Coming undone

 

Rotary clothesline ~ 2023

Who doesn't love a good clothesline for hanging those exceptionally large bed linens on? When you make the bed and tuck yourself in that first evening, they smell like heaven and sunshine. Bliss! My rotary clothesline, has seen better days though... 

Simple season

Christmas is called the silly season, for a reason. But I'd much rather take it easy though. Which is why I prefer simple Christmas decorations in the house. One of my favourite nooks, has an arrangement of plants, wooden ornaments and a super easy light to install. I purchased a set of LED fairy lights, at OMGosh, for just under $7. They're powered by batteries, so I don't have to worry about positioning them near a power socket. And my clear glass, flower vase, was perfect to house them.

Christmas DIY gifts

Just a quick link to a Youtube video, if you're looking for some last-minute, DIY Christmas gifts. I thought these 4 ideas were really practical, doable and used repurposed items, rather than purchasing new. So for those crafters out there, looking for inspiration, I hope this helps. The first idea can be used for any number of small items, which need to be kept together for storage, or transportation. Anyway, I hope you're all getting ready for Christmas. We should be putting up our tree today!

Reno round-up

Today

Two years on, from the bathroom renovation - was it worth the time, effort and money, spent? Which wasn't a lot of money, but still. Do you wonder, if I fell out of love with that green feature wall yet? Or did finding the right plant, that survived, seem more like a burden, than it was worth? Did I really achieve the sense of the outdoors, coming inside?  Or should I have just left the whole thing alone?

Plant saga - success!

Finished, winter 2017

When I did a minor bathroom renovation, 2 years ago, my intention was to bring some of the outdoors - inside. Because cleaning a bathroom, can be mundane work! I love gardens though, and everything green in them. So what better, than to introduce a green feature-wall to the bathroom? Once complete, the next challenge was to introduce a living element to the bathroom. Anything, has to be better than mould, right?

The blog boggler

What title could adequately describe, a conundrum, of the many different ways to set-up a blog? Nothing short of a tongue-twister, would do. Because that's what it feels like, trying to sift through all the options, and find ONE that's right for you. Luckily, I just finished torturing myself with the learning process - so I can shed a bit of light on what's involved, for others.

Basically, it's a choice between a company that specialises in making blogging as EASY, and user friendly as possible - for both the author, and the audience. Like Blogger and Wordpress. They have free blogs, with ready-made templates for you to move straight in to.

The second option, is to set up a blog, through a website.

The latter, it's a little more complicated, than just blogging. It requires creating a whole new website, for your blog to nestle into. This includes designing different pages from scratch (Home, About, etc) your website logo, and branding. This is all before getting to the blogging part! In some website builders, you construct each blog post from scratch too. Every. Single. Time. Luckily, I enjoy doing all that stuff as well.

With your own website, there is the possibility of running into technical problems. Which I've encountered recently, with Weebly. One of the elements weren't working, in the comment box. After many volleys between myself and the support team, I decided to nix the default comment box, Weebly supplied - and go with a third party, one.

Another third party, getting involved with my comment box!! Recollections of Google+. Thankfully Disqus has been operating for a long time, and many of the websites I follow, like Geoff Lawton's, also uses this embedded comment box. It provides the option to change web hosting companies, in future too, without losing my comments. As Disqus can be migrated over.

Bear in mind however, the price for your own website freedom, is to take full responsibility for running it. From conception, content creation and maintaining all the bits, which plug into it. That's the huge difference, and why I would encourage others to stay with their user-friendly blogging platforms - unless, you have a good reason to have your own website. Because it is a lot of responsibility, just to blog!

Thankfully for me, this new website happens to coincide with a few items, I've been wanting to cross off my bucket-list. So it's something I want to achieve. These new responsibilities, are a learning opportunity, and valuable skill-set to add to my repertoire. If I didn't have that drive and purpose though, I may not enjoy what can sometimes feel like a torturous learning curve.

Please let me know, why you would consider setting up your own website? Even if you're not in a position to follow through. Because it doesn't hurt to imagine what's possible.

Old is new again

I had another wood-working project in the pipeline, but it's more a restoration project, than one, built from scratch. It's a piece of furniture, which has become a family heirloom. First purchased for my sister and I to share - when she moved out, it temporarily became mine. That is, until my younger brother was born. And so it has been juggled around the siblings, to cater for the different clothes, we constantly grew out of.

My mother kept it, after all her kids moved out. Generously, it came into my possession again, when our daughter was born. You can do that with old furniture though. It takes a lot of beating! Nevertheless, my cabinet was destined to meet it's match, with a pair of cockatiel parrots. Their cage took up residence, on top of the cabinet, because it still resided in my daughter's room.

I swear...I didn't do it

Being the generous owner she is, they were allowed outside their cage, after school. Parrot beaks are designed to gnaw on wood and seeds with hard shells. Given the cage took up all the space on the cabinet, we figured they wouldn't be able to get at it. Not so! Clever, nimble, birds, found a way.

Not entirely me

They also managed to peel off a chink of wood, caused from normal, wear and tear. Not satisfied, they proceeded to enlarge it! On many an afternoon stroll, on the carpet, they gradually chipped away at the wooden scar. Of course, I was oblivious - I'm sure my daughter had an idea though *wink*.

Definitely NOT me!

Then there were...the droppings! When let out, the birds would perch on top of their cage. Naturally, the cabinet caught the brunt of it. Enough was enough. Time to rescue our family heirloom. So we organised an early birthday present for our daughter, and purchased a large cage on wheels. We moved the cabinet of drawers, out, and the birdcage, could take it's place in her room.

