Project Diary Entry #5 – Sealing a Wood Plank / Shiplap Wall

Posted on May 8, 2018 by Roeshel

::Snooze:: Okay, not much to report as work and progress on the studio renovation has been slow the past month. The renovation has sort of been on hold for a few weeks while we await our turn on a possible tile installation schedule after we leveled the floor (as you can kind of see in the progress photos below). In the meantime, I sealed the wood plank shiplap wall.

Bathroom before:

Once we removed all of the wall panels (something that was kind of like paneling without the fake wood look), we revealed the original shiplap.

Most of which was recovered with drywall but you guys! I couldn’t bear to cover up the original beauty of the back wall. Look at that beautiful wood and all of it’s pretty shades.

And it’s filthy! It got a REALLY good scrubbing with SEVERAL buckets of water!

I consulted my friends at Rust-Oleum who recommended sealing with Zinsser BIN Clear Coat Shellac and sent me a can to give it a go. So it after drying from the thorough scrubbing, I simply applied the shellac with a brush.

Time lapse just for fun!

It goes on with a blue/white color but dries to a pretty clear coat.

I always thought shellac had a high gloss look which I didn’t want. This finish has a very subtle sheen with very little shine, enough to seal the wood wall for the bathroom and to make it easy to clean.

Before:

After:

Beautiful!

Progress!

Before:

After:

Next up – ceiling and wall paint! And hopefully tile soon! Stay tuned!

The building has so much historical charm. It’s about one block from our town’s Main Street. The bus stop is literally steps away. There are breweries, the YMCA, shops, restaurants, salons, florists, candy/coffee shop, holiday parades and festivals within walking distance. So fun! If renovation from blah to ahhhhh is your thing, stay tuned!

So subscribe and be reminded of updates as the renovations progress! I’ll share before and after photos, projects underway and updates, plans and design boards, sources and links as they relate as well as fun events going on in and around the downtown area. I’ll be using a specific hashtag on social media to keep things all neat and tidy and organized.

#helloredreno

I welcome your thoughts and ideas! And as always, thanks for your encouragement and support and for sharing in my joy and vision! Watch for #helloredreno !

Project Diary Entry #4 – Full Bathroom Demo Day

Posted on February 27, 2018 by Roeshel

Bathroom DIY Demo

The rooms at the new studio are coming along – soooooo slowly – but getting there. It’s never as fast as I plan or as smooth! Right? Hiccups and unforeseen projects and unplanned expenses. But let’s take a look at the upstairs full bath and how things are coming along! It’s the room with the biggest expense and progress to date.

Here are some before pictures. YIKES! What a mess, what a lot of work. Yea, I under-estimated the work needed in here. Okay, let’s get started.

What would ever lead someone to box in a pedestal sink? That’s one way to hide exposed plumbing. ??? I do love that mirror though. Gotta re-use that somewhere. It’s got the vintage wear and tear that I love!

Oops. The roof had a leak and that’s been fixed. And it’s a great reason to tear down those ceiling tiles. And why yes, they’ve boxed in the claw foot tub too! What the…? Why?!

There’s even a back door out of the bathroom. One into a bedroom and this one out to the staircase. And carpet. In the bathroom. ::gag::

I love all the little built-ins. Aren’t they charming? That little glass door, the hardware! ::swoon:: So cute! That grate too! I have no idea…is it gas? There’s an old capped gas pipe right there to the left of it. But it’s right in the chimney where maybe the original stove from the main floor below stood. There’s a decent sized closet behind the door there too. So nice!

Can’t wait to reveal the cast iron claw foot tub! I love sconce lighting in the bathroom but will repurpose these cuties somewhere else some day. These old faucets! You either get hot or you get cold. There is no “warm” unless you fill the sink. lol

Demo day! Oh man! Here we go! Hold my hand!

