It’s 5 o’clock Somewhere

It’s that time of year, again.  I must get back to school and lesson plans. So how much can we cram in a weekend?

Spent time on the beach with George and Connor . . .

Attended an outdoor soireé featuring Alison Glass with her handcrafted fabrics and quilt sample ideas . . .

And made a tiki bar beer bottle opener for my friends. This was a very easy and quick project.

Supplies: 1″ x 6″ pine wood, drill and screws, drink bottle opener, 4 bottle caps, staple gun and staples, paint and brushes

How: Cut wood into 1) 22″ length for back, 2) 4.5″pieces for sides, 1) 4.5″ x  4.5″ piece for bottom  and 1) 4.5″ x  5.5″ piece for the front. 

Attach front to sides with screws. Drill holes into the bottom for drainage. Then, screw through the back into each of the side pieces. Screw on bottom piece (from bottom-side up).

Add decoration – there are a ton of design ideas online. I painted a clock face and attached bottle caps using a staple gun. Lastly, attach the bottle opener (ours came from Total Wine).

Remember, it’s always 5 o’clock somewhere  ; )  Have a good week! – – Joanne

Farmhouse Dining Table

George has an awesome gift: he can look at a photo (“I want it to look just like this”) and in turn, build whatever piece of furniture requested.  This gift came in handy as we helped our son-in-law and daughter paint and decorate their first new home these past few weeks. The one thing our daughter requested was for her dad to build a keepsake farmhouse dining table. 

The table was built from supplies left over from my craft table project, in addition to four traditional maple wood turned legs from Lowe’s and a lot of braces.  🙂  

Brianne and I painted the apron and legs a white chalk paint wash. Later, she applied Minwax Red Mahogany stain and a satin Minwax clear coat to the top.

Wouldn’t this table look great paired with these half painted chairs? 😉

Have a good week! – – Joanne

Half Paint Chairs

I’m in love with my daughter, Brianne’s, dining chairs. This past weekend she updated the hand-me-down chairs using spray paint and stain.

Family Room: Fireplace Built-ins

The second set of built-ins are in! Yay! To help control and hide toys, games and other “stuff” we ordered two  Barker cabinet sets. Located in Oregon, Barker builds customizable wood cabinets with high quality hardware at reasonable prices. We ordered two-door sink base cabinets.

George cut and routed tops for each, which I stained a dark red mahogany, then added three coats of polyurethane.

In order to fit the built-ins snug against the fireplace brick, George had to cut both mantel ends off.

Talk about trepidation! But, as usual, he did a fantastic job! 

With Thanksgiving and a business trip looming, George put together the cabinets and built the upper shelves. While he was out of town, I painted the cabinets, shelves and trim with two coats Glidden Gripper Primer & Sealer (love this primer) and three coats Behr Premium Ultra White, sanding between coats.

A fireplace surround and TV mount are our next projects – but after the holidays. 😉 We found many DIY ideas online, but really liked the simplicity of Cameras & Chaos‘ wall mount plans. George got an early start on the wood “wainscot-like” TV cable channels.

Family is coming to our home for Thanksgiving, and I wanted this room available for overflow. We screwed the last screw, pulled off painter’s tape and stowed the tools, paints and hardware this past Sunday.  We moved the furniture back in and filled the shelves. Just to see how far we’ve come, we started with this . . . 

BEFORE

. . . And have updated to this . . . 

DURING

Whew! Just in time for turkey!

Have a great Thanksgiving! – – Joanne 

 Family Room: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6

 

 

Salvaged Shabby Wood Shelf

I wanted a shelf over my bed headboard; but nothing was inspiring me. Nothing! I was experiencing that dreaded, time consuming “I’ll know it when you see it” syndrome. I couldn’t find the right design, or wood or stain.

Well, it had been staring me in the eyes all summer. I had a “Duh” moment. Use some of the salvaged wood I had on hand! And . . . leave the wood as is: shabby, no added paint or stain.

It is a sickness, but I love to collect salvaged woods from furniture or building construction. I have quite a collection. I used two vintage window crowns and a buffet backboard piece left from our half bath remodel.

I planned to place the shelf high on the wall, so I used the most damaged piece – the light green window crown, minus the trim molding – as the shelf. One side has a few rough spots which look worse in the image than actually is. Only a 6’5″ person would be able see the damage. 😉

Five screws secure the green wood to the white window crown. The stained backboard piece was secured with flat braces.

The only thing I had to purchase were the flat brackets. I love the combined woods and colors.

Don’t you just love it when it all comes together and it costs almost nothing? .🙂
Have a good week! – – Joanne

Family Room: New Wall, New Floor, Wine

Our home is in total chaos but, I feel ‘Pharrell happy!’ Open windows and fresh air, early morning birds and lawn mower buzz, barbecue smells wafting over the neighborhood . . .
 

As of this weekend, we covered the floor joists with plywood, the new pipes are better supported and wall insulation added. One of my favorite tools is my electric stapler. Love the sound: “Click-thump, Click-thump!” Although it’s not as nice as the original 1960s wood, we did manage to find the same pattern in MDF paneling at Lowes. With primer and paint it’ll blend right in.

Ha! Wine bottle photo bomb 😉

It wasn’t all work this past weekend. We managed to fit in a ‘scrum-dilly-ump-tious’ breakfast at Cracker Barrel, plant a few annuals, barbecue two nights in a row and sip a little wine. We’re sore, a little sun burnt, tired but feeling very accomplished.

How was your weekend?

Family Room: Part 1, Part 2, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6

Have a good week! – – Joanne