is an immense amount of pressure to get things done quickly. This was compounded by the fact that my closing date went over by 2 weeks, my carefully planned renovation schedule went out the window, and I was effectively homeless. This is not how things were supposed to go!

As I mentioned in my previous post, there was a fair amount of demo that had to be done before the real work could start. We're concentrating on the bedroom, but we also had to rip out about a third of the kitchen cabinets, just to get a refrigerator into that space. Oh, this is after replacing the electrical panel, and adding outlets to every room (and GFIs in the kitchen and bathroom). This is post-demo...

I know it's horrifying, but it has to get worse before it can get better!

Back in the bedroom, we tore down the ceiling (or, more accurately, we poked the ceiling and it fell down), replaced the broken window panes, and ripped out the carpet in both bedrooms and the hallway. The spare room and the hallway had pretty pristine wood floors underneath, just like in the rest of the house. Jackpot, right? Not quite. For some reason, in the bedroom, the entire floor was covered in some kind of thin green adhesive. It wasn't sticky to the touch, but it sure as hell stuck to the floor. Sanding didn't work, floor scrapers didn't work, soaking didn't work... the only thing we could do was get on our hands and knees and chip it up, bit by bit, with 5-in-1s. This is also the week I learned what a 5-in-1 is.

Little by little, we got it all done. And my bedroom is officially the first "done" room in the house. I readily admit that it's not the most polished design in the world, but with the time constraints and not having the budget to buy multiple new rooms full of furniture, I did what I could with what I had. And actually, it feels like a cheerful little island in a tumultuous sea of sawdust and joint compound.

Remember the "before"?

Here is the very yellow after..

An extra special thank you to the kind friends who are letting me take turns crashing in their spare rooms! Love you guys!

Happy House Warming! Er... demoing...

noreply@blogger.com (MadMegan) — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 23:35:00 +0000

Those of you who know me personally, know how long I searched for a little fixer to call my very own. From South Central to Glendale and beyond, I left no reasonably-priced stone unturned for almost two years. My tireless efforts (and those of my steadfast Realtor) finally bore fruit last month! I am now the proud owner of a two bedroom, one bathroom, 936 sq ft cottage in Mid-City Los Angeles. Hurray for me! Now you KNOW there is work to be done before moving in. What fun would turn-key be? Check out the pics from the listing...

Not too terrible right? Well did you happen to notice there are some rooms missing? How about a kitchen, a bathroom, and maybe a bedroom or two? Here are some pics I took on the final walk through...

Unfortunately, I didn't get one without my dad standing right in the middle of the kitchen (look how distraught he looks. You can basically see him asking me, "what have you done?!"). But you can tell: a) there is NOT a lot of space b) it's basically been untouched since 1925 c) this is going to be expensive. What you CAN'T see in the pic, is that there is no refrigerator, nor is there room for one. Lord knows where the last owner put theirs, I'm guessing on the back porch. Keepin' it classy.

What a cute little bathroom, right? I don't know what I like better, the makeshift vanity that someone cobbled together from random pieces of particle board, or the electric that is run on the outside of the wall, conveniently next to a water source. Fun times! Still, this room has major potential and you have to love the original hexagon porcelain tile floor.

This is the master bedroom, measuring 11.5 x 11.5 feet. Not the Taj Mahal, but not terrible either. What you can't see from the picture, is that the popcorn ceiling is actually falling down. We tried to break off a little piece to get it tested for asbestos, and basically ended up with a whole-lotta ceiling on our heads. And yes, that carpeting is going to go, post haste. The bedroom will be my first project, as I can't (or won't) move in until I have a safe, sane place to sleep -- without a Chicken Little ceiling and vintage Mid-Century carpeting. Did you hear that bullhorn? Let the reno begin!

One Man's Trash...

noreply@blogger.com (MadMegan) — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 17:27:00 +0000

Can be a clever crafter's treasure! A few weeks ago, I saw a set of dining room chairs in the dumpster near the back of the Meganplex. Someone had fun smashing them to pieces, but one of them was pretty much intact, and another was just missing the leg dowels. You can see from the "before" picture that they had really good bones.

And of course, I can't be expected to leave a project like that sitting out for the garbage collector. So, I hauled those puppies home and set to gluing, screwing, puttying, sanding, painting, and new-seat-constructing. I ordered the Waverly "Lovely Lattice" fabric from Joanns.com when they were having a 60% off sale. It took a full two weeks to get to me, but it was totally worth the wait (and the discount).

