DIY Wine Rack - Completed!

I am not gonna lie, I am a little jealous that my brothers project was started AND completed in about a week. (Check out the previous post about the making of the wine rack here.) Ok, he doesn't have a 6 month old as an assistant.It looks fantastic. Currently its still in my house....maybe I will take my time before delivering it to his place :)

My brother has done some woodworking back in high school, but as far as I know this is his first project in a while and he had to make due with the tools we have. All in all - its one good looking wine rack!

Finished staining, still in the basement

And now in my entrance.

(unfortunately I only have 2 bottles of wine to 'test' it out,

but I did happen to have some baskets that fit the shelf)

I can't wait to see what he makes next!

-Lauren

Feature: Jen and Nathan's Apartment Therapy

My friends Jen and Nathan were recently on apartmenttherapy.com! so cool!

Apartment Therapy is a website that showcases some awesome real life decorating and desings.  Definitly worth checking out.
Check out some of the photos, all sourced from apartmenttherapy.com

Jen and Nathan have a neat style, including many DIY and upcycled projects.  
Love it!

  - Leah

DIY Wine Rack

My brother had three days off last week and he spent it as any normal person would.....in my basement making a wine rack. He first browsed the internet to look for 'designs'. Then we drew up some plans (first plans were made on a napkin) and kinda modified as he needed to throughout the way.

Bought some wood and got to work.

Hard at work (the wine is a measurement tool to make sure the rack is the right side - it was not consumed during the building process)

Vertical components waiting to be assembled.

And of course my daughter helped.

Still to be completed:

some trim

staining

filling with wine

- Lauren

New Kitchen Cabinets!

Yep!   Our kitchen cabinets are finally in :)

When our kitchen was first designed, this space was initially meant for a big comfy chair to go there, but instead.. we put a couch and table in the other end of the kitchen.  Then, the area meant for the chair just became random storage and unused space. So, we decided to finish out the cupboard with a final cabinet to match the rest.

The final results are so good! The kitchen now feels finished, and I love it

 Before Photos:

After photos:

I'm very happy we choose the open shelves, its a great pop of colour in the kitchen

 - Leah

Mirror Makeover - DIY Laundry Room Art

In a combined effort to clear the basement of stuff as we renovate (an old mirror from a old medicine cabinet) and to add some finishing touches to my new laundry room (full blog reveal soon).

And with inspiration from here and here. I etched a sign into the mirror that otherwise would have probably headed to the garbage soon.

First I covered the mirror in painters tape, then wrote my stuff with a marker, and then used a razor blade to cut away the letters, leaving a stencil with the exposed mirror the part that I wanted to etch.

I bought some glass etch cream from Michaels (using a 40% off coupon of course). My stencil wasn't one of the listed types, so I just applied with an old paint brush and then washed it away.

I was worried that the acid would eat away at the tape, so I applied it as fast as I could and then immediately washed it away. It didn't seem to do much so I re-did the process (waiting alittle bit longer - although I didn't look at a watch at all so not sure how much time actually passed) and after the second application, I washed it and removed the tape.

The finished product isn't super crisp or even but it also makes it look kinda aged which I liked. Its fairly subtle but I am happy with the result.

Soon I will show it hanging in our new 'almost' finished laundry room.

-Lauren

Cosmetics Data Base

I found out about this cosmetic data base website a few years ago and it has changed the way I buy beauty products.

Its a database of products and their ingredients, and then gives the product a score of 0-10 for hazards.

Hazard score key:

Low hazard	Moderate hazard	High hazard

Data score key:

Data: None		Data availability rating: the scope of ingredient safety data contained in Skin Deep®, and the number of studies available in the open scientific literature
Data: Limited
Data: Fair
Data: Good
Data: Robust

Not only has it made me think about the products that I use (moisturizer, shampoo, soap, make-up, sunscreen, it has almost any product that you can think of) but now I double check anything that I use on my baby girl. I have been given the advice if you wouldn't eat it, don't use it. And as babies put everything in their mouths (including my hands, arms, neck, face.....) its a pretty good guideline.

Products that I like (and their hazard ratings)

Dr Bronner's Baby Soap (1)
Shaklee Baby Soap (2)
Shaklee Baby Lotion (1)
Seventh Generation UnScented baby Wipes (1)
Nature Babycare eco sensitive fragrance free baby wipes (2)

Aveda Shampure Shampoo (5)
Aveda Rosemary mint Conditioner (2)
Dr Bronner's peppermint soap (1)
Olay complete spf30 defence moisturizer (4)
Burt's Bees Lip Balm and Lip Shimmer (2-3)
Curel Moisturizer (2)
Aveeno Moisturizer (2)

These are the products used most often around our house, and now that I have them all written out, its not too bad.  Ideally nothing would be above a 2 rating, I think now that I have it all written out like this its pretty clear that I should switch from Aveda Shampure to Rosemary Mint Shampoo to match the less hazardous conditioner that I already use.

There are a few products that I use that are not int the data base, but if and when I have the time, I can enter each of the ingredients and find out the individual hazards and decide if the product meets my requirements.

I also use various hair products and some makeup (which don't rank as good) - but these are not daily items for me.

I have heard a lot about using coconut oil as moisturizer, but I haven't tried it yet. and seeing as my current products don't rate too bad, I don't really have any extra motivation right now - I will have to wait until something runs out and needs to be replaced.

as the cosmetics database website says "use your buying power to change the market - and help make personal care products safer for us all".

- Lauren

Hallway Photos

One of our projects over the holiday break was to finally finish up our hallway. From the beginning, Craig and I had the same goal of creating a hallway with a bold statement and fond memories. (It just took a few years to FINALLY finish).

We decided on black photo frames, with white matting on our bold rusty orange "L" shaped hallway. All of our frames are symmetrical, with an equal balance on either side.

We mixed in photo frames with a few other interesting pieces.

For example, we have a very neat photo of Craig's grandfather's graduating class at Queen's University from 1939.

We also used the original copy (which was boarded and laminated) of an Auction list from 1917 when Craig’s Great Grandparents immigrated to Canada from England.

Finally, we framed Cheques from the 1860’s, when Craig’s Great, Great, Grandfather ran a hotel in New York.

Definitely some very interesting, and neat family heirlooms, and I am very pleased with the results!

 

-Leah

Welcome Twenty Twelve!

I can't believe another year is over, it has been great - but it went by so fast!

And so it seems this time of year, people do two things - look back on the year past, and look forward to all that comes with a new year.

For the past twenty years or so, my new years resolution has been to stop biting my nails, the last 5 years or so has resulted in a number of significant attempts, and I will continue to try. I know that now more than ever, it's a bad example for my daughter and I don't want to be the reason that she one day also bites her nails.

But in a less 'resolution' sense and in a home reno goal sense, I am looking forward to sharing many projects with you, including some from this year which are almost done (bathrooms and laundry room) and some that are just started (basement and refinishing stairs) and some that are probably beyond 2012 but I can still dream about them (knocking down walls and a new kitchen). And those are only the 'larger' projects!

- Lauren
(photo by Owen Cherry)