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Sunday, February 22, 2015

Baby's First Planked Wall

A couple weekends ago, Michael and I tackled our first big task for completing the nursery.

The plan was to plank the wall behind the crib.  If you aren't familiar with what I mean by a "planked wall", click here, or scroll on down and read more.

We used a couple tutorials to help us figure out the process - you can find tons of them on pinterest.  House of Smith was the main resource we used.  I would encourage you to read through her's and several others if you are going to tackle the process.

We purchased 1/4 plywood from Lowe's for $14 per sheet.  Apparently, some Lowe's stores will cut the sheets down for you at the store.  Our Lowe's strictly enforces a rule that it will not cut anything smaller than 8 inches.  We wanted our planks at 6 inches in width.  So what's a tablesaw-less couple to do?  We set up some sawhorses and used the guide on Michael's circular saw to make our cuts.  It worked pretty well and honestly did not take that long.  It's best if you have two people - one to do the cutting and one to hold onto the boards because as you cut further into the wood, the cut piece will start to vibrate, which makes getting a straight cut difficult.  

After our boards were cut, I used the power sander and 150 grit paper to quickly sand down the rough surface.  I also knocked off the freshly cut - and sharp - corners of the boards.
This didn't take long either.   I worked out in the garage sanding (wearing a mask, of course) as Michael prepped the room and made some initial measurements.


Once our boards were ready, we started at the ceiling.  Wow were our ceilings uneven.  We had to do some major adjustments to our boards by trying to cut off pieces of wood in order to compensate for slopes in the ceiling.  We got fairly close and then filled the remaining gaps with calk.
Once we got past the ceiling -which took us probably a good hour- things moved pretty quickly.
 

We used two nickles to space our boards.


And Saint Steve lent us his pneumatic brad nailer which was awesome!



He also lent us his jigsaw, which helped when we had to cut our boards for the outlets and near the window trim. 



Once the whole wall was planked, I filled the holes with wood filler, sanded everything and swept it off.

Then I primed it all.  Two coats.
I'm super psyched about how the horizontal lines of the planked walls contrast with the vertical lines of the crib.   I love it!
Although I love the white against wood, we do plan to paint the planks and the walls all the same color.  But before I paint, I will give the planks a light sanding, just to keep the finish soft to the touch. 

 But before I can paint the room, we have another fairly large project lined up...

That corner by the door is wasted space in this little room.  Our thought?  Make it useful by building a book shelf.  Kids have lots of books, right?  It will also have extra deep shelves at the bottom for toy storage.

After lots and LOTS of planning, we started working on it yesterday.  It's probably our biggest solo project to date, so wish us luck!!  We are optimistic that we will be able to finish building it next weekend.... but then again, this is our biggest solo project to date, so we'll see. :-)

Linked to: Pretty Pintastic Party, On Display Thursday, Think&Make Thursday, Talented Tuesday,
 Thrifty Decor Chic-Before & After Party

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Sunday, February 8, 2015

Simple and Sweet Valentine's Treat

Valentine's day is less than a week away.

Thankfully, Michael and I decided this morning in the bathroom that we would be each other's Valentines :-)... phew! Glad we got that decision out of the way.  ;-) And usually we spend it pretty low key with a homemade card. We may go out to eat or I may just make a dinner for us at home.  We don't fuss too much over this holiday.


But this week I found this adorable woven heart at a consignment shop in town and couldn't resist the $2.50 price tag!   I replaced the old ribbon it came with with some bakers twine that I had recently gotten on sale at Meijer. 


So I just cut myself a length of string and hung it on the door that we use everyday.


I placed some paper and a marker nearby and everyday this week whenever we leave, we have to write a little note to each other... with the Valentine spirit in mind.


Then by the time Valentine's Day gets here we get to open and read lots of little notes from our Valentine! Simple and Sweet.  That's my kind of Valentine's day!

Valentine's Day Door Messenger


What about you?  Are you more of a big-extravagant-date-with-2-dozen-red-roses kind of Valentine? Or a sweet-card-and-simple-meal kind of person?

Alsoooo......  I can't resist sharing, and if you follow me on instagram you already know...


we started on the nursery this weekend! The initial project?...planking the wall behind the crib! We actually finished it all on Saturday but I want to get it primed at least before I share it with you all.  Just a little sneak peak for today! EEEK! So excited!



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Sunday, February 1, 2015

Laura Lately: January Edition

Happy Super Bowl Sunday!!  If you know me at all, you probably know I have very little interest in sports... but I do have an interest in getting together with friends, eating foods with far too much cream cheese to be good for you, and watching fun commercials.  Although, this year, "friends" = Michael and if the baby counts, then him too.  Because right now, it looks like this outside:

Lately I can't get enough of...

The view out our front window! It's beautiful outside and we are expected to get about 16+ inches of snow by tonight! Since I have no place to go, I get to curl up with a blanket, my computer and enjoy the falling snow.  It's perfect packing snow too so I keep asking Michael if he wants to build a snowman (you know the tune).  No snowman has been built thus far.  I'll keep you posted.

Lately I've been watching...

I was all excited because I thought I read that Animal Planet would be live streaming the Puppy Bowl XI online today.  No such luck.  And with no cable in our home, I am forced to spend my day puppy-less.  But I have been enjoying watching a lot of Friends on Netflix!

Lately I've been shopping for...

BabyB! You can check out my pinterest board for all the cute cute things I've been ogling. 

We have been continuing to watch Craigslist for good deals on a changing table/buffet as well as a glider/rocker.  Nothing yet but I'm hopeful we can still score a deal in plenty of time for our little guy's arrival in May.  
Oh and this happened! The crib is in the house ya'll! That's a pretty big deal!!

Lately I've been munching on...

Chicken, Steak, Eggs, Nuts.  Lots and lots of protein.... for a healthy growing boy. 

Lately I've been looking forward to...

My birthday!! I get to turn 27 at the end of this month! I always said I felt like, for me, 27 was the perfect age to become a mom!  So I look forward to turning 27 and start this transition that will surely change my life, heart, mind, priorities, etc.. forever.  

Lately I've been thinking about...

How sometimes its easier to be a care-giver than receiver.  As a healthy 26 year old nurse, I am much more familiar with taking care of patients than being a patient.  In fact, other than going for the routine check ups, I have never really been on the other side of the scrubs.  But this last week changed that.  Long story short, I couldn't be more thankful for skilled and caring doctors and nurses. I especially am super thankful for my own coworkers who took such good care of me when I was not feeling well.  Don't worry, things are OK, just some fluky blood pressure and heart rate issues that seem to stay at bay most of the time.. and go away with rest... thankfully.  I mainly just want to write this out of a grateful heart for my coworkers who sprang into action, making me feel well cared for and reassured.  I couldn't ask for better people to care with and be cared for by. 


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