One Sunday morning while we were still asleep our wire closet shelf and rod decided to fall. Abigail and I had previously taken it out and cleaned it, but that loosened it and it ripped out of the wall. Since it was not very useful anyway, we decided to just make a shelf from wood and hang a regular rod, plus added a couple of low shelves. Our closet is much more organized. We used a $2 gallon of mistint paint from Sherwin Williams, which just happened to match our quilt. Here it is almost finished before installing the shelves which are on the left side.
So, this is embarrassing. Our garage gets so messy. We had to come up with a better system to store our stuff.
The shelves on the left were not practical and not well made. So mister carpenter and kiddos designed and built the new wood shelving unit. So much more orderly. Seven months later it is still, fairly well, organized.
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| Reorganized with new IKEA dishes |
With outside organizing going on, I also tackled some indoor reorganizing, beginning with changing out the table in my kitchen to a higher, and better fitting square one. Love it! Late in the year we also added a cupboard of drawers over by the wall on the left for kitchen linens and small appliances. I put my coffee maker on top and opened up space on another counter.
Our next bigger project was remodeling our boys/guest bathroom when Nathan, Hannah and their children, Katie, Zach, and Caleb came for Thanksgiving. We rebuilt the vanity with oak from the Habitat for Humanity Restore, but we reused the doors from the previous vanity as they were oak as well. We also reused the sink and counter, and the existing tall cupboard in there, but glued on it a veneer and painted it white, along with the vanity. I purchased a new shower curtain and rugs. We still need to retile the shower floor, step, and some of the lower rows. But we hope to do it soon.
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| I reused a drawer, painted the front, and installed vinyl tiles inside |
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| cupboard before installing doors. |
I also made a box from foam and covered it with fabric. I will include the step by step directions in a post of craft projects later.
Our next big project did not include building but a reorganization of 4 rooms in the house and a big closet during Christmas break. We took the 2 boys out of the big room and put the 5 girls and their stuff in the big bedroom. After taking a car load of stuff to thrift stores, we are a bit lighter here. It took 4 days of moving to get everyone in their new places, and another 4 to hang pictures and shelves, and find places for a small amount of keepsakes. Here are the finished photos.
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| David's little room |
While Jon had some time off from work in January we fixed up the entry way outside the front door. The ceiling had drywall that, after years of heat and humidity in the semi-tropics here, was sagging and needed to be replaced. We demoed the drywall and replaced it with tongue-in-groove pine boards. We added quarter round on the edges and painted 3 coats of our exterior paint, 2 coats before installing. While Jon installed that, I sanded the peeling paint on the interior side of the front door and jamb, and primed it. Two coats of paint later, and it looks so much better. A week later I repainted the entry floor. We only need to repaint the exterior of the door and replace the screen and the entry will be finished.
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| Stephen is a good helper. |
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| I need a manicure |
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