So, the other day while I was picking up the house, I got a wild hair to rearrange some things!  I know, I know… totally never happens to me!   Truth be told, the rearrangement came about while I was in the process of concocting a Craigslist/Yardsale plan to purge our house of things that we don’t love.  (Eric has yet to fully come on board with this idea, but I’m hoping to convince him with numbers… yes, I am halfway through drafting a “this is what I’ll sell and how much I’ll get… and this is what I’ll buy and how much it will cost” list!  Once composed, I’m going to plan my attack and convince him!) Teeheehee… ok, back to the issue at hand.

After a quick move of the basket, I realized that it looked a ton more balanced!  Then, I decided to make the best of the DVD shelf and dress it more like a formal shelf with pictures and knick-knacks.  After putting a little lipstick on the pig, I felt a bit better! 

Now… if I can just get that Craigslist/Yardsale plan done and approved!!!  Until then, at least I know the area looks a bit more presentable!

HAVE ANY TIPS TO CONVINCE THE HUBBY TO PURGE THE HOUSE?  WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE WAY TO LOVE WHAT YOU HAVE OR CHANGE THINGS UP?

Since this is the first week back on the blog and the first full week back to a “normal” life without school craziness, I think it’s proper to name this week: LIFE CLEAN-UP WEEK!

Anywho, to kick of the week of clean-up and since allergies are really no joke in this family, I thought I would share an important tip for this time of the year!  If you are stuck inside because of your allergies, don’t think that you are necessarily escaping them!  Allergies have this nasty way of haunting you just about everywhere.  So remember one REALLY IMPORTANT THING…

CHANGE YOUR AIR FILTER

That may sound simple enough, but the air filter in your home is responsible for cleaning the air you breathe, and if you are anything like us (i.e.- too busy or crazy to remember routine things), then you may have forgotten too!  Our air filter was no-joke nasty!

It’s probably safe to say that it lived in our ceiling for at least 6+ months.  Not. Good.  Air filters should be replaced every three months, and if you have crazy allergies like us, maybe a little more often.  And, for as simple as they are to change, there is really no excuse.  All that replacement requires is:

1. Purchase of a new, properly sized air filter (sold everywhere, including Target, Walmart, and any home improvement store)
2. Removal of old air filter (most vents have two simple latches that require pulling and the vent’s grate will drop down on hinges.  Just pull out the old filter and removal is complete)
3. Place new filter
4. Close grate and lock the latches

Like I said… it’s that simple! And in case you’re wondering, costs of air filters can run from $8 upwards of $20.  The costs usually depend upon the density of the filter and the material that it’s made from.  For our particular needs, we spent a bit extra to get a high performance Allergen air filter.  At about $20, this filter is super dense and made with allergen-blocking material.  Like I said… our allergies are BAD, so we figured it was worth the investment, particularly for this time of year!

I’ve officially been putting together a cleaning schedule for a little over a month, and now that exams are done, cleaning schedule drafting is going into full swing!  Our goal: TO. NOT. LET. THIS. HAPPEN. AGAIN!

Sidenote: We LOVE California, but Northern California has this amazing way of hitting your with allergies year-round, and then full-on attacking you in the spring!  If you’re from California, give me a shout out here and let me know your allergy fighting secrets!!!  And if you’re not from California, are allergies bad where you live?

WHAT ALLERGY OR CLEANING ADVENTURES HAVE YOU BEEN EMBARKING ON LATELY?

Sometimes in life, you have to remember balance.  Well, right now I’m balancing a lot, and it’s important to remember that sometimes, something’s gotta give.  I am officially in the process of completing my most difficult year of law school- for me, it’s the third year of my four year evening program.  Yes, this means that I still have one more year.  That being said, trying to tackle all of the information for my exams so that I have it memorized and can actually regurgitate it on an exam and use it to properly analyze the legal issues meant, that I needed to put everything into these exams and these exams only.

