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For the past three years, the view out Steph's living room windows has been of a two-ladder plant stand we build and installed in the space. We've gotten used to the view and couldn't imagine not having the ladder plant stand out there.
But a few months ago we noticed there was a lot of deterioration in the wood. In fact, so much so that it was in danger of falling over. We decided to take it down and replace it with, wait for it...another two-ladder plant stand! This time, we are making our own ladders out of pressure treated wood which should stand up better to our Florida weather.
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There is an awkward space above the bar at Steph's house. We've addressed the weird openings above it, but not the awkward wall space itself. We are taking care of that in this post.
The awkward space will now be a focal point in the room with the addition of a Nanoleaf panels. Don't know that those are, read on!
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Many homeowners are not aware, but smoke detectors have an expiration date. Smoke detector companies state that they are good for ten years starting with the manufacturing date, NOT the install date.
With that fact in mind, you can see that Steph was loooooooong overdue to replace the smoke detectors at her house. She's been in her house nine years, but who knows when the detectors were changed out before that. Because of the difficulty and frustration I've had with the wired detectors at my house, she wanted something a little more high tech and more frustration free. Those at my house beep when the backup batteries need changing, but it's trial and error to find out when one is problematic. Uggg! After much research, she settled on the smart smoke detector Google Nest Protect. Here's how the install went.
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After nine years of use, the handle on Steph's front door was starting to show wear on the finish. It wasn't looking so good and Steph was ready to replace it!
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Since Mac and Tosh, the retired greyhounds, joined Steph's household, she's become well acquainted with the messes associated with pet ownership.
Read on as she shares what she likes about these three Hoover products and what she would recommend if you also deal with messes of the canine, feline, or human variety!
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As a tea drinker, it's important to have the right water temperature for the type of tea. I bought this stainless steel tea kettle a few years ago, and love it because of the different temperature settings, and the ease of use. But after a few months, it begins to get some harmless limescale at the bottom.
This is what I do to get rid of the limescale.
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I always enter my house via the garage into a small utility hallway. At the end of the hallway is an underused closet.
Prior to the great "garage remodel of 2016" I always entered through the backdoor where there were plenty of flat surfaces to put all the stuff I always had in my hands. Coming through the garage, I had no surfaces to unload onto thus the area in front of the closet was always a cluttered mess with shoes and more. During this period of time, I've been working to relocate all the stuff that was in the closet so that I could transform it into a multi-functional landing zone. This fall I finally got all the stuff moved, trashed, or donated. Awwww, I now had a nice empty canvas in which to work! This written tutorial covers the highlights of the build. Check out the video for more details.
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Here's a quick gift you can make for that friend with whom you share special memories. You can use any printed photo, but this one is sized for retro cool Polaroids!
Grab a small piece of lumber, the stain of your choice, and a few clips and you're ready to build. text by Vicki Sign up here to join our weekly email newsletter! One weekend, while working on refinishing a desk and chair, I went in search of a piece of foam for the chair seat. I didn't find the foam, but instead found this...
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Our discovery of the Flo by Moen came too late to save my house from a very large and expensive flood in 2020.
A tiny leak, from a rarely used toilet, put out enough water to soak the carpet in the two adjoining rooms, as well as causing damage to drywall and a door frame. It's a mess! If I'd had a Flo by Moen installed, the leak would have been a tiny bit of cleanup instead of the major renovation that we are now facing! Check out the video to see more about this device that every homeowner might want to consider!
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The lights outside Steph's garage were way overdue for replacement. We really should have changed them out when we painted the house a few years back. House painting took place over a hot couple of Florida June days and last thing we wanted to do was more work outside! So it never got done.
But after seeing these fixtures at Costco, we decided these would look great and it was time for a replacement.
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Last year, I participated in the Builders Challenge furniture flip challenge. I enjoyed it so much that I wanted to participate again this year.
Prior to the start of the challenge, I happened to see a picture online of a furniture piece by my favorite mid-century designer, Adrian Pearsall of Craft Associates. The Brutalist Hanging Disc Bar was nothing I’d ever seen before—I decided I'd try to recreate it for my challenge entry.
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Steph has a friend with a kayak that allows her to use it whenever she wants. The friend lives on a lake so it's just a matter of moving the kayak to the water and launching for a quiet, solo relaxing paddle on the lake!
The kayak was stored a ways away from the lake so with the homeowners permission, she decided to create a more convenient storage spot for the kayak near the water.
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We recently helped Steph's neighbor get his yard in shape. It had become overgrown and out of control.
