How To Update A Hutch; Part 2

Finally- I am back to show you what we did on this hutch.  In all honesty, I have had this scheduled to post for the past 3 mornings but haven't been able to finish it to actually post, so I have been scrambling to get things posted every night... actually I am almost always scrambling nowadays, moving on.

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Concrete Countertops Tutorial; Kitchen Renovation Idea

How to Build and Install Concrete Countertops Tutorial

by Jessie of Imperfectly Polished

Hi Remodelaholic readers! I'm Jessie and I blog over at Imperfectly Polished. I am thrilled to be guest posting here today and sharing a tutorial on our new concrete countertops! Before we get started on step-by-step process, I've gotta show the before and after. Here is what our kitchen looked like when we bought our house two years ago:


And here it is today {with our purty
new counters}:



Before we get started, let me tell you that this is a picture-heavy post with lots of steps but totally worth every minute of it. A kitchen our size will cost you about $400 to make concrete counters which is wayyy less than having these made for you. We estimated that our counters would have cost $4,400 to be done by the pros! That's a huge savings:) Ok, are you motivated now?

Step 1:

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Fishbone Chair Project Plans and Tutorial

Upcycle us is what comes to my mind when I look at the full recycling bins before trash pick up.

Upcycle us is also a blog featuring upcycled items from the same trash pick up. The items you will see are highly influenced by designers who use minimalist designs and concepts, such as making an Ipad holder from chopsticks or a chair and trunks from shipping pallets. Because upcycling is a long process, Upcycle us also features projects made by others.

The fishbone chair is the most sophisticated project of my blog in terms of work and design and it's using a bit more than one 4X8 piece of plywood. I salvaged this wood after finishing my basement.

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Build a Rustic Shelf Tutorial

Build Your Own Rustic Shelf, Tutorial

Submitted by Super Saturday Crafts and More

I have been trying to find something to fill up my wall in my living room.  I saw this fun shelf at Faded Country and I knew I had to make it.  I love the blogging world.  There are so many fun things to make!

Here is my shelf project.

Materials:

(1) 1x4x8  (cut the board in half so the wood is 4 feet long) (I had Home Depot cut my boards)

(1) 1x6x8  (Cut the board in half so the wood is 4 feet long)

Trim for top and bottom.

Wood Glue

nails (I used my brad nailer)

Something to hang it to the wall

Calking

 Opps! Just imagine the picture turned.

 After I had the trim on, I put calking on the trim and in the nail holes.  Let it dry.

 To get the distresed look, sand the board down so the stain shines through.  I actually put extra stain on the white paint to give it more of an antique look.

The hardest part of this shelf was the trim.  I have a hard time thinking about angles and putting them together.  I went through a lot of trim to get it right.  My husband does well at the angles, but I wanted to do it all by myself.   If I can do it, anyone can.  My husband did help me hang it.

This project was contributed by one of our fabulous readers!  We love to share your projects with this great blogging community.  So, if you have projects from kitchen renovation ideas to small bathroom remodels, overhauled and repurposed furniture, spray paint updates you name it please send it in!  Thanks for reading Remodelaholic!

If you like this project check out these other great projects too:

White Book Shelves with Black Interiors

Spruce Up Your Built-in Book Shelves With A Fabric Backdrop

Kitchen Remodel, Removing Upper Cabinets for Shelving

Fireplace with Built in Bookcases

New White Book Shelves and Cabinets

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Beautiful Farmhouse Dining Table

Beautiful Farmhouse Dining Table by Shelby

Hey everyone! It's Shelby from over at honeysuckle. I am so honored to be guest posting here today! I am new to blogging this year and was super flattered to be asked to share a project on a big, fabulous blog like Remodelaholic! Thanks, Cassity!

Blogging has been a fun, creative outlet for me and a great motivation to start checking off projects from my endless 'to-make' list! Over at honeysuckle, you'll find a place where I express my sense of design, share my adventures in thrifting, spotlight my diy and craft projects, pass along decor inspiration, try new recipes, and document all things lovely. I hope you'll come on over and say hi!

