TOH: Shaping up

Detail work on the furniture begins...

 

The reading room/craft room now has a customized shabby chic hutch.

 

A new spread and pillows spruces up the bed.

TOH: Shabby chic

First of all let me start by congratulating all the couples in the US who can now marry thanks to a stunningly intelligent decision by the Supreme Court.

It's about damn time.

And to those who are against gay marriage let me say this: Come talk to me when gay marriage actually does something to hurt you. When it burns down your house or injures your children or steals all your money and takes the food out of your mouth. Until that happens, you've GOT NOTHING to say so pack up your toys and go home. You're drunk.

Now, on to the beach cottage!

Not the best picture of it, but the plumbing hardware has been installed in the shower. Toilet and sink have been painted. Lots more to do in this small room but it's shaping up.

 

I painted and distressed the living room end table - came out pretty good for DIY shabby chic.

 

 

The kitchen chairs - same thing, plus some cushions in a fabric that compliments the table cloth.

 

The appliances have been repainted too - less country kitchen, more shabby chic!

 

Today I may tackle the display cabinet and the coffee table. The small pieces I did turned out so well, I feel confident enough to try the larger ones to really complete the look I'm going for.

TOH: Flashy prints

It took some doing but the living room furniture has been reupholstered.

 

I started with the ottoman - added a bit of ribbon to give it some flare.

 

 

I think the bold print of the new upholstery will brighten up the room. Now I have a lot of leeway with throw pillows and drapes...so many decisions!

 

The custom hexagonal table fits perfectly in the kitchen, accented by the print of the table cloth. Still waiting on a design for the kitchen cabinets.

I'm hoping to get more work done this evening - I got some doodads in the mail today that work nicely as accessories. The hard part is tearing myself away from looking at what's already done to work on new things.

 

 

TOH: Floor plans

Custom work begins:

A custom designed shower stall, toilet and sink will solve the problem of a bathroom that's too small for standard fixtures.

 

 

Just needs the medicine cabinet installed and the plumbing fixtures set in place.

 

Custom sized bed leaves room for walking around in the bedroom. Plenty of storage in the two dressers and a chair from the living room may add a comfy spot for relaxing.

 

The office may become a cozy reading room with a small table for a laptop and a hutch to hold books and craft supplies. That chair seems to pop up everywhere...

 

Now the real detail work begins...

 

TOH: The staircase

Back to some serious work on the cottage...

 

So many carpet choices!

 

Gray for the stairs - rolls are delivered and ready for installation.

 

 

Not bad - my first carpet install.

 

AND the real furniture arrived! It all needs work - reupholstering and paint and fixing some broken parts but here's a mock up of the living room and kitchen with some preliminary placement.

 

 

The table is a bit too big for the space, so I'm going to have to have one custom made.

 

 

 

First world problems

In the midst of remodeling my beach cottage, I had a real world epiphany I wanted to write about, just because I feel a bit like ranting.

I'm debating putting some of this on Facebook to counteract all lot of the asshattery that goes on there.

What occurred to me the other day is that as a rule, we complain TOO much. Entirely TOO much.

I work in local government and everyday the fellow employees are bombarded with people's complaints. We listen to people literally lose their shit over a $0.25 bill, over losing a garbage can lid, over grass that grows too high, over leaves that fall on their property, over plastic flowers planted in a neighbor's yard, over every single penny spent to improve the quality of life in our town. Let me tell you, this shit gets old fast.

Through most of it I just smile and nod and try to commiserate, and I will continue to do so because I discovered something I'm loathe to admit publicly - I like my job. And, believe it or not, I actually like people - most of them, even sometimes the ones who complain about every little thing that comes down the pike.

But what I realized recently is that as a community, as a country as a race, we need to calm down and get over ourselves. As a rule - we are VERY LUCKY. We live in a free country. Not the only free country and maybe not even the best free country, but a free country. Our children can attend school - boys and GIRLS - in some religiously run countries that's not allowed. A lot of those old religions like people, especially women, to be ignorant because then they're easier to control. We recognize the stupidity of that here and we provide a means for out kids to be educated - granted sometimes barely, but at least we try.

We have access to medical care. Sure the medical system in American is a class A JOKE. I hate doctors. I hate the medical industry and Big Pharma - but at least I can go to a doctor if I decide I need one, and I can get medication if I'm sick.

Taxes are high. But we have people who pick up our garbage for us, who plow the snow off our streets and who care enough to test the quality of the water, fix the electricity when storms knock it out, patch water pipes that burst, clear sewer clogs, and respond to our calls for help with police officers or ambulance workers or firefighters - many of whom are VOLUNTEERS.

We have the right to vote and the right not to if we don't want to. We have the right to complain about the government and not wake up in jail for it. We have paved streets, cars in our driveways and cable TV.

Sure NOTHING is perfect. Sure EVERYTHING could be better - but for heaven's sake people, don't ever forget that everything could be a lot WORSE too. And there are places in this world where it is worse for the people who live there. A lot worse.

So my advice to everyone is, take a minute and be freakin' THANKFUL for what you have instead of constantly moaning about what you don't.

I guarantee if you do that, you'll actually be a lot happier and a lot healthier. Give it a try.

TOH: Window treatments

Yesterday, was about framing out the windows. A LOT of work, but I think it looks pretty good and hides a multitude of sins and old wall damage.

Here's a fancy frame for the living room window, ready to be installed.

 

 

New wooden frames for the bedroom windows clean up the lines a bit.

 

 

A brick accent wall will add rustic charm to the kitchen.

 

 

Some sample furniture shows off the new look in the living room.

 

 

Next project is touching up the paint jobs and selecting a carpet for the staircase.