DIY Mosaic Backsplash

So, this is the story of how I pieced together a unique back splash with a little something something, without spending a fortune.

It took me a while to decide on tile for my kitchen back splash.  I wanted something interesting, but still light and bright and neutral enough without being totally boring.  This design kind evolved.  I searched the home improvement stores and none of the tile options jumped out at me.  At one I saw some penny tile in white that was interesting but the plain matte white just didn't do it for me. I decided to venture out to some of the fancier tile showrooms to see what was out there and to see if I might be lucky enough to happen upon a clearance room with something amazing that didn't cost a fortune.

I discovered a local tile company called Pratt & Larson here in Portland, OR.  I walked into their showroom and it kind of blew my mind.  It felt more like an art gallery than a tile store.  They hand make and hand paint their tile and they are truly works of art.  So, imagine my shear joy when I spotted a sign with an arrow and the words "clearance".  I was conflicted, I couldn't wait to go see what wonders the clearance room back in the warehouse held for me, yet I didn't want to leave the serenity of their beautiful showroom.

Low and behold I did find some wonderful treasures in the clearance room, but not enough of any one design to cover my entire back splash.  Even if I had found enough of the same tile, even at the clearance price, it would have been more than I wanted to spend.  So when I found a tile that seemed like it was made with my exact kitchen in mind I bought all of them.  There weren't a lot of them, but there were just enough for a feature inset right above my kitchen sink.  It was clear at this point that these tiles were in the drivers seat and they would be dictating the rest of the design for my back splash.  The tiles in the clearance area were not priced per tile or even per square foot, they were a flat price per pound.  By my usual standards it was still spendy at the clearance price but what I paid was a fraction of their usual retail price.

                                                     (mine is the color in the middle)

I went back to Home Depot to give their tile selection another look.  As I held my fancy tile up to various tiles in shades of white like the fancy tile background the transition seemed awkward.  I decided that the fancy tile needed some kind of frame around it.  I found a square glass tile in a gray/blue/green color that provided a nice compliment to my fancy tile.  So, now that we had our fancy feature, and a frame for it, we needed something very neutral that was worthy of the fancy tile yet wouldn't compete too much with it for attention.  My mind kept going back to the round penny tile, but I didn't like the starkness of the matte white.  The store clerk told me they had additional color choices online.  Bingo, found it!  They had the same round penny tile available in a mixed finish mosaic of matte, gloss, and iridescent glazes.  This mixture of finishes gave the plain penny tile pizzazzle while warming it up.  It was as though the penny tile was echoing the round center of the flower design on the fancy tile.  This tile was worthy!  Our design was complete.

Ad Hoc DIY Chicken Coop

I am very late in posting about my chicken coop project.  I built my coop last Summer using a mix of new and salvage materials. I have no building experience, so if I can do it, anyone can do it.  The only thing I knew about framing a wall was what I could recall from one Spring Break youth group mission trip to Mexico in the 80's where I helped frame a couple of walls to an edition on a missionary's house.  That was a very long time ago, so I referred to my brains reference of many HGTV viewing hours and You Tube videos to fill in any blanks.  I did not draw up formal plans.  Like most of my projects, I just kind of winged it.

I started with two pallets for the foundation and framed them with 2 x 4's.

I based my overall dimensions on he footprint that the pallets provided and a height that would accommodate a salvage French door I picked up.  I framed the sides and then attached to the floor base.  Instead of pre-framing the front and back wall and then assembling, I built them in place.  Starting with the floor, sides, then top of wall.  Please forgive my lack of correct technical terms, again, I am winging it here.

As for design, I simply knew that I wanted to install my salvage window overlooking the garden and that the roost would be positioned at window height so the girls could see out.  I also knew that I wanted the door in front facing the yard and the chicken run would be to the rear of the coop, so I needed an opening a floor level on the rear wall.  

If years of watching DIY shows has taught me anything, it is that plumb and level matter.  I used my level to check that as I went along everything was plumb and level.

Using the window dimensions, I planned he vertical and horizontal framing so that the window had something to attach to.  I mostly just used common sense here and used a vertical stud to support a horizontal stud which then supported the window frame.  I used the same kind of structure above the window and then flanked the window frame with vertical studs.

I framed the front wall by spacing vertical studs to accommodate the door and then added horizontal bracing studs for rigidity.  For the far side wall I simply added one vertical stud in the center and then a few horizontal studs for structure.  The rear wall was framed much the same way to accommodate a small square opening at floor level.

While all of the 2 x 4 framing was new wood, I used salvage cedar deck boards from the deck we just removed for the flooring and siding, as well as the roof.

I wanted to keep things light and bright inside the coop so I painted the interior white.

When the girls first moved in they were quite young and not yet in need of nesting boxes.  I will add pictures later to show the phase two additions of large feeders and nesting area.

