No Dig Potato Farming

Spring is in full swing here in the Pacific Northwest and I finally got out in the garden to prep the beds and start planting.  One of my projects this Easter Weekend was to plant a potato bed.

This will be my third year of growing potatoes and I have decided to try a new technique.  My first attempt at growing potatoes was to plant them in some potato sacks that I bought at my local feed and garden store.  They didn't work very well and while the harvest was very tasty it wasn't terribly plentiful.  The second year I grew potatoes I decided to grow them in a raised bed and while I did harvest more and larger potatoes it was kind of a pain to get every last tater out of the bed.  This year I am losing a bed because I am planting 10 asparagus crowns so I wasn't sure I wanted to lose another to potatoes.  I debated if I wanted to build some potato boxes I saw on Pinterest, but then I found a no dig method of growing potatoes.  I decided to "dig" a little more online and settled on a method that would require no building of new beds or boxes and no digging to plant or even later to harvest... easy peasy.

I started with a nice clear area on top of the bark chips where our play structure used to sit.  I covered the space with a nice 3 inch thick layer of our home grown compost.

I then laid the potatoes directly on top of the compost layer with the sprout sides facing upward.  I spaced them about 1 to 1.5 feet apart.

Next I covered the potato/compost layers generously with straw.

Lastly, I added a thick layer of fresh lawn clippings to help weigh the straw down and to provide an extra added mulch layer.

Each year I try some new crops and/or new techniques in the garden and some flop while others render exciting results.  I will keep you posted on how this little experiment goes.

Old School

Speaking of distractions... well this fun little project was an unplanned one.  As is often the case, I pay a visit to my nearby building salvage store for materials for one project and I get distracted by something cool and then a new project is added to the already ridiculous project list.  I mean, really... how could I resist?

This little guy was such a find, $50 at my local Habitat For Humanity ReStore and it reminds me of the exact kind of desk I sat in once upon a time (okay, circa 1978) at Elmhurst Elementary School.  It even came with a bonus vintage wad of gum inside.  As soon as I saw this I had to bring it home for my little budding 6 year old fashion designer to use as her drawing desk.  The compact size won't take up too much space in her already cozy room.  When she saw it she was so excited and off to Home Depot we were so she could select a color to paint the metal.  Of course, she would pick the most obnoxious pink they had... but that's okay as it is her special desk for her room.  You are only a 6 year old girl once, so super bright obnoxious pink it is!

First thing to do was to sand the wood desk top and seat to get rid of decades of grime and scratches... and gum.  Once sanded, I taped up all the wood pieces so I could prime.

                                      

Next, 2 coats of Rustoleum Berry Pink.

Once the paint was dry I removed the painters tape and applied 3 coats of clear matte water based poly.

I have a Berry Happy little girl and this was a fun fast project.

DIY No Sew Fabric Window Shades

If you are like me you get a vision in your head of how you want something to look, like a window treatment, and then either can't find anything in stores that fit your vision or the custom options are just too budget busting.  This is the story of my life.  

The generic shades that came with our house were on their last leg when I started to tackle thelongestcheapestkitchenmakeoverever.  I wanted a window treatment that packed a punch, not more generic white blinds.  Pinterest was a wonderful source of inspiration and I saw a few different ideas to make fabric shades and I opted to go with pull down shades instead of a roman shade.  I saw a couple of different methods using the inexpensive vinyl shades like they sell at Home Depot.  The first option that I tried said to glue the fabric directly onto the shade and this sounded a little easier than the other option which had you cutting off most of the vinyl shade and just gluing the top 12 inches of shade.  I also figured that by keeping the vinyl intact it would provide a nice clean backing.  After completing the first shade and mounting it in the window frame for a test drive I quickly found that the weight of both the fabric and the vinyl were too heavy for the roller shade mechanism.

So, I then tackled shade #2 using the second method of cutting off the bulk of the shade and attaching the fabric to only the top 12 inches of shade attached to the roller mechanism.

I started by laying out my fabric and the shade over top to see where to cut the fabric.  I didn't measure anything, I just eyeballed it and left about an inch slack on each side of the shade.  

Next step was to cut off the vinyl shade leaving only 12 inches of shade attached to the roller mechanism.  I then used hot glue to attach the shade to the underside of the fabric.  You want to make sure that the roller and fabric are attached so that the print side of the fabric is on the inside of the roll.

The next step is to take the flat stick piece that come with the shade to weight the bottom and attach it to the bottom edge of the fabric with hot glue.  Once the glue is dry fold it over and glue it again so that you have a smooth clean edge at the bottom.

The last step is to fold and hot glue down the sides so that you get a clean finished edge.  You could use no sew iron on hemming adhesive if you prefer, but I just used hot glue.  Here is the final result, happy colorful and functional no sew window shades.

Thank you for visiting my post.  I hope you will be inspired to ditch your boring old blinds and personalize your space with some happy fabric.

Old Is New Again

When we added banquette seating to our breakfast nook our existing rectangle farm table no longer work for the space.  I  needed a round table but didn't want to pay $200 or more for some poor quality wobbly table from a chain store.  I searched craigslist (what did we do before craigslist?) for a round pedestal table.  I didn't want to spend more than $60 because I figured that was about what I might get for the table this was to replace.  At that price point I expected to find a re-finish project which was fine so it needed to be solid wood.  I found an antique solid oak 42" pedestal table and the man was asking $80.  I talked him down to $60.  I ended up selling my old table for $85 so I kind of made money on this project as I spent less than $20 on supplies to refinish the round table.  Gotta love when that happens!

