The LEGO Invasion

Archer has a newfound love for LEGOs.  And they are quickly taking over my floors.  There's nothing quite like a LEGO being shoved into your foot as you take an innocent walk across your living room.  Those pesky clear pieces blend right in!  And even if you think you are thorough in picking up all the pieces, there's always a rogue one that gets left out and manages to end up right in your walking path.    

The invasion started slowly, but has ramped up rather quickly.  A couple years ago, Adam gave the kids a small box of LEGOs that were from his childhood.  There weren't that many and he picked some of the larger pieces.  It was easy enough to pick up all the pieces and put them away when the kids were finished playing with them.  Since Archer really seemed to get into putting the LEGOs together, he ended up getting a few smaller sets for birthdays and Christmas.  I kept those sets separated into small bags and would let him get out one at a time.  Well, then the sets he got started getting bigger and more complicated and with more pieces.  And the sets would connect to other sets so he didn't want to put one set away before getting out a new one.  But then he'd inevitably take apart the sets and the pieces would get all mixed up and then he'd get upset when he tried to rebuild them but couldn't find all the pieces.  I even spent several hours one weekend painstakingly separating out all the sets and putting them in labeled bags.  But then they somehow got all mixed up again!  

My kids typically play either in the living room or their bedrooms.  We don't have a dedicated playroom, so I rotate out toys in our living room and keep some in their bedrooms.  I started by having Archer keep the LEGOs in his room, but then I'd find him with his light on tinkering with his LEGOs well after he was supposed to have gone to sleep.  So then I moved them down to the living room.  I would let him keep his creations on the fireplace, but have him pick up all the unused pieces off the floor each evening.  But each morning he would dump all those pieces out again.  Many of those tiny pieces would trickle into the hallway and kitchen.  Finally, I got sick of stepping on LEGOs all day long.  I gathered them all up and stuck them all in the family room.  Since that space is a work in progress, it is essentially a large open area.  Archer did like having a larger area to spread everything out and not have to pick up all the pieces each evening.  

But then, as LEGOs tend to do, they started slowing creeping into more areas.  He liked to use the hard flooring by the door to our garage as a base.  But this, being the entrance to our home we use most often, became problematic.  We all got tired of stepping over Archer's creations anytime we wanted to leave the house.  Adam and I tossed some ideas around and we decided to make him a LEGO base/storage unit.       

Adam whipped up a plan to use some of the plywood we had used when our family room floor was being replaced.  He cut up a base that would fit underneath our couch in the family room.  Then he added some wood along the edges to serve as a fence for keeping all of the LEGOs within the unit.  Adam made sure to sand everything smooth and even routed the edges of the fence so it would be safe for little hands.   

We also decided to put a divider inside the unit.  Our thinking was that one section would be the building area and place where he could keep his completed pieces.  The other section could house all the loose, unused pieces.  We ran this idea by Archer and he enthusiastically approved.  Adam also added a handle on the front of the unit to make it easy to pull the unit out from under the couch.  He made it nice and big so it can be easily grabbed and is super sturdy.  

The final step was to paint it all.  Since it wasn't made from the highest quality plywood, Adam decided painting it would result in the smoothest, splinter-free finish.  We showed Archer all the random paint we have in the basement and he settled on a gray, blue and green color scheme.  Before the paint, Adam and Archer put down a coat of primer.  Archer was pretty pumped to participate in this step.  He very enthusiastically slapped on the primer.  Notice that Lyla decided goggles were in order to keep any paint splatters from getting in her eyes.  

Waiting for the paint to dry was quite the challenge for Archer.  The night after he helped Adam put on the final coats of paint, he came down from his room (when he was supposed to be asleep) to check on how it was drying.  The next day he got to try out his new LEGO unit!  He was thrilled to get to add all his pieces to it and start building!  

Archer adores his new LEGO playing station!  The divided sections definitely help give Archer some visual cues about where to keep the creations he's built and also the pieces that aren't being used at the moment.  It's super sturdy, so it's no problem when Archer decides he needs to get up close to one of his builds.  

I adore the fact that there's now a physical boundary for all the LEGO pieces.  I don't find them scattered all around the house like I used to.  We keep the unit out for the most part so Archer can keep his creations up.  But if we need some more floor space or are taking a break from building, it tucks right under the couch.  Hooray for hidden storage! 

