What Lies Beneath

This is me sitting on the current master bedroom floor. See all that white? Yeah the prior owners decided to paint everything and get carpet. So all of these wood floors were covered in it. This is me going around and pulling up all the staples I could find.


When you strip off the paint, here is what was hiding! Removing the paint was seriously a daunting process. I got two rooms completely stripped, but it took three people each and about 5-10 hours a room. I didn't really have that sort of time, so I ended up sanding the paint off the other two. Much easier! However I did still have to go around the edges to get the paint off. I went through lots of different methods to remove the paint: various paint strippers, Goof Off, and mineral spirits. What I recommend? Sanding, then getting what is left with Goof Off and steel wool. I read some things that said not to use steel wool, but it was all that worked. I guess we'll see if my floors rust.


Meet the buff sander! Ridiculously easy to use and fairly cheap to rent at Home Depot. For $50 a day you can have this for 24 hours. I had about 1200 square feet to do and this was plenty of time. The sand paper is the biggest expense, but get what you have to. Don't skimp!


Putting varathane on the floor... also super easy. I bought a water based, satin varathane that is about $50 a can. I've used one and half, but still need to do the hall. It says it only covers 400 square feet a can, but mine went way farther than that. I HIGHLY recommend using this product to finish your floors. Way easy to use!

I bought three types of applicators: a deck stain applicator and two different kinds of lamb's wool applicators. Consensus? The all work the same. The two lamb's wool applicators had longer handles which was convenient. Deck stain applicator was a hands and knees tool. Other than convenience, they were all equally easy to use.


The finished product!!! They look a million times better :) Special thanks to Jake, Britney, Leah, Braden, Shellee, Travis, and Gary for all of their help throughout the floor process. Couldn't have done it without you all!

Are they perfect? No, but let's be realistic... the house is 38 years old and they were trashed. I would have had to pay serious money for them to be perfect. Just in case you didn't know, "serious money" is not what I'd call my budget. Things are coming together and I'm a million blog posts behind. I have to move in this weekend, wish me luck!

To seeing past the surface,

Boomba

A Futon Fit for a Guest

I've finally got all of the furniture items completed for the office! I still have decorating that needs to be done, but that can wait until I finish the reupholstering in the living room. I'm very pleased with how the office has turned out and will be very excited to finish it. One thing that I have learned is that the details really do make a big difference in a room. The office now has all the furniture, but is yearning for it's details to complete it. I'll get there... I have to pace myself. Mostly because of money, but we all have our constraints!

I can now welcome guests to come stay at my place, because I have a futon that is actually pretty comfortable (plus I have extra padding to throw on it). I inherited the futon from my mother. My youngest brother had been using it for a bed, but then it was decided a real bed with a real mattress would be best for everyday sleeping. I agree! So I went down to Salt Lake with her to pick up his new bed and took the futon of their hands!

Now, this futon has been around for a while and was in the need of some rehabilitation. The support bars were struggling and the futon cover was quite dated. Free, however, was the right price and I was pretty sure it could be rehabilitated. I don't have a before picture because I received it taken apart. Here are a few shots that I took.



Terrible green plaid pattern



Wood ends that I sanded down and painted black.

All I can say is that I'm terribly sick of painting. One thing I would recommend to DIYer's is to plan projects with variety in mind. If you have a few painting projects, try and space other projects between them. I found myself caring a lot less about this paint job than when I did the coffee table and entertainment center. I had ran out of paint and did have to buy a new bucket, so now I'm set on paint for future projects if I need it.

One of the support bars needed to be welded again, but the other was sort of beyond repair. So I (really it was mostly my parents, but we all did it together) replaced the second support bar with a 2x4 cut to the right length. Once we got everything back together, then I had to buy a new futon cover. I'm not a big Wal-mart shopper, but their futon covers are great. I love the color and it was super easy to put on.

So here is the view from the door before the futon...





...and after!

The pillows I already owned and picked the color scheme so that I would be able to reuse them. I'm really pleased with how the project turned out and am glad to have the extra bed for visitors.

Financial Breakdown:

Futon: $FREE
Paint: $11
Cover: $30

Total Cost: $41

Cumulative Office Cost: $131

I do still have some details to attend to, but won't exceed $200 for the entire room. Hopefully that frames some pictures for me, gets a rug, and an office chair. We'll see how awesome I am at being frugal.

To finishing what you start,

Boomba

Not much, but it's a start!

So I can officially cross two items off my recipe list for my living room. Sometimes the feeling is weird, because I felt really accomplished getting two things done, but the overall impact is minimal still. So I feel like I can conquer any DIY project, but I'm also a little bit nervous that all the work could be done and still not have the impact that I'm envisioning in my mind.

Item #1: New Lamps

























Since I am on a budget, not many things will be purchased unless it is absolutely necessary. These lamps (I did get two even though only one is pictured) off of KSL for $30 total. I saw these exact same lamps at Bed, Bath, & Beyond for $40 EACH. Needless to say, I got a nice modern look for a very cheap price tag. They look really nice with the black table, but the shades to fade into the white walls.

Item #2: The Coffee Table





The one thing I have to say about this project is that sanding in cracks and crevices it totally lame! I bought three different grains of sandpaper: 80, 120, and 220. The sandpaper, drop cloth, and a can of spray paint for my next project totaled $20 at Lowe's. I took that table out on my back porch and began sanding the legs. Sanding flat surfaces = easy. Sanding those decorative legs = #$%@$#! :) When I went to go sand the sides of the table. I realized that it was particle board, which made me sad. I guess I was (skeptically) hoping that because it was old, it would be all wood. After I was done sanding I wiped it all down with a dry cloth. I didn't want to get the wooden legs wet. The paint that I used, a water-based black semi-gloss, was generously donated to me by the wonderful Michelle. Using the drop cloth, I set up my painting station in the middle of my kitchen. After another trip to Lowe's for paint brushes ($12) I was able to continue on. This was taken after the first coat. It covered evenly, despite being real and FAKE wood. One coat was good, but it definitely needed two coats.



I painted the first coat on Friday night and let the table set over night, then repainted the second coat the next morning. Getting into the tiny crevices of the decoration on the side was pretty hard, but I managed. I should have just gotten a really small brush for it, but didn't want to go back to Lowe's for a third time for more paint brushes. I also should have sprayed the top of the table with a finish, but like I said, I didn't want to go to Lowe's again. I may or may not get it and do it later. You just have to make sure the table has been dry for 24 hours before you put the finish on. Here is the finished (without finish) table!





I'm quite satisfied with the finished product and like the table much better now that it is repainted. Clean up was really easy and I only used one brush. I just folded up the drop cloth and will use it on other projects to come. Here is the shot of the entire living room with the new lamps and the new table.



Overall? The impact is definitely minimal. Chances are if I didn't point it out, no one would ever know. I'm hoping all the details will eventually come together in a unified whole. I like the new table and lamps. The lamp shades tend to blend in with the walls too much. Unfortunately I'm not allowed to paint any walls here, so I may have to get new lamp shades or add some pictures will lots of color. We shall see. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Total cost of lamps: $30
Total cost of table: $42 (with all materials left over for future projects)

To crossing items off the list,

Boomba