Tiny Old House

Monday, November 23, 2009

Welcome Back?

Some flu, some bronchitis... coughing, bruised ribs, fevers ... that's how our two months have been. It amazes me that I still woke myself up coughing last night, two months after coughing for the first time. I will say that Delsym is a miracle cough syrup, that tomato soup and saltines is the only palatable thing at many points, and that my husband and I are very lucky to have each other to take care of us!

Needless to say, not much has happened on the house. There is a door leaning against the water heater closet waiting to be installed and a new router and table received as a birthday present waiting to be used for the first time. The new old front door is still waiting half stripped in the garage. Even the backyard was left in a state of half completion... leaves need raked and composted, weeds mowed, tools put away.

I'll raise a glass of orange juice to continued improving health... and to getting back to our Tiny Old House!

After we got the keys to our house...

the first thing we did was move the washer and dryer from the kitchen. (Yes, I'm entering the contest that Houseblogs.net is offering! I could sure use that $300 gift certificate from True Value!) I've never been a big fan of spaghetti sauce near my clean clothes, and so the weekend after we moved in we moved the washer/dyer hookups from the east side of the kitchen to the back room. Moving the water hook-ups was relatively easy, as the back room shares the wet wall with the sink/dishwasher from the kitchen; moving the 220 electrical line for the dryer was a trickier reroute and fish from the attic. Luckily, we had help from family with the project!

Here's the new laundry center (with a pretty puppy in the middle of her shave down on top):

Here is where the laundry center used to be...

The fridge used to be where the nice hutch is in the second picture. The rest of the kitchen counterspace and appliances are off to the left. We think that THIS is a much better use of space!

And, of course, the rest of the kitchen; you can see that stained glass window in the laundry picture, too:

The laundry room is through the door on the right (with the white gate); the current fridge/pantry is to the right.

This post was written for Houseblogs.net as part of a sweepstakes sponsored by True Value.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Door Finishing Fun

When we left the new water heater closet door last, it was freshly stained and ready for finish and hardware.

Step One: Cut a hole for the vent
Every gas water heater needs air and venting, so we need to add a vent to this door. The small panel on this door (originally the top panel) is perfect for this job! I carefully measured the inside of the vent, traced it onto the door, and drilled a 3/8 inch hole in each corner:

This allows me to use a jigsaw to remove the panel.

Step OnePointFive: Paint the Vent
Our vent is a salvaged vent from the Habitat ReStore. $1, but in need of some paint. I scuffed it up with sandpaper, and then spraypainted it glossy black, making sure to coat both sides of the vent louvers:

Step Two: Apply Finish
We chose shellac for our door finish; Zinsser Bullseye Shellac to be specific. I'm rather enamoured with the idea of shellac right now... and am especially loving the ease with which it is coming off of an older door that needs refinished. I figured that this door (like our entire bathroom) is a great place for an experiment.
I brushed a thin coat of shellac onto the door, let dry an hour, and sanded lightly with 220 grit sandpaper; I repeated this 3 times. The 220 was a bit coarse for my prefered final finish, so I am planning on a final sanding with 400 grit sandpaper; we'll see today how that goes.

Here's a picture of the door with a third unsanded coat of shellac and with the grate set in place:

Coming up: More Door Jamb Fun!

Monday, August 17, 2009

Back to the House

Did you wonder if this would ever turn back into a houseblog? Well, today is the day! I spent the weekend sanding and staining a new door for the water heater closet in the bathroom:

This doorway is 22" wide, an unusual size. Complicating matters was my want for a paneled door, and my preponsity for used doors. It is hard to cut 2 inches off of a used 24" door that has panels and door handles cut!

After years of searching, I finally found a 22" door at our local salvage store. It is newish, pine construction, and three panels. The smallest panel is just perfect for installing a vent; we are "flipping" the door over so that this panel will be on the bottom.

Here is the sanding:

I sanded first with 100 grit sandpaper on my orbital sander. The polyurethane finish gummed up the sandpaper quite fast; I was able to "pick" it off and keep going at intervals. After removing all finish, I finished up with 150 and 180 grit sandpaper. I wanted a dark stain, so stopped at 180.

I used the same stain on the door as I had used on the bathroom baseboard; Miniwax Red Mahogany:

This picture is of the first coat drying. I've since added one more coat, and will hopefully add the finish today after finding a vent to add.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Dishes for the Cardinal

We perused the thrift stores carefully for just the right dishware for the Cardinal... and here it is!

They match the orange appliances beautifully:

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Call for Help

I don't normally ask for help on this blog, but this seems important. I've been reading Hallie and Joe's blog for over a year, and now they've hit a rough spot. A much rougher spot than a truck broken down in Montana. Here is a new website on how to help!