Cubbies

I had a request to post about the cubbies which I built for the playroom we're putting in up in the attic. We knew that for the short "knee walls" around the edge of the room, we wanted to maximize space, so I thought that it would be a good idea to build a dozen or so cubbies for the kids' toys to go in. I went to Lowes, and while they have a policy of no more than 2 cuts per board (they have a big saw there), I was able to get ALL 60 cuts done (by prentending to be helpless... why is it guys just eat that up?!).

This was an easy job to work on one night while watching tv- just lots of time spent with the brad nailer getting everything all assembled.


Here they are- 14 cubbies all built and ready to be caulked and painted...


I let the kids each use some of the left over paint from their rooms to help paint the cubbies. Here's Teddy working on his...

And Anna working on one of hers. I'll follow with a picture of all of them together, once they're installed in the attic :-)

A QUICK Project???

An interesting thing someone said online when I googled changing out a bathroom sink: "You will need 4 times the amount of time you think it will take, and 3 trips- 1 to Home Depot to get the parts you THINK You need, one to the plumbing store to get the parts you REALLY need, and one the liquor store...." Oh I wish this quote hadn't been so right...


When we moved in last summer, we loved the fact that the upstairs full bathroom had a double sink. What we DIDN'T love, was the fact that the interiors of the sinks were rust stained, the faucets were leaky, and the countertop was what I refer to as "slap laminate" (aptly named b/c when it starts to peel off on one of the corners, the kids have an irresistible desire to pull it up and let it slap back down). About a month ago, at a discount home improvement store north of the city, we found a one piece composite granite countertop that was a double sink- exactly what we were looking for!


So, I decided this past Saturday that it was time to get the countertop off the floor, and into place. While Jeff was at basketball, I uninstalled the two original sinks... (and since I'm the one obsessive about pictures, you'll notice from these that it looks like Jeff single handedly did the whole project...).

Next, the pinkish laminate countertop had to come off. On TV, they whack it a couple of times with a sledgehammer, and it pops right off. Yeah... no such luck here! I crawled underneath and took out all of the exposed screws that I could find, and figured THEN it would come off. Nope! Apparently, the laminate was applied to the plywood countertop AFTER it was screwed down. So much for salvaging the countertop! I'll spare you the details, but let's just say 2 hammers, a sledge, a reciprocating saw, and a lot of splintering wood....

Finally, the countertop was completely off! So now, all we have to do it set the new one on.........

This would be one of those "OH CRAP!" moments in DIY home repair.... The molded sinks of the one piece countertop were wider than the round ones I took out. These new ones are more of an OBLONG shape, and as such, they hit the side supports of the two outer cabinets and thus did not allow the countertop to go into place.


Break out the SAW! A little "cabinet modification" became necessary, since all sales were final on the countertops (and we'd come too far to stop now anyway!). The cabinet was actually two sink bases and a drawer base, screwed together to form the proper length for the old sink/ countertop combo. Jeff carefully cut a section out of each side, while leaving in the corner supports so that the cabinets wouldn't fall apart...


There we go- PERFECT!


Tah Dah! Mission accomplished- the sink bases fit just right into the extra space that Jeff cut. And, as a bonus, they are still far enough over that we can use the top drawer (otherwise I was going to have to pop the face off and make it a faux-drawer)

So in this picture, everything looks all set up in terms of plumbing right? Well, it certainly didn't start that way! With the old sinks being positioned differently, you may have guessed by now that the DRAIN LINES were in a different spot. That's right, time for some plumbing! First, Jeff had to go to the store b/c the water lines from the old sinks didn't fit the new ones (trip #1). Then, I found out online that there is no way to break and reposition a PVC joint that has been glued. I would have to saw it off and reconstruct a new drain (Trip #2). Finally, as a I was working on the drains, I realized I bought 2 female PVC adapters instead of 2 male ones (Trip #3). The end result of my first venture into plumbing drains is seen above though.... I think I did a pretty professional looking job :-)



And there it is- the finished project! The last step was to install the faucets- which was comparatively easy next to some of the other steps along the way... I'm still going to paint the cabinet b/c the wood is very cheap looking and ugly, but I just haven't decided on a color yet. 4 hours of work later though, we have new sinks, faucets, and countertop in our upstairs bathroom :-)

The Chimney

In one corner of the kitchen, the chimney runs up from the basement along one of the walls. It was covered with plaster, and had a hole at the top where, at some point, a stove vent went out. This hole was completely open when we found it, which meant that whenever the previous home owner used the woodstove (located in the room on the other side of the chimney), it would literally pump the smoke in between the layers of ceiling in the kitchen! I am amazed she didn't asphixiate! (sp?). Anyway, the original idea (after our friend Jeremy closed off the hole) was to slap drywall over it and call it good. However, when Jeff saw some of the exposed brick, he got the idea in his head that it would be great to have the brick exposed as a design element in the kitchen. Soooo, enter the chissel and hammer...

3 hours, several bruises (I kept missing and hitting my hands instead of the chissel...), and quite a mess later, this is where we were...

So this gives you a pretty good idea of where we currently stand. The bricks will have to be scrubbed with a wire brush and solution to take off the remaining plaster dust. Then, there are several spots where the grout will need to be touched up (done with the grout in a bag and squeezed out like frosting so it only goes where we want it. Finally, we will need to get some salvage brick in the same style/ color as the existing brick. I will need to cut down pieces and grout them in to fill the hole at the top and make it look like part of the rest of the chimney. We're making progress though... :-)