more on the office renovation

The closet storage got done over the weekend. this included moving whatever was not related to office stuff out, and installing shelves to fit my notebooks, reference books and storage boxes. All the items remaining needs to be sorted through which will clean up that area even further.

I like having office stuff like this in the closet as none of it is very appealing to look at. It’s just boxes of papers, manuals, notebooks etc.. that are rather bulky and unpleasant in appearance – definitely not the streamlined look I’m going for.

However, the problem now is the items removed now need to find a home! We have too much STOFS!

We rotated my current desk onto the wall, bought the chair I wanted, and installed it next to the computer desk. Hm I like this lay out better as it puts me face to face with who is in the chair as opposed to the chair being behind me, but that means no hobby desk for hubby.

I’m also wondering about putting any further furniture (i.e. the hobby desk and bench) in the room period? Right now it is very open and I like it. Leaving it open would help with the other purpose of the room: dvd workouts, yoga and meditation.

If I hung the photo canvas over my desk I could look at it while working on the computer; if I put the television on the wall opposite of the computer, then the person in the chair could watch television and the person at the desk could pivot and watch if s/he wanted. This makes better sense to me.

The reason I thought I would post this information is that often you will come up with a floor plan that on paper seems to work out. Once you start moving furniture around though, it becomes clear there is a better solution.

I still want my wall fountain though….

Working Budget for office is about $1800. New floor ($500); shelves in the closet for storage ($60); computer desk – reuse current one; chair ($100); ceiling fan ($150); floor lamp – use current one; desk lamp ($40); buying a new television with dvd player ($400); buying a new music system that uses my mp3 player ($60); wall fountain ($200); window covering – from another room; rod and drapes? ($100); and wall canvas art ($200-500).

Office & Sanctuary Renovation

Our fourth bedroom (10′ 6″ x 12′ ) serves as my computer “office” and it is high on my list of re-dos. The first thing to do was figure out what, ideally, I would want the room to function for:

Computer desk – right now it dominates the room. I would like it to be more streamlined. Most of the stuff on the desk I don’t even use. The scanner needs to be replaced with a smaller one. Measuring my current desk I know I would need a minimum surface length of 4′ long. Standard desk height is 31″.

Here is the revised plan – moving the desk against the north wall and freeing up the floor for workouts, yoga, meditation, and sleepovers.

Hobby work area – I’d like hubby to be able to come in and play with his hobbies while I’m on the computer so we can increase our together time. This means a work surface and areas to store his bins and bits.

We’ve decided to go with a bench heigh at 42″ and a length of 6′. This area will need a stool and I really like this industrial “lab” looking one from School Outfitters:

Overnight bed – Having a bed all the time would just be wasteful considering how seldom we have guests; yet it would be nice to be able to offer. Our thought was if we change the son’s bed to a full, a guest can sleep there, and with a blow up twin, he can sleep in the office.

Chair for reading – the recliner we are using now takes up too much space. For reading, we will probably need a floor lamp.

Plenty of storage – We will be taking advantage of the closet and making a row of shelves, as well as using rolling bins. Storage needs to be very accessible but not seen.

A bench (approximately 4′ long, 18″ deep) on the south wall provides more storage. My original thought on the bench was something like a cubby such as this or a bench with some baskets. However, I really like this Mango Thailand Bench from Overstock as it has the ethnic feel and texture, as well as the color tone of the wood, I want.

Floor space for workouts - I would really like to use this room for meditation, yoga and perhaps even for some of my workout dvd routines. With that in mind, we will be replacing the carpet with wood and leaving a large open area in the center of the room.

Theme/Inspiration: I want the room to be tranquil and serene, in a neutral palette, perhaps with some Asian and Indian themes, and definitely with clean lines and little clutter.

Other considerations: task lighting for desk areas; wall mounted television with concealing doors; music system with speakers; hiding wires from electronics; easy access to the back of electronics; replacing ceiling fan; wall art from photo; and soothing neutral colors with lots of textures. 

