Beadboard Flag

I have been neck-deep in home projects again the last few days, but in honor of Memorial Day, I wanted to show off a beadboard flag I made!

When my last Pottery Barn catalog came, I had actually turned down the corner of the page with their huge $129 flag on it (click on the picture for a link to their website):

So it was funny that a few days later, a lovely woman (for whom I have made other signs) asked if I could copy it for her!

My version is 48” long x 27” tall, and made out of beadboard.

Wishing a Happy Memorial Day to you all, gentle readers! 

Thank you for those who have served our country, or who have supported family members who have!

Linking up to these great parties:

**********************************

This project has been featured at Better After, Sisters of the Wild West,  Domestically Speaking and

******************************************

Linking up here:

Domestically Speaking	Elizabeth & Co.
Sisters of the Wild West	The CSI Project
Friday Remodelaholic	2805
My Simple Home Life’s Simple Creations Friday	Miss Mustard Seed’s Furniture Feature Friday
Funky Junk’s Saturday Night Special	The DIY Show Off
Beyond the Picket Fence	Someday Crafts
Knick of Time	My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Perfectly Imperfect	{Primp}
Simply Klassic Sundays	My Repurposed Life
From My Front Porch to Yours	Itsy Bitsy Paper Scraps
Cowgirl Up!	{aka} design

[ Read More ]

Two Phillip Phillips?

Every now and then I succumb to a reality show, rarely American Idol. But this one was different.

When I heard on the radio belly laughs about a contestant named Phillips Phillips I chuckled to myself, "there is actually someone else that named their child that?!" Some one else? Yes, my brother in law is a Phillip Phillips.......born in 1966, get it? Phillips 66 gas, remember that?

Then a phone call, from Phillip, "he is our second cousin!" Apparently their Grandfathers were brothers but the family split over a sister tragically murdered. Why they split, no one remembers. But I should have known, who else but the Phillips clan from southwest Georgia would do that! So, tonight I watched, and cheered this young man onwards, he won!

Enjoy

Debra

[ Read More ]

A visit from a friend…A tour

This past weekend I had a house guest from Pennsylvania – Linda flew in on Friday morning very early…early enough so that we could use the day to have some fun…but she didn’t expect that we’d be driving directly from the airport, for about 1 hour 45 minutes to a shop!  Yep…all the way to Ripon to A Simpler Time.  I guess I thought as long as she was here we’d go – mainly because she probably won’t be back this way again for ages.
And on Saturday we took her over to Delevan to Millie’s Pancake House to visit some shops there and see the area.
Then a ride through Lake Geneva…tons of people already in this little resort town…we drove through and headed on out…too many cars/people.
Then out to the Northwind Perennial Gardens to see all the gorgeous planting, ponds, water falls and things.
We put on lots of miles in two days!

We had a wonderful visit…and then Sunday Doug left on his golf trip and so it was just the two of us…and what did we do…NOTHING!  I think we were both bushed and also not much is open around here on a Sunday, so it was a lazy kind of day. Caught up on some things and ate – goodness did we eat this past weekend!  Yesterday I took her to the airport to go back home – I imagine she was rather glad to be getting back home where she could stay put…lol

One of the most wonderful things we got to do was visit Dan Dipaolo’s place…I kept it a surprise for her….I e-mailed Dan earlier in the week to see if I could bring her out to the farm/studio/shop while she was here. His place doesn’t open up until this next weekend but he was so sweet and generous to say yes, we could come on out.  If I didn’t know him like I do I wouldn’t have been so brazen to ask!
Well let me tell you he gave us a wonderful tour of his gorgeous home – the atmosphere and feeling you get when you are in his home is so warm and inviting – like you belong there – very comforting feeling.
Not only did he show us his home but a tour of his gorgeous log cabin studio.
The main floor is used for meetings, guests and relaxing. Upstairs is his studio…I was in awe just seeing how he created some of his beautiful work – he even described some of the process and we got a sneak peek at his newest projects.

I took just a couple photos inside his home…we were too busy taking it all in to take pictures !
 

This is Ruth…she had some burrs on her nose!

I only got pictures of the entry and dining room area

His studio log cabin

If you are in the Wisconsin area his opening weekend is May 26, 27 from 11 to 5
Check out the dates…maybe you can attend one of the fun weekends

See the sofa in the picture below…it’s on my list of things to look at on Saturday!!!!
When we were out there on Saturday it was all covered with packing paper and plastic…

Check out Dan’s blog
http://dandipaolostudios.blogspot.com/ 

Goodness I almost forgot…my brother is cleaning out my aunts house after she passed and he gave me a doll she had.
Well, the doll itself isn’t important and it could use some tender loving care BUT…the hair on it is important – it is made from my grandmothers hair.
She had very long very red hair…she was very Irish (Rook/Minick) !  She always had her hair in braids. Well one day she had them cut off…still in braids – and she put them in a drawer where they were for YEARS!  One day she was cleaning out the drawers and tossed them away…my aunt saw them and couldn’t believe she would do that – she kept the braids and had the hair put on a doll…MY BROTHER GAVE ME THE DOLL…needless to say I cried!
Isn’t that the prettiest red hair ?  She had the same color when she died at 88.  Never had it colored and it didn’t turn gray.

