Fresh Air Day!

Hello out there! Is everyone enjoying Spring so far? I know I am. Today I had the windows open and immensely enjoyed the fresh air that filled the house.

I had absolutely nothing on my agenda {well ok, I had to make dinner at some point, but I digress…} so I tackled a number of small projects that I've been meaning to cross off my to-do list… and still managed to cook up a good meal afterward!

First I taped off the trim in the upstairs landing, then I got to priming. It's amazing how much bigger a space seems once white is added into the mix. Next did some paint touch-ups downstairs in the laundry room. [Speaking of that room, I'm scheming up something really cool for the entrance. We took off the door - which never fully closed due to the dryer - so I'm thinking of doing a curtain instead…I'll have to blog it]

Anyways! Then I made an ironing board rack for my mom {want to make one? click here!}

 

Last but not least I gave this end table some sprucing up. The end table sits between the rocking chair and couch in our living room. It's an antique I picked up somewhere along the way. Now that our mantle is all white, I thought this little guy could use some white elements. I'm toying with the idea of sanding the drawer & door corners for a distressed look. What do you think?

Thanks for stopping by the blog!

Hello Spring!

Now that our flooring is {for the most part} finished, we're anxious to get outside & get our hands in the dirt. Today is my day off, so I tackled a few projects around the deck. I transplanted hosta all around the perimeter of the deck, built a little path of 4 stepping stones from the deck to the paver patio, then planted my herb garden. I made the stakes for the garden by using steel alphabet stamps hammered into strips of brass {found in the electrical section at Hartville Hardware}

The herbs are potted and resting on a little white plant stand that used to belong to my Grandma Rita. She was great at gardening, hopefully that brings me luck! After giving everything a thorough hosing down, I think now is the perfect time for lunch in the shade!

Thanks for checking in!

It's Done!

The Pergo is totally installed! Hallelujah! With help from Andrew's dad, we were able to rip out the rest of the carpet, prime & paint the trim, and lay the final floor boards. It was a long project, and there are still finishing touches to accomplish. But here are some pictures of our handiwork. Once things are back in their proper places and all decorated again I want to post some dramatic "Before & After" side-by-side comparisons. But for now enjoy these!

Things were off to a great start once the guys were able to remove the ceramic tile from the foyer. It took them about 3 hours and made A TON of dust.

After that, we were able to lay more boards in the dining room and remove the carpet {and staples!} in the office. 

The displaced furniture situation was REAL. Our entire home library made it's way to the steps, while all other tables, chairs, lamps, jars, flowers, fishing poles, world globes & extra tools {I see you in that photo, bottom left corner junk table!} got a temporary new home in the living room.

Next, Andrew continued with the flooring while I primed the trim. Then he went outside to mow the lawn while I continued on with the painting inside. We had the windows open and music blaring - it was a good Saturday!

When Sunday rolled around, we went to church, came home & immediately got to work finishing things. As previously stated, the rooms aren't quite put back together 100%. But the floor sure does look amazing! 

L-to-R pictured is the Dining Room, Foyer, Office. 

HUGE sigh of relief! Once we install quarter round, the project will be complete. Though it was trying at times and often stressful, we're pretty proud of the job. Plus, we saved ourselves a boatload of money by DIYing. Stay tuned for our final reveal of how everything looks!

Keep creating, DIYers!

Renovation Update

Hi everyone! We've been slowly but surely making progress on our new floor installation. So far we've finished the kitchen, laundry, pantry and half bath…and made it into the dining room! There is so much furniture displaced into our office we can barely stand going in there for anything. We just keep reminding ourselves that all the mess & shuffling are temporary and we'll be happy with the results.

One of the challenges we ran into in the dining room was the subfloor. For some weird reason, we discovered it is about 1/4 inch shorter than the kitchen. To fix this we were able to buy a roll of underlayment to help match the difference, but for a while we were freaking out! So now we have Pergo in the dining room. We moved my empty china hutch on top of it so we have room to lay more floor. Because of the way the floor boards run, we're now at a standstill until we remove the tile in the foyer. Once that is gone we can continue with the floor, running it across the foyer and on into the office. Andrew is pretty sure he's going to rent a machine to help chop the tile and cement board up this weekend.

