iseecerulean

My new sofa, sitting on my big sofa, in front of one of the microsuede throw pillows that started my color scheme.  (I used to have two of those throw pillows, one became the sofa.)  The cat throw pillows were made by Brae.  The small boom box is my husband's.  I bought it for him (it's really an iPod speaker) because he collects boomboxes, thinking he'd say "awww, it's cute", then hand it back to me after a few days. He won't let me have it.  Now I have to buy myself one.  

The sofa's not perfect, but  when I get something made of fabric to a 'good enough' state I'm thrilled.  Fabric and I don't tend to get along.  I constructed the sofa based on a tutorial written by Pepper.  Part one, building, is here....part two, upholstering, is here.

I ended up making it a bit deeper than I planned on, but it would have looked funny with my original measurements.  I definitely don't have space for a coffee table in this room.

We had a wee little chipmunk visit us yesterday.  He's old enough to have left the burrow, but too young to be scared of people yet....definitely from this year's litter.  He was sleeping on the warm pavers behind the garage.

Stretch!   Awww.....so cute.....

Hi there, little guy....

Would you like some sunflower seeds?

Look at those big feet!  Just like a puppy...he'll grow into them.

We must have sat there for an hour while he stuffed his cheeks full, before he staggered away, off balance.  So sweet.  He'd look cute relaxing on my sofa, no?

 I stippled what I think is the last coat of white enamel paint on the kitchen countertops this morning.  I'll let it dry today, then tonight I'll burnish it smooth with a piece of wadded up paper bag.  That's the same technique I used when I painted Susan's tomb....which made me think of it, so I thought I'd rerun that post. 

Susan, can you believe it's been five years since I made the tomb for you?  Which also makes me think I need to get my butt in gear on this year's present.  I got off to a roaring start a month ago,  but haven't done much on it since.

Originally published October 23, 2010....

 final photo shoot before I shipped the tomb to Susan

I have unsuccessfully ended my search for chrome paint that's not spray paint.  The clerk at the beauty supply store knew just what I was talking about when I said "mirror-finish chrome nail polish", it was a special polish OPI put out last year.  They didn't have any in the store, but I found it on Amazon; however, it's a two coat polish - a base, then the chrome.  I already have that, though it's a decade old, from Avon.  If you aren't spot on smooth and even with the base coat the chrome coat doesn't look good.  I knew I wasn't going to be able to paint the faucets with it, there are too many nooks and crannies, so to speak.

What I ended up buying, at the hobby shop, is aluminum paint, by Testors.  I painted the ends of the range hood with it in the kitchen.  It doesn't look metallic, but the color is spot on.  I also painted a strip of 1/16" quarter round to glue in where the top of the hood meets the cabinets, because light shone through the tiny gap when I turned the hood on.

I didn't think I was going to find better, so I taped off and painted the bathroom faucets.  Once the paint was dry I gave them two coats of clear nail polish, to reflect light.  They're still not the finish I want, but they look much better.

Then Husband says to me "I have a can of chrome spray paint in the garage, I wonder if you could spray some in a cup, then paint it on with a brush".  Sigh.  Men and timing.    You know I'm going to have to play with that idea, though not with these faucets, with clear nail polish glopped all over them they're not smooth enough now, I'm sure.

Ester was under my feet pestering me while I was trying to work so I stuck a piece of painters tape half on-half off the bottom support of my cart.  It kept her busy for a good 15 minutes.  I offered to snuggle when I was done painting, but by then the slayed tape had her all riled up so we play-swatted at each other for a few minutes instead.

I sorted through my paper stash to pull anything that looked like it would work for a backsplash.  Daughter held them in place while I took pictures. (You can click them to full size if you want to review the final cut.)

......

The winner...

Yay!  Much better.   You'll have to wait for a picture of the backsplash with the teal base cabinets in place, I've got wet paint now.

Thanks for the feedback yesterday.  It means a lot to me that you took the time.  Shannon, Sheila, and Kat, if you email me your address I'll mail you an owl surprise.  There's an 'email me' link under my profile picture at the top right of this page.  Pepper, I have your address already.