Room challenges: A very large east facing window allows too much heat and glare into the room in the morning. Additional electric will have to be placed for task lighting and electronics.

Budget for the redo is about $1800. This includes a new floor; shelves in the closet for storage; building the desk surfaces; buying a chair, fan and lamps; buying a new television with dvd player; buying a new music system that uses my mp3 player; wall fountain; wall canvas art; and building a low bench for seating and storage.

Timeline: until total completion probably about six months due to cost, for example, the television will be bought last even though the floor, desks and chair will be finished.

A little girls’ vanity gets the princess treatment

This little vanity, bought for $35 from a junk shop, was redone for my daughters’ room. In many ways it was an experiment piece as I wanted to try out a variety of different painting techniques and all the details of the drawers, molding, feet, and scallops allowed just that.

After a few years of serving as her desk, it’s on it’s way to my neice. I thought I would show photos of this older project for the playful painting techniques that I experimented with using the color palette of white, with medium shades of pink and purple.
 

Advantages of Painting Older Furniture

What I especially love is taking a piece with a lot of carving which was originally stained in a very dark color, and painting it. Paint, covers a myriad of sins, and quickly updates that old stain to something that blends it into a more contemporary room. You can also use paint as a unifying theme – if you have several mismatched pieces of furniture you want in the same room, paint them all with the same color such as a classic neutral of white, cream or black.

Painting an older piece works especially well if there is carving, molding or architectural details that you can highlight.

Dealing with Damaged Veneer

You will often find furniture from the 1920’s-50’s with veneer as it was a very popular method to use  expensive hardwoods. While these bargains are plentiful, unfortunately, they often show veneer damage. A choice has to be made to repair, paint over, or cover it.

If the piece is truly old or was manufactured by a well-known designer, repairing it professionally would be best to keep its’ value. With the more relaxed design policies of today, you can also have fun with less valuable furniture that has cracked legs, chipped veneer, broken corners or other damage by incorporating the used look into the overall feel of the design.

With this vanity, the damaged veneer was on the flat, inside panels, where the chair would pull up. This isn’t unusual with veneered furniture that has been stored in garages, basements, attics etc… because the glue bond becomes destroyed with fluctuating humidity.

Because the piece held no historical value, I opted to cover the damage instead of trying to repair it.  I first cut out the badly damaged areas on the veneer and re-glued the remaining veneer, using weight to get it to lay flat while the glue dried.

I traced the origional scallop carving seen in the center front of the piece, and keeping the curved shape, adapted it in size. A thin wooden piece was cut from the pattern and became a decorative accent to cover the damage. Wood glue was applied on the pattern’s back, and it was tacked down, with the nail holes recessed and covered with a bit of wood putty which was sanded smooth before being painted pink, then sponged over with white.

In this photo, you can see the how the center curve on the vanity fits the new inside panel:

If making changes like this, always use the original form of the piece for inspiration as it means you are remaining true to it, and new and old will blend better.

Combing

Combing, which results in this stripe, was a new technique I tried and it was very easy but does take some time. A rubber comb for decorative painting can be bought at your hardware store in the paint area. You can also make one by cutting the form out of the end of a piece of very hard cardboard but I like the commercial rubber tool as it can be washed and re-used.

The high contrast in color was white over a medium tone purple. Because I used paint and not glaze I had to work quickly. The more perfect the surface, the more exact the result, yet I rather liked this uneveness and went with it.

Combing works best on very flat, even surfaces. I also think it’s best to work on short surfaces – the longer the drag, the higher the chance it will be crooked. You need a very steady hand to pull this technique off and be sure to wipe the comb clean before beginning the next stroke.

Ragging Off

On the tabletop (no pic) I used a technique called Ragging Off, which is a decorative paint technique where glaze or paint is removed. It works best on flat, even surfaces.