Guess that’s all this week everyone – lots to do so probably
won’t be on again for awhile.
I have a swap package I need to get finished and sent out to Tammy from
http://aprimitiveplace.blogspot.com/

Blessings…Karen

[ Read More ]

Office Project: The desk!

I have no excuses.

It has taken me forever (well, at least a week) to blog about the desk—and for no good reason, other than that it has taken me that long to take and edit a few pictures.  But the time has come…

You can see my concept drawing for the desk here, and the technical drawings here.

It took me two trips to pick up all the pieces of the desk from the talented craftsmen at Sean’s Woodworking in Salt Lake City.   Have I mentioned that it’s NINE FEET wide??  Go big or go home, I say!

They would have been happy to bring it to me and install it for me—but that version is for people who have more money than time (that’s not me).  But never having installed cabinets before, I really didn’t know what I was up against!  So here’s a quick re-cap, if you’re interested.

Because I was going to be installing things myself, they built the upper cabinets with a cleat system, so they could be briefly hung on the wall on a 2x4 until I could screw the cabinets themselves into the wall.  This was a very good thing.  Otherwise, it would have taken a fair amount of juggling and weight-lifting to get everything up and level!

I carefully marked my studs, and first screwed the cleat for the bridge unit into them.  Then I discovered that the cleats for the bookshelves on either end did NOT transverse two studs!  That was not a happy moment, and that’s why the cleat is crooked in the picture!  I ended up using drywall anchors to secure one end of the cleat.

I prevailed on a neighbor to come help my husband and I lift the bridge unit up onto the cleat—it was heavy!  Then I screwed it into the wall.   The side pieces we could handle on our own!

I posted this “sneak peek” on Facebook the day we were installing it!

I ran into a few snags on the installation.  This desk is meant to be used for a computer, and so we needed holes for cables/cords to pass through.  When I picked the desk up, I was supposed to have them drilled—but we all forgot.  They assured me I could do it myself, but it was really NOT an easy project.

For example, drilling though the desk top involved drilling through TWO 3/4” pieces of wood, plus a 3/4” piece of MDF!  It took a good 20 minutes to get through all that.

…but at least I learned that the desk was sturdy!  Yep, I climbed on top of it.  And really—it was easier to do that part than the two holes that had to be drilled in the sides of the cabinets below!

But drilling the holes was only part of the solution—you see, there are DRAWERS under the counter top, and thus there was no where for the cords to go.

My solution was to knock off the back of one of the drawers, cut the drawer bottom down my 3 inches, and reattach the back of the drawer.  It was a little hard on the MDF…

…and trust me, it was emotionally difficult to break part of a brand-new and expensive desk!

Next problem was due to a bit of a miscommunication, I think.  I requested a pull-out shelf in the right-side cabinet for my printer.  They built me a drawer inside the cabinet:

The difference was that my printer wouldn’t fit in the drawer!  So I took it out to my table saw and sliced off the top three inches all around—thus creating my own shelf.

Not so pretty, maybe, but it worked!

So here’s a brief tour of my favorite features:

** My printer is tucked away, with space for paper as well!

** The CPU is also tucked away, but in a prettily vented cabinet (I got the idea to use decorative sheet metal from Meridian Road).

** I love the upper bridge.  I gave up on seeded glass (it was expensive).  The cabinets look like they open upward, but that’s only because of where the pulls are installed.  Upper hinges are VERY expensive, so this was a great cheat!

**  I love the corbels under the bookcases, but I will admit that they are not as eye-catching as I hoped they would be.  But I love them because Sheri from Sean’s Woodworking let me come to the shop and help paint and distress them (more on that another time).

So there you have it!  It is, without a doubt, the “most major” part of the whole “front-room-to-office” project.  There are still more things to be done in the room—a couple of furniture pieces to finish, and I’d like a rug—but we’re actually using that poor unloved front room now!

And I am happy to say that I actually like having the computer there.  It’s easier to keep track of what the children are doing, more convenient for me to use, and best of all…

…it’s pretty!

******************************

P.S.  The Map Wall may be found here.

************************

This project has been featured at My Repurposed Life and Primitive & Proper.

***************************

Linking up here:

	Elizabeth & Co.
Sisters of the Wild West	No Minimalist Here’s Open House Thursday
Friday Remodelaholic	2805
My Simple Home Life’s Simple Creations Friday	Miss Mustard Seed’s Furniture Feature Friday
Funky Junk’s Saturday Night Special	The DIY Show Off
Primitive & Proper	Thrifty Décor Chick
	My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Perfectly Imperfect	{Primp}
Simply Klassic Sundays	My Repurposed Life
From My Front Porch to Yours	It’s So Very Cheri
Cowgirl Up!	{aka} design

[ Read More ]

Office Project: Plank Wall

I already showed you the map wall for my front-room-turned office project…but that is not the only wall that got a makeover!

