DIY Diary // 07

As a kid, I hated home improvement stores. It probably stems from the time we closed down one-that-shall-remain-nameless with my parents, after spending two hours on a Friday night staring at a display of mantles (that all looked the same and were all ugly, mind you) and leaving without one. That was the day I vowed I would NEVER return to a home improvement warehouse...and never, ever become an adult. How boring.

And then this week, I made three trips to our local big-box hardware store in one day. I'm really good at keeping promises to myself.

A few weeks ago, I posted a mood board for our kitchen makeover, and I am so thrilled that one huge part of that is now complete! Since our wedding and receiving all kinds of wonderful things from our registries, we have been unable to use our kitchen table. All of the items that wouldn't fit into the existing cabinets found a home there, so we knew we needed to come up with a way to create some extra storage space in an area that doesn't have much square footage to begin with. A custom option seemed the only way to go, and from my years of scouring the internet for fun things to do with a home, I remembered and found some resources for making shelves out of plumbing fittings (which, hilariously, the pipes are called nipple...and you can bet that we made plenty of jokes about that) and boards...all of which can be purchased at your local - you guessed it - home improvement store.

Most of the blogs that feature creations like I envisioned are very vague when it comes to exactly how to concoct your own custom shelving unit; however, armed with a list of general materials and my middle school tech ed knowledge (the first time in 15 years that I've appreciated the fact that my parents encouraged me to take tech ed as an elective in sixth grade - I hated being one of only five girls in that class while my other friends took theater arts, and visual art, and music), I was able to draw out my vision and order the supplies I *thought* I needed. Hence, the excessive number of trips to Home Depot.

This was my list of supplies:

2 - 6" galvanized nipple (feet below the bottom shelf)

18 - 8" galvanized nipple* (horizontal supports)

12 - 12" galvanized nipple (vertical supports)

2 - 18" galvanized nipple (longer vertical support between third and fourth shelves)

12 - 3 way tee fitting (connect vertical and horizontal supports)

20 - 90 degree elbows (attach to back side of horizontal support, and attach crossbars at top)

6 base flanges (two for bottom feet w/6" nipple; four for top support)

(all nipple was 1/2" width)

*It turns out that I actually needed fourteen 8" pipes and four 10" pipes for the top crossbars...I will now be making something with four extra 8" pipes that were ordered in excess

Short shelves x 3 - 24" long pine board (one 6' board cut into three pieces did the trick)

Long shelves x 2 72" long pine board

Sandpaper

Black matte spray paint (for the pipe)

Wood stain (for the shelves)

Tung oil (for the shelves)

Degreaser (to clean the pipes, we used Dawn)

Hanging hardware

Drop cloth or cardboard

Lots and lots of old t-shirts or other cloth that can be thrown away

A drill with 7/8" drill bit (even though the nipple is only 1/2" wide, we learned the hard way that that is the measurement of the inside of the pipe - that was another trip to Home Depot. The outside measures 3/4", but because wood doesn't stretch at all, 7/8'' is the perfect size to drill your hole).

And a few things I learned along the way:

• Just accept that a big project like this (definitely the most ambitions DIY I've attempted to date!) is going to take longer, cost more, and involve more trips to the hardware store than you'd like or could imagine - unless you really, really know what you're doing. I didn't have any clue what I signed up for.
• Order supplies online. I promise it will save you money, even with shipping. You'll appreciate the savings when you have to go back and rebuy supplies at a brick-and-mortar store because you did something wrong.
• Googling any process that you're unfamiliar with is a good idea before you get started. I had never stained wood before, and was a little sad that the stain did not go on evenly when we applied the first coat to our pine boards. A google search after the fact told me that it would have been a good idea to apply sealer first. At least I also learned from that article that it's a good idea to apply a finish after the stain...which was another trip to Home Depot, but at least I knew!

It's all worth it in the end. I literally poured blood (cuts from twisting a drill bit with my bare hands, one of my less brilliant moves), sweat, and tears (when we cracked one of the boards beyond usability - after it was stained and finished) into this project. But I can't stop looking at it now that it's done, and we LOVE being able to use our kitchen table again! (Okay, I also have to note that the shelves need more stuff/styling...I put a couple things in to photograph them, but it's still a work in progress). Next up, adding curtains and textiles and objects, and then we will be in a REALLY good place.

If you're looking for a good online tutorial for making something similar, this was my favorite (definitely the most helpful/useful).

Newly. Wed // 01

I want to answer the question that I get asked every time I see someone who was at our wedding and who I haven't seen since. Because this seems to be the question on everyone's mind (and really it's probably not, but it happens to be an easy conversation starter to avoid the awkward silence). Before the wedding, it was always, how's wedding planning? and now, it's all, how's married life? And in a normal social situation, the easiest answer is good, not that much different than life before the wedding (just a lot less stressful now that I'm not planning the largest party of my life and trying to accommodate all you crazy people) and the part in parenthesis is the part I think and don't say.

Of course, there's so much more to the story than it's good. Being a newlywed is awesome and confusing and thrilling and infuriating at any given time, because you are no longer operating as two completely independent people but instead trying to share some of the hardest things in the world to let another person in on. And it usually ends up being wonderful, although growing up, I was never very good at sharing, so I wouldn't have believed it. Like all wonderful things, you learn how to make the confusing and infuriating parts less so, so that you can do more of the awesome and thrilling parts. How we've done that (and are doing it, because it's an ongoing thing) is what I want to talk about.

First up, food.