The first coat was purple and after it dried, a silver glaze was applied in a criss cross brush application. Glaze allows more time to work the pattern so if you make a mistake you can brush out, then go back to working it; if you opt for diluted paint you will have a very short time to work before it starts to dry.

Take a clean soft rag (I prefer cut up t-shirts), and crumple it into a loose, wrinkled tube. Using your hands (if you don’t like getting dirty put on latex gloves), roll the cloth over the surface of the glaze. This removes as opposed to applying (Ragging On) and is a subtractive technique.

On the lift off of cloth from surface, remove upwards instead of pushing across and up, this will help keep the original texture of the design. Keep rolling and lifting off, changing the direction of your approach and crossing the older glaze so there is no clear pattern.

Ragging on or off gives a very nice, soft texture and I like it when it is subtle – darker color with lighter on top, vs. light color with dark on top (which IMO can look more amateurish).

Porcelain Crackle Glaze

I also experimented with a porcelain crackle glaze in some area such as the scalloped front piece and the drawer fronts. A Porcelain glaze is a fine cracking effect commonly seen on older pieces of porcelain and sometimes on paintings and painting frames. It is a delicate effect best put on places that will be seen up close as it is a subtle surface finish.

The area is first painted for the undercoat, in this case, white was used. Then the porcelain crackle glaze is applied over a dry surface and let to dry. A top coat of a glaze is then applied and sinks into the cracks. To make this work you will want two high contrasting colors – in this above example, the base color was white, and the glaze was maroon, which in this concentration dried to a darker pink. I personally like the darker color into the cracks (topcoat) as the veining is generally darker when this is seen done by nature.

Hardware

Going with glass knobs enhanced the fairy-tale, princess feel of this desk. White porcelain or pewter knobs would have also worked well. I didn’t clean it up for the pic but the bottom drawer pull was an original brass one.
 

This close up also shows the various patterns on the drawer fronts which lent itself to different colors. You can see the decorative trim at the bottom of the drawers also. It’s these small details you should look for when deciding if a piece would be a good choice for painting.

Last minute thoughts

If I was doing this piece again, I would not do the sand back “damage” effects that I put on the legs and some of the molding – in the end I feel like it jarred with this particular piece, although I have done it with my black painted furniture.

I also would have kept the whites, a bit whiter by not using the glaze as much – and the drawer fronts looked a bit dirty with the maroon glaze over the porcelain crackling.

Price: Vanity $35, knobs $8, 3 quarts of paint (white, purple, pink) $24, the glazes, wood etc.. were all leftovers from the garage. Total: $67.

Kitchen table to desk

At one time we owned a rectangular, dining table bought for $100 and used in our breakfast nook. Although the table was really strong, the size was all wrong for the area.

It looked something like the table in this picture, left. Since it was really a strong table, I thought it might be great to convert it to a desk.

The original width of the table top was 2 feet 9 inches x 5 feet long. By trimming one long side of the table top – 5 feet x 9 inches – the depth of the table was changed to an even 2 feet x 5 feet, making it more of the size of a working desk instead of a table.

The table top piece that was cut off (9 inches x 5 feet) was reversed and then placed back on the table surface, becoming a raised second level to the desk with pigeon holes underneath supported by vertical supports.

The tabletop was painted Pecan – and the legs painted a chocolate brown. These were the colors I had on hand so I wanted to work with a project using materials I only had on hand. The table, paints, glazing, sandpaper, etc… was all available to me at no cost – leavingthe purchase of the map book the only cost involved in making this table.

At the local library book sale, we got an atlas of maps for less then 25 cents. The maps were cut out from the book, applied to the sanded table surface and then protected with several coats of ModPodge, one of my favorite decoupaging mediums.

I first used a Burnt Umber Glaze applied in a dragged on technique applied in a criss cross manner.

If your paper bubbles, use a razor blade (X-acto knife) to gently slit the bubble and re-apply modpodge.