I painted the exterior to match our house and added trim.  The roof was built to allow front and back vents.  The vents were covered with machine cloth.  The roof boards were then covered in new shingles.  I also used white flashing along all of the edges for functionality and a more finished look.

And what cute little cottage would be complete without a flower box?

I debated whether I wanted to frame a run at coop height out of wood and chicken wire, but decided to go with a pre-fab steel kennel kit from Home Depot.  It assembled quickly and we anchored it to the back wall of the coop.  We get some predators in our yard so we stretched and secured steel wire fencing all across the top of the run.

I know a real builder would probably look at this and cringe as I am sure I didn't do everything up to code.  It is, after all, a backyard chicken coop and I'm pretty sure my chickens have no complaints.  I think the thing I enjoy most about winging it on projects like this is that I always learn something new through the trial and error process and then the next project turns out a little better than the one before it.

Accent Table Makeover

I picked up this cute little accent table at a garage sale for $5.  I liked the unique shape of it and knew I would eventually have a special purpose for it.

I decided to use the table in my living room, but knew I needed to lighten it up a bit because we have a little too much brown going on in there right now.  I decided to do a paint treatment just to the table top and leave the base alone.  I started by doing a light sanding of the top finish to the table top.

Since I am doing a letter project with paint and wood grain I wanted to put a coat of fresh stain on the top to achieve a nice contrast.

Once the stain was dry I placed my letters.  I used alphabet stickers from the craft store $1.99 a pack. I bought two packs but still needed more of certain letters such as "e" and "a" but I didn't want to purchase several more sticker packets resulting in a lot of waste.  I traced the letters I still needed on contact paper then cut them out with a craft blade.

Once my letters were set, I painted one coat of paint.  I used some leftover wall paint that I had on hand.  Once the paint was very dry I scored the edges of the letters with a craft blade before removing the stickers.

Next I lightly sanded the paint to give it a lightly distressed appearance.

I wiped on, then immediately wiped off gel stain in walnut to highlight the distressed marks and give the paint an aged look.

Lastly, when the stain is dry I painted on a coat of clear water based poly in a satin finish.

This was a very quick and very frugal little project.  The table was $5, the stickers were less than $4 and I used leftover paint, stain and poly that I had in the garage.

The best thing about a project like this is if you mess it up, just sand it back to the original wood again and re-stain it.  No harm.  I am happy with the result.

Space Saving Budget Friendly Closet Desk

What to do when you have 3 bodies sharing a very small home office space?  We had my husband and the two kids packed into our tiny downstairs bedroom turned home office like sardines.  Needless to say the siblings personal comfort bubble couldn't breathe and much bickering ensued.  

In the pursuit of peace and family harmony I decided to capitalize on a wasted resource... the closet. The closet was becoming a catch-all for things that we probably needed to donate or relocate to a more appropriate closet in the house anyhow.

I decided to create a built-in desk space inside the closet so I could eliminate one of the bulky kid desks that stick out too far into the room.

I started by removing the builder closet shelf and clothes rod.  Then painted the closet interior an accent color a few shades darker than the office wall color.  I didn't want to completely lose storage in the closet for office related supplies, so I sourced some salvage cabinets. I found my cabinets at my local Habitat For Humanity ReStore for $20.  While $20 sounds like a great bargain, and is compared to buying new, it is higher than I normally pay for salvage cabinets of this size.  These cabinets were in extremely good condition needing absolutely no refinishing work. They really looked like they came right out of a box, so totally worth the price for a quickie little project like this.

Since the cabinets did not need any painting or refinishing and they were a natural wood stain color, I decided to go with a complimentary look for the desk instead of using a laminate or melamine material.  I purchased a piece of butcher block board from Home Depot for about $35.  Trimmed the board to fit, rounded the hard edge of the desk front with the orbital sander and gave the whole desk top a light sanding.  I added 3 coats of clear semi-gloss water based poly, which was free because I had some leftover from another project.

I re-used the old closet shelf cleats to mount the desk top to the wall.  We drilled some holes in each corner of the desk top to accommodate the computer equipment cords.  I am very happy with the extra space we created in the office by moving one of the kids over to the closet area.

Stay tuned, as I think I have an idea how to save a little extra space by re-thinking my daughters desk situation.  She is a bit of a clutter queen and she has taken it as her personal challenge to fill every square inch of her desk top with My Little Pony's, Beanie Boo's and snacks, much to her office mates annoyance.  I think the "less is more" approach might be the way to go here and leave her just enough desk space to accommodate the necessary computer equipment.

Okay, so $$$ recap for this quick easy budget friendly solution.

   Paint $16 after rebate

   Cabinets $20

   Desk board $35

____________________

Total     $71

I think that is probably a lot cheaper than a trip to Ikea for a desk and storage solution.  

Yay, another project I can check off my "to do" list - Go me!  Now off to the next distraction!