Once they were done, I realized I couldn't have such lovely chairs paired with my boring black Ikea dining room table (I have standards, you know). So I had to make that over too. Stay tuned for the results!

Afters

noreply@blogger.com (MadMegan) — Tue, 25 May 2010 05:39:00 +0000

Remember these Befores, from approximately one million years ago? Well, I've finally gotten around to taking the After photos. Forgive the quality, I took them in the very yellow Tungsten light of my apartment.

The chair was an easy fix - a little paint and strategically placed glue and screws, an inch of foam and some pretty fabric, and Bob's your Uncle.

The desk took a LOT more work. That thing had four layers of paint that I had to chip, scrape, and sand my way through - I even burned out the motor on my old belt sander (giving me an excuse to finally upgrade to a sleek new orbital). After three new coats of of hard-wearing exterior black paint, polished nickel cup pulls, and a bonus coat of spray paint on the under side of the glass top (gives it a high gloss, lacquered look), Fanny was FINALLY my Aunt.

Put them together, and they make a cute little vignette!

Due to the extremely limited amount of space in the Meganplex, the desk (and silver dome light shown in the last pic) are going up for sale on Seedling. Happy shopping!

End Table Before & After

noreply@blogger.com (MadMegan) — Mon, 24 May 2010 17:34:00 +0000

If you read this blog, you should know by now that I am no stranger to flea markets and a borderline hoarder when it comes to ratty furniture with big possibilities. Years ago, I picked up this little end table at the Melrose Flea Market, and always intended to re-finish it.

You can see how beat up the finish is, and it's hard to tell, but the side was also pretty badly gauged. But underneath that, the parquetry just begged to be brought back to life. This weekend, I kindly obliged.

With the amount of puttying I had to do on the damaged side, I wasn't able to stain the entire thing. Instead I painted both sides and hind legs black, and then did the same to the ornate front feet (just because I'm lazy and didn't want to sand all those curves and crannies). But I think the two-toned effect really works with all the different hues in the wood.

What a dramatic difference, eh?

Costume Jewelry Revival

noreply@blogger.com (MadMegan) — Sat, 15 May 2010 01:44:00 +0000

I was at my favorite flea market a couple of weeks ago, and came across a vendor selling bins of mis-matched costume jewelry. I couldn't find any pairs in the earring tubs, so I just picked three of my favorites (and believe me, it was hard to narrow down).

Now here's the fun part: I pulled off the backs with some jewelry pliers and used heavy duty epoxy to affix the former earrings to some ring blanks that I ordered from nearby Hong Kong (less than $5 for 10, on ebay!).

Now I have three totally unique vintage rings, sure to spice up any outfit. And just in time for National Talk Like Mae West Day!

Vintage Window Headboard

noreply@blogger.com (MadMegan) — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 05:27:00 +0000

After stripping all the rattan off my nightstand and dresser set, I was faced with the dilemma of what to do about the matching headboard. If I removed the rattan, there would be nothing left but a rickety frame.

Luckily, it was about this time that my friend's apartment building decided to replace all their vintage panes with something more energy efficient. They left about a dozen of these gorgeous, perfectly intact windows out with the garbage - totally up for grabs. I snagged a couple of them and hung them lengthwise over my bed.

They're the perfect width for a queen-sized mattress, and are way more visually appealing than a web of rattan circa 1998. AND they were totally free! Everybody wins (and by everybody, I mean me)!

But How Would You Thread the Needle?

noreply@blogger.com (MadMegan) — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 03:14:00 +0000

Perusing the aisles at Joann's today, I noticed there have been some significant improvements in the clear thread market.

Now that's some transparent thread!

Craft Night: Easter Edition

noreply@blogger.com (MadMegan) — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 03:56:00 +0000

After a long Craft Night hiatus, Lisa and Adele came over on Friday to take part in some Easter-themed crafty fun-having. Of course you know that when it comes to decorating eggs, food coloring tablets and vinegar are a little simple for my tastes. Instead I broke out the Dremel and got to drilling.

It took a little cajoling, but I managed to convince my friends to blow the contents out of the eggs. Tip: it helps if you insert a bamboo skewer in the drilled hole, and wiggle it around to break up the yolk.

Once our eggshells were prepared, we settled in with a little paint, glitter, pipe-cleaners and creativity. You can tell by Lisa's enthusiastic expression that she was having a blast.

The finished product:

Clockwise from the top: Adele's Nolan Tuxedo Egg, My Glitter Egg, and Lisa's "I'm Not That Into This" Egg.