The project I'm going to share with you today is our homemade farmhouse table. This table was born out of frustration of looking for over 9 months for an 8-10 person dining table without a $500+ price tag! I scoured craigslist, made frequent trips to goodwill and other various thrift stores, and even looked at furniture store sales. But with no luck and an ever-growing frustration, my husband decided to try his hand at building us one. Sidenote: this was one of his first-ever building projects, so this can be (and has been) accomplished by beginners in wood-working.

What started as a pile of wood...

...ended up as a gorgeous farmhouse-style table.

A bit about our process: we found basic plans for building a similar table on diy-extraordinaire, Ana White's website, but we changed the style and dimensions to fit what we had in mind. We made our way to Lowe's to purchase all the materials, and then began our table-building adventure!

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Built-in Bookcases; Living Room Update 5

Living Room Update 5: 

Built in Bookcases...

By Remodelaholic

If you wanna read about our current project 

click here Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Rugs, and Sofas.

Sorry about missing the living room post last week.   I am getting the hang of this two child thing... sorta, tired yes, but at least for the next week or two I have an infant that sleeps all day so it isn't too much harder. YET..., thank heaven for easing into the transition.

Anyway, so I left you hanging a bit about my sudden design change and request for some built-ins in our living room.  I told you how the space is a walk through to get to the kitchen and because of this traffic pattern, it naturally separates the room into two areas.   Which means, we had to figure out a way to fix this a bit.

I should explain, this space is not our "family" room.  Yes, we have a box of toys and plenty of board books to read, but this space is not our room to really entertain or hang out, that space is upstairs.  We don't actually have a T.V. in this room at all either (although I am considering a small portable version for desperate moments)... we don't watch T.V. on a regular basis, I just don't have time (exception to rule: Biggest Loser, but sometimes we catch up on this one online too!).   If I need a distraction (think making dinner) for the little meisje, I bring in the portable player so that I can get things done while Etta stays busy dancing to the Barbie movies...  This means that we are setting the room up for conversation, not around a TV screen.

On with the plans then, we have two awkward corners in our living room, as shown below with the large arrows, the long lines are the basic traffic patterns for the space.

The diagonal corner makes no sense, I think there must be plumbing running through that space, cuz there is no other reason for it to be diagonal like that.  Ugh!

The opposite corner by the stairs is cut off from the other space because of the way we have to pass through the room.  There is hardly a way to use the space.  A small sitting ares is about all, and I have tried this in the past with no success.  The problem is the space is too small that it just doesn't fit well, even with a single chair. I started drawing up options for the built in for the corner by the stairs first as a solution to the space planning issues.

Below is what the space would look like with the columns finished, (they were installed but not trimmed out yet.) So I drew the moldings in and the copied the image a  few times to draw on it:

Here are the two options I was debating on:

A 2/3 height built in, would allow for a T.V. on top if ever wanted.  Would fill the space nicely and give you some pretty storage.

-OR-

Full height, uses up the whole space and adds a ton of storage space.

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Living Room Update 4; Installing Wainscoting and Column Moldings

Living Room Update 4: 

Wainscoting and Columns...

By Remodelaholic


If you wanna read about our current project click here Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 Rugs, and Sofas.


Teaser pic...

I am sure you all are ready for the living room to get exciting... and guess what I am about to heat it up!  This post is where our living room gets "it's HOT on"!

I know... I am a nerd.  A living room loving nerd.  I can't help it... I have been waiting for this moment for a while now, and you wanna know the funny part?  (we still aren't quite done) but I look back at the before pictures and I am like "Oh my gosh- who would ever do that much work..." I do it every time we have a major change, I live through it, then thank my lucky stars I never have to do that project again! (and move on to the next, what can I say, I am a glutton for punishment!)

SO- DO YOU WANNA KNOW WHAT WE DID?

I really want to tell you, so let's go.

