Category Archives: Current House

current-house-category, red autumn maple On this section, we show you the projects we’ve worked on and the ones we’re working on – sometimes more than one at the same time – on our current (and hopefully last) house. The goal is to share our progress and ideas, hear and learn from your opinions and have a friendly discussion about our different home improvement and do-it-yourself projects.

How to Build a Fun Bunk Bed For Kids

The lumber we used to build the bed’s frame

Growing up, I always wanted one of those fun bedroom sets pictured in magazines. At five, my mom gave me the chance to choose one. When we made it to the store, I fell in love with one they had in the showroom (similar to the ones in the magazines, and not the one she wanted to get me).

It had so many pieces that there was no way it was going to fit in my small bedroom. I ended up getting just the bed and one other piece, a modular desk, and shelving unit (that was back in the late 80s before modular furniture got very popular). Although I was happy with the bedroom set, it was not as fun without the other pieces I could not get.

Looking for ideas for our kid’s bedroom brought back lots of memories, I knew I had to build a fun bed for him! After a bit of research (and finishing his play table and dresser), we decided to build him a fun bunk bed, similar to this one.

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How to Refinish an Old Wood Dresser with White Paint

The old dresser when we brought it home

As you read in our previous post, we became the foster parents of a very energetic four-year-old boy almost overnight. We had to make some very quick changes to our house to make it more kid-friendly.

We had already started building the wooden play table and chair set for him to play before he got home. However, we also needed a dresser to organize his clothes and a bed for him to sleep.

So, as soon as we got him, we had to supercharge our furniture factory (our garage). At the same time, having him with us means that we cannot spend as much time working on projects as we used to. Everything takes a lot longer now.

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How to Build a Wooden Play Table and Chair Set for Kids

The pallet wood we used to build the play table set

Months ago, they hosted what they call “Orphan Care Weekend” at our church. They had different activities and speakers trying to raise awareness of the needs of orphans and foster children in our community. As you may expect, one of the very important topics they talked about was the unfortunate, but desperate need of adoptive and foster parents for kids of all ages (0 to 18), and the great difference they are able to make in the children lives.

Moved by everything we learned that weekend, late last year, Carla and I started the process to get certified as foster parents.

Fast forward to April 2018, we got our certification and a kid at home. An energetic 4-year old boy (we got a call the same day our certification was approved, that’s how desperate they are for foster families).

Without kids, our house was absolutely not kid-friendly. We had to start working on changing this. So, after looking for different ideas, we decided that building a wooden play table was definitely a must for us!

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Building Your Own Floating Shelves

The wood we used to build our own floating shelves

Have you ever wondered how those apparently “magic” floating shelves work, coming out of walls, while something “invisible” seems to be holding them in place?

Well, I did for a while. And I loved how they seemed to blend so well in spaces, with no obvious support. So one day, while my husband and I were contemplating some of our still empty walls (yes, our home décor process is still an ongoing thing), we decided we wanted to install floating shelves in one of them. Continue reading →

How We Built Our Own Wooden Coffee Table

The wood we used to build our DIY coffee table

The wood we used to build our own coffee table

I have always had a particular taste. As a child, my mom and dad would tell me that I was going to have to make my own clothes & shoes, because it was really hard to find stuff that I actually liked (it’s funny now, but it wasn’t back then). Going shopping was a frustrating experience!

Trying to find the perfect coffee table for our living room brought these childhood memories back to my mind. Nothing was what we wanted… Or it was, but with a price way higher than we wanted to pay.

One day, we came across a Crate & Barrel bench online. We loved the concept. It is simple, yet modern and the legs definitely stood out… Could we pull this off? We were definitely going to give it a try.

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How We Made a Flower Bed in Front of Our House

The area of our front lawn where we made the flower bed

If you’ve been following this blog, you should know that our house is always a work in progress. Although it has pretty much everything we need and want, there are a few areas that we would not mind changing or remodeling. We’ve been trying to take it easy though, so we’ve been focusing on the areas that require less work. In other words, those we think that just need some minor improvements or some love.

This is part of the reason why, most of our last posts, have been about home decor.

One of the areas that we always thought needed some love was our front lawn. Although we replaced three ugly bushes with Alberta Spruces and planted an Ash tree on the left side of the garage when we worked in our backyard, it still needed some work.

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How To Make Framed Wallpaper Panels

Part of the wood used to create the frames

Do you also think wall art can be really expensive? Well, I had been looking at stuff online for months, probably a year, and everything I liked came along with a big price tag… I thought that there had to be a cheaper way to decorate our walls.

I have always loved wallpaper. Not over a whole room with an overwhelming pattern, but more in the creating pops of color or texture here and there kind of way.

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We’ve Been Busy Exploring Colorado (And Painting A Few Rooms)

Breakfast after a rainy camping night

It is summer time! Well, it has been for the last month and a half or so! Or, at least, that is for how long we’ve been trying to enjoy it and have fun.

We decided to scale back a bit on our projects so we could have some additional time to enjoy the amazing weather!

Lots of camping, hiking and summer adventures!

Do not worry, though, that does not mean that we have not completed any projects. We’ve actually worked a lot, mostly painting, but also on other things as well. Stay tuned!

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DIY Ruffle Lamp Shades

Our chandelier before the makeover

After finishing the dining room set reupholstery project, I went after the chandelier in our dining area… I had set my eyes on it for a while; I just didn’t know what to do with it. The modern style of the lamp was a plus to me, but the shades seemed just too plain.

I normally have a tendency to like feminine romantic decor styles with modern twists. However, since we got married, I have been trying to be fair and include my husband in the decor process. So when I saw pictures of ruffle lampshades (and loved them!), I hoped he would at least like them.

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Reupholstering Dining Room Chairs

How much fabric do I need to reupholster a chair

A chair as they looked before we started the project

Before we moved to our new house, we decided to replace most of our old furniture. As a result, the dining room set was one of those things we were missing.

After browsing a little (online and in the stores), we decided we didn’t want to pay full price for one, so we started our hunt for a used one. A while later, we found one that was in perfect condition, for a third of what it would cost to buy it new in the store. It was not necessarily our favorite, but we saw the potential of improving it with a little bit of love.

We brought it home, put it in its place and… yes, it needed the love. Our flooring is a dark brown hardwood, the dining room set has a very similar warm dark tobacco finish and leather looking brown seat coverings. We ended up with what I called “The Brown Corner”. This said, something had to be done to bring life to it… and the first thing we thought of was reupholstering the seat coverings.

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