I’ve never actually taken a break like this from my blog or the blogging world since this baby began more than a year ago.  It’s a really strange feeling, and to an extent, I feel like a part of me is missing.  But, with the stress leading up to these exams, the blog was already starting to suffer.  So, despite my many completed projects that are needing to be written about, and the super exciting things that have happened lately, I decided to take a blogging hiatus for a bit.

BUT, in the words of Arnold… I’LL BE BACK!  Officially, I’ll be back no later than May 14th!  I know that seems far, but I’ve got a huge exam left to conquer, and then I need to handle some miscellaneous stuff that’s going on!  So bear with me!  I miss you guys and can’t wait to share all of our completed projects, our upcoming projects, and some awesome things that have been happening lately!

LOVE you all and talk to you soon!

~Ashley

All installed, this handle set is the perfect contrast to our ultra-modern front door.  I think it perfectly mixed our personalities… a little modern, a little old-school!

In addition to the new handle set, we took the time to add a new door stop to the bottom of the door… after all, we don’t want this door banging into anything!  Also see… no more gap underneath the door!  That seriously makes me happy beyond words!

Nothing gives me more pleasure than walking up to our lovely, amazing modern door, now adorned with a shapely, vintage-inspired handle set!

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE NEW HANDLE SET?  IS IT TOTALLY WRONG OR PERFECTLY RIGHT?  DO YOU MIX STYLES IN YOUR HOMES?

*** I was not compensated for writing about our Kwikset handles.  We simply love them, love the product, and thought you guys might too… and purchased them ourselves at Lowes.

That being said, when my mom called me and asked if I wanted the bench back, I really couldn’t stand the idea of a perfectly good bench going to waste.  Needless to say, the hubby got a surprise when we were leaving my parents’ house one night, and I said…

“Babe, can you help me load this up?”  His reply… “What are we going to do with that?”

Not knowing exactly what I wanted to do with it at first, I’ve finally decided that I’m at least going to make it over and use it as a porch bench, for now.  So, here it sits until I get a chance to make it over, or until I find something that I must have!

I’m thinking the bench may need a coat of paint, some Dremel work, and probably even some “bulking up.”

Aww… the happy marriage of a DIY couple.  Fun stuff, and always full of surprises!!!

To get the creative juices flowing, I thought I’d share a few inspiration photos:

ANY FAVORITES?  HOW WOULD YOU REMAKE THIS BENCH IF YOU OWNED IT?

My snazzy new watercolor Carlos Santana wedges

a cute accent bench I spotted

my poolside study and break time

Lowes plant shopping

…or whatever else might come up!

Get ready for a mildly wild ride!

Hope y’all are enjoying your weekends!

~Ashley

Now, in truth, I’ve been looking for the “right” fruit display for at least six months, with no luck.  I wanted simple, but fun, and modern, but with a bit of vintage inspiration.  That’s not too specific, is it?  I don’t know… maybe I’m hard to please.  This is what I was working with:

I know, it wasn’t that bad, but the organization was what really bothered me!  Digging for fruit is not exactly what I call fun and you run the risk of beating up your fruit before you get the chance to eat it.  Double bad.  So, I was determined to find a solution.

The solution came when my friend and I were perusing our local Ross store.  In the plant section, I found this three-tiered stand, and at a mere $12, I couldn’t pass it up!  Not only was it modern, but it was simple and the three tiers offered the perfect amount of space and division to accommodate our fruit habit!

Now, did I give you enough pictures of fruit? Guess I really like the new display!

WHAT’S THE CRAZIEST THING YOU’VE ORGANIZED LATELY?

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At some stage in our DIY lifetime we will all be faced with the task of stripping furniture of paint or any other sealant. In our experience 80% of the time our front doors or internal doors will be the pieces we attempt to convert.

Solid wooden doors are a great piece to strip as they visually benefit so much from both the natural or distressed finish as well as being painted. Whichever look you are going for, the chances are you will need to firstly strip the door of its current coating.