To avoid bubbling, I should have applied the glue (ModPodge) to the table surface, laid the paper on, and then rolled it out from the inside to the out corners flat.

Then I distressed the tabletop surface with a hammer, nail points, and banging with a piece of metal rod. The tabletop was then wiped again with Raw Sienna Glaze, and then dressed with a top coat of black glaze which was applied in a criss cross, dragged on technique.

Play with the glaze and just see how much you want left on and in what type of pattern for the effect you like.

Unfortunately, my camera broke and these are taken with a camcorder… the finished table was much nicer then these photos look like.

Base Molding

When our current house was built we were given the cheapest molding possible. This is one of the many ways a builder cuts costs and the small base molding has bugged me since Day One. In our plans to redo the first floor, replacing this molding with something larger figures high on the list.

In the Parade of Homes we visited, we noticed that homes in the price range that we would be currently building our home today (due to skyrocketing building costs) and those priced above all came with larger molding!

Here are some photos of how the molding looked (remember to click on the photo to see a close up with the details):

In this molding the ends are aligned with door molding (left) and a block (right). The white molding shows high contrast against the darker wood floors (all the rage) and the medium toned neutral paint. This would become a theme in all the Builder homes we saw on the tour.

Rounded, plastered corners was seen in all the new homes, and with it, came these corner base molding pieces that wrapped them:

This photo caught some of the doorway molding that we also saw — at the right, you can see the open walkthrough has molding on the inside of the pass. We saw this in about half of the homes we viewed and I am of two minds about it. I liked the look in squared off walkthroughs and did not like it in arched walkthroughs.

I imagine in the long run this saves some damage to plaster as doorways get pretty banged up with moving furniture, kids and people resting hands on the walls. Of course, it did continue the theme of putting molding everywhere! (over windows, doors, under windows, doors, extensive crown molding etc…)

In all of these examples you can see that the base molding was quite substantial in size. Widths were probably about 6″ as compared to our current base molding which is about 3″.  Profiles were kept simple and because of the spare furniture put in builder’s homes, was quite noticeable.

From this next photo, and all the others, you can see that no quarter round was added – something that was placed in our home and which I have hated for years as being just another something to collect dirt and dust when trying to clean floors.

Like all molding, the wider it is, the more expensive. The more ornate the profile, the more expensive. Molding that is meant to be stained has few if any join marks which makes it more expensive as compared to pine or MDF with more joints and is meant to be painted.

We did notice in one home that a very simple 3″ base was added to on the top with a more ornate profile base and since they were next to each other and painted over with the same color, appeared to be one larger piece. I am not sure this would actually save you money. However if you had a base molding you did not want to replace but wanted the bigger look you could add another piece of base and double the size appearance.

Doorway and Window molding

During our trip through many of the homes featured on the Parade of Homes, we saw a new way of dealing with doors and windows that really seduced us. This was additional trim and molding at the top of the door and windows, as well as the bottom of the door and windows.

Doorway lintels sported additional molding like this for an hallway bathroom door:

Here the inside of the front door sports an even more impressive molding design:

Windows and archways also came away with molding treatments to make them more impressive. These French Doors with Transom Window is topped with molding that reaches into the crown molding. A bit overkill it seems to me…

A lovely window with a bit of molding on top:

as well as bottom…

Even triple windows received treatments of molding

as did windows with curves

None of this molding is out of reach of the simple carpenter or even the most basic budget. The reality is that additions of these types ups the rich Old World feeling of home. Because it is projects that typically increase the cost of building due to time and materials, it also sends a vibe to the visitor that this home is older and richer then perhaps it’s neighbor without the moldings.

Window moldings were being seen throughout the home – the fancier and larger treatments with the common rooms of breakfast, dining, great room, living room and master, but also even in the spare bedrooms and gamerooms. Perhaps moldings have grown in popularity as fewer people are using full window curtains to dress a window and more are opting for blinds with perhaps a frissom of drape?