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How to Build a Newel Post

How to Build a Newel Post
Sandra @ Sawdust and Paper Scraps!!

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COMPLETE Kitchen transformation, from top to bottom!

COMPLETE Kitchen transformation, from top to bottom!

contributed by Mikelanne @ The Victorian Kitchen

My husband and I should really be happy that our kitchen was as horrible as it was when we bought the house. First of all, the lack of an updated kitchen (ie, cherry cabinetry/granite countertops/stainless steel appliances nowhere in sight) really scared away other buyers, kept the price of the house low, and allowed us to gut the entire thing without shame.

The room was situated as follows:

The East-facing wall, which looks out over our backyard, was particularly claustophobic, with floor-to-ceiling cabinetry that actually extended over the top of the window :

Parsonage kitchen, looking East, before move-in.

The North wall, which holds the doorway to a half bath (right side) and landing to the basement (left side) continued the “sea of beige” theme:

North wall, prior to move-in.

The West wall, which opens up to the parlor, was papered with two different shades of blue- flowers above a chair rail, stripes below. The paper clashed horribly with the country blue paint elsewhere in the kitchen, and only stayed for about a week after closing:

West wall, overlooking parlor, before move-in.

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How To Finish Solid Wood Flooring; Step by Step

How To Finish Solid Wood Flooring; 
Step by Step
 By Rebekah of Potholes and Pantyhose

It’s so great to be a guest blogger at Remodelaholic! I’m Rebekah from www.potholesandpantyhose.com and I blog about my life on the road with my musician hubby, my remodeling projects, my photography, and the arts and crap that I enjoy making from cast-offs. I try to maintain a somewhat normal life, however, normalcy keeps escaping me.

Let me give you a disclaimer on this tutorial-I am not a professional! There may be better ways to do this process, but this is what I have found to work for me over the many years of laying and refinishing hardwood floors.

You may be apprehensive about tackling something as ominous as hardwood floors. I am not apprehensive about almost anything, so let me be your guinea pig on things such as this.

You can sit back, sip some tea and learn from my mistakes.

When I first heard of this task, I ran the other way and hid in a dark corner for several hours. There was whimpering involved.

I mean, we’re talking scary, noisy machines that could inflict pain.

I could permanently damage the wood by sanding too deep.

I could pick the wrong stain and have to live with it that way FOREVER!

And, then I realized....these are just floors. Boo-hoo if I screw it up.

What you’ll need (get a pencil out):

Knee pads & dust mask for your own comfort
Polyurethane
Stain (if desired-I didn’t desire)
Pole Sander & 220 Grit pole sander pads
Lamb’s Wool Applicator (bahhh...)
Palm Sander and 110 Grit Sand paper
Mineral Spirits/Paint Thinner and rags

You’ll need to rent a belt sander and an edger.

You will need to also buy three grits of sandpaper at the rental place. Usually they’ll start you at 100 grit, then 80 and finally 36.

For new wood you can start at 80 like we did and then move on to 36.

You’ll also want:

Paint trays and liners for the poly
Rubber gloves to apply the poly
Foamy brush to get the poly in small places
Wood fill & applicators for wood fill
Sheets of Plastic & Blue Tape

Tape off all doorways, cabinets and anything else you don’t want completely covered in a thick, fine layer of icky brown dust.

I would recommend blue painter’s tape-however, when you run out, you may use masking tape as I did...

With the belt sander UNPLUGGED, insert your first piece of sandpaper. Since there are so many different kinds of sanders, ask the rental company how to put the sand paper in. Or, you can email me and I can show you how with this particular model.

Always sand in the direction of the wood grain with the largest grit sandpaper first. Because this wood was new, I started with an 80 grit.

Gently make contact with the floor while the machine is in the ‘ON’ position and you are moving forward. Walk slowly towards the other side of the room.

When you are a foot or so away from the wall (or another end point), lift gently up on the machine while still moving forward. Turn yourself & the lifted up machine around like you are mowing a lawn. Head back, baby, in the other direction. Do this until all of the floor is sanded.