Were you able to guess what I did from this picture?

Probably not!

Well, let’s back up a little bit.  This is the wall you see when you walk in my front door (remember…no “entry” in our house).  Not very exciting, is it?

Well, inspired by Miss Mustard Seed’s guest room

and Thrifty and Chic’s dining room,

I decided to plank it!

Here’s a brief description of what I did.  I used a lathe strip (leftover from my “green tree” sign project) to define the left edge of the wall.  I decided not to mess with planking the overhead beam for the doorway.  But you know what?  Right this minute—I think I just decided that I regret that!  I may have to go back!  Yeah, like that will ever happen.  I also marked every-other stud line on the wall with a pencil.

I purchased three 4’ x 8’ sheets of 1/8”-thick hardboard from Lowe’s.  They were about $8.50/sheet, making this a very inexpensive wall treatment!  I had the nice man at Lowe’s cut them into 6” x 8’ strips.  He was able to do all three sheets at once, so it really didn’t take as long as you might think!  Note:  In my experience, Lowe’s has a much more liberal cutting policy than Home Depot does!  But I love both stores.

Then I simply butted the left side of the boards against the lathe strip, and nailed the boards into the studs wherever I could.  I did NOT choose to use any glue.  That way, this is only a semi-permanent wall treatment.  I don’t like to think of how many nail holes I’ll have to fill when I decide I’m tired of it…

I know it’s silly, but I was exceedingly proud of myself for notching out the spaces for the light switch and electrical outlet.

Almost done!  I had to rip the last board down to fit.  I didn’t even have to take off the baseboards!

I covered the right end with another lathe strip, to hide the uneven ends. 

Then I painted the wall with one coat of primer and two coats of Behr Ultra paint (color match to Sherwin-Williams Creamy).  Another note: the nice thing about the 1/8”-thick boards was that I was able to use the same switchplate and outlet plate covers.

Planking that one wall (it’s about 10’ wide x 8’ tall) took about three hours in the morning—and yes, I did it ALL by my lonesome.  Those kitchen chairs that keep appearing in the pictures are what I walked across from one side of the wall to the other!  The painting and priming were done by the time my husband got home from work, so it isn’t too bad of a project. 

I also put up the wall mural on the same day, also before my husband got home from work! 

But when he did get home…I sent him to KFC to pick up dinner

There will be some more things on the wall eventually—but I always knew I wanted this great metal clock in there, so it went up right away!

Next installment:  installing the desk!

Linking up here:

Coastal Charm’s Nifty Thrifty Tuesday	Elizabeth & Co.
Mod Vintage Life	No Minimalist Here’s Open House Thursday
Friday Remodelaholic	2805
My Simple Home Life’s Simple Creations Friday	Miss Mustard Seed’s Furniture Feature Friday
Funky Junk’s Saturday Night Special	The DIY Show Off
Primitive & Proper	Thrifty Décor Chick
Cowgirl Up!	My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Perfectly Imperfect	{Primp}
Simply Klassic Sundays	My Repurposed Life
From My Front Porch to Yours	It’s So Very Cheri
Common Ground	{aka} design

[ Read More ]

Simply Grand

You know it when you are surrounded by it. What could I be referring to?   B R I L L A N C E....

 From this man, Mr. Bart Swindall. He is the manger of my Chicago shop SG Grand, and the owner of the blog "Simply Grand" about his happenings in the shop, his expertise on antiques and educated flair for design.
Here Bart is posed for a blog entry entitled; "What is Bart wearing?" (here), his brilliant take on color and tongue-in-cheek reference to the blog "What is James wearing". A must read for his insight on color versus "greige" and our ongoing dialogue on what to finish this settee in.

Bart.......watermelon linen
Me........patterned linen, something funky

Finally agreeing, I am faced with a new dilemma, well a few.......a lack of time to find the fabric and now back to thinking patterned linen (sorry Bart) since by the time I do find it we may be peeking at Autumn.

Jump in here.......what would you do? Maybe none of the above, perhaps something entirely different?

Anyways, I digress. The current dilemma is a sudden burst of sales and a near empty shop with an important international crowd due to arrive. His inner Mc Guyver surfaces to save the day without a budget. Think paint (doable), dumpster diving for industrial strapping, a computer program, painting tape and straight pins to ultimately achieve a room fit for Madeleine Castaing. 

I don't know, maybe natural linen is the best choice?

Hate to blow a surprise but let Bart see here the beautiful bench I have in reserve. If he tires of the natural look, he can reach back and grab a new paint color! 

I do have one complaint about his blog, no, make that a huge complaint, 

"WE NEED MORE ENTRIES!"

xo (he hates this) Bart

Debra

[ Read More ]