Crown Molding

We’ve been spending the week doing some of our local Parade of Homes. These are open homes by builders you can visit for free and our purpose was to go and take note of some of the trends and buyer-desired features so we could later duplicate them in our house!

A very noticeable feature was the use of molding, both base and crown, on walls, ceilings and over doors and windows.

Let’s examine crown molding first as I love it.  The most common rooms with crown molding is the formal dining, great room and master. Often we also saw it in the kitchen and entry way. We saw none in the upstairs areas or the extra bedrooms.

The reality is that it is time consuming and expensive to install. Crown molding is sold by the linear foot. It can be bought in oak, pine and even MDF and if it wood is designed to be stained will be more expensive, then the type that has more joints and is made to painted.

Most of the crown molding and other molding we saw was painted white on medium tone neutral walls. In a few of the homes it was stained a deep, rich brown.

We even saw one example that was painted cream and then was glazed over so the lines of the molding were even more evident (just personal taste but we both didn’t like it – too trendy and it already looked dated).

It can be a bear to put in as you have to cut the ends in a reverse, upside down cut then what you would normally think so it’s not for a “beginner.”

Some of the homes cheated by using this decorative joining piece  (photo left) so they wouldn’t have to cut it all fancy. Having installed crown molding ourselves, this probably saved tons of time!

Here are some clever ways the builders cheated to gain the look without the price. To see the full effects of the crown and for better details, click the photos. That will show it enlarged and details can be better viewed.

In this example, the builder has put in crown molding, then left a section of plaster painted white below it. A small bead of molding defines the bottom of the white area, giving the illusion that all the white area is molding (it is not). This was a very old trick used as long ago as the Victorian age.

In this yet to be painted crown molding design, above and below the crown molding is placed a simple piece of baseboard. This gives the optical appearance that the entire unit is one massive piece of crown molding (it’s not). If you have very high ceilings and want to make a massive statement, this fits the bill!

Here is the same technique of above and below base molding with crown but it is stained. Here you can see how the optical illusion of one massive (and supposedly high-dollar piece of crown molding graces the ceiling.

In this version (below), which we liked best, the crown is offset with only one piece of baseboard that is located below (as opposed to the previous version which did above and below).

And here is the same effect with a tray ceiling, done at different ceiling heights:

From a visitors’ viewpoint, it was immediately noticeable if a home had crown molding or not because of the darker shade of neutral that is now popular with builders. The crisp white of the crown molding made the ceiling and wall paint really pop and gave the entire home a fresh, new feel.

Crown molding is often noted in real estate seller’s notes on a home up for sale so it is an attractive feature that buyers desire. With a little ingenuity you can also have that ka-ching look with just a bit of sweat equity!

Technique: Dragging with a brush

Since paint is removed to achieve dragging, it’s called a “subtractive” technique. It is also a method requiring the designer to think about both colors as the undercoat will be revealed when the topcoat of paint/glaze is taken off.

Here you can see that the undercoat was quite dramatically changed once the top coat of glaze was applied. Brush marks are quite clearly evident so it takes a steady hand with a smooth starting and stopping of the brush.

It works best on long, flat pieces and though it can also be done on a wall. The above photos were done with the blades of a ceiling fan.

First, your item is painted with an undercoat of color that will show through the topcoat of paint/glaze. However, as you can see from the photo example, the glaze color does dominate unless you take a lot of it off.

Apply the paint/glaze topcoat in right angles across the piece. Although you can water down latex paint to achieve this look, I prefer tinted glaze as it allows a much longer working time making it possible to correct mistakes.

Be sure to work an area that is not so large you can’t complete it within the drying time allowed by the glaze or paint. If possible, don’t stop the glaze halfway down on a surface – try to do an entire area so “stop” marks don’t occur.

Once the glaze is applied, then start the brush at one edge and lightly pull it through the glaze. At the end of the drag, lift off lightly while still dragging forward. This prevents stop marks on the drag.