The large handle makes it easy for Archer to get it out all by himself.  This has been such a fantastic solution for corralling all those LEGO pieces.  My feet are most appreciative.    

As much as we all love the final product, watching Archer and Adam work together on this project was the true highlight.  Watching Archer chose paint colors and help out allowed him to grow his confidence.  Seeing Adam let go of some of his perfectionism to allow Archer to take the reigns was fun to see too.  Much like all DIY projects, you get just as much out of the process as you do the final product.    

Putting Our Family Room Back Together

I'm happy to report that progress is being made on our family room!  We are slowly, but surely getting it back into a functioning space.  After sharing about our debacle in the last post, we left off with the new concrete floor curing.  While we were waiting for the concrete to cure before working on the flooring, Adam worked on rebuilding the steps up to the kitchen.  The original steps had to be completely removed before the new concrete could be poured.  Unfortunately, they had to be removed in pieces so they weren't able to just be put back as they were.  So Adam had to build new stairs from scratch.  He decided to build two boxes to act as the steps with some help from my dad.  (Thanks, Dad!)    

Once the boxes were in place, he worked on adding some hardwood flooring on top to cover up the unfinished boxes.  Luckily, we had some leftover flooring from when we had the hardwood flooring installed.  It's a good thing we hung onto it!  I'm not one to hang onto a bunch of extra stuff just in case we might need it in the future.  But in this case I'm glad we had it.  Adam also put the handrail back in place, along with the spindles on the stairs.  Once the stairs were back in place, he worked on putting back the laminate flooring in front of the steps.  

While Adam was busy with all that work, I took a weekend to paint.  And paint.  And paint.  Since we had drywall work done in the half bathroom and family room as part of the project, everything needed a new coat of paint.  There were a lot of sections of the wall that had been patched, so I decided to put a coat of primer over all the walls in the half bathroom and family room to prevent any drywall flashing.  Once the primer was dry, I put a fresh coat of paint on the family room walls.  Since it was such a light color, I got away with only needing one coat of paint.  The dark bathroom walls did end up needing two coats.  I also gave the wainscoting and wood trim in the bathroom two coats of fresh paint too.  I was certainly ready to stash away the paintbrushes and take a break from looking at any paint cans after all those coats.   

By this time, it had been over 30 days since we had the concrete poured.  That meant it was cured enough to cover the bathroom floor with tile and the family room floor with carpet.  One of the silver linings of this project was getting to pick out some new tile for the half bathroom.  I decided to go with small white hex tile.  It's a pretty classic tile that will stand the test of time, while also adding a fresh feel to the small bathroom.  I picked a medium tone gray grout, which helps the tile stand out a bit.  It will also help hide dust and dirt a bit better than white grout.  Since we had already put so much work into the space, we decided to hire this job out.  I love how it turned out!  And I love that we didn't have to do it even more.  

After the tile was installed, we had the original plumbing crew come back to install our new toilet and hook up the plumbing for the vanity.  It's been pretty exciting to have another functioning bathroom in our house again!  We didn't realize just how much we utilized that bathroom until it was out of commission for several months.  

The next step was to have the carpet relaid.  We were able to save the carpet that was previously in the family room and just have it put back in.  We did have to get a new carpet pad, but at least we were able to use the old carpet.  Luckily the carpet crew was able to make the old carpet fit nicely within the space.  Having carpet back in the family room really helped the room feel like it was part of our house again.   

With the carpet in place, we could then move back some of the furniture that we had been housing in other parts of our house.  We moved the aquarium stand (currently a work in progress) into the room from our dining room.  That will be the next big project Adam plans to finish.  It's already taking shape nicely and I'm sure our fish are eager to get to move back upstairs from the basement when it's finished.   

Prior to this big ol' project, we had a red couch and love seat in the family room.  We decided to move the love seat downstairs to make more room for the aquarium stand.  And I also decided we should switch the red couch for the tan couch we already had in our basement.  The red furniture never really jived with the rest of the house.  We talked my parents (Thanks Mom and Dad!) into helping us with the couch switcheroo since there were stairs and tricky doors involved.  After seeing the tan couch in the family room, I'm so happy we made the switch!  It just flows so much better with the overall vibe and color scheme of the rest of the house.  

While this room isn't quite finished yet, it's looking so much more put together now!  The walls and floors are back to normal.  Adam even managed to paint the ceiling and add a new ceiling fan.  Now we get to focus on the fun part of decorating the space.  Adam is going to focus on the aquarium stand next.  And I'm going to start mulling over what other furniture and decor we should add.  

