Archive for April, 2011
All The King’s Horses…
… and all the king’s men, couldn’t put my faceless ceramic pooch together again.
Well, maybe they could, but they weren’t around. So I tried to do it myself, using only a mother’s love (and some super glue).
And because I’m a freak about fumes I did it on the back patio while Clara was napping (baby monitor in hand).
Pretty much immediately things got wonky.
Wop-wop. Nothing matched up and it looked all crazy and jagged.
I think the fact that some shards were just too small to keep & reglue threw everything off. And somehow there was a huge chunk from the top of my beloved pup’s head that was mysteriously gone. I suppose I could try to use plaster or putty to fill things in and attempt to smooth things out and then spray paint the whole thing. Or I could shatter the rest of his face in the hopes of creating a headless lamp/umbrella stand/planter etc (you guys had awesome suggestions for us when we revealed the tragedy here), but I think my ceramic animal love hinges on the face. It’s the cutest part, so without it he’s just not as sweet and charming. Kind of like people I guess. Heads are important to me, what can I say.
Anyway, I’m happy I gave it the old college try and surprisingly at peace about the whole thing. Maybe a giant ceramic dog in the hallway wouldn’t have been the best idea when Clara starts toddling around anyway. I think I’m – dare I say it – ready to let go of my much loved ceramic pooch. Like how Rose says she’ll never let go in Titanic but then immediately lets go of hottie Leo and he sinks to the bottom of the sea (skip to 3 minutes).
Besides, not to be insensitive, but I do still have my gorgeous concrete greyhound to fill the void…
A Big Move Deserves A Tiny Painting
Something big happened last week: my parents sold the house I grew up in.
They’ve been planning to do this for a while, so it’s not a shock or anything. It’s also not as depressing as it could be since they’re selling it so they can move to Richmond (right now they’re about 2 hours away in Northern Virginia). My parents are both retired and have been planning to downsize for a while now. They picked Richmond for a bunch of reasons, including that four of their five grandchildren live here. So all in all, we’re really happy about the news.
But there’s still something major about the closing of this particular chapter, so allow me to be sentimental for a moment.
My parents moved into this house in 1979 (forgive the not-so-pretty winter pic above). It was a new construction home at the time, so they – along with my two older sisters – were its first (and up until now only) occupants. If you’re keeping track that’s two years before I arrived, meaning this is the house they brought me (and later my little sister) home to after we were born. So as you can imagine, a lot has happened in this house over the 32 years they have owned it. Including my mom taking annual pictures of us on the porch for first days of school and for our birthdays (note the homemade banner taped to the storm door behind me).
When we heard they accepted a buyer’s contract early last month, we took the first opportunity to gather there one last time for a family portrait. My sister Emily even made an homage to my mom’s birthday sign tradition for us to pose next to. Here’s the “original” six Petersiks (aka, the “Petersix”)…
…and now with our expanded family of spouses and children (can you tell that it was POURING rain during these shots – fortunately my bro-in-law the professional photographer knew how to handle it).
In addition to these pics, my sisters and I wanted to honor this big moment with a gift. After debating a few things, we decided to get them a drawing or painting of the house. They already own a pen and ink sketch of it, so (thanks to some suggestions from you guys on Twitter) we landed on getting a painting of their front door from artist Kal Barteski (she calls her series T+A - tiny and awesome). So I sent Kal this pic of the door…
And a couple of weeks (and $100 – split four ways among me and my siblings) later, this arrived. Tiny and awesome indeed.
It’s actually 5 x 7″, so it’s not that tiny. Kal paints them on thin onion skin parchment paper which is why it looks a bit wavy and textured. It threw me off a little at first, but when I read that she does it so your painting looks truly like original art – not a print or a replica – it won me over as quite charming.
The onion skin paper is also translucent so she invites people to mat her paintings on colored or patterned paper to customize them and add even more texture. We had fun trying a few colors & patterns underneath but ended up going the straightforward route and putting it on white card stock since we thought my parents would like it best that way.
We finally presented it to my parents this week and they LOVED it. Woo hoo!
Oh, and since some of you might be curious – my parents got very lucky when it came to selling their house. Before it was officially listed on March 1st, they had a preview showing at the end of February and that person put in an acceptable offer on the spot. Not bad right? Since it happened a bit faster than any of us expected (including them) they have around six weeks until they can officially move into their new house in Richmond. In the meantime they’ll be bouncing around between their Delaware beach house, my sister’s house in Northern Virginia, and my sister’s house here in Richmond. But we can’t wait for the day that they can officially call our city their home.
Psst- The babyproofing adventures continue over on BabyCenter where we’re sharing how we anchored a giant wall mirror in our bedroom (thankfully it wasn’t rocket science).