If necessary, wipe the brush on a rag. Since this technique removes glaze, you want the brush able to grab more glaze. Keep it clean so it doesn’t get overloaded and doesn’t make the defined brush marks.

Start the next drag, slightly overlapping (about 1/4 to 1/8 inch) the first drag. This prevents stripping variations that show where the overlap was. It’s important to use the same amount of pressure, drag and lift off so it appears to be the same as the first strip of drag.

Let dry in a clean, non dusty, non windy area so it can keep it’s beautiful finish.

Paint/Glaze: Paint can be diluted with water or glaze.. Glaze allows you time to work the surface accurately. Or you can use tinted glaze alone. The larger the area you want to work, the more I would use glaze instead of watered down paint. Glaze allows much more working time.

Tools: Paintbrush, paint, glaze, and rags.

Surfaces: Surfaces must be smooth, imperfections in the surface really lead to problems. Works best over large, flat areas.

Ability: Easy to moderate. It’s not a difficult technique but it does require patience and a bit of practice. Most of the work is keeping the application the same in terms of pressure, with detail to overlapping to prevent differences in the stroke lines.

Ceiling fan

I’m going for a bit of retro-1940’s look in my son’s room with earth tone colors of green, beige, and tans accented with silver metal. One of the items I found recently was a modern/contemporary styled ceiling fan on Craigslist for $40.

The fan blades were originally a light, shades of white, pickled oak with shiny top glaze  that wasn’t going to suit where it was going. It was also a dated color, probably more to the 1980’s then now.

 

 

 

 

 

First, I did a very light sanding to break the surface. The primer used was from a spray can; the first time I’ve used a spray primer and really I wasn’t very impressed. I’ll stick to paint with a roller or foam brush.

There were some nicks on the blades so if these are too severe you can use a filler to make the surface even before re-painting.

 

 

 

 

The base coat used some of the paint (Pecan) already in the room. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The top glaze was Burnt Umber, which was applied with a drag technique. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I let it dry 24 hours to reduce any paint smell and then re-attached to the main fan motor.

I liked the body of the fan so didn’t change the silver. However, if you wanted to do this you need to be aware that spray paint can get inside the workings and gum it up. Any spraying you do, the working area of the motor and electronics need to be firmly protected and sealed.

Before you throw away those ceiling fans because of their dated look, see what you can do by changing the blades or the color of the metal housing. You might be surprised into saving some money!

Installing cabinet hardware with a jig

I got a great deal on some cabinet knobs via Craigslist;  they were really nice knobs and I got 18 for $25. The seller told she bought them through ebay and didn’t use them all, so I will have to check ebay out! Thanks Christine for the tip!

We installed the knobs on the kitchen cabinets by making a jig. Our jig was made from some scrap lumber and it serves as a guide for cutting the holes which makes the job go faster and easier.

Since we knew the edge of the cabinet w0uld hold the jig in place, the jig was designed so the L would butt into the cabinet. Hubby first cut two pieces of scrap lumber and attached them in an L shape, using his square to check alignment.

Next he attached a flat scrap to the L-shape. He measured the distance from each side of the door corner and transposed that onto the flat side of the jig.

Then he drilled a hole that would become the guide for future drilling into the cabinet doors. You can see from the back of the jig (above) that the first hole wasn’t right (always check before using), so he re-measured and made another.

The jig is then placed against the corner of the cabinet door where the drill is used to start the hole. Hubby used a drill bit that would fit the screws snugly; you need to be careful with that because if it isn’t a snug fit, over time, the screw will loosen in the hole, making your pull or handle wobbly.

Also, don’t put the drill on full force; start with slow to medium speed.

Once you get the hole started, enough to mark to the hole (about an eighth of an inch), remove the jig and drill the rest of the hole.

 

 

 

 

 The screw for the cabinet knob is screwed in from the back.

 

 

 

 

Once it’s screwed flush, then the knob is applied from the front of the cabinet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The installed cabinet pulls.