Out with the old, that’s for sure! Out with that nasty carpet that’s been glued down to the original hardwood floors. What a mess! Because I want Shaw tile floors in the new bathroom, our installer at A&S Carpet has recommended we remove the old squeaky hardwood and screw down plywood to prepare the base for ceramic tiles. You can see the bathroom vent that was installed too. And there was quite a bit of work to be updated. Ugh. Not what I wanted to hear! It’s so hard when money goes into things we can’t see. But more importantly, it’s lifelong peace of mind. Isn’t it looking so much better all ripped out and ready for reno? I’m hoping to be able to re-use this gorgeous tub! I think it may have already been re-glazed once so we’ll see. Budgets have a way of making decisions for us sometimes, especially when un-foreseen expenses arise.

We’ve got some new drywall and sub flooring…

And look how light and airy it’s looking! So happy! Did I mention that I just can’t cover up all of that old original ship lap? I just can’t! So this wall and all of her rustic charm and pretty colors is staying. It’ll get a good scrub down and be sealed. More on that coming up! The floor is all prepped for NEW flooring! I’ll share my choice and some other ideas I have in a design board later this week. I’m also going to clean and seal the exposed brick. I just can’t bring myself to cover up all of the rustic beauty!

#helloredreno

I welcome your thoughts and ideas! And as always, thanks for your encouragement and support and for sharing in my joy and vision! Watch for #helloredreno !

Painted Chalkboard Labels

Posted on April 2, 2015 by Roeshel

Our guest bathroom has some bins for keeping things stocked and organized. I know what’s in them, however guests have no idea. So I grabbed:

the bins from the shelf in the guest bathroom
FrogTape® Multi-Surface
chalkboard paint
foam paint brush

Here’s what I did:

Using my FrogTape, I taped off rectangles onto the front of the bins….

I burnished the edges of the tape with my thumbnail…

and gave each rectangle label area two coats of chalkboard paint.

While the paint was still wet, I carefully removed the FrogTape to reveal crisp clean paint lines! I let the paint dry.

I labeled the bins using a chalkboard marker.

Now toiletries, first aid supplies and extras can be easily spotted.

Disclaimer: I received compensation to complete this project for using FrogTape® products. All opinions, projects and ideas are based on my own experience.

Felted Soap Tutorial

Posted on January 15, 2015 by Roeshel

It’s time for the monthly Michael’s Makers challenge! I’ve been wanting to/meaning to make felted soap for years and I can finally check it off my craft bucket list. But first, January is a great time of year for getting organized. I love these Recollections Memory Boxes with chalkboard labels for keeping crafting supplies organized in my craft room…

My craft project this month is felted soap. It’s something I usually purchase, handmade from boutiques…always for gifts but never for myself. I’ve always wanted to attempt to make my own but just never made the time to give it a try. Just one of those crafts that seemed time consuming or difficult. Boy, was I ever wrong! It’s so easy! No craft-talent required, although I bet it’s something we can acquire a skill at doing, to create some beautiful works of art maybe even too pretty to use. A fun craft to do with the kids as well.

What is felted soap? It’s like having your bar of soap wrapped in a felt washcloth. It lengthens the number of uses of a bar of soap and there’s lots of lather! It’s also pretty…you decide on colors or designs to coordinate with your bathroom decor, seasons or holidays, etc. You choose the soap brand or scent or even make your own.

Materials I used: Shop Michaels Online

bar of soap (I made 3 this time around: lavender, peppermint and even an activated charcoal soap.)
wool roving
nylon stocking (cut to fit over soap with room to tie opening)
water, paper towels, drying rack
optional: felt appliqué and felting needle tool

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Do a search for felted soap tutorials. There are a lot of different ways to go about this. This is what I did:

1. I wrapped the bar of soap with a piece of wool roving in the long direction around a bar of soap, as tight as I could get it to stay. I left a little overlap on the edges/corners. I used a thin sheet of roving and kept the overlapping the pieces on the back to a minimum.

2. I then wrapped wool roving the other direction. I tucked in the overlap on the corners from the first piece of wool roving placed.

3. Optional: add thin strands of different colors. Add an appliqué using a felting needle tool. Just place and punch. I didn’t really notice that it ‘stuck’ well (I could easily pull it back off) but it did seem to grab a few fibers and that seemed to be all that was needed to keep it sort of secure and in place. Maybe I did it wrong, I’m not a felting expert. lol!