Fab Freebie: The Devil’s In The Details
***This giveaway is no longer accepting entries – scroll down to see who won!***
Thanks to the devilish randomization that is random.org, our two winners are… Steph (who was just talking to a colleague about the two tattoos she has…for now) and Alason (who’s thinks her little butterfly tattoo on her back makes people assume she’s a bad girl). Congrats ladies!
Since you guys seemed to enjoy last week’s spring cleaning related giveaway, how about another? Your house can’t possibly be all cleaned up yet can it? This one comes from the folks over at Dirt Devil who are gonna hook two of you up with a tattoo. But you’re not going to disappoint the parental units in this case. The Tattoo is a light-but-powerful canister vacuum that boasts an ornate “tattoo” design on its body, comes in four devilish hues, and includes cool details like an automatic cord rewind feature. You know, so you can suck with style.
- PRIZE: A Dirt Devil Fantasy Tattoo series canister vacuum in any color
- TO ENTER: Comment on this post with the words “TATTOO ME!” and…
- BONUS QUESTION: … dish about what tattoo(s) you have, wish you had, wish you didn’t have, or never ever wanted (feel free to share the where and the why too if you’d like).
- GIVEAWAY CLOSES: Wednesday, April 6th at 8pm EST
- NUMBER OF WINNERS: Two
- PRIZE SHIPS: The United States and Canada
- USUAL STUFF: One entry per e-mail address is permitted. The winners will be selected using random.org and announced on Thursday as an update to this post. That’s right, come right back here on Thursday morning for the announcement of our winners. Good luck…
Note: We weren’t paid or perk’d for hosting this giveaway, we just like rewarding our lovely readers! See our Giveaway FAQs page for more info. Pics from Dirt Devil.
Console-ing Myself
First things first. Thanks for being such great sports about our little April Fool’s Day prank (seen here).
Sherry was giggling the entire time she made that crazy nautical themed doggie mood board (at one point Katie Bower called and I actually heard a laugh-snort or two as she shared her little “project”). And it’s safe to say that every single comment – ranging from those of you who fell for it and those of you who knew it was a joke from the first sentence – made her day. Which made mine. Happy wife = happy life. In fact things were so copacetic around here that I was inspired to start my next big build.
I couldn’t dodge it anymore. The time had finally come get started on a behind-the-sofa-Karl console table for our living room. Having more than a padded ottoman in the room will be a big help, but it promises to be a big task. 140 inches big (er, long), to be exact.
Let me back up for a moment. From the second that Karl arrived, we both agreed that putting a big not-Clara-friendly coffee table (even a round one) would probably be too heavy for the room and might result in more baby bumps and bruises than we were prepared for. And we’ve enjoyed being able to move the ottoman easily to make more room for playing, hosting, and vacuuming – so for us it was definitely the way to go. But we quickly decided that we needed a nice long console table behind the sectional (between it and the wall), to create a solid (and super functional) surface for two table lamps for reading, a spot to drop drinks, a box or basket to stash things like remotes, and more storage and display space for various other living area must-haves (that weren’t exactly hanging out on the non-existent coffee table).
But where does one find a nearly 12 foot long console table (!) to span the entire length of Karl? Um, yeah, nowhere. Unless you want to pay 3K to commission a custom build.
So I spent the last couple of months mustering the energy/confidence/game plan to create a customized DIY solution. We considered just putting a couple of floating shelves up to act as a long “floating console” behind Karl, but figured that left too much unused space underneath (and might not have the homemade weathered look that we wanted in hopes of balancing out more modern things like the green rug and the sleek sectional). So we decided I should build something customized to fit our giant sectional. Something that takes advantage of as much of the space as possible. And that’s when this plan from Wood Wonder Woman (aka: Ana White) caught our eye.
I knew I’d have to build this 140-inch behemoth in multiple pieces since maneuvering 12-ish feet of bookshelf just didn’t sound like a good time. So I hatched a plan to build three 4-foot sections that would be covered by one long “tabletop” for a nice seamless look. And the two end sections could take some serious inspiration from Ana’s bookcase above. Each of my two console table “end pieces” could have those two open shelves on one side (hello bonus storage!) but they wouldn’t need that interior shelf cutting through the entire middle since that wouldn’t be accessible (so we could save some wood, money, and effort by altering the plan a little). My version definitely looked a bit lot rougher when I sketched it out.
We figured out our measurements by doing a test with our existing console table from the hallway several weeks ago (I originally planned to start this in February… oops). We tucked it behind Karl to see if it was wide enough for a table lamp (it was just barely deep enough with the large sized lamp shade, so we decided to make my version wider – don’t want any head-into-shade issues). We also used the hallway console to see what height would look best (clearly our “test model” was too tall). The new one will sit somewhere slightly above the back edge of the sofa but below the back cushions for a hopefully balanced look with lots of easy-access function.
