Home projects
I've been busy lately with several of home projects. Both of my recent projects turned out to be a lot more work than I bargained for, as usual, and took much more time than anticipated, as well.
I made three roman shades for the office, which previously had some cutesy lace balloon valances. The previous owner of the house loved ruffles, lace, hearts, and ducks on everything. I was looking for something a bit more masculine and tailored for the office, which is full of mission style furniture and high-tech equipment.
I used Evil Empire upholstery fabric ($5/yd) and old muslin bedsheets for the lining. The shades cost about $35 in materials - mostly because I wanted nice wine-colored suede fabric, but also because I overestimated the amount of cord I would need. I eventually found a very cheap alternative to the plastic rings used for the cords - washers from the hardware store, sold by the pound. Instead of $5 for cheapo plastic rings which will likely break, I spent $0.22 on a couple of handfuls of sturdy washers. I can use the leftover washers for other household projects; it seems I never have enough washers in any case. I am going to return about $10 worth of cords and rings to the Evil Empire. The shades turned out to be very floppy and untidy, perhaps because of the heavy fabric I used. Because the pleat seams were too narrow to insert a dowel, and since I didn't want to sink any more money into the shades, I used old metal hangers as stiffeners. I bent the hangers straight with a vice-grip and inserted one wire into each pleat so the whole shade would lay flat.
Rowena was a big help with the process, laying on the fabric, jumping on the fabric, and chewing on the threads and cord.
I have enough fabric and lining left over I may make some valances for the bedroom and get rid of the awful dust-gathering balloon valances which came with the house.
Here's the final result:
I also designed a large spice rack, to extend the storage available in our tiny kitchen. We already have used hanging pot racks, cupboards in the breakfast nook, and hooks in the basement entryway to store kitchen items - but our extensive South Asian spice collection and my cooking spices were difficult to find in the nook cupboard. My dad brought over his collection of hardwood scraps (he saves everything, for just such an occasion), and we cut pieces to make a 3" deep, 3' long hanging shelf unit for the basement entryway. It's just around the corner from the kitchen, and should be big enough to store quite a few bottle of bulk spices.
Of course, it was easier said than done, as well. None of the pieces lined up flush, and when we tried to screw the pieces together, the screws didn't go in anywhere near straight. I tried roping the pieces together and gluing with carpenter's glue, but it didn't hold firmly. I don't have any good corner clamps, which maybe caused the poor result. I ended up nailing everything, which is not the way my dad does things (he likes screws), but the end result is very sturdy and much less infuriating than his way.
I made three roman shades for the office, which previously had some cutesy lace balloon valances. The previous owner of the house loved ruffles, lace, hearts, and ducks on everything. I was looking for something a bit more masculine and tailored for the office, which is full of mission style furniture and high-tech equipment.
I used Evil Empire upholstery fabric ($5/yd) and old muslin bedsheets for the lining. The shades cost about $35 in materials - mostly because I wanted nice wine-colored suede fabric, but also because I overestimated the amount of cord I would need. I eventually found a very cheap alternative to the plastic rings used for the cords - washers from the hardware store, sold by the pound. Instead of $5 for cheapo plastic rings which will likely break, I spent $0.22 on a couple of handfuls of sturdy washers. I can use the leftover washers for other household projects; it seems I never have enough washers in any case. I am going to return about $10 worth of cords and rings to the Evil Empire. The shades turned out to be very floppy and untidy, perhaps because of the heavy fabric I used. Because the pleat seams were too narrow to insert a dowel, and since I didn't want to sink any more money into the shades, I used old metal hangers as stiffeners. I bent the hangers straight with a vice-grip and inserted one wire into each pleat so the whole shade would lay flat.
Rowena was a big help with the process, laying on the fabric, jumping on the fabric, and chewing on the threads and cord.
I have enough fabric and lining left over I may make some valances for the bedroom and get rid of the awful dust-gathering balloon valances which came with the house.
Here's the final result:
I also designed a large spice rack, to extend the storage available in our tiny kitchen. We already have used hanging pot racks, cupboards in the breakfast nook, and hooks in the basement entryway to store kitchen items - but our extensive South Asian spice collection and my cooking spices were difficult to find in the nook cupboard. My dad brought over his collection of hardwood scraps (he saves everything, for just such an occasion), and we cut pieces to make a 3" deep, 3' long hanging shelf unit for the basement entryway. It's just around the corner from the kitchen, and should be big enough to store quite a few bottle of bulk spices.
Of course, it was easier said than done, as well. None of the pieces lined up flush, and when we tried to screw the pieces together, the screws didn't go in anywhere near straight. I tried roping the pieces together and gluing with carpenter's glue, but it didn't hold firmly. I don't have any good corner clamps, which maybe caused the poor result. I ended up nailing everything, which is not the way my dad does things (he likes screws), but the end result is very sturdy and much less infuriating than his way.
posted by Linda at 12:26 PM
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