4. I carefully placed the wrapped bar of soap into a piece of nylon stocking. If it was the toe piece, I tied a knot in one end. When I ran out of toe/foot stocking pieces, I used the leg parts of stocking and tied both ends. This just holds everything all together and in place.

5. In the kitchen sink, I prepared a bowl of hot water. I dipped the nylon covered soap into the hot water and started “washing my hands” with the soap. Rubbing each side of the soap, lathering. Repeating for 15 minutes. Yes, it feels like a long time standing there, but it’s not really a long time for a DIY craft project. It’s worth it. Pull up a stool or chair! Be aware of the appliqué so that it doesn’t slide around or change shape. And don’t forget to give attention to the corners and edges of the bar of soap.

6. Next I did a rinse in cold water, lathered one more time for a minute or so then a cold rinse and squeezed to remove some of the water.

7. I then cut away/removed the nylon stocking and patted with a dry paper towel. If it does look as if the felt is not adhered well, repeat steps 5 and 6…without the nylon.

8. Set aside to dry overnight (I put mine on a rack with paper towels underneath).

It’s addicting…

I want to make more, try more detailed designs! Maybe add a few drops of essential oil. Open my own shop! Okay, I wouldn’t go quite that far. But, I even made up a felted soap-on-a-rope by tying on wool yarn before felting (then simply decorated it by adding some wool yarn stripes).

What do you think? Something you want to try? Looking for more fun craft ideas? Check out these January projects from the Michael’s Makers team:
[inlinkz_linkup id=485244 noentry=1 mode=1]

An InLinkz Link-up

Haven’t decided what project you’re going to kick off 2015 with? Stop by Michaels’ blog The Glue String for inspiration from all 30 of the Michaels Makers.

If one of your New Year’s resolutions is to clean out your closet, your office or even your bedroom, but you’re sick of the typical containers and boxes – here are some cool and creative DIY storage ideas that might help!

For those of us that just need a place to store our craft materials and organize our scrapbook paper, paint, markers and yarn, you must check out these nifty craft storage systems.

DIY Toilet Paper Holder with Shelf (Easy Small Bathroom Upgrade)

Posted on January 8, 2015 by Roeshel

If you’re working with a small bathroom, every inch matters. I wanted something simple and functional—but also a little more stylish than a basic toilet paper holder. This easy DIY toilet paper holder with a shelf adds just enough space for essentials (like your phone, spray or a small plant) while keeping things clean and uncluttered. It’s a quick project that makes a big difference.

For as long as we’ve lived here, the guest bathroom’s toilet paper rested in a basket on the floor. Not ideal. So, rather than just secure a pretty oil rubbed bronze holder to the wall, I attached it to a piece of stained scrap wood to create a shelf for decorative accessories like a small plant, air freshener, vase of flowers, extra t.p. or even just cell phone accident prevention, if you know what I mean.

What I Used:

Some affiliate links included for your convenience.

oil rubbed bronze toilet paper holder
scrap wood (mine is a 1×6 measuring about 10″ in length)
Rustoleum Ultimate Wood Care stain & polyurethane
2 corner brackets and screws (try decorative brackets if they work with your holder/wood measurements)

What I Did:

1. Cut, sand and clean a piece of scrap wood.

2. Stain wood shelf by applying stain. Then wipe away with a clean rag. I use RustOleum Ultimate Wood Stain since it dries in about an hour.

3. Seal wood. I did two coats.

4. Attach the toilet paper holder to the under side of the shelf. Allowing room for toilet paper to roll (not be tight agains the wall when installed).

Optional: Have inspector approve your work.

5. Attach corner brackets on one side where shelf will rest against the wall.

6. Decide placement (keeping everyone’s size in mind – not too far of a reach but not so close that it’s in the way of someone’s knees or thighs) and using a level (there’s one in my iPhone’s compass), secure shelf to the wall with screws (use wall anchors if needed).