Archive for October, 2006

October 6th, 2006

Worst Trading Spaces Ever

There are times when I wonder if “Trading Spaces” is filming near me. Maybe I should go & watch it being filmed. Then I chicken out, as though “they” will somehow follow me home & liquid nail spatulas to my walls. (There’s a phobia that needs a name). This is probably why I am glad that I don’t have neighbors within walking distance. No transforming rooms in each others houses for under $1000 & 2 days. Here are my worst things to ever ruin sheet rock on “Trading Spaces”.

1.  Moss, it wasn’t the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen, but probably  has a very high allergy factor.

2. Wallpaper paste & hay.  Pretty ugly, again you’d have people sneezing & saying I think I’m allergic to your walls.

3. Hundreds of artificial flowers stapled to every square foot of wall.

So to recap, stapling things to your walls that can give you respitorey illnesses=bad.  What is your least favorite trading spaces room of all time?  Leave a comment & let me know.

 

October 3rd, 2006

My One & Only Baking Tip

This is my one & only baking tip so any ohhh’s & ahhh’s would be greatly appreciated. I only bake ummm never, so when I open up the brown sugar I end up thinking “Why didn’t we use this to patch the foundation of the house?”. If you put a piece of bread in with your brown sugar, it keeps the sugar light & fluffy (well as light & fluffy as brown sugar can be) & the bread turns hard. I don’ t know how or why this works, it’s just magic. Say it with me now… ohhh ahhh Works for me!

 

 

October 1st, 2006

Painting Fake Wood Veneer

  

Particle board, melamine, veneer, sauder, there are many names for this stuff, I just call it ugly. I wanted to makeover our TV stand at least until we can afford a new one & find one that fits in the awkward space. It’s an easy & inexpensive do it yourself project. Here’s the steps we took:

1. We wanted to add a little “bling” & personality to this piece. So we drilled a hole in each door to put a door knob in. Next we glued a piece of molding to the lip of the piece that we had left laying around from a baseboard project. We just used wood glue which held very well.

2. Primed. We used an ordinary latex wall primer. To figure out what primer you should be using, a good rule of thumb, is to ask at the hardware store.

3. Then we painted two coats of dark chocolate brown paint on top of this.

4. Then we added the hardware. This might not seem to warrant it’s own step but the addition of pretty silver knobs were what really transformed this entertainment center. These often sell for $7-$8 each at big chain stores. Instead, I like to go to my local hardware store where I can get them for anywhere from $1-$4.

I didn’t realize how much that faux wood grain was bothering me until it was gone.  Now I feel like I can concentrate on the TV instead of constantly thinking “Gosh, that’s ugly, I need to do something about that”. What DIY projects have made you breathe easier? Leave a comment & let me know.