Transitioning gently onto the floor with the belt sander will prevent large dips/ruts from being taken out of the wood.

Now, that your floors have been sanded all the way through....time for the edger! Strap on your knee pads and get ready to bulk up on your forearm muscles.

You will use the edger to get right up against your walls and inside of your closets. This thing is a little tricky, but with the right positioning, it won’t get away from you.

Use your palm sander to get into those tiny places even the edge can’t get into.

Don’t I look lovely? I had brown boogers. Gross.

Because we were sanding new floors, after the first sand at 80 grit, we were able to wood fill all of the nail holes and knots in the floor next.

If you are sanding old wood floors, you will do wood fill after you have sanded/edged twice: once with the 100 and then the 80 grit.

After the wood fill has dried (read directions on the packaging), sand and edge the floors again, removing all of the wood fill with your last grit of sand paper.

This is how you will look after all of the sanding is completed. Now, go to bed and get some rest.

Blow out the brown boogers as much as possible.

Tomorrow is a big day-we’re going to finish this project and make your floors so shiny and new!

From our list in ‘Part Uno’, this is what you will need today:

Shop Vac
Rubber Gloves
Polyurethane
Stain (if desired, I did not desire)
Paint Tray & liners
Foamy Brush
Lambs Wool Applicator
Pole Sander & 220 Grit Pole Sander Pads
Mineral Spirits/Paint Thinner and rags
A good attitude

First things first; using your shop vac, suck up all of the dust particles from every square inch of your newly sanded floors.

This step sucks! heh heh.

I recommend dust mopping the walls and vacuuming off ledges and shelves, as well.

Spread a generous amount of the paint thinner/mineral spirits onto your rag and take a big wiff of it. Now that you are dizzy, wipe the entire floor with your smelly rag. This removes the fine particles left behind by the vacuum.

Guess what?!

If you want to apply a stain, this is the time to do it. Use a lintless rag to apply your stain evenly to the floor.

If you are like me and aren’t applying a stain, it’s time for Round 1 of polyurethane! Grab your rubber gloves, make a bird out of them (shown above) and get pumped.

You can skip the ‘bird’ step if you like.

Gently stir your poly in a clockwise rotation with a clean stir stick.

Don’t pull up from the bottom or stir quickly. This will create air pockets in your poly. And that is not good...

You will want to stir your poly (both in the can and in the paint tray) from time to time throughout the application process.

Pour your poly very gently into your paint tray. I recommend using a liner in your paint tray or you will have a sticky mess on your hands and everywhere else.

Dip the Lamb’s Wool Applicator gently into the poly, pulling back until the applicator is full.

Start in the furthest corner of the room and plan how you are going to get out of the room. (Don’t poly yourself into the corner. That’s just embarrassing.)

Using even strokes, gently pull the lamb’s wool applicator towards you, following the direction of the wood. Repeat this until the floor is coated with polyurethane.

It’s easy to miss spots or leave puddles. Review your work as you go, using different viewing angles.

Let the first coat of poly dry. Follow the amount of time recommended by the manufacturer.

Every poly is a little different. I’ve always said that.

After the floor has had enough time to dry, use your pole sander and your 220 grit sand paper to smooth out any bubbles or high spots from pooling poly (can you say that 10 times fast?) following the direction of the wood.

You can also rent a buffing machine, but I like to get a shoulder workout. And, I’m cheap.

Vacuum the floor thoroughly after you are done sanding.

Now, it’s time for Round 2 of polyurethane!

(Follow the same instructions from Round 1 for applying the poly).

Let ‘er dry. YEAH!!!!

You are finished. Look at that floor! And you did it all by yourself.

Follow your manufacturer’s instructions on dry time. Usually you can walk on the floors 2 days or so afterwards.

You did a great job.

And THAT’S how a woman does it.

Come visit me at www.potholesandpantyhose.com and let me know if you want to see more crazy projects completed by me!-Rebekah

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