Fall Creek Eclectic

I have succeeded......well, half-way there. I've re-wired the wall and the cabinet is up.

Because of the way the exposed studs were I had to do some leveling. I bought 3 boards, 2.5 x 0.75, cut to the height of the cabinet and attached to studs along the wall. This leveled the wall making it possible to (1) attach the cabinet and (2) attach it in such a way that it's level.

See a theme?

Level. Key word.......level.

Another thought kept creeping into my head. "Measure twice, cut once." It turned out to be, "Measure a multitude of times, second-guess yourself, measure again, mark the wood, remeasure and just when you don't think you can take it anymore, cut."

A hard lesson learned at this point. Stud finders do not work with plaster AND lathe board walls. Stud sensors are supposed to sense wood. Lathe board just happens to be wood. Can you see where this is heading? I was quick to assume that my stud sensor was defect, however, after reading online reviews of various sensors, it was then that I put the two together.

So, what's a guy to do? How about find the first stud, start measuring every two inches, drill and discover whether or not there is a stud. I found them, they are in fact 18 inches apart. Just in case you were curious.

After killing two drill bits, placing and replacing the cabinet several times and using my wife to steady the cabinet on the wall.......it's up.



Hopefully, this coming week I will find myself dry-walling and mudding the wall, then painting. Hopefully. After all of that, the next cabinet can go up on the adjacent wall.

Here's to DIY.

Since we’ve purchased and moved into our home, Rachel has had only one major complaint. The kitchen cabinets. I’ll be the first to agree with her that they are ugly. So ugly, in fact, that I agreed to this next project.

At some point, we blame the owners in the 70s, someone thought it would look good to paint all of the cabinets a hideous, hunter green. See below:


Back in the fall of 2009, Rachel took it upon herself to search and search and search Craigslist.com for kitchen cabinets. After looking long and hard, she discovered someone selling three cabinets, made of wood with a lovely dark honey stain and full glass doors for an amazing price. We talked. We decided to get them, and forgetting all that we’ve learned, we did not measure to space planned for these new cabinets.

It wasn’t until after we got them in our home that we measured them, then measured the space. For one cabinet all I needed was approximately 4 more inches, that’s it. Conveniently, there was a partial wall between the end of the counter-top and the built-in pantry. This wall just happened to be about 4 inches wide. We thought “this will be easy,” just take out the wall, put up the cabinet, trim it all out with nice, finished wood.

Yeah, right.

Fast forward to yesterday, Tuesday, February 9, 2010, I’ve had several days off to work on this little project. Upon removal of said wall, I found some awesome wiring, of course it was knob and tube wiring, right where the cabinet needs to go. See:
















[Picture on Left shows where the wall was removed with the wiring and the hinge of the built-in pantry. Picture on the Right shows the wall that was removed and the wall in which the cabinet will hopefully be hung.]

After seeing this, my thoughts turned to, “I never wanted this,” “I was okay with ugly, green cabinets until we’re ready for a full kitchen redo.”

So now I’m waiting to consult with my personal electrician…..Uncle Bill. Hopefully we can work out some “easy” solution to the problem and I can get these cabinets installed for my lovely wife.

We'll keep you posted.

Today (Monday, February 8) we took a dear friend to one of our favorite salvage shops in town. Angela and her hubby, Steven, just purchased their first home; a dreamy, 1940-1950s English Tudor Revival house with old-school lighting and charming built-ins.

What seemed like hours upon hours of looking up, down and all around, in nooks and crannies, trying to take everything in, Rachel then looked up. That’s when we found this newest light fixture:










Sure, our house was built in the 20s but who says we can’t add a little 50’s flare?

Doc, from Whiteriver Salvage, was great! Angela was interested in at least one of these kinds of lights, but there were two in the store. He offered a great deal, actually a steal, for the two of them. The three of us decided to split the cost and each get a lamp for our homes. As Angela would put it, "now we'll have sister homes!!"

Rachel and I have already chosen the perfect spot for the new light. We’re planning to hang it in the breakfast nook. Our plans are to do some quirky, whimsical colors in there…….think Alice in Wonderland, and thought this little beauty would be a great addition to that plan. Fact is, we had been eyeing different kinds of lights and going through many different plans for the room and until we discovered the light we hadn’t made any true plans.

Thanks, Doc!

It is, of course, WELL past the time we have completed our guest room. (It's actually still lacking the wood trim...we're still stripping that) So in a very quick rendition of our escapades... after the drilling for wires, electrical work and insulation we hung drywall.
For five days, between the hours of 6pm and 2am we hung drywall.


And let me tell you, Josh and I are generally very easy going with one another... but the true test of our relationship was this process...