I've also been painting the trim here and there. My goal is to have the woodwork throughout the whole house end up white {eventually}. I would say I roughly have 50% of the downstairs painted, and 10% done upstairs. Slow and steady wins the race.

Here are a few photos of our continued progress:

 

Thanks for checking on us!

DIY Ironing Board Rack

Hello out there - long time, no post! Since you last checked in, we finished laying the flooring in the kitchen and I've been busy painting all the trim white. I also repainted the walls & cabinetry in the little bathroom across from the pantry. Pretty soon the kitchen zone will be finished, and we'll move on to the dining room…which will hopefully be a snap since it's a square room. Time will tell!

Today I'm going to share a quick little project I did to help keep organized in the laundry room.

IRONING BOARD RACK

Supplies:

• 2 hooks
• 1 chunk of wood
• paint
• screws
• stud finder
• power drill
• right angle/level

STEPS

I completed this project in 1 afternoon using a remnant piece of wood from a previous project & hooks from Lowe's that were $4/ea.

Pre-measure for hook placement. Use a right angle to make sure your marks are level.

Find the middle of your wood backing and mark holes top center and bottom center. These will screw into a stud in your wall. Drill your holes. Use a bit that is slightly smaller than the size of your screws.

Paint {and prime if necessary} your wood and let dry.

After locating a stud with the stud finder, draw a pencil line on the wall & line up your pre-drilled screw holes. Power drill into the stud, then screw the hooks into their pre-drilled holes.

Check to make sure it's level, then hang your ironing board. Tad-da! All done and under $10!

Thanks for stopping by Old Elm today.

Keep creating, DIYers!

Switching It Up

Happy Sunday, readers! This morning we tried out a new church and had a really nice time. Now we're home and back at DIYing! Andrew's dad came over to help him work on the Pergo. It's coming along so great! They work well together & I've been staying out of the way. I have some priming left to do in the half bathroom {but I don't want to kill them with fumes}. The paint I got is definitely not low-VOC. Whoops.

So what did I do?

I walked around our house and made a list of the types of electrical outlets & switch plates in each room. Yep. I realize this sounds incredibly lame - but hear me out!

Outlets are often an overlooked detail along the reno process.
In my opinion, if you spend time & money re-doing a space, you shouldn't forget to update your switch plates. Ours are sort of a creamy almond color, and they are looking pretty dingy. Some are even cracked, so it's time to replace them….no rush. Just room-by-room, over time. I made a list in Notes on my iPhone & organized it by room. Now the next time we're out an about and see some we like, we can knock one out!

How do you guys keep yourselves organized during a renovation? 
Andrew is usually our details man & I have a better idea of "the big picture." Feel free to share your tips with us!

Keep creating, DIYers!

Floral Pallet Art

Hi everyone! Last month's contest ended - thanks to everyone who participated!
The "Mystery Project" was revealed to be pallet art, so our winner received a mini pallet of her own:

I'm here today to teach you how to make it! You'll need:

• wood planks
• floral paper napkins
• modpodge & brushes
• sand paper or a power hand-sander

{First} Take your napkin. Carefully pull the back 2 layers off, leaving a thin sheet with the floral design on it. The middle layer might be tricky to get off, but I swear it does - so be patient.

{Second} Brush modpodge on the wood plank, and lay your napkin on top. Gently pat and smooth it with the pads of your fingers to remove air bubbles and wrinkles. It can tear really easily here so don't get crazy. This step takes the longest because now you need to let it dry completely. At this step, this is how your wood should appear:

{Third} Now that things are all dried up, you will be sanding to distress your wood to perfection! This makes the floral design sort of "melt" into the grain of the wood and produces the look we want. After sanding, the floral images will be dulled with softer edges, and some of the wood may peek through. Here are some side-by-side comparisons of the same napkins before & after sanding:

And that's it! The possibilities with this are endless. Picture frames, furniture, recipe boxes, wall art… you name it. I'm on the hunt for a bunch of old picture frames {without the glass} so I can cut a series of my planks to size & frame them. What would you do with yours?

Thanks for tuning in, and have a great Tuesday!