My Aspirations for a Mudroom...From the Studs Up

Unless we decide to finish the attic or add a garage, this room is going to be the most major renovation in the house. When we went for our home inspection, the mudroom looked like this:Mmmmm look at that insulation coming out from around the door, and the unfinished concrete floor.

Brett, admiring the uninsulated stud walls while the home inspector does whatever home inspectors do!

The day we took posession, it honestly didn't look much different. The prior owner had left the ugly plastic shelving, any half empty bottle of household chemical he didn't want to take with him, broom handles with no broom, hedge clippers that needed to be sharpened, etc. We cleaned some of it out, but it was still SO UGLY because in the 25 years and 5 owners our house has lived through, no one took the time to finish the room, or even insulate it.

I always enter the house through the side door after work because opens out into the driveway. Talk about a bummer. It just made me so depressed to walk through that door when I knew what kind of potential the room had! Look at those high ceilings! My front entry does not have room for a proper foyer, so this is pretty much my chance, but it needs to be a double-duty room. The lovechild of a mudroom and foyer.

Well, here is what it looks like today...better but still not really a room! My dad and husband spent a weekend putting up the drywall, and it has been cleaned of dustbunnies and ickies. (You guys rock!!! Now it feels more like a construction site than a dump, and at least its clean...

Here are some photographs of what I would LIKE for it to look like when its done! (I believe they are all from http://www.bhg.com/) I want it to be very light and airy. Maybe a tone on tone vertical stripe in blue with a dramatic light fixture to highlight the high ceiling. I want there to be storage, but for it to be tucked away and neat.

Here are some of the current problems with the room that I would LOVE some input on:

1. the stairs--I would love to finish them with some pretty hardwood treads and maybe even install drawers in the risers!

2. the concrete block "wainscoting"--the concrete blocks intrude into the room and I am not sure what to do to cover them. Would it be a bad idea to put on straight plaster? Do I need to put a barrier between the concrete and wall board? We have contemplated keeping the walls recessed and possibly putting a shelf there. It goes all the way around 2 walls.

3. the heat pump--how to hide it...I would like to put up some lattice or paneling to hide it, but the problem is that we still need access and I don't want to mess up its function and cause a fire or something.

Any ideas?

Footstool Makeover Part 3

Hello and welcome to the ACTUAL footstool makeover! I decided to go with the blue fabric (option B from the previous post) because its more summery, and I have been doing everything I can to lighten up my colonial house. Thanks for all the input! Ideas on what to use the animal fabric for would be appreciated as well!

Here are the steps to upholstering and painting my old metal base to become something I will actually use:

1.) I first made sure that the little bracket clamps I bought would fit around the metal frame. I got eight of them so that I could put two on each corner.


2.)Next, I cut a pretty thick piece of plywood to fit the frame.

3.) Then I picked out eight screws that would go almost all the way through the plywood--one for each bracket. I predrilled holes for them, but it ended up not mattering anyway.4.) I picked up some upholstery foam when I was at Hancock fabrics--the thickest I could find, and then cut it to fit the bracket and plywood square.

5.) I also picked up some quilt batting while I was there. This is used to wrap around the floral foam and the wood before the fabric goes on top. It kind of smooths everything out. You can see its pretty thin, but you can get it in many different thicknesses.
6.) I wrapped the batting all the way around the foam and the wood, just like wrapping a present, then stapled it down on the wood side with my staple gun. As you can see, I went all the way around the edges, about 2 inches from the edge itself. If you mess up, no big deal--rip the staple out with needle-nosed pliers or a flat head screwdriver.

This is what you end up with when you are done with the batting:

7.) Then I cut the fabric so that it would wrap around the foam, batting, and wood.
8.) The difference between this part and the last step is that you don't have to go all the way around the seat--just to the edges. You have to stretch the fabric like a canvas as you staple. So first put a staple at 12 o'clock, then stretch the fabric all the way across the foam and put in a staple at 6 o'clock. Then you do the same thing but the staples go at 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock.
9.) The next step is to flip it over and make sure the design looks the way you want it on the top of the seat before moving on with more staples. If it isn't straight or centered, then pull out your staples, reposition the fabric, and put the staples back in.
10.) If everything looks ok, then flip it back over and finish stapling down the sides. To stretch it evenly, you should continue going around the seat like a clock. Put a staple on either side of the middle, then go to the opposite side and do the same. Repeat until you have gotten to the corners.
11.) When you get to the corners, you have options: you can do pleats, or just try to do a hospital corner like I did. Make sure not to put in too many staples or get the fabric too thick.
12.) Almost done! Now trim off the excess fabric to make it easier to cover the bottom.