Some of our lessons learned:

1. Neither one of us are mind readers. Use your words.
2. A grumble does not equal a word.
3. Rachel is a weakling.... (really, holding dry wall above your head while standing on a ladder puts your strength into perspective).
4. Do not, I repeat, do not wait until the last week before your self-imposed deadline to accomplish something.

That said, the drywall is securely up, mudded, sanded and painted.



Our new windows were put it. (YEAH!!!)



So there you have it. The spare room is perfectly usable with only a few items needed... three rooms have gotten a bit of a face lift and we are stocking away funds for Project 2010...

A balcony/deck.

Meet "Really-Big-Drill-That's-Still-In-Our-Attic" aka "Wilbert." This weapon of mass destruction was loaned to us for the explicit purpose of taking a total of 45 seconds to drill a hole through a brick chimney for stringing wires from the basement to the upper floors and again from attic to lower floors. It did it's job well. . . however, it seems to have deeply offended my husband. Why? Because it's still in the attic and his response as to why always has an edge of "I'm punishing it!"

Moving on from Wilbert. . . Josh managed to be an electrician for a few days.



During this time, we also removed a ceiling full of dead, dirty sheep. See:



Yes, we wore masks, goggles, long sleeves, had the windows open, and generally took every precaution. I STILL managed to get a nasty skin rash from it. Every where I scratched - a gazillion tiny red, itchy bumps took over. Mind you, I'm the kid that would roll in poison ivy and not think twice. . . how this happened - no idea. Regardless, one week full of oatmeal baths and Benadryl later, I was fine. We continued on and (thanks Iyz) put in the new insulation in our ceiling and exterior wall. Yes, it's just the normal pink rolls. We thought about all the fabulous other options - spray in insulation, spray foam, etc. but cost wise, there was no competition.



We're feeling warmer already.

Well it’s time. It’s time to just do it. To get this project started… or as Josh would say… “Let’s kick this pig!” (Why that phrase? I have no idea).

Friday, January 30th we leave for Bloomington to pick up our fellow laborer, aka my brother. Thankfully we geared ourselves up by dining at a lovely restaurant in Bloomington called Casablanca. It’s a Moroccan restaurant along one of the many food-lined streets. I recommend the tea and honey lamb. Mmmm.

Friday night we didn’t end up doing much since we didn’t even arrive back home until well after 10pm. So Saturday begins our true work. I actually had a bit of photo editing to finish up for a freelance project and was unable to partake in the initial demolition… however keeping the animals from flipping out was a chore in and of it’s self. I captured my working environment...



The guys did a pretty admirable job. Below is a collection of their handy work.



Triumphant poses. At this time, we were able to take a look at our present state of wiring.

Comforting, no? A $1200 quote for re-wiring later and we came to the conclusion that it was time to learn electrical. And by learn I mean cheer Josh on as he shadows his uncle. ;o)


Cheer with me now... Woo!!! Way to go!! Yeah!!!

What better to do in winter weather than completely overhaul your spare bedroom, right? Exactly, a perfect time... when you're reminded that your house has no insulation, it makes motivation to add insulation pretty noticeable. Mind you, initially I was simply thinking of painting the spare room... My husband had other plans. "Aw, why not just totally re-do the room?" I then thought he meant get new light fixtures. It wasn't until he was getting quotes for electricians and typing "insulation" into google that I became a little worried.

By the way, the image on the right is what the spare room looks like. We had previously determined that it was certainly the most hideous room in the house.

So, moving on in the story. We're over-hauling the spare room. Our to-do list includes, but is not limited to: Taking the woodwork (except the doors) back to woodwork and stain a dark walnut - to match our other woodwork and bedframe. Remove all plaster, replace with drywall. Replace old knob and tube wiring with new, up to code wiring, insulation the exterior wall and ceiling, install new-energy efficient windows, install four recessed lights, a fan/light, paint, strip my childhood bedroom set and restain, create curtains (my first sewing maching project), and generally make the decor and accessories fluffy and lovely. Ideally, we can complete the majority by March 14th. [a side note, we actually begun this late January so it was more feesible than the current posting date].

Our inspiration:


As with any project, there will be challenges. A few of ours are...between us we have zero electrical experience, we know nothing of windows, haven't a clue which insulation to use, and lastly, we both work 40+ hours a week. Minor details...

We've thankfully been able to look pitiful enough for Josh's uncle to take pity on us and help us out. The man knows just enough about everything and an enormous amount about what we need. (Thank God). My gracious brother has kindly accepted a trade of manual labor for food, laundry and lodging.

Wish us luck.