Foyer Hall Tree

Because Mr. Farmless Farmhouse has commandeered my dining room as his office.  And the Farmless Farmchild has claimed the living room as her haven of collecting. 

I have had to come up with some sort of Smoke Screen, if you will, to hide the Office of Shame from those who pass through our front door and may not know yet.  You should really win someone over with your charm and wit before exposing them to the kind of crazy in your home. 

This is where my idea was born.  For a quick fix, we placed four IKEA Billy Bookcases in the doorway to the dining room/office, which also and unfortunately gave Farmless Farmchild even more space to expand her hoard of toys, puzzles, books and trinkets.  She definitely has a collecting monkey on her back! 

I purchased two amazing sets of French doors, many moons ago, to install in the doorway of each of these rooms.  My dream is for guests, someday, to enter into our Foyer to find lovely inviting rooms beckoning through the pretty frosted squares of glass in these beautiful French doors.  "Come sit a while, doesn't this look like a peaceful relaxing retreat?" 

First problem here is:  There is nothing peaceful or enticing happening in those rooms.  Their occupants enjoy them, but they cause me great stress.  You see, I am easily overwhelmed by chaos  but the two most important people in my life seem to THRIVE in it! And it's three against one.  Yes, I said three.  We must not forget the four legged inhabitant who has a hoard of bones and toys that rival any Petco!

Second problem:  I do not feel confident enough in my handy woman skills to install these doors.  I know the basic mechanics; however, all my projects escalate into Mt. Everest.  In addition to this, since the owners of these rooms have filled them to capacity, I don't think there is enough room to accommodate the opening of the doors. 

I had to really mull this one over for a while.  Lots of screen shots, compiling ideas, sketching scrapping plans, sketching again.  Thinking of a good cost effective way to mask the chaos for my comfort and keep the other occupants happy. 

A little fact you may not know about me is that I love a good bargain!  I love the hunt mostly! I like to think I got a really great deal and I'm doing these projects "on a dime".  The sad fact is, I purchase stuff, it doesn't work, I sell it for a dime, try something else, I find a new deal, tire of that item.  See where I'm going with this?   It's a vicious cycle.  And a big factor in the major meltdown that refueled my blogging.  The blogging means I have to face public failure if I don't follow through.  I'm really not into public shaming.  I'm not into shaming at all.  So far, it has worked.  Sort of.  I have made big strides in four of my major projects but none have quite hit the finished point.  YET!  The greater the effort, the greater the reward, right?

Back to the dining room doorway:  Luckily the whole "Mud Room Entry-way" has become very trendy.  Let's hope it stays trendy until we can afford a major project we have been wanting to accomplish since purchasing our home. That's just a lil teaser for another day. 

Now the wheels are turning. How can I make a really awesome entryway, on a budget, that will have my guests and visitors saying, "Wow! This place is lovely, I never want to leave!"? 

And, how can I do this, and not waste all the money we have poured into Billy Bookcases and Pottery Barn Cameron storage systems?  Those were thrifted, of course!  But now we have enough for a showroom and they aren't really meeting our needs, or what I envisioned in my head.

Now we are getting to the part where you will start to understand why all these projects are raging at once.  Well, two or three of them at least.  We needed two of the Billy Bookcases being used in the dinning room doorway, to flank the Loft Window Seat upstairs.  It took me forever to decide between bookcases on the sides or just a long window seat.  Then sensibility won out.  You ALWAYS need more storage!  Am I right?  Okay, that decision made. 

I left part of the story out until this point.  We also have two half Billy Bookcases in our garage, that were too short to use on the window seat.  Ooops.  My bad? Or is it?!? 

My original Hall tree idea had us using the Cameron bases as the bench seat and the bookcases going up the sides or behind.  Wrong, no go.  (Looking back, we could have cut down the Billy's and placed them on top of the Cameron bases, but that came to me too late.)  Okay, Cameron in the middle for the seat and Billys on the sides.  Bead-board back.  Wrong!  The gap between the bookcases was 1 inch too narrow for the Cameron!  "Oh for crying out loud!"  "Is anything ever easy?"  "Why is everything I do, so difficult!"  I somehow find myself saying this in the middle of EVERY project I do.  Please tell me I'm not the only one?

Wait!  The two short Billys in the garage collecting dust housing our supply of sparkling water.  Yep, it's a thing.  Go ahead, judge me.  "Let's cut those down, and we can make a bench seat, just the right size, and have cubes at the top for more storage!" I said.

"You want to cut them?"  Mr. Farmless asked, in his best "Lucy, this is a baaaad idea" tone. 

Crap!  Now he's triggered my self doubt.  See what a stinking mess indecision can make? 