You wouldn't think that getting food would be harder for two people than it is for one. Shopping and cooking and all things food for one person is HARD. And it is equally hard, but in a different way, for two people. Especially when said two people don't like to eat the same way or the same things. In our case, Ben wants to eat like a MAN…chili and burgers and burritos, meat and (mashed) potatoes. And I want to eat like a hippie - salads and whole grains and as clean as possible (although I can't deny my sweet tooth, and thankfully, we are in agreement on that one). Also, I'm indecisive and what looks good to me at the time of grocery shopping doesn't sound as good later in the week when I need to make it. Not to mention, who makes it, how it's made, and who cleans up have been some of our major-minor arguments since getting married.

But there is hope. Six months (and two years) of living together later, we are finally getting into our groove. Here's what's working for us:

1// Pinterest. Ben used to make fun of me for buying cookbooks and then only using them for the same two recipes every time we needed to make a grocery list. So I was banned from buying any more. Instead, I set up a recipe board on Pinterest, and I add to it every time I see a food that sounds appetizing (usually a recipe or two per week). There's no memorizing page numbers or a file in my head of which cookbook my favorite macaroni and cheese recipe comes from - we can both access it from our computers and easily get ingredient lists and how-tos.
2// Trader Joe's. When we first moved in together, Ben could not fathom that I would not shop at a normal grocery store. However, after a few trips and realizing exactly how much they do have if you need simple ingredients, he was converted. Also, their frozen foods, which we keep on hand only for emergencies (aka when we run out of food and don't feel like running out to get something), taste so much better than your average Lean Cuisine and have ingredients that read like normal food and not a science fiction movie. Now that we're on the same page, we know what basics to buy every week and don't even have to add them to the grocery list. We still haven't ironed out the kink that results in three bags of frozen broccoli in our freezer at all times, but there are worse things, so we let that one slide.
3// Pick Three. Making a grocery list used to be the bane of our existence because it took two hours to decide what we wanted to eat for the week. One of us would throw out a recipe (Ben) and the other one of us would go ehhhhh, not feeling it (me). Coming up with six things to make for the week (not including pizza, because that's a given) was worse than pulling teeth. Finally, we came up with the brilliant idea that if we each chose three meals, it would go a lot faster and we would both get to eat what we want. To make it work, we each agreed to not question or veto the other person's choices, even if it means eating a food (like mushrooms for Ben or beef for me) that isn't your favorite. It also gets us out of our comfort zones and encourages trying things that we wouldn't on our own.
4// Do a Favor. There was a time when I was commuting and Ben would get dinner started on those days that I didn't get home until super late and the last thing I wanted to do after sitting in two hours of traffic was spend energy to make dinner. Now that he commutes two days a week, I try to return the favor by starting a meal before he gets home, or, at the very least, making sure there's a plan. We try to remember that it's not about who did it last time, but just getting it done. No one's really keeping track, so being even doesn't matter if you do whatever you can do to make the other person's life easier.

As for sharing a kitchen, we've found that we can work together and cook in the same space if we let each other do our own thing. So if Ben is cooking meat (which he is infinitely better at), then I let him see it all the way through. If I'm making a sauce, he knows that's my thing and will generally leave it alone (unless I walk away and forget about it, and then he is kind enough to stir it without letting me see). If there's a food one of us wants prepared a certain way, that person is in charge of that part of dinner. And when one of us is hangry and things aren't running smoothly, well, that's when we start solving our problems with wine. It works like a charm.

Anything I missed or should be doing? I'm always up for advice...I want to be the best wifey EVER.

DIY Diary // 05

A Mood Board for the Kitchen

Now that I'm not traveling every weekend, I'm dedicating my free time to getting our house the way I've always dreamed it could be. First order of business is the kitchen.

Even though we just purchased our little space back in January, we've actually been living here for almost 2 years. We rented before we owned and when the opportunity to buy came about, we decided it made sense for a lot of reasons. Even though I'm not under any illusions that we'll stay here forever (Ben and I would both like to explore living in other parts of the country), I still want to make our home a place that I love...because you never know, we might end up being here awhile, or at least until we can't live with sharing a single bathroom.

So the kitchen...before we moved in, everything was renovated, so we have the typical stainless steel appliances and granite countertops that developers assume everyone wants in their kitchen. Sadly, I'm not everyone. The color choice is not ideal and the room generally feels bland. But, the cost of renovating it again is not something we can afford to do right now (not to mention, I hate the idea of creating so much waste), so I have to find a way to make it work...and I think I finally have.

A few months ago, I came across this styled shoot and fell in love. Like deep in love. So much, in fact, it started to manifest itself in a lot of my design choices. And one day, while I was staring at the granite countertop that I almost despise, it came to me. I could use those colors in our kitchen. It would work...and maybe turn a room that I thought I would always have to deal with into a place that I could love.

We started last weekend by painting a wall (you cannot imagine my excitement over being able to paint...it's liberating to be able to have your own walls to douse in any and every color imaginable...this is the joy of being an adult). And it makes me like it better already. There's still a lot of work to do; I'm going to attempt to build some shelving so we have some more storage for various kitchen necessities. This may or may not go well, based on this past week's adventures, but hopefully I've passed my bout of bad luck with drywall and molly bolts, and maybe, just maybe, this project will move smoothly. I'll keep you posted on that one.

Here's a photo of what the kitchen looks like right now...and yes, my next project after the shelves will be to do something about the UFO hanging off the ceiling. It is another reason I need a dislike button.

In addition, I will take any and all advice on how to keep this from happening. And trust me, I've tried telling him to get off the table. The result is this look...

Sometimes we can't have everything we want, but when you can DIY, you might be able to work with the kitchen (or whichever room) you have to make it a place you'll love. Make a mood board inspired by a photograph or piece of art you heart...see where it takes you :0).

Photo sources here.