Debbie Does Yoga

Okay, so I should preface this post by saying that I've had some extra time on my hands on account of my job being eliminated six months ago.  After much initial panic, leading into depression after the loss of a sibling, and my husband then proposing the concept of me "not working" for a while, well I guess I have embarked on my mid-life crisis.  I'm 43 and for the first time since I was 14 I am a non income generator with a surplus of time.   Delightful, right?  Time to pause and reflect, time to explore, time to outline and define the next chapter.  Easier said than done for someone who is slightly hyper-active and extremely distracted.

It all started with Amazon local and a super deal on a month of unlimited yoga classes.  Yoga... it spoke to me.  I set out to see if distracted debbie can find Zen.

I decided to start with the class called Beginning Vinyasa.  Going into it I realize this may not have been a wise choice as the description says that it is a "fairly athletic workout".  Keeping in mind that I am rather chubby and have only made it to the gym half a dozen times in the last few months, three of which have been in the last 3 weeks.  No problem.  It's yoga, breathing and relaxing, how "athletic" can it be?

After grabbing a mat, some blocks, straps, a blanket, towel and some bean bag thingy like the woman in front of me I set out to find a spot.  Just my luck, the only spot not right in the front next to the instructor is in the back row right next to some guy that I will describe as a younger leaner version of Mr. Big (the TV character, not the band from the 80's).  So after debating my two crappy options, I go with the spot in the back row next to Mr. Big light because at least this way nobody will be staring at my ass.  I set up my mat according to how others have done, sit criss-cross applesauce to copy my fellow zen seekers in some stretches.  The instructor enters and I feel a little confidence boost in the fact that she is somewhat chubby too.  Let's go, I can totally do this!

I was doing pretty good with the breathing and posture.  Then right about when things turned into a game of solo Twister as a farm animal with multiple personality disorder, I realize I have to pee.  Not knowing if it is proper yoga etiquette to excuse oneself to use the restroom, I tried to put my bladder out of my mind and surrender myself to Vinyasa.  I sucked it up as the movements got more ambitious.  My decision to take the spot in the back row was validated as we downward dogged until my wrists began to wobble and while this weeble wobbled, she did not fall down.  After much planking, reaching, and some pose that resembled surfing... all while inhaling and exhaling at the right time, it was time to lay back and put the bean bag thingy on my eyes and relax.  Relax!  A word that my brain receives as a challenge in rapid fire streaming of random thoughts.  The lights are very dim and the music, something I imagine from Bali, or India is intended to help one relax.  The instructor speaks softly about embracing being at rest, etc.  Right!  I can't rest because all I can think about is how the humming, mumbling vocals in the music possess a tone and reverb akin to Eddie Vedder.  Not so much angsty Eddie, more of a Ukelele songs after first partaking in some herbal refreshments type of Eddie.  So then, while I am supposed to be embracing "rest" my mind is simultaneously fixated on the spasm in my butt and planning Eddie's next solo project for a righteous yoga soundtrack.  I wonder if I could "rest" to that?

While I may not have found Zen, nor successfully executed every pose to it's fullest potential, I consider it a success because I didn't pee myself, fall down, or pass out.  In fact, Mr. Big light was way more wobbly than me, in fact he almost fell at one point, not that I was checking him out or anything.  As I was using the yoga studio restroom I happened upon a list of yoga etiquette and helpful tips.  "Do not eat or drink an hour prior to class."  Note to self, skip the Grande Oprah Chai latte on your way to the next yoga class. 

Namaste!

Solar Upcycled Chandelier

I found this old chandelier at my local salvage building supply store for $3.00.  Nothing special, but nice bones.  I thought it would be fun to add some color and solar light to make this a fun and functional accent light on my back porch deck.

I started by taking the light fixture apart and then snipping and removing all of the wires.

Next I primed and painted.  I painted the metal pieces with a metalic oil rubbed bronze and the center spindle a pop of blue.

Reassembled.

Since I would not be using any glass globes I inserted some weatherstripping foam tubing to keep the socket from moving around.

I purchased some dollar store solar yard lights for $1 each.  The ones I bought were too wide to set inside the socket securely so I inserted a ball of epoxy in the socket, then pressed the light int it and twisted to seat it securely.

Here is the finished solar chandelier in both daylight and at night.

Recycled Closet Door Raised Bed

Re-purpose old bi-fold closet doors into raised planter beds.  I picked up my bi-fold doors at Habitat For Humanity ReStore for about $5 per pair.  The doors each measured about 6' 6" long and were 12" wide, perfect dimensions for the sides of a raised bed.  I cut some 12" x 2" boards 3' long to use as the ends.  I simply attached the bi-fold doors to the boards with 2.5" screws and that was that.

Cheap, easy, and eco-friendly!  

Notes: 

Use solid wood bi-fold doors, not the newer kind you see that are mostly constructed of mdf.