Okay...that was me

Our poor, abused, family heirloom, had no permanent home. So it resided in the middle of a small hallway, between some bedrooms, and a bathroom. Thankfully, I had a plan though! It's prospects would turn around, soon.

Guilty too

See all this stuff, hidden behind the cabinet? They were leftovers, from another house re-shuffle. My fabric stash for sewing, and some of my husband's hat collection, were evicted from various places, because I needed the furniture for other tasks. You know how it goes!

So the fabric stash was destined to love the new cabinet, and the new cabinet was destined for that naked wall. It just needed a bit of fixing, is all.

Undecided

I'm sure this is jut normal wear and tear, but it's possible the cockatiels helped it along. If I was going to repaint the cabinet, I would have to patch-up, a lot of holes.

Who's responsible?

Oh, this was definitely us kids!! Someone threw a hissy-fit. I can't remember who it was, or what it was over - but the poor cabinet wore the brunt of it. The sides were made of ply, (or thin, silky oak, my mum believes) which gave way. All these years (at least 15, it's been in my possession) I've been meaning to fix it.

So eventually, the day came, I would...

Done

Wood filler. Fantastic stuff! Cheap (in the powdered form) and great at hiding a multiple sins. You'd never know by the outside of the cabinet, what took place. The inside, however, kept the truth immortalised...

The wolverine was here

It never did affect the drawers opening and closing, so there it can stay. I like a bit of history, in wooden furniture. There were many things I chose to keep, simply because I didn't want a new piece of furniture. I wanted the story to be immortalised, forever.

On the other hand, there were just some things, which had to go!

A relief to remove

Green florals from the 80's, I don't mind. It's the fact it was contact, and would catch dust in the corners, it didn't quite reach. I wanted a less permanent option. Something I could remove for cleaning, and allow the wood to breath.

 Keeping the green theme

Unfortunately, I couldn't find paper drawer liners - my first option. I did come across some tablecloth vinyl instead. Removable and wipeable. I quite liked the pattern, too. It would suit the final finish, I was hoping to achieve.

Almost naked, drawers

The main body of the cabinet would be painted, because it needed a lot of wood filler. But the drawers, would be roughly stripped, and not painted. Since my mum told me the drawers were made of silky-oak, many years ago, I've always wondered what silky-oak, looked like.

Well, now I have revealed the wonderful wood, and even kept some of the blue paint, and white undercoat too. I couldn't do away with all those memories. Especially since my mum's original paint job, has withstood 3 of her children, 1 grandchild (to date) and 2 parrots!

Looks weird in this position

This is the cabinet, with most of it's blue paint removed. Upside down, too, because it was going to be easier to paint that way. Before I covered it over, I wanted a picture of all that lovely, silky-oak, wood.

Before (matt) and after (shiny)

I am coming to the end of this story soon, but first, the area I was going to leave exposed, included the cabinet top. I could have sanded it smooth, but why? 

At some point I'll get some furniture wax, but chose to treat it with a mixture of ingredients I had at home. Apple cider vinegar, mixed with raw linseed oil, lemon and eucalyptus oil. It smelled divine, and the wood felt so silky to touch, afterwards - even without sanding.

 A sneak-peek

Afterwards, I was reminded of the smell of wooden furniture in my Nan's house. It was like having a felled tree in your home. I never knew what I was smelling, back then. Now I do, because we work with a lot of trees in our backyard. Felled wood is raw, refreshing and I'm surprised after all these years, it still retains some of that original scent of silky-oak.

Loving it's new home

My finished set of drawers are not perfect, but they were never intended to be. I wanted to fix some damage, put hard-wearing paint on the main body, and let a bit of history show through. I even kept the back, original (see pic with junk behind cabinet). No stripping, sanding or painting the entire back section. Just to maintain that original, blue and white prosperity - telling of childrens' clothes, unfortunate hissy-fits and (in the scheme of things) sharing based on need.

A set of blue drawers, gets a new lease on life. But I know...I still haven't found a new home for all those hats! Another time.

Finished

I didn't mean to wait so long, before writing this post. It's the finished project I spoke about painting, recently. With Easter holidays, traveling for relatives' birthday's, starting a week long art challenge via Instagram, and work in general, this is the soonest, I could commit to blogging.

So, what did I end up making....

Click to enlarge

 

It's a bench seat, with built-in shoe storage. I told you it was going to be simple. It's a necessary piece of furniture nonetheless, as I was having a shoe storage problem (read: explosion!) near the front door.

Real life

Even with a shoe cull, last year, the shoes were beginning to pile up everywhere. Especially since our youngest, needed more shoes to wear, as well. There's actually more shoe mess, not shown in the above picture, but I'm dealing with the shoe storage problem, one area at a time.

Problem solved

Specifically, there was a lack of space for boots! They were stored under a hallway table, adjacent to this area. With boots being so tall too, I could never find a shoe rack I could purchase, that would allow me to store shoes above them. Hence, why I decided to make my own bench seat, shoe rack.

Practical and functional

This furniture, solved several more problems, than shoe storage though. My husband was using a nearby coffee table, to pull his work shoes on. A table, our son always had covered with lego! So it was a matter of moving lego, to find a suitable place to sit down. Not any more though.

It also dealt with the school bag problem, emerging after our son started school this year. Our eldest, packs her own bag, so it lives in her room. We still had to pack his bag though, so it tended to live on the couch, nearest the kitchen. This bench seat, however, is in a better position, and it frees up the couch again!

There are several more, woodworking projects I have to design, that deal specifically with niche, storage areas. They're such simple projects too, but high in real estate value. Meaning, I get more storage per the same locale. All in good time though.