I also decided to embrace the white countertops. I painted the edges and lip on the underside, then glued them in place, and weighted them down to cure overnight.  This morning I spackled and sanded seams, then painted the top.

See that aluminum thing, just to the upper left of the washer/dryer...do you know what that is?  It's the sink!  Ahhh!  I was supposed to glue the sink to the underside of the counter before I glued the counter on.  FRIG!

Thankfully, the back of the cabinetry was made with basswood (lime), so it will be easy enough to cut a hole in so that I can install the sink....which will probably work better anyway.

On a positive note, remember how ticked off I was that I glued the oven handle on crooked?  Guess what fell off when I was painting?  Wahoo!  I glued it back on straight :)

I didn't finish the kitchen.  I'm very close, close enough that I consider my weekend goal met.  I started to question a couple of choices, so didn't finish the countertops or glue the lower cabinets in place. 

All in all I'm happy with how everything turned out, except that I glued the upper cabinets in a bit crooked.  There's nothing I can do about it, they're glued to the back wall, which swings open, so I can't trim them to the ceiling to hide the gap.

Let me step back to give you the overall view, so that I can ask your opinion on a couple of things.

I have to figure out, before I take the submission pictures, how to center myself to the house so it doesn't look like the walls are all wonky.

Concern #1:  The countertops....

Is all that white too much white?  I picked white because it's modern and sharp, and dark countertops would have turned the kitchen into a cave.  Now that they're in place it looks sort of blinding.  This white is gesso, I haven't painted them yet; perhaps I can paint them a less glaring, softer, shade of white.  Or maybe when I have stuff placed on them it won't be so much white.  Perhaps it's the bar counter sticking into the dining area that makes it too much white?  What if I painted the bar counter a different color or used a piece of aluminum?  Would it look funny to have two different colored counters?

Concern #2:  The backsplash.....

I painted all the walls the same color because this is a small, open concept house, and I want all the rooms to flow together, with the same color scheme, so that the build looks good as a whole.  I designed the kitchen without a backsplash because I didn't want to cover the wall color.  Now that the cabinetry is in place I'm concerned the kitchen looks unfinished without one.  What do you think?  Should I leave it as it, put in a tile backsplash all the way up to the upper cabinets, or maybe just a 1/4" tall white edging around the back?

Once I give it more thought and review your input I'll do some mock-ups of changes and take pictures, so we see what the options look like.  I've been looking at it too long, I need to put it away for a couple of days.

I accomplished a tremendous amount yesterday.  It may not appear so from my posed picture, but all this mini building stuff takes so much longer than you think it should.  Barring unforeseen circumstances, I should be able to have the kitchen finished by the end of the day today.

Before I finish I have to deal with my mess....I can't find anything....

It's been difficult finding time to use the saw this week.  My husband is asleep in the morning while my daughter is asleep in the afternoon and evenings.  Yesterday when I came home from work the house was unexpectedly empty...I startled the cat with a "Yahoo" whoop, then cut the pieces I need to finish the kitchen cabinetry.  I even managed to get some painting done before bedtime.

Daughter picked up a extra day shift today and Husband has a job out of town....let's see how much I can get done!   First on the list is to cut the hole in the counter for the sink, because that's scariest.

Mom will tell me when I've messed up.  Mom will tell me the word that's short for refrigerator is fridge, not frig.  Mom will give me that look when I try to argue with her.

Frig is, of course, a vulgar slang word (though not one I use), so I had, in essence, written fuck across the front of my refrigerator.  Yikes.

Which makes me wonder about the lot of you...  Did you read it as I intended to write it?  Did you think I was trying to be funny?  Why didn't anyone say something?

Thankfully it was only on with stickers, which were easy to pull off and replace.

I love you, Mom.  Thank you.

There has been no work on the house since I made the washer last week.  Last Saturday my beautiful sister married the man who has bringing her joy for the last eight years.  I agreed to be the official photographer.  The last two days I've been sorting through pictures; I just placed my order a few minutes ago.

Here's a very lovely picture of my mother and daughter, with a not so lovely me.  Apparently posing pretty skips a generation.  Chin down, Keli, chin down!  And move your bottle of beer!  Geez!