Here is what the table looked like when I bought it.  Well worn, but solid bones and oozing potential.

The breakfast nook is pretty light and airy with white and neutrals so I wanted to use the table as an opportunity to add a splash of color.  I primed and then painted the base using Rustoleum 2x coat in Oregano.

Then I sanded the table top down to clean bare wood.  I decided to use this as an opportunity to use an idea I saw on Pinterest and I stenciled a pretty design directly onto the bare wood in white acrylic craft paint.

I let the paint dry overnight and then applied a dark walnut gel stain over the wood and stenciled design with a foam brush.  I covered one half then wiped the stain off with a clean rag before covering the other half and repeating.

Once the stain was dry, per dry time on the stain can, I applied 3 coats of water based polycrylic in a clear semi-gloss.

This was a cheap, quick and easy project that has given a quiet corner some impact.

Thank you for visiting my post.  I hope you will be inspired to source garage sales and classifieds for some sturdy quality piece of furniture and put your personal stamp on it instead of spending too much on inferior chain store products.

Salvage Banquette

I think it is safe to say that the biggest distraction for me over the past few years has been tackling my kitchen and transforming it into something resembling the vision in my head.  I have watched too many hours of kitchen crashing remodeling shows to count and am constantly baffled at the budgets people have to work with.  I get sick to my stomach every time I see an episode where somebody has blown $50,000 on a kitchen that looks ordinary and cookie cutter.  I prefer the shows where cash strapped designers have to get resourceful and creative to deliver impact on $2000 or less.  I have spent years absorbing their ideas and taking notes.  Recently I have embarked on actually using some of those ideas and setting this kitchen re-do in motion.  I have challenged myself to re-do my kitchen on a shoestring budget using found and salvaged items, lots of elbow grease and creativity to minimize large purchases from retail stores.  I am calling this adventure thelongestcheapestkitchenmakoverever... and it is my biggest most persistent distraction since buying this house almost five years ago.

You will see me mention my visits to various building salvage stores to source materials for my various projects.  The store I visit most often is Habitat For Humanity Restore because it is close by and I can pop in and out frequently when I am running errands as to not miss some fabulous find.  My husband calls me a hoarder because I have taken over his nano brewery, aka, our garage stock piling materials for the kitchen re-do.  Of course there are also the distractions from THE distraction where I happen upon some super great find which then invents new projects.  My post on the DIY headboard is a perfect example of a project that was born out of distraction while sourcing materials for the kitchen.

So, here goes the first step in this adventure I call thelongestcheapestkitchenmakoverever!

I didn't set out to build banquette seating for my kitchen, but one day while in HFH ReStore I saw some cabinets whose doors matched perfectly with some doors I've been collecting for the kitchen cabinets. The short upper cabinets (like the ones that fit above a fridge) were sitting on the ground and they reminded me of an idea I saw on Pinterest (Oh Pinterest, that troublemaker!) and so that day I went home with said cabinets and the kitchen plan now included plans for built in banquette storage benches.  These cabinets have been sitting in the "nano brewery" in my husbands way for almost 3 seasons.  Needless to say he is happy to see this project checked off the list.

Note: The cabinet on the let was not used in this project, I had a 2nd cabinet the same size as the one on the right in a different finish but the size and door style matched.  Knowing that I was painting them i didn't care that the wood doesn't match. I paid $10 for one of the cabinets and then found the 2nd one on clearance for just $2.50.  The 2 x4's also came from HFH ReStore and were about $2 total.  I spent more on the corner round molding than I did on the cabinets and 2 x 4's combined.  This was a very frugal project!

First thing I did was to build a 2 x 4 cleat attached to the existing floor.  This would give me something to anchor the cabinets to as well as bring the cabinets up to standard seat height.

I recycled the wood from some upper cabinets that we removed over a peninsula and built framing at an angle in the inside corner so the corner seat would be deeper and more comfortable wrapping around a round table.  I then took the big plywood backer off the recycled upper cabinets and cut the bench top pieces.  I used corner round trimmed to fit to give the edges a smooth rounded edge for comfort.  I covered the end caps and the inside corner angle with some scrap wainscot then trimmed out with baseboard and other small seem trim pieces.  Lastly, painted it all in Swiss Coffee satin finish to match the wainscot and trim.  Someday I may add cushions when my children outgrow this whole grimy piggy stage.

We had downsized from a larger farm table in the kitchen to a 42" round table which is a perfect breakfast spot for this family of four.

This project was very satisfying to do.  I am still a little PTSD over a table saw kick back incident, smashed my finger a few times with a hammer, and got liquid nails on my favorite apron (no I don't normally wear an apron to build stuff, I was distracted by my sons request for cookies in the middle of everything and tried to multi-task), but overall it was a painless experience and I am very happy with the end result.

Thank you for visiting my post and I hope this will inspire people to check out their local salvage materials store and do something good for our planet and your bank account by up cycling  another's castoff's into something lovely and useful.

 The table and window shades will be posted in separate posts.

Find a Habitat For Humanity ReStore near you http://www.habitat.org/restores