13.) I picked up some black interfacing, which is stiff fabric that doesn't need to be hemmed, to use to cover the bottom. I have no idea if this is the correct thing to do, but it looked like the bottom of other upholstered things I have seen, so I went for it! I cut a square out so that it would be centered inside my square with about a 1/2 inch border all the way around. I wanted it to cover all my extra fabric, batting, and staples.
14.) This is the paint I picked out to cover the base--its kind of an ivory to match the design on the fabric. I spray painted the base and the eight clips to match, and ended up using the entire bottle to get good coverage.
15.) I put a clip on either side of each corner:
16.) Then I flipped the whole thing over and centered it on the wooden side of my seat. I screwed the brackets into the wood like so:

Voila! The finished product!! Now to scotchguard the thing so I don't spill something on it and kick myself! I think its going to to in my bathroom so I will have somewhere to sit while I put on my makeup. OR should it live on the back porch? Do you think I need to put some edging around the bottom of the seat to hide the brackets, or do you think they are hidden enough by the paint? **Special thanks to Brett, who kindly wielded the circular saw due to my incident 3 weeks ago with the serrated knife!**

Our one year anniversary

Happy Anniversary Babe!Thank you for the first wonderful year of our marriage.
Love,
Charlotte

Happy 4th of July

This is absolutely my favorite holiday!

In honor of the holiday, here is my favorite berry pie recipe! It calls for strawberries, but you can pretty much substitute any berry or combination of berries and get a fabulous result!

The Best Strawberry Pie

INGREDIENTS

• 1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch single crust pie
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 1 pinch ground nutmeg
• 4 cups fresh strawberries, hulled
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place a drip pan on lowest shelf to catch pie juices.

2. Topping: In a medium bowl, mix until fluffy the 3/4 cup sugar, 3/4 cup flour, butter, and nutmeg.

3. Place cleaned strawberries in a deep bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together the 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup flour, and cornstarch. Gently coat berries with this mixture; be careful not to crush berries.

4. Pour berries into prepared pie crust mounding them in the middle; mounding is necessary as the berries will sink as they bake. Cover berries with crumb topping and top crumbs with about 15 pea-sized blobs of butter. Wrap edges of pie crust with foil to prevent burning.

5. Bake pie in preheated oven for 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 375 degrees and bake for an additional 40 minutes. When there are 10 minutes left of baking, sprinkle a little extra sugar over crumb topping and then finish baking.

Have a great holiday!

Good Garbage Breaks Down as it Goes...

...That's Why it Smells Bad to Your Nose!!! (Does anyone else remember this song from when you were a kid??)

Brett and I decided to make a compost bin to provide good soil for our new veggie garden. Apparently it won't yield soil for about 3 months, so not until September, but maybe by then we will have planted some peas and winter squash. Or I guess we could just hoard it until next spring!

I looked around the web for different designs and methods. Instructables has a lot of different ones to pick from, including:

a turning version made with a 55-gallon drum,


a twin compost bin,


and a double-decker version.
These are all inexpensive DIY versions of composting, but I didn't think any of them were exactly discreet or attractive, and they were pretty involved for a couple of people who work full time and are just trying this out. When I was growing up, my parents always had a plastic one in the trees behind our house that looked a little bit like a dog house, and it was very inconspicuous. It looked a bit like this one:
Nice and discreet, low effort, BUT the $150 price tag is a little high for what were were looking for.

Finally, we found this great version on www.ThisYoungHouse.com, where a couple of fellow Richmond newlyweds had the same idea. MUCH more low key, yet still do-it-yourself and also discreet! So thanks Sherry and John for the inspiration!

We first bought this bin at Home Depot for $6.00. THAT IS THE GRAND TOTAL FOR THIS PROJECT!! Can't beat that, right?? I picked a dark one because I thought it might stay warmer and help the composting process than a light one. I also thought it would be more recessed in the yard and thus more discreet.

I drilled 12 holes in the top and 12 in the bottom for aeration and drainage. I drilled my holes with a drill, but that's mostly because I love power tools. I think I could have done it easily with a nail and a hammer.

Then I made the first layer up of 1/2 leaves and 1/2 ripped up newspaper. (A word of advice--avoid holly leaves, they hurt your hands when you mix everything up!) I scrounged up some leaves from under our porch and begged an old newspaper off our neighbor. This layer helps keep things aerated and not too dense. This layer is referred to as the "brown" layer and contains the carbon necessary for the breakdown process.


Then I added a layer of soil which I scrounged up from leftover potting soil from failed container gardening projects (no, those chives from the grocery store will NOT stay alive if you plant them), and our own acidic clay soil from our yard. By the time I was done the bin was half full, in equal parts dirt and paper. I even found some worms which help speed the process up!! Hi wormies!!!


Next I added the "green" layer which provides the nitrogen and nutrients. First I put in some dryer lint.

Then I put in some banana peels and peaches from Brett's afternoon smoothie, some asparagus trimmings from dinner last night, and some cherries that were duds.

I stirred it around, covering them with dirt.


Then the final step is to spray it lightly with the hose and cover it up! Apparently compost likes to be wet but not soaking. Here is Brett with the final product sitting discretely tucked behind the steps to the porch. Here's hoping it works!



If you want more information about how composting works, here is an excellent site that explains the process in more detail.

Has anyone else made a compost bin? Did I do it right? Any tips or tricks?