Front Door Redo on a Budget

 

Our front door:  not the most impressive. 

It’s a standard metal door, which the builder dressed up with wood trim.  (Don’t you like how this Arrow points at the rusty spots on the lantern? 0 We discussed replacing the door with something new, but kept hearing about problems with hanging a new door in the old door’s place, and the cost to rip it all out and replace the unit was not in the budget. Plus, this door works great!  I absolutely hate replacing anything that isn’t broken. 

So, we decided to give the existing door a makeover.

 

First, Ryan used a razor to cut through the paint between the trim and the door.

Next, he pried the trim off of the door.  It had been nailed and glued on, but came off quite easily.

He then patched all the holes with Bondo body filler.

And then sanded and sanded and sanded and sanded.

The end result was pretty cool – all those layers.

This is how it looked from the street after he finished sanding it.

Next, he took leftover beadboard from our Laundry Room makeover and cut to size.

Then glued that directly to the door.  Initially, we were going to center this piece, but luckily realized that the bottom of a door will typically have greater width between any decorative elements than the top of the door. The piece is centered horizontally, but has much more space on the bottom than the top.

He then added decorative trim around the beadboard, caulked, primed and painted.

The BEFORE.

The AFTER.

Now wait until you see what he did to the inside!!!!

And yes, I also painted the rusty lantern.  Door swag from Cameron’s in Downtown Lee’s Summit.

Lifting Elephants

…Ears, Cannas and Gladiolas.

That time of year.

Remember my Black Magic Elephants Ears?  They did GREAT this year. I bought 2 bulbs from Lowe’s at $20 a bulb! Not a typical purchase for me, but I wanted them REALLY bad.  Ryan was with me and I pretended shock when we got to the check out. But really, what’s he going to do then? Not get them?! 

Plus I told him that I could lift them in the Fall, so next year, they really only cost $20, then the next year $10, then $5…and so on and so on.  If you think about it, those things are an INVESTMENT!



I also had two fabulous Cannas in a pot with some bamboo my neighbor gave me.  I think I paid $5 for the Cannas. The did great and bloomed all summer.






And I’d gotten about 50 gladiolas for $5 in mid-summer, which is late.  I got them in the ground, but only about 5 bloomed.  I’ll get them in the ground earlier next year, and they should do better.

Starting to get some early morning light frost, so, last weekend I dug them all up, separated what I could and have spread them out in the basement to dry. I’ve got all my originals, plus about 18 baby Elephant Ears! about 10 more cannas, and about 80 glad bulbs.  YAY!  If I can keep them from rotting, it’ll all be good.

I typically have good luck with saving bulbs (or corms or whatever). However, last year I had a bunch of caladiums, but failed to dry them properly before storage.  ugh….they were a soft, mushy mess when I pulled them out in the Spring.  I learned my lesson.



Here’s to having a plan and sticking to it. And really, it’s like growing money…right!?!?

The Office and a Major Award

Okay. First things first.

I won a Major Award! I think it may be our shared secretive geekiness, but Bub at I'd Like To Hold a Tarantula (who, BTW, cracks me up) awarded me this.

Thanks!

There are some rules involved in my acceptance of this Major Award, which I fully intend to follow, but I have to share the Office NOW! Thus, I will devote my next post to my Major Award. (also allowing me to discuss my Major Award again.)

For today, on to the OFFICE!

Remember, we had unfinished basement that became this.



And now THIS!



and THIS!



and THIS!



and THIS!



After we replace Ryan's chair in the Family Room, his chair will move to the Guest Room and replace a Wing Back Chair, which will fill this corner along with a side table. But, that will have to wait.

We also made this



There were four separate metal squares from Old Time Pottery - $4.99 each. I brought them home and Ryan riveted them together. I couldn't find any cute magnets, so made these out of magnet tape and doodads I had around. It works great, and I really like it!

And now, instead of looking at a furnace, I get to look at this!



Much nicer.

Ryan finished tiling and grouting the hall extension today, so we can call the carpet guy to finish all that up. Then we just need to hang doors and trim and get a few more accessories for the office and then this project will be complete.

It's so nice to have the office clean and functional. oh....and I do still need to organize....well, it might happen - right?

Linked to MetMon at Between Naps on the Porch
and
FIF!

Hi Ho! Hi Ho!

I am sitting in the new office on the computer! It's still not all set up, but will be VERY soon!



First, just let me tell you...

I ran across THIS desk at Cargo Largo.

List price $1,573. Can be had all over the web for $1,099 plus shipping.

Cargo Largo price? $499

The desk is HUGE. 68 1/4" wide by 32" deep.

And I like to spread out. (Which is a nice way of saying I am a slob with poor organization skills and my crap is all over the place.)

SO! I went home to measure and although I LOVED it and LOVED the price, I was concerned that it was just a bit too big.

bummer.

We kept shopping, but could find NOTHING in the right size/quality/look for the price I wanted to spend, which, unfortunately was now $499 because of the Cargo Largo desk.

We visited nine furniture shops,including Cameron's (where we did buy two pillows and an end table.)


No Luck.

Getting tired, we decided to head back to Cargo Largo for one last look.

Cargo Largo's selection changes quickly from day to day, and we were hoping they had more options for us.

