working wednesday: surprise house makeover part 2

Well, I am done! mostly. What all did I do? I painted the dining room, living room and kitchen walls beige (two different beiges, actually, as I found a can of paint that was almost the same color as the one I bought, which was good because then I had just enough paint), tiled and boxed the hearth, painted the brick fireplace surround, constructed and painted a mantle to go over the brick 'mantel', and patched and painted the wall above the fireplace. Originally I was going to leave that wall burgundy, to make my mom happy, but there was a big crack in the drywall from the house settling (earthquake country! yay!) and since I had to patch it I had to repaint it anyhow, so I went with grey. Thing is,we didn't have any grey left, so I mixed some green and purple paint with some white primer and made my own grey,which I actually really love. I don't really like the beige and grey together, but it is growing on me, and I am thinking of doing some grey walls in our own house now, instead of all white.

(grey? gray? I think I like grey just because gray looks like Gary to me. hmmm. I know it's supposed to be a regional dialect thing, but since I don't have one dialect I just go with whatever seems right.)

Anyhow, for the fireplace, I used firring strips to create a 'box' on top of the brick, screwed that into the walls, and then I attached the front decorating strip and the mantle top to that. I used liquid nails to attach more wood boards to cover the brick underneath. It's sturdy and looks fantastic (and I say this only because everyone who has seen it says so, and also because I am proud of myself.) I covered the bricks with white primer, then painted over that and the mantel with high-gloss white, for ease of cleaning.

Now then, it isn't quite done. almost! almost.

happily,
nava

working wednesday: random meme

Despite working extra hard today (why is it we are getting all our summer right now? 111 degrees? seriously California?) I didn't actually complete any projects, although I did get partway through quite a few; plus, the awesome tires I found for my bike got sold out, so now I am back to square one in the tire search. grr. Anyhoo! So I decided to do a meeeeme, since I haven't in quite a while. Here goes.

1. age on my next birthday
2. place (s) I would like to travel
3. favorite place (s)4. favorite food (s)5. favorite animal

6. favorite color

7. place where I was born
8. name of pet (s)

9. my first name
10. bad habit11. first job
12. Grandmother's names13. college major
well, that's it for today. Hopefully the temps are low enough tomorrow to really be productive; no a/c + high temps = lots of sitting around trying not to feel warm. yay popsicles!

happily,
nava

working wednesday: surprise house makeover

Since the three-wheeled bike is on hold until the wheels come in, I am going ahead with another huge project. See, my Mom is in Hawaii for a couple weeks, and I figured now was a good time to get some home improvement type things done. Why now? Mostly because my Mom is the kind of person who, well, dithers. I don't. Hence, conflict (mostly silent and passive-aggressive) occurs. She's been talking about painting over the (very, very dark burgundy) kitchen/dining/family area for a long, long time, and it needs to happen so they can sell the house. Also, so I don't go crazy, because the dark walls just make the room SO dark, and the light so weird and the clutter so overwhelming that I literally could not stand it anymore. I wound up popping the boys into the stroller and walking down to buy the paint myself. secretly. because I am a ninja. Also, she was out of town for a week.

begone, dark walls! please ignore the mess.

Then I was looking at the brick fireplace and thought to myself "wow, that is really ugly brick." ( I mean, look at it! ug-ly, yeah?) So I told my Dad I had decided to paint the brick white. He was really happy. I remembered halfway through that they may have had several conversations about how much he hates that brick and how much she wants to "no, don't take it, I, um, want it." (Not like, just want, no one knows why.) Oh well! Too late now!

Then, as I am painting away, I thought that perhaps painting the hearth would be a bad idea? Due to flammability? So I was thinking, hey, I could use some of my leftover engine enamel, but then I would have to mask off, well, the entire room. THEN I remembered all the leftover tile from redoing the bathrooms and, eureka! Here is my idea for the layout.

hello, little car! why were you in the fireplace?

Here it is right now, with the tiles in front waiting to be put in place. (also, all the walls have been painted over except behind the fridge and the stove, and I am leaving that wall above the fireplace as an 'accent wall' for now. We'll see.)

mad thinset skillz. maybe.

I've applied the first layer of thinset, I'm going to apply the second layer and tile this evening after the boys are abed, and then I can grout tomorrow. I hope we have grout. hmmm. Oh well, we are visiting friends in Santa Cruz tomorrow, so the worrying can wait! What was it I said last time about planning ahead? oh well!

Some of the best parts of this project have been the using of 'leftovers': a can of paint, a can of primer, and the tiles. awesome! (heehee, the boys are watching Shaun the Sheep on netflix, enthralled. I think I'll join them.)

happily,
nava

working wednesday: the 3-wheeled bike part 2

Here she is, all masked off (and protected from ...exuberant children) after finishing the paint job! Still have to order tires ( I found white-wall tires for a good price), brake lines, and I'm figuring out the seats. I am really, really happy with how this is turning out!
In the background you can see one of my old bikes, a red men's bike that I am fixing up for Milt. I'm thinking maybe blue? In that case, thankfully, the only things needing replacing are the tires and seat, and the tires I should be able to salvage from one of the other bikes around here, as they are the standard size.

hmm, that newspaper seat is quite chic, yes?

happily,
nava

working wednesday: the 3-wheeled bike

it's day 1 of my cleanse and so far...nothing interesting to report. oh well! :)

I am currently working on restoring this little beauty.


Can you believe there is white paint under all that rust? So far I know I will have to replace the seat, the tubes (if not the wheels!), the brake lines, probably the rear-view mirror, and the paint job. chrome and aqua, maybe? I am going to get lights for this one too. In fact I need to get lights for my other bike (Penelope) as well, so I better get started on that. I am also going to retrofit the basket to hold one of the boys. Trying to figure that one out, but it looks like I'll have a while before I need to worry about that!

To be honest though, I would LOVE a Madsen bucket bike. wow. dare to dream, right? In the meantime, I'm going to save this one from the scrap heap. What should I name her? I am thinking Adelaide, but suggestions are welcome.

happily,
nava