HOC: Breezeway
The weather is turning cold and I’ve finally gotten the breezeway into good condition. I have, in the past five months:
That’s a lot! Yay!
This is the red paper lantern lampshade that I used to cover the bare bulb fixture in the center of the breezeway at the Tiny House-of-Chaos.
I got it at Cost Plus World Market for $19.99:
Yoko Red Square Paper Lantern (SKU #381930)
It’s hip to be square. The signature lighting in Asian homes and festivals for centuries, paper lanterns today provide casual lighting solutions for everyday decor as well as special occasion illuminations. Triple square silhouette with in crushed red paper with wire framing. Use with World Market cord kit. 15″Wx16″L.
The Curse of the Evil Beige Paint
When I moved into the tiny House-of-Chaos in May 2009, the walls were painted with that cheap, beige paint that you can get for about $50 for 5 gallons. Ick. Ugh. Ooof.
It had to go, but to what? I know I have a lot of work in all areas of the house, so what to tackle first? One of my goals is to do all of the renovations out-of-pocket and not to gain any additional financing to support a remodel.
So I got an idea one day: The ugly gray paneling that was in the breezeway, well it extended into the dining area up to the chair-rail. What was behind that paneling?
The hole behind the paneling
Ah. There are holes behind that paneling, and water stains from where the roof leaked. Now that the roof has been replaced I’m not worried about water continuing to damage the walls, but I’m also not really into replacing all of the walls quite yet.
So I took the paneling off:
Removing the Paneling
Gave her a new coat of gray paint:
Cut in the windows with a sharp new white after sanding them down as best as I could:
Original Window Yuckiness
Installed new nickle-finish hardware on the window sashes and latches:
New LatchesInstalled new birch plywood project panels which I stained ebony with my magick molding stain (now expanded to just “magick stain” since we’ve extended past the molding):
And installed new molding for the chair-rail:
White composite chair-rail molding
and the baseboard:
To finish we stripped the extra paint from the registers and air intake vents and repainted them a satin black:
and ta-da! It now looks like this!
Dining Room - after
Dining Room - After
The whole set of images from the entire project can be viewed:
We installed a new Simplex push-button lock onto the entry door from the breezeway. Nice. That way we don’t need to hustle with a key to get in. Just know the uber-secret pass-code and clicky-click you’re in!
This is what we ordered (but in nickle):
Simplex 7000
The Kaba Ilco Simplex 7108 Lock is Stylish, Compact, and adds the security that you are looking for. Because of it’s sleek body and wide variety of finishes, Simplex 7000 makes for the best residential push button lock that Kaba Ilco has to offer. Fully Mechanical with a rugged housing that is also weather-resistant. The dead-latching feature locks every time the door is closed, while the deadbolt lock is locked manually.
Features:
- Rugged all-metal construction is weather resistant, providing added strength and durability.
- Easy to maintain – no batteries to replace.
- Optional model features include spring latch and deadbolt.
- Easy Installation and Code Changing Instructions
and this is how it looks installed:
This is my new beautiful stainless steel composting bin for the kitchen. She is sleek and sturdy (like many of the Darrington women).
This stainless steel compost pail is perfect for collecting food scraps for my compost pile . I won’t be embarrassed to have it sitting next to your sink while telling visitors to the House-of-Chaos about the benefits of composting.
The stainless steel compost pail has a carbon filter to keep any smells contained when the lid is closed, and a handle to easily carry it outside to the compost bin.
The fluted, polished body is made of durable 18/8 stainless steel, and holds 1 gallon of kitchen scraps and other organic materials. It measures 11 inches tall, with a 7 inch diameter.
http://www.cleanairgardening.com/pail.html
I’ve been sleeping on the floor. Well, not the actual floor, but the shikibuton I purchased a few months ago has been resting on the floor while I decided if I was going to install tatami mats or a platform bed or a futon frame for my main sleeping quarters.
Now, I love my bedroom. I think it’s a sanctuary and it needs to be a place that I feel instantly comfortable. I am comfortable with a mattress on the floor more than I am comfortable making a major purchase that turns out not to be correct.
But last week I brought a load of lumber home and constructed a quick-and-dirty sleeping pallet which raised up the shikibuton about 6″ from the floor. I still think I’m going with the tatami mats, eventually. But those suckers aren’t cheap so I’ll need to save my pennies for them.
So, I built this sleeping pallet:
It brings me 6″ off the ground, allows space for a nightstand and bookshelf and I’m considering adding to it in a little bit of time.
After replacing the back storm door first, I felt confident enough to tackle replacing the front storm door all by myself. I decided that white would be a better color for the front. So I didn’t have to special order this door.
I selected the same model door I did for the back storm door; the Larson Tradewinds I picked it up from Lowe’s and brought it home, ready to hang. I set up some sawhorses in the breezeway and went to town:
Just for reference, this is what I was working with:
Original Storm Door - Front Breezeway
and this is my set-up for working inside the breezeway to avoid rain:
Chinagrrrl’s always read the instructions and work with the proper tools before starting:
Instructions
and then we go to town hanging that sucker:
Click on any of the thumbnail images to go to the Flick’r page detailing my door hanging extravaganza.
After painting the ugly gray paneling to a light-blue color I noticed that the ceiling and molding of the Tiny House-of-Chaos breezeway was cracked and dingy. It needed a coat of paint too and there was a can of low-quality white paint left in the garage from whoever painted the Tiny House before we moved in. Not the optimal choice, but would it do in a pinch?
Yes it would:
So when we moved in the Tiny House-of-Chaos had this dirty, dingy gray paneling in the breezeway. After I finished painting the 2nd bedroom for Mia I had some light-blue paint left over and I thought that would be a good experiment to lighten up that room.
This is how that room looked before we moved in:
So I gave it a coat of paint and it lightened right up:
The Light Blue Breezeway
The Leaky Cauldron
I think I found at least *one* design for noren in the Tiny House-of-Chaos.
This is “Fu Shiki”which means “I know not” and is from Zen Word, Zen Calligraphy, text by Eido Tai Shimano, calligraphy by Kogetsu Tani. Courtesy Shambhala Publications
The Tiny House-of-Chaos doesn’t have much in the way of workspace drainage, so I use the kitchen sink for far too much in the way a disposal. I try to make use of everything I can, but still a little of this and a little of that accumulates and my kitchen drain was slow.
I got out the plunger. Which just made the nasty water fly up and out of the second basin of the sink. I retrieved a second plunger. There was suction and pressure and I heard much in the way of gurgling, but in the end I think I just compresses the clog more. more))
Here’s a hoot! Blood themed decor!: http://weburbanist.com/2009/03/24/bloody-brilliant-10-blood-themed-design-ideas/