My New Couch!

noreply@blogger.com (MadMegan) — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 03:00:00 +0000

After searching high and low for a retro-style sofa that was both attractive and affordable, I finally ordered my new couch from Macy's way back in January. Last week I finally welcomed it into my home. Check it out!

Gorgeous, right? I heartily recommend Macy's for furniture of quality and style, at a reasonable price.

Vintage Chair Before & After

noreply@blogger.com (MadMegan) — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 21:28:00 +0000

After downsizing my living room furnishings from a couch and a love seat to a couch and an overstuffed chair, I found myself in need of some supplementary seating. I picked up a vintage Danish Modern chair at my favorite flea market for a bargain $75! Of course, at that price you know it required some TLC. The wood was dingy brown and the original 1970 fabric was worn and dirty. Observe:

With a little help from my wood-refinishing-zealot friend Adele, we stripped the old stain and varnish off and resealed with a lovely warm pecan color. As a nice contrast to the rich wood tone (and a much-needed neutral addition to my room), I chose a cream chenille fabric for the seat and back. I tried to maintain the chair's original charm by repeating the 5 1/2" squares of fabric that comprise the seat cushion, but vetoed the tufting.

I'm so happy with the way it turned out, this is totally my new favorite piece of furniture!

An Old Bracelet is New Again

noreply@blogger.com (MadMegan) — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 04:07:00 +0000

Like most girls (women) my age, I have a drawer full of jewelry that I once loved and lived in, that has now become a bit passé. Remember this Tiffany bracelet that was so popular about seven years ago? No one is wearing them anymore, but it's nice heavy silver, and charm bracelets are so in right now! So I decided to give mine a new life.

Of course, I don't have a bunch of charms lying around, but I did have a surplus of foreign coins from various trips, just gathering dust in a closet.

Using the jewelry attachment on my fancy new Dremel, I buffed the coins to give them a little shine.

Then I laid everything out, making sure the size distribution seemed right. I decided to mix my metals, so I'd be able to wear the bracelet with a variety of other accessories. Then I let the drilling and linking commence! Word to the wise, stick with the Dremel for drilling holes in the coins - I broke two bits when I tried to use my regular wood drill.

Ta da! An old bracelet is new again. Special thanks to my hand model, Jen!

Parasol Lighting Fixture

noreply@blogger.com (MadMegan) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 06:36:00 +0000

Part of the problem with rental apartments is that there is a limit to what you can customize. For instance, my landlady has a very unfortunate (for me) aversion to painting. However, I've found that one of the easiest and most effective ways to change a room is by updating the lighting fixtures.

I wanted a bright but diffused light in my bedroom that wouldn't blind me in the mornings. This parasol casts a lovely glow, and was incredibly easy to hang. And not including the trip to Chinatown, it only cost about $5!

I merely sawed off the bamboo handle to about 6 inches long, and drilled a screw into the newly cut end. Then I inserted the screw into the hole that was left when I removed the existing glass bowl-style shade.

Bada Bing! Done!

Sew Mama Sew

noreply@blogger.com (MadMegan) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 06:17:00 +0000

Have you ever noticed that stores like Anthropologie use the funnest, most unique fabrics? And that those bold, colorful patterns are almost impossible to find in the retail sector? Why is it that stores like Joann's only seem to cater to the stodgy quilters and scrapbookers of the world? No offense to my stodgy quilting / scrapbooking readership, but I am about 30 years too young for the Christopher Lowell Collection.

For those who are looking for a place to buy unique fabrics at a reasonable price, I suggest SewMamaSew.com. Check out the kitchen valance I made from this fun Mendocino squid fabric by Heather for Free Spirit.

I also just ordered five yards of Sprays by Kaffe Fassett to make new living room curtains.

I'm thoroughly addicted! Anyone else have a hot fabric shop to share?

Befores

noreply@blogger.com (MadMegan) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 17:19:00 +0000

I've had some good luck junking in the last few weeks! Check out these two little diamonds in the rough that people had left out for the garbage collector:

And this little beauty was only $15 at a local flea market:

As my place gets more and more packed with "projects" I am beginning to feel a little bit like one of TLC's Hoarders. So I might have to put these items up for sale in the shop once they're done. Keep an eye out for the "Afters" post!

Easy Candles

noreply@blogger.com (MadMegan) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:28:00 +0000

Is anyone else sick of using tea lights for ambiance? They burn out so darn quickly! How about a really simple, reusable, and decorative alternative?

For this project, all you need are some jars (I used spice jars from Ikea, only $2.99 for a 4 pack), melting wax (soy wax is said to burn cleaner than paraffin wax), wicks (try to get them without the wire), and a little tacky glue.