This is when that little voice in my head started to squeak.  "Do it!"  "Do it, I say!"  "Or you will never finish this project and you will feel like a big doo doo head!"  Yep, the voice in my head is a school yard bully with the vocabulary of a 10 year old.  But she is just the cheerleader I needed! 

"Yes!"  "Cut it!"  "If we mess it up, I don't care!"  "It's not the end of the world."  And cut it we did!  Well, actually, I measured and marked, Mr. Farmless did the cutting.  I'm afraid of the Crocodile - a small powerful circular saw. 

But, I'm a really awesome wife!  It was dark and cold, he was super tired, so I told him to cut it right in the middle of the kitchen.  How many wives would do that, huh?  Note to self, don't do that again.  It was an exorbitant amount of dust.

We worked on projects that entire day. We didn't finish that part until almost 9 pm., but, it was completely worth it!  I'm still tweaking and adjusting this project in my head.  I've decided we'll take an evening off and pick it up tomorrow just in case I think of some really cool way to improve the final product.  So I'm going to leave you here...  and that's what they call it a Cliff Hanger ;)

  

Loft Window Seat Progress

Update on the Loft Window seat Project

I know my goal was to take my projects to the finish line, but I have decided to place this particular project on hold until after Christmas.   

Let me explain why:  on almost every project I do, I think of ways I could have improved the finished product either part-way through, or on the RARE occasion that I actually finish a project, it comes to me as an afterthought. Am I the only one who does this?  Maybe it’s why I rarely see my projects through. Fear of regret or mistakes?  I’m hearing Bob Newhart’s words: “And how does that make you feel?” 

Shut up Bob!  That’s how it makes me feel!  Just shut up! 

This project WILL make it to the finish line!  Pinky swear!  In fact, it’s really at a point where some would call it finished. A few trim pieces and most people would be perfectly content.

However, I know, it could be better. Maybe even perfect!  And I don’t want to settle. I want to feel elation when this project is finished. And I did not give it “my 100 percent”.

Now, back to my actual explanation.  I realized, last night, while working on the Hall Tree build, that I could gain about one quarter inch of depth on each shelve if we took out the “Factory” backer board, and placed bead-board panels on the back instead. 

I could also fix each shelf in place.  Making them stationary would allow me to fill in the adjustable shelving holes and backer board channel with caulk.  This would also give them a much more polished and professional look.  You know, like they’ve always been there. Like a “real” old farmhouse. The authenticity and charm I’ve been looking for! 

So current game plan is:  Deck the window with a Christmas tree and decorations. No one, but the residents of our house, will be any the wiser. And in January or February we’ll “Git R Done!"  Maybe I’ll discover even better ideas by then. 

Meanwhile, we will finish the Hall Tree build, which gave me the idea. I wish I would have done so many things differently on this project, but I’m okay with that because I know it’s temporary. More on that in a upcoming blog post.

The Big Green Monster

This thing shall henceforth be named the Big Green Bastard!  Okay, maybe the Big Green Monster would be better.

I say this as I am sitting here, covered in white speckles from head to toe!  And, absolutely pooped from today’s new shenanigans.

I’ve already used two jars of DIY paint, three to four coats, depending on the area. At first I thought I had too much water in the paint, add another coat.  Use it without water, still didn’t cover. Paint again, still didn’t cover. Then I realize - this was raw unfinished wood and sitting in someone’s kitchen for probably 15 plus years. Grease!  Ugh!  Post question on support page.  Thank goodness for awesome friendly DIYers.    So now I learn I have to spray it with Shellac to seal it.   How lovely for me, none of the stores in my area carry spray Shellac!  Not that I could quickly run to the store anyway, child with autism here.  Not an option.

Wait till sweet hubby gets home with it, that would make sense right?  Oh contraire, I have no patience for such practicality.

I had my friend help me wheel it onto the deck.

I figure I can at least start spaying the inside with the Killz paint I have in the garage, it says that primes and seals, right?  Only one small problem.  Apparently spray paint doesn’t keep for 12 years!  Who knew?

So textured interior it is!  The Killz came out of the can something akin to silly string. Remember silly string?  Fun right?  No!  Not when it’s permanent, and all over you!  Sigh.

Still determined to finish this project before I qualify for the Senior discount at Denny’s. Only kidding, I hate Denny’s. Don’t ask.

I begin shaking the can, and shaking, and shaking, and shaking, and some more shaking.  And even more shaking after that!  You get the picture. Two cans later, I am speckled from head to toe. My favorite cleaning cloth sacrificed to the paint gods, I have finally coated the inside of the Big Green Monster!  All be it textured, it is painted!  Whew.

And so am I.

Remember that goal I had of taking my projects to the finish line? You will not defeat me Big Green...  Monster!