With measurements made and plans sketchily sketched out, we hit up the Home Depot for a bunch of wood – most of which we had them cut to size for us right in the store (for free). It saved us time and enabled us to squeeze everything into the Altima (which definitely wouldn’t have been able to accommodate planks that weren’t cut down). As usual, the happy baby of the group had a blast.
To keep costs down we bought basic white wood for everything except for the 1 x 2″ poplar pieces that we used to trim out the “end” bookshelves that would be seen on each side (no sense using the good wood on parts that would be hidden in the end- and the white wood provided more than enough support/strength/sturdiness). If I were a pro furniture builder I probably would’ve splurged on better wood, but who are we kidding – I’m cheap and this amateur didn’t want the pressure of screwing up the “expensive stuff.”
So here was my supply pile for one of the two end pieces. I’ll spare you an exact breakdown because this piece is so specific to our space. And if my drawing above is any indication, I should not go into the business of posting furniture plans. Like ever.
Notice those two semi-thick boards on the far left? Those are a 1 x 8″ and a 1 x 10″ piece that we had them cut to the same length right in the store. We wanted the console to end up about 16″ deep, but the widest board they sold was 12″. So putting two shorter boards side-by-side was our solution, since the boards are actually 7.25″ and 9.25″ wide (so they add up to about 16.5″ when put together – which was pretty much exactly what we were going for). So there’s a tip, even if the sign says that boards are 8″ wide and 10″ wide, they can definitely be substantially smaller.
Anyway, when I got home I rekindled my ongoing love affair with my Kreg Jig for the task of joining the boards.
You can read more about what my main man Kreg does in this post, but basically he helps create perfect pocket holes to connect pieces of wood like a pro. They look a little something like this mid-job:
Then I lined everything up and screwed the two pieces together for a super tight hold like this:
That’s how I ended up with three 1 x 16.5″ planks to form the top and the two sides (aka: wide legs) of the console:
And yes, the top isn’t exactly flush on the left side. But since the whole thing will be covered by a long, separate tabletop in the end, it was only important that things were lined up perfectly on the exposed parts. Actually, since most of this piece will be unseen behind Karl and thanks to the new top that we’ll be adding, it really only had to look pretty on the open shelf end of each end piece that I was building (remember I’m making two end pieces and one middle piece to put together under one long 140″ top for the look of one long 140″ console in the end).
A few more Kreg holes and some meticulous clamping later, I was on to screwing in my first leg (the one that would be hidden on the interior side of this section)…
…and adding some 1 x 2″ rails for extra support.
Next up was the bookshelf side. I started with the two sides of the shelf, comprised of two 1 x 12″ boards. Between attaching these to the top and the other leg, plus securing the finishing trim to them at the end, I realized I’d be doing a lot of screwing (that’s what she said). So I had myself a little pilot hole drilling party before attaching anything, just to get that step completely out of the way all at once.
Then my drilling party turned into a screwing party. Um that sounds even worse. But you know what I mean. On went the sides…
…then the back. Typically I’d put all of these ugly holes on the inside of the shelf, but since Karl will be blocking the entire side off the piece (since it’ll be snugly placed between the back of the sectional and the back wall) I kept the inside of the shelf, pristine (since it’ll be seen). Meanwhile the outside can be all busted up and hole-y, since that will be the hidden part (sandwiched between the sofa and the wall).
Next up were the two shelves (keep in mind this is all upside for now, so all of these holes will be hidden):
And last up was the trim on the outside to finish things off nicely. I used my miter saw to cut the 1 x 2″ to size and attached them using the holes that I pre-drilled in the sides and shelves. Now is it coming together for ya? I know it’s really confusing to read this step by step play by play, but hopefully now it’s starting to look like my sketch (it’s just upside down in this shot).
All-in-all, it took me about 1.5 Clara naps (that’s around 2 hours) to get ‘er done. Not all three, just one of my three pieces without the top. She’s not the prettiest thing yet, but I was surprisingly proud about how it turned out and how much less difficult it was than I expected.
I’ll fess up that the console section that I photographed above was actually the second one that I made (since I need one for each end). I was so focused on not screwing up the first one that I forgot to take pictures. But that one came out really well, as did the second one (and the good news to anyone else who needs to build a console table in three parts is that you get faster as you go).
So since you’ve already seen my second one in the shot above, here’s the first one making its appearance during a test run behind Karl. Oh yeah but in this shot you can see my one “mistake” with my first console creation. Notice how I didn’t think to put all of my holes on the outside of the interior bookcases (which will be seen) my first time arond? Boo. Thank goodness for wood putty.