The stars aligned, the angels sang and-because we were in Independence-to paraphrase our 33rd president, Harry S Truman - "the buck stopped there!" Guess what!?!?! The desk was marked down to $349. It's mine, all mine.

Ryan called Sweet Bob, and the two of them - in one manly move - got the desk out of the truck, around the back, through the door and into the office. And it fits perfectly.

And now I am waiting on a KVM extender to clear up the clutter.

That's right! Check back tomorrow for the techie details OR skip the techie stuff and wait for the pretty pictures, which will be coming very soon!

Sewing some Custom Curtains

There are gorgeous windows on the back of the house, especially in the Living Room. But they MUST have curtains to block the sun during the hottest part of the day. Luckily, there are enough trees to provide some shade, as I have no clue how I would cover the really big windows on top.

Here's the windows and curtains before we moved in.



I was lucky enough to find THESE curtains at JC Penney Outlet. They were having a 75% off sale on curtains AND I was shopping with my mom. She, of course, had coupons for an additional 15% OFF. Love HER! Thanks, mom! So, we got these curtains for about $50!



While I really love these curtains, Ryan and I both felt the room needed more...Something?

AGAIN, I get to turn to my fabulous SIL at Modus Operandi Designs, and she suggested something "beefier" and also suggested raising the curtains to just below the big Palladian windows. (I pay her back in wine and Chiefs tickets. I wonder how that's working out for her, because it's working out GREAT for me!)

The don't make "off the rack" curtains in the length I needed: about 105". Custom was going to cost me a minimum of $3500. Another option is "made-to-length" curtains, which would cost a minimum of $1800 for what we want. (These prices ONLY include the curtains, not the hardware)

SEW, I get out the sewing room, which consists of me dragging my sewing machine and ironing board out into the middle of the Family Room (which, you KNOW Ryan just LOVES.)

Pluses to working in the Family Room?

1. It encourages me to finish up the project quickly, since all my crap is in the way.
2. I get to iron while I am watching TV!

We waited until Jo-Ann Fabric had their 54" Decorator Fabric on sale. We got the fabric at 65% off: bringing our total spent to just under $300. Still a lot, but a significant savings over full price and a HUGE savings over having someone else make them. I also asked the clerk at Jo-Ann to cut my fabric into four equal pieces, which saves me time AND they cut very straight at Jo-Ann. Me...? Not so straight.

First, I ironed in double hems on the tops and sides and then stitched them. This could also be done with double sided Ironing tape with no problem. In fact, that could have saved some time, as I was ironing anyway. The ironing process would take a bit longer to get everything heated well enough to bond, but there would be no sewing.

We bought some nice, heavy wood rods and rings and installed those. (Cost: about $150) Then, after the top and side hems were complete on the curtains, at my mom's suggestion (still loving her!), I hung each panel and pinned the bottom hem in place. Since we open and close these curtains daily, I didn't want any puddling on the floor.

After pinning, I ironed in the double hem and stitched again! And then hung them all.

The LONG TIME Before:

The Middle Before:

And the AFTER:

And then just one more picture with them open!

Raising the curtains makes the room feel more substantial and raises your eye up, where before it stopped at the top of the old curtains. And the heavier rods make more of a statement, too. AND, we were able to reuse the OLD curtains downstairs in the Family Room! YAY! I'll post that pic soon!

Funny side note: Ry and I thought we were really going out there on the color of the curtains. They have ORANGES and GREENS and even TURQUOISE BLUE in them! Once hung??.......they look pretty BROWN...HAH!

Half Bath/Powder Room Remodel

The Half Bath was sad and plain.

"Hello TP roll, how are you, today?"

TP roll replies, "I feel used."

So, we move the TP roll to hide it's shame.


"Hello, mirror over the sink! Where did you come from?"

Tiny gold mirror replies, "A few years ago a nice lady got me on sale for $8.98 and brought me here to live, but I feel so small and out of place."

We moved the mirror to a place where it can fit in and replaced it with one that can handle the space.

BTW - in those BEFORE pics, did you notice the toilet scrubber that was left by the previous owners? Just another one of the special suprises we were left with!

DIY Dining Room Centerpiece

I went to Nebraska Furniture Mart and saw this and thought that it would be great for my Dining Room Table. Then I saw this, and realized this was not going on my Dining Room Table.
Then I went to Old Time Pottery, and for under $42 for everything, made THIS for my Dining Room Table.

Peer Pressure and Plumbing Fixtures

The hardware on the doors throughout our house is brushed nickel. When we redid the Master Bath, we were planning on buying pulls and plumbing fixtures with that same finish. When the time came to make the purchases, we changed our minds. Our cabinet guy was all relieved and said, "Thank goodness, you have decided to go with oil-rubbed bronze!"

Ummm, NO! Not ORB! We had decided to go with the shiniest silver finish we could find.

He was shocked and blown away and made it obvious he thought we were going in the wrong direction. We did trust his opinion and had some fears the shiny might look cheap, and although the fixtures we wanted were cheaper in the silver than the ORB, those suckers weren't cheap. We went back and forth and back and forth questioning our decison and finally went with our gut.

We were shooting for that high-end hotel suite feel...lots of clean and shiny surfaces, and I really think the silver finishes helped pull that together. And the best part?! They were literally 1/3 of the cost of the ORB!