Baseboards!!!!

So.... my house has been baseboard-less ever since I have moved in. I got a little demo happy when we started tearing stuff apart June 2010. I've been working my way to the baseboards for quite some time. Now that the doors and casings were up, it was time to start working on the trim!
Before: Hallway without any trim or a return air vent.
After: Baseboards up and the return air vent is in. Looks SOOOO much better.
Rather than cutting the corners at 45 degrees and putting them together, I opted to use my coping saw. While I was originally rather intimidated by this process, it ended up being really easy! If you use your saw to taper the end at a 45 degree angle, then the white primed MDF boards will have he exact line that you will need to cope. This saved me from having to draw on every piece. My corners look amazing in case you were wondering!
Baseboards really just finish the look of a room. I'm excited to have another part of the living room taken care of.
Kitchen before the baseboards were up
Another before shot
After! PS, the corners that point out like this are a royal pain. I wish I could figure out a way to use my coping saw for those too!
After :) Looks way better!

For me, I preferred to paint my trim, then cut it with the miter saw and immediately hang it with Reba. Once the painting is taken care of, then it is really easy to get the trim up and looking fantastic! I had been cutting then painting with the casings, but this was a way easier order of operations.

To some finishing touches,

Boomba

Meet Reba....

Be nice everyone! Say hello to one of my BFF's :)



Reba is my Porter Cable pancake compressor with three (yes 3!) attachments. I have a stapler, nail gun, and finishing nail gun. I got her as a Christmas present from my Dad, which meant that I finally returned the compressor I had borrowed for over a year. (Thanks Jack!)

Over the past six months I HAVE been working on the house. I just haven't been blogging about it because I'm a failure. Here I am, starting my process of catching everyone up. During my recent projects, Reba has played an integral roll in their completions. Don't know where I'd be without her!

So.... the question I'm sure some of you are curious to know.... Why do I call her Reba? It was a rather easy name to come up with:

1-She's really red
2-When she "sings" I wear earplugs

:)

Sorry to all the Reba fans out there... I don't mind her songs really, but she's one of my least favorite country artists. I'm no expert on the genre and I'll be the first to admit it. However, I do love MY Reba.

To red heads that pack some heat,

Boomba

I'm not dead!!!

After moving in and getting settled I definitely needed a break from home renovation projects. It was a good thing too, because then I started traveling for work for about 3 straight months. A lot has changed in the last little bit and I'll just say that I have some more time to focus on stuff around the house.

I picked up trim for the doors a long time ago and my parent help me cut it. I borrowed Jack's paint sprayer to paint it all, but the sprayer ended up being broken. :( Frustrated I set the project aside for a while. this last week I got up some motivation and decided to paint the trim.


My painting station I build with my new saw horses :)


Trimless door


First piece up! I can do this...


The finished product! Man I need to paint the door now.


Got the pantry done too!

I used the compressor that I still have borrowed from Jack. Don't worry, I borrowed it about this time last year for the couch re-upholstery project. Luckily he hasn't really needed it, so it's been able to stay in my possession.

I used the finish nailer to get all the trim up and then went back over the nails with white, paintable caulk. Then I used some liquid nails on the corner blocks. I don't even have all the doors done... but I did get 3/15 done. I'll get there. Slowly but surely!

To getting back on the saddle,

Boomba

Power Tools = Dangerous + FUN

Whenever I hear someone talk about "adult toys", I'll always think of power tools! Today I have successfully made small progress on the couch. Sorry if you were expecting a completed product in this blog!

My last blog was exactly a month ago when I sewed all the fabric together for the couch. A lovely friend of mine, Jack, loaned me his Porter Cable compressor staple gun so that I could do my upholstery. I had it right around the time of my last blog and actually did try to start on the couch. Unfortunately, the air relief valve had rusted and I couldn't turn it. So to avoid from blowing up, I waited to start the couch.

Jack has two jobs, so he is insanely busy! On a free night he came to check out the compressor and figured out which part he would need. I returned it to him and he had it fixed that night. Today I tested her out for the first time... and she works like a charm!



Great shot of her, but it isn't even my favorite part...



Say hello to my little friend!

I recommend to anyone starting an upholstery project to see if they can get their hands on one of these set ups. It makes everything soooo.... easy! I did have to go buy staples at Lowe's. The compressor came with staples that were 1 inch in length, but the staples I removed from the couch were closer to 1/2 inch. I got a pack of 5000 5/8 inch staples. Hopefully I don't have to go buy another box!

On a more serious note, do take the safety precautions needed with "toys" like this. I for sure got safety glasses and earplugs for this project. You'll also want to make sure you read through all instruction manuals for the tool you are using. I was really intimidated to use it at first, but once I got going I realized how easy it was. Then it just got to be more and more fun!



The first thing on the agenda was to make the proper repairs to the couch. I had three things to do. Each side needed a wooden piece along the bottom so that I could get a nice straight line when I folded the fabric under. This was necessary because I'm not putting the skirt back on.



Before



After

The next repair I needed to make was to the splitting frame on the back of the couch. I bought a piece of wood to staple to the top in order to help reinforce the beam and hopefully prevent it from splitting further.



Before



After

The staple gun made it so easy to attach these to the frame of the couch. I tried nailing the pieces when I first got them and... well... I'm a terrible aim with a hammer so that didn't turn out very well!

After the repairs were made I moved on to attach the arm rests to the couch. When I cut all the fabric out, I cut it in square dimensions. That way if I ripped anything I'd still be ok and have enough fabric. So as I started to attach the arm rests, I had to keep my scissors handy so I could cut the pieces to fit around the frame. This was only necessary on two parts of the arm rest, which was nice because it's kind of a hassle! As a note, none of this was actually hard. The hardest part was just making sure everything looked straight and that I was pulling all of the ripples out of the fabric.

Make sure you pull the fabric taut, but not too tight. You don't want anything to rip if people sit on it. Also, make sure you iron your fabric before you put it on in order to eliminate any wrinkles. You also want to iron each piece right before you are going to be putting it on. I ironed everything at once to start with. Needless to say, I'm ironing each piece before I put it on again.






































There you have it! I'm feeling really good about my ability to get this couch together again. The longer I saw it sit there uncovered, the more I wondered if I could even put it back together.

To adult toys that make you smile,
(power tools)

Boomba