Of course this isn’t the side of Karl that it’ll sit behind eventually (it will go between the back wall with the frames and Karl’s backside), but I was just too lazy to move him out from the wall (he’s a big boy) for this quick test. I mainly just wanted to make sure the height felt right (which it did). When we add the new top it’ll sit just slightly above the sofa back, but below the back cushions just as planned.
And yes, Burger decided this was the perfect moment to eat lunch (despite the traffic jam of furniture going on). He’s not howling in the picture above, just chewing and looking out the window.
The third / middle piece of the console is actually already mostly built too, I just haven’t finished a few last minute details and snapped any pics yet (and let’s face it, this post is already long enough as it is). But we actually incorporated some storage into it even though it’s going to sit between the two side console pieces that I built. That’s right, it’s top-entry storage. More details soon. I still have the entire “countertop” to tackle as well, but we’ve decided to use some reclaimed wood (aka: slats from the old shipping pallets left in our yard) to inject some rustic beat-up style into this a-bit-too-modern-for-us-at-the-moment living room. As for the rest of the piece, we’re planning to stain it a dark wood tone so it sort of blends/disappears behind Karl. You know, so the more weathered and varied looking top can – in the words of my wife – be the star.
And as for the cost, for the two end pieces and the almost-done middle piece we’ve spent around $65, which doesn’t include the top that we’ll add (but since we’re planning to “recycle” the pallets that we have, we shouldn’t spend much more on this build). We’ll share a full budget breakdown (including stain and all that good stuff) when we’re done.
We’ll post more about the console as our work continues, but for now lets talk shop. Have you guys built anything yourself lately? Did you put some Ana White plans to good use while you were at it? Seriously, that girl can build anything.
Playroom Plans
You guys already know that our playroom is looking kinda rough these days (thanks to this whole house update post from last week):
But we’ve decided that once we clear it out, it’ll actually suit our family better as a less traditional space. Burger is a beloved member of our family, so we think he deserves his own little area. And since Clara plays pretty much all over the house (in the office, the living room, the kitchen, and her room – depending wherever we are with her) we won’t really need an official “playroom” until baby number two comes along (and we turn the playroom into a bedroom).
And I’ll spoil the surprise for all of you folks on bump watch, Clara’s brother or sister will probably be about three years younger than her because I’ve got strict orders from my doc to give my body two full years between pregnancies to heal (thanks to some birth complications with Clara). And since it takes almost a year to bake a human on top of that two year waiting period, that’s where we came up with the whole three year approximation.
But back to the playroom. We’ve decided… drumroll please… to give Burger his own little nautical themed room! Because every pooch deserves some sea faring fun. He always seems to have the best time at the beach, so that jumped out at us as the right environment to really set him at ease. The sea gulls, the warm summer air, the sailboats, an errant pelican. What eight pound chihuahua wouldn’t love that? But enough talking, here’s our Burger-licious mood board:
- Our color palette will be pretty straightforward: navy, red, and white (with some natural wood tones and maybe a few pops of yellow worked in there for fun). The walls will stay white with graphic red & navy accents along with a super cool mural for added pop (more on that later).
- How cute would a few of these $33 seagull mobiles be when hung in a flock from the ceiling? Burger should like them since he loves watching real birds flap around outside in real life.
- This boat-ish dog bed was the inspiration for the entire nautical theme. At $260 it’s not cheap, but what can I say? Burger’s like L’Oreal. He’s worth it. Plus it’s such a room-making detail that we just couldn’t pass it up.
- Here’s the mural that I want to paint on one of the walls. I like that it’s obviously sea-inspired without being too over the top (a dock with a single pelican in the foreground feels kind of “understated” compared to some of the other busy and über bold murals that we’ve seen).
- This weathered ship’s wheel (for $34) should look cool on one of the mural-less white walls in the room.
- No dog room is complete without an on-theme dog toy, so this $7.99 blue anchor chew toy definitely fits the bill.
- And since we want to keep Burger looking “cohesive” with the rest of the room, we can’t wait to pick up this $27 outfit to help him get into character.
- Instead of something more traditional, we thought hanging fisherman’s nets (just $17.99 a pop) as “curtains” would add lots of texture and more sea-faring fun. Fingers crossed Burger doesn’t get all tangled up in them. Haha.
So that’s our vision for the playroom, at least for the next few years. Should be interesting.
Now I’m just putting words here, just to fill up space so that when you’re reading the numbered points above your eyes don’t skip down the page and notice this next part. You know, because it’ll ruin the surprise.
So in case you’re wondering if we’re totally off our rockers… we might be. But this post is still totally a joke.
APRIL FOOLS!!!
Did we get you? Did the $260 dog bed tip you off? Or was it our description of the pelican mural as “understated”? Did you really think Burger would be caught dead in that sailor’s suit in the name of cohesive design? Or did you all know this was coming given our history of April Fools Day hijinks (like this post and this post)?