Stripping paint, if done the correct way is actually one of our favourite DIY projects; it can be therapeutic and nearly always results in a great looking finished item. If executed poorly and without the necessary tools, it can quickly become one of the most frustrating tasks you could attempt. Before you begin it is important that you have the below items to hand:

Stripping knife
Wire wool
Dust sheets
Sandpaper and sanding block or mechanical sander
electric hot air gun
chemical stripper
Safety goggles
Mask
Rubber gloves

1. Preparation

There are a few key things to consider before you touch the door. Have a dust sheet down, as it will quickly become a messy job. Ensure that you have some plan in hand in case you start a small fire; buckets of water or even better a fire extinguisher. Check if the paint contains lead; pretty much all paint contained lead prior to the mid 70s. If you think you may have lead paint do not attempt to sand or use heat to remove it as the dust and fumes will be wickedly toxic. Chemical removal is the only semi-safe way to get lead paint off.

2. Sanding

Sanding is a good idea if the paint on your door isn’t too thick. Hand sanding is useful when the areas are smaller, though remember to use a sanding block or it can quickly lose its appeal. If you have larger surfaces and thicker paint consider buying or renting a mechanical sander. We typically use sanding as a starting process; completely sanding the whole door can take a long time and produce a lesser finish than heat or chemical.

3. Electric heat gun

Heat guns are great for removing paint from wood and are relatively inexpensive to buy or rent. We usually recommend getting one with a temperature of around 1000 degrees, any hotter and more vapours are released. Heat guns are best used when paint coatings are at their thickest and actually become less useful the thinner the coating. Keep the gun about 5 inches from the wood and continually move so as not to scorch the wood. There is a perfect temperature where the paint starts to bubble slightly, use your knife or scraper to remove only the layers which come away easily; don’t force the issue, as you will end up scratching the wood. The final layers are often best removed by a chemical agent.

NB: For chemical and heat stripping it is always useful to set up a fan blowing towards an open window as well as wearing your mask.

4. Chemical strippers

We tend to use chemical stripping techniques on doors with intricate detailing and hard to reach nooks, typically these are more period style doors and those we don’t want to ‘hurt’. There are a number of different stripping agents, some a lot ‘safer’ than others – make sure you read carefully and wear the correct protective clothing prior to use.

Make sure the area is covered in a sheet or newspaper, is ventilated and you have old clothes on. Apply the chemicals using an old paint brush, paying attention not to splash onto other surfaces. Wait for the paint or finish to bubble (or test if latex based) before scraping off, for tighter spots use a toothbrush or twine; remember you can always apply more chemicals!

Once happy with the finish apply a mineral cleansing liquid, which removes chemical residue. Finally use a fine grade sandpaper to get the door ready for its first coat.

The above tips on how to properly strip your door are brought to you by Yale Composite Doors. All of our front doors are fitted within a week of ordering by our team of specialists. Not only do all Yale front doors look great; each door is manufactured to adhere to strict security standards set by the Met Police.

ANYONE PLANNING A DOOR MAKEOVER PROJECT?  I’M EAGER TO TRY ONE MYSELF!!!

*DISCLAIMER- I was not paid, perked, or otherwise compensated for this post. I simply felt that this tutorial was great and contained information that my blog community would enjoy or find useful… I know I did!!!

After a long saga, refinishing our front door, it was pure elation having the door back in place.  It was a night-and-day situation.  I hated our old door that acted as a place holder while I refinished our mahogany door, and I absolutely missed the beautiful morning light that would beam in through the mahogany door’s frosted windows.  It was pure sadness.  BUT, as soon as the door was refinished and back in place, we got a rude awakening… the door would no longer close with the weather stripping on the bottom. Thus, this beautiful door got cozy in the interim with a bold, bright beach towel that was rolled up at it’s base.  A cute little love-hate relationship developed… seriously.