Due to the timing of yard trash pickup, we had to start working in the backyard first in order to get all the yard debris out at the curb for pickup the next day. While Steph worked in the backyard, I started on the front. You can see that process in the first yard makeover video.
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Steph's friend, David, lives nearby in her neighborhood. Due to his work schedule and numerous health issues including two back surgeries, he has been physically unable to deal with his yard.
Steph and I were driving by his house one day and commented to each other on how unkept his yard had become. All of a sudden we decided we could do something to help! After all, we have the tools and the time. So with his permission, we took a couple of days and got his wild yard under control so that he can now maintain it going forward.
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It's been a long time since I shopped for a new mattress and box spring and had no idea that the standard size was so deep. Which meant the combination of mattress and box spring on a standard metal frame is much taller than what I was used to.
And that is the reason that after I ordered my new mattress and box spring and put it in place, I found it to be much too tall to be comfortable getting in and out of it! I tried placing the bed on the floor which made it easy to get in and out of, but let's face it, it looked silly! The solution was to make a custom bed frame to the style and height that I needed.
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One of the most versatile concrete objects we've ever made is this base with metal pipe cap in the center. We originally used it for our A-frame Christmas tree and then we reimagined the base in use as the support for an outdoor garden flag stand. We then used it for two night stands and the metal pipe fireworks lamp and for a crate Christmas display! See? Versatile!
The base has never been the sole subject of a post, but with this post we fix that! Read on or watch the video to see how it is made!
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It is always satisfying and cost effective to complete a project with what we have on hand. This is one of those projects!
If you saw the under-bed storage boxes, you're aware that Steph's new bed frame created more space underneath for storage, but then made her existing bedside tables too short! Rather than build something new, we decided to reimagine the old ones by creating new tops and simply adding a longer pipe to make them the needed height.
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Although this project started because of one of the dogs, it's not a pet project!
Tosh likes to get on Steph's bed and when she does she sometimes does zoomies. Here's a link to what that looks like. Anyway, the bed frame Steph was using started to squeak annoying her to no end. It was time for something different. So, Steph started looking for something new and settled on a metal frame from the Purple company. (Which led to the purchase of a new mattress, which then led to the need for taller nightstand, which leads into more projects!) The Purple metal frame while nice and strong, without squeaks, is quite tall. Steph decided to make use of that under-bed space and make a couple of storage boxes with a rustic look to blend with the existing headboard.
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Water leaks! They are the worst and have caused the most damage and work at both of our houses. I've had subtle leaks that weren't detected for a long time to the obvious, like the time I came home and water was pouring out of my garage!
The latest leak was one of the subtle ones. I just happened upon it because I was cleaning around the wood storage area and noticed a dark spot that should not have been there! After clearing out the area, I realized the water was coming under the outside wall into the garage and potentially into my closet on the other side of the garage wall. The culprit was the air conditioning condensation drain pipe that was positioned too close to the wall. As it's been very hot, the a/c has been running constantly meaning there has been a lot of water draining. Unfortunately, the water was running down the outside wall into the garage! We needed to fix the problem ASAP!
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Part of the plan when installing the elevated toy train train was a way to reach the train to turn it on. Although the LEGO train operates via a phone app, it has to be manually turned on, hence the need for a ladder to reach it!
On Steph's list of "making childhood dreams come true" was a rolling library ladder. She decided that this type of ladder would be perfect for reaching the train. Here's how it all came together and with it, how she got to have her Belle, Beauty and the Beast, moment!
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I think for a lot of people, especially home decor experts, ceiling fans are one of those love/hate things! They are super functional, but not all that attractive. This enclosed blade fan solves that "not attractive" problem while still providing plenty of function.
Between our two homes, we now have three of these fans with more to be installed in the future! Read along as Steph shares how she installed this fan.
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Steph is making her LEGO childhood dreams come true one project at a time! First it was to establish a LEGO room in her house, followed by the ultimate Wall Control storage wall, and now--an elevated train track!
Did anyone see that one coming? I surely didn't know she had always coveted rooms with elevated train tracks since watching the movie Casper back in the 90s. Since it is way too hot to work on anything outside, this was the perfect summer project. Follow along as we show you the build from beginning to caboose!
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The single reason we purchased this DIY trailer from Harbor Freight was it's ability to fold for compact storage.
Finally, in this last video Steph shares how to fold and store it. It's not just simply folding it in half and standing it upright, there's a few steps to perform before you can do that. |