The instructions on the wax said to use some special kind of tacky wax to stick the metal plate of the wick in the jar. I didn't have any, so I used tacky glue, and it seems to work out pretty well. Just make sure the glue is dry before you pour in the hot wax.

You can melt the wax 30 seconds at a time in the microwave, but doing this tripped the 1939 electrical circuit in my duplex, so I had to resort to the old-fashioned method - melting on the stove top. Don't put the wax directly in your saucepan, use a double broiler method instead.

When the wax is clear, without any chunks, pour it carefully into your jar, avoiding the wick. It will turn opaque as it cools.

When you're done, you'll have a tidy little set of spice jar candles, which you can keep refilling with new wicks and wax as needed.

I am thinking of tying wire around the top lip of the jars, and using them as hanging candles outside.

Gigantic Photo Strip!

noreply@blogger.com (MadMegan) — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 03:45:00 +0000

I've been looking for an easy, innovative way to fill a skinny patch of wallspace, and today I hit on it: an oversized version of my favorite strip of photos from last year's County Fair.

First, I bought some 5/8" square poplar dowels from my local hardware store, with which to make a frame to stretch my canvas. They only came in 36" lengths, so I had to add 8" to the ends to get my desired 44" length.

My mother helped me glue and staple together a 44x10 frame, with crossbars to stablize it. We also puttied the joints, just to make sure the staples didn't create any bumps.

Then I printed my four black and white 8x10 photos on iron-on transfer paper, and cut a 14" wide piece of canvas cloth...

Ironed them on per the instructions on the packaging...

Let them cool...

Stapled the fabric on the frame, and done! Personalized art, perfect for my bedroom! If I had it to do over again, I would probably look for a prefab frame, so I didn't have to go through all the pain of sawing, gluing, stapling, puttying... ugh. My arms ache just thinking about it. But the result is pretty satisfactory, so it was worth the effort.

More Desk Organization!

noreply@blogger.com (MadMegan) — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 02:33:00 +0000

You can't say I didn't warn you! My boss was going to get rid of his Ikea Mackis desktop drawer unit thingy, so of course I snapped it up. This time I left it with the natural finish, and I quite like it.

It's a nice contrast to the white unit, and looks a little less formal. Plus, not painting the inside makes the drawers open a lot more easily!

Desktop Storage

noreply@blogger.com (MadMegan) — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 23:23:00 +0000

The first day I arrived at my current job, I was greeted with this blue-washed Ikea drawer unit.

It was a storage solution that I never questioned, until I successfully completed an awesome Design*Sponge tutorial. I loved the outcome so much, I immediately wanted to make over every set of drawers I could get my hands on.

Since the unit was already blue, I couldn't stain and varnish it, the way I did with the last unit. Instead, I painted the whole shebang white, and added simple $6 acrylic drawer pulls for a whole new look.

I think this is a perfectly elegant office storage solution, especially with the added accordion filing system I added to the inside (thanks to tacky glue and craft paper).

Watch out for lots more storage solutions that take advantage of this technique. I just can't get enough!

Salvaged Chandelier

noreply@blogger.com (MadMegan) — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 23:56:00 +0000

During a recent rummage mission at St. Vincent de Paul, I came across this diamond-in-the-rough:

Didn't look like much at the time, but after a coat of primer...

Then a hefty dose of blue paint, new cap nuts, and $5 worth of acrylic "crystals" from Michaels, and bada bing!

Not too shabby! All told, it was $20 for the chandelier (talked them down from $30, since I wasn't sure the lamp would work), about $15 for paint, cap nuts, and light blubs, and $5 for the faux crystals. So for about $40, I got to dress up my small hallway with a much needed punch of color and sparkle. And I just can't stop gazing at it!

Anthropologie Hack

noreply@blogger.com (MadMegan) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 23:48:00 +0000

Design*Sponge recently posted a tutorial for a diy version of Anthropologie's (ridiculously overpriced) Curator Table, and I immediately fell in love with it. I do have to admit, though, that I was pretty convinced that I could do better than the venerable Britt, when it came time to emulate her tables - not to deny her just desserts... she had the idea, I was just capitalizing on it. And I also had a miter saw, which she was apparently lacking.

Britt's table:

My table:

Really not that different, I just continued the trim all the way around the top and bottom of the table, and stained instead of painted. One word of advice though: make sure you line the molding up, so that it doesn't overlap with the drawer above or below it. Makes for a pretty difficult time opening the drawers. :/