With the towel in place, we were able to prevent any significant draft, but we were also barred from really using the front door.  See the gap under the door… ya, that’s our plants and porch outside… No joke!

Whomp whomp… And this was no quick fix.  After some investigation, we came to the conclusion that we had a pretty significant sagging problem, leaving a reveal at top, and tightness at the bottom.  We brainstormed for months about how best to resolve this issue. 

To repair a reveal and sagging issue, these were our options:

1. shim the hinges to see if it would make enough of a difference
2. pop off the door trip and shim the door frame
3. reframe the whole door
4. beat the frame into proper position

None of these options seemed particularly simple, except for shimming the hinges.  So, naturally, we tried that first.  After placing three cardboard shims beneath the two lowest hinges, we quickly realized that this little adjustment was not going to give us the results we needed. 

Feeling a bit defeated, we tabled any further work until we figured out our next approach.

A few weeks later, two of our best friends came into town, and lucky for us, our buddy Will was a contractor for years before he became an attorney.  So, since he had some extra time to spare, Eric and Will discussed all of the options and then ultimately decided the best bet was to just beat the door frame back as much as possible.

I’m sure you’re probably wondering exactly what I mean by “beat it into submission”… Well, it basically meant that you take a mallet and a several foot long 2×4, and with the 2×4 against the door frame, you pound the 2×4 as hard as you can and as long as you have to achieve the proper alignment.

TIP: Be careful to not over-pound the door frame, as it can become separated and then you may have a structural issue!

TIP: Make adjustments in stages.  We pounded the door frame and after each “pounding,” we reattached the door and checked for proper alignment.  This helps to prevent any over-adjustments.

After pounding our hearts out, we reattached the door to the frame and happily saw that we achieved the proper reveal (gap between each side of the door and the door frame).  One problem still persisted… the door sweep at the bottom of the door still could not clear the threshold.  Feeling defeated and knowing we had no other choice… we CUT OUT DOOR!  I thought Eric was going to throw up from nerves.  He just kept saying… “This is a really expensive door!”

With a little reassurance from both me and Will, Eric was convinced and we removed the door yet again and got to sawing:

1. Placed it on sawhorses
2. Made our trim measurements
3. Taped off the door to prevent any splintering, and
4. Used a guide and our circular saw to trim off a minimal amount from the bottom of the door.

We then reattached the door to it’s hinges, installed the sweep at the bottom of the door, and stepped back to look at our results!  We couldn’t be happier to be able to properly use our front door again!  It only took us… MONTHS! 

Oh… you want a reveal picture?!?!?  Nope… not happening today.   I actually need to snag one since we’ve had some crazy weather and I didn’t get to snag a final picture, so stay tuned for the reveal picture and another major update to the door!

WHAT PROJECTS HAVE YOU DONE THAT HAVE TAKEN TONS OF ADJUSTMENTS?  ANY TIPS FOR OTHERS TACKLING A PROJECT LIKE YOURS?

As usual, our holidays are fun-filled craziness!  We managed to pack in all three sets of parents on Easter day, but for some reason, I didn’t manage to get many pictures of my family… maybe it’s because we don’t have little kiddos… I don’t know.  This is a few of us at our friend’s winery on Saturday, enjoying a picnic lunch and some wine!

Sunday began with a very filling brunch at my parents’ house in their brand new kitchen (it’s just missing its backsplash and hood still).  After my parents’, we headed to Eric’s mom and stepdad’s for lunch and then finally to Eric’s dad and stepmom’s for dinner.  Getting to see our nieces and nephew hunt for Easter eggs was hilarious!  There’s a good age difference from oldest to youngest, so it’s definitely interesting to see how they’ve developed and the differences in the ages!

So, how’d I do for the first real time out?  Not bad!  Time to put that photography Pinterest board to use!!!

HOW WAS EVERYONE’S EASTER?  ANYTHING CRAZY HAPPEN- you know we love crazy family stories!?!?