Another Vintage Find

Yesterday we were out for breakfast on Mississippi Ave, and as is often the case this was followed by a romp through the ReBuilding Center.  We really do love this place!

They are having a sale on lamps and light shades at the moment, and we were lucky enough to spy this gem of a shade to finally replace the awful "home depot special" light in the front entry.

The shade didn't come with any parts, but we were able to locate the brass fittings shown in the picture while at the ReBuilding Center and think we've come up with a reasonable facsimile of what the original might have looked like.  And the best part is that we took the whole thing home for $8.50!

A previous trip to the RC yielded a Rejuvenation Hardware light base to hang one of these center-hole shades, and so the whole project so far has cost us $13.50 minus the light bulbs.  What a steal!  My only dilemma is that base is silver, and the other fittings are brass - do I spray the base an antique brass, or spray everything a darker bronze?

Just goes to show what a little patience can yield in the perpetual treasure hunt for house fixtures.  Now the hard part will be pinning down the husband long enough to help install it!

Check Out Some Hallway Pics

New Tab! Check out the Hallway pics just added as a 'page' above - or click here.

It features original salvage/upcycling of Olympia beer cans to patch holes in the fir subfloor. Whooo hooo. So glad we got to keep them for owners to find in the next 100 years. (Or not, those floors should be good for that long at least!)

Can you count five different floor 'generations' here?

You Might Be Renovating If... (3)

The front entry is almost done (!) and will be posted soon. In the meantime, here are a few more signs that might indicate that you too are in the midst of a renovation.

This reno runs on wine (and whiskey)


• If you buy dust masks, sand paper, masking tape, and wine in bulk. 

• If you dog has cost you more in doggie day care fees than you have spend on the materials that have necessitated such an arrangement.

• If you have multiple interesting bruises from unknown origin, and have slapped yourself in the face no less than 4 times by dust mask elastics breaking.

• If you've been working on house projects so long that you're re-sanding/re-staining/re-painting a room that you've already done this to in the past 3 years.

• If you're happy that your friends will paint/clean/move furniture or otherwise work for booze.

Blind Corner Cabinet Inserts

So my two largest lower cabinets are both blind corners - as in they could have been 'lazy
Susan's' (sorry all Susans) but have been otherwise shoved into the corner with a regular sized
opening and thus CANNOT be retro fitted with a fun spinning triple shelf indicative of the beautiful Susan that could be.

And thus I have opted for the new remedy, the 'blind corner caddy' or  'limber Linda' as I have dubbed it.  After five years with two 'black hole' pot cupboards you might also be excited.

You might have 'black hole' pot cupboards if:

• You know you own nice pots but can't find them
• You have bakeware that you bought in '93 and found in '13
• You apparently own a jello mold
• You have been looking for a muffin tin... and then find you own two.
• You have exclaimed 'what the heck is that" at least once upon finding something in the back of the cupboard.

These organizers weren't cheap, but they aren't cheaply made either. They also use just about every square inch of available space in these cupboards, which is pretty ideal.  I'm also anticipating that they will reduce the swearing and clanging factors that were necessary to remove anything from these spaces previously. 

We bought the Omega National KitchenMate (tm) Blind Corner Caddy - which so far (1 week in) I am totally happy with. They are sturdy, made of maple, and the drawer slides claim to hold 100 lb each.  The box that slides out first to reveal the shelves behind does move around a bit when you push/pull it due to the hinge, but it doesn't really bother me. The only other slight negative is that we will be adding some 'bumpers' to the side of the box to keep it from damaging the opposite cupboard door when it is fully out and turned.


Installation was straight-forward and involved just three main components (drawers, caddy slide, caddy) but it does require that you are a relatively small and patient individual. It also helps if you read through the instructions to see if they have put the last two steps on the back of page one, such that they read: step 1, 5, 6, 2, 3, 4 as mine did.  I never did get great points for reading 'details'. 

STEPS:

• Measure cupboards to determine which blind corner caddy is right for you.
• Cut out middle shelf (my shelves were datoed AND stabled from the outside of the cabinet, which was unaccessable in both cases)
• I used a circular saw to make a straight cut, then finished the cut with a dremmel tool and then whacked at the shelf with a mallet, then used a pry bar to get the shelf pieces free)
• Clean up any debris, random pieces of wood you find and pull any nails/staples through the cabinet with pliers
• I couldn't remove the old mactac on the bottom of the cabinet, so I cut some leftover cork underlayment to fit and glues it in with rubber cement. You could also paint or stain.
• Install your caddy according to instructions.
• Enjoy your boundless shelf space!

You Might Be Renovating If... (2)

More homegrown hilarity...

If you've ever cooked like this!

• If the only reason you didn't have to eat take-out today was because you own a barbeque and a plug-in electric burner. And if you don't have to order take-out tomorrow because you were able to store your left-overs in the fridge on your back deck.

• If you've had to upgrade to shop towels on your paper towel dispenser.

• If you eat no more than two meals a day, and no less than two bottles of wine.

• If you loose all distinction between your 'good clothes' and 'work clothes', and refer to your good pants as those that you can find with the least paint/saw-dust/wood filler on them.

• If your dog understands the muffled commands you issue through your dust mask. 

You might be renovating if...

A la Jeff Foxworthy and his bit about rednecks... I got to thinking that there are some signs that are indicative of life with a renovation project.  Here are a few (I'm sure there will be more to come!) and they all stem from actual personal experience.

• If you look forward to the morning newspaper delivery - so you can mask off for painting, mop up spills, and pad your dining room table.

• If you hand wash your dishes and place them in your dishwasher for storage.

• If you own 4 different power sanders, 8 kinds of levels, and his & hers pry bars.

• If you finally understand why nice little breakfast cafes have oatmeal and yogurt on the menu. And you've ordered it for take-out. More than twice.

• If you no longer know what day of the week it is, let alone the date, but refer now to 'the day the wood is delivered', 'the day we can put furniture back on the floor' and 'the day for tile shopping'.

Welcome!

Check out the tabs above to see the evolution of the rooms, as we try to bring our 1904 Portland story-and-a-half simultaneously into this century in efficiency and back to the beginning of the last in detail.

And check back for reno hilarity, new photos, and collateral reno projects that occur as we move along on this seemingly never-ending journey.

Enjoy!