This whole project has been such an expensive headache, but we're so happy to be on the other side of it.  And we're trying to focus on the silver linings.  Now we get to make this family room seem like a cohesive part of our home.  I'm looking forward to all the hours our family will get to clock in here together.  

A Little Preschool Preparation

Somehow my children are old enough to go to preschool!  It is baffling to me because just yesterday they were unable to hold their own heads up.  Now they are ready to go to preschool without me.  I know that I will have a harder time adjusting than they will, so I am throwing myself into getting all the details sorted out.

One little detail I wanted to sort out was creating a place for Archer and Lyla to hang their backpacks.  I am all about every item in our home having a place to live.  You know, a place for everything and everything in its place.  I wanted it to be somewhere visible and somewhere Archer and Lyla can easily access.  That way they can be in charge of keeping track of their backpacks.  

I found the perfect spot for their backpacks right by our front door.  It was practically begging for some hooks!  I threw around the idea of just hanging some hooks directly into the drywall using some drywall anchors.  But my kids tend to be a little rough and I had visions of them tearing the hooks out of the wall the first time they picked up their backpacks.  So I decided a wood board behind the hooks was in order.  That way, the board could be directly screwed into the studs and the hooks could be directly screwed into the board.  

Lucky for me, I knew the perfect guy for the job.  Just look at how excited he is to have one more task added to his already lengthy to do list. 

Adam has lots of scrap wood lying around, so he found a piece of poplar that would do the trick.  I told him I just needed it cut down to size and stained, but he wouldn't stand for just that.  He had to add his woodworking skills to the job and decided to route the edges to give it some more character.  

Once the edges of the board were routed, he stained it using some old stain we already had on hand.  It's the same stain (General Finishes Gel Stain in Nutmeg) we used on our DIY growth ruler that we made several years ago.  Then he finished off the wood with a satin topcoat.  Once the board the was dry, he added the hooks and screwed the board right into the wall.  Two sets of screws went directly into the studs.  The far set of screws just went into the drywall, so Adam made sure to add some drywall anchors into the drywall before securing it to the wall.  To hide the screws, he added some wooden button plugs.  It turned out beautifully!   

The new set of hooks fits in nicely with the rest of our little makeshift command center.  The brass hooks tie in nicely with my thrifted brass mail center.  And I'll be sure to take a "First Day of Preschool" picture with the kids holding our letter board sign.  

We made sure to hang it at the perfect height for our kids.  They can easily hang up and take off their backpacks from the hooks.  I asked Adam to include four hooks so they would also have a place to hang a jacket or coat.  Having these hooks will help us keep track of the items they'll need to take to preschool and also foster some independence for Archer and Lyla.  They'll be in charge of hanging up their backpacks when they get home.  

We've got all the supplies we need and are ready to start preschool!  We even made sure to get their teacher a little something to let her know how much we appreciate her.  Our preschool made it easy for us by including a list of each teacher's favorites on their website.  So Archer and Lyla will be bringing their teacher a Target gift card and Snickers bars when they head to preschool.  They also each made a little card.  Having been a teacher before staying home with Archer and Lyla, I remember how much those small kindnesses are appreciated.  

Now we're all set for the start of preschool!  And I'll try my very best not to cry as I drop them off.  

Old Porch Posts + Old Deck Spindles

We've been on a bit of a table kick around here.  Not too long ago, Adam refinished a table for our kitchen.  Most recently, he used up our old porch posts and old deck spindles to create a gorgeous new table for our deck.  With the exception of a few cedar boards for the center of the table top and the bench slats, Adam created a whole dining set using repurposed lumber!  All of the old lumber would have just been hauled off to the landfill, but with Adam's hard work and skill, we now have the perfect addition to our deck.  

Allow me to go back to the beginning of the project and give an extremely simplified description of all the work Adam did.  There were too many steps for me to keep track of and I definitely didn't do the best job of photographing all the steps.  (In all fairness, I was wrangling Archer and Lyla so Adam could work on it.)  

In the midst of the pandemic, Adam was searching for projects to do that would keep him busy, but the high cost of lumber limited what he was willing to tackle.  Luckily, he had a pretty good stockpile of random lumber.  Adam had thought to save the old front porch posts from when we replaced them with new cedar columns.  He also saved all the spindles from the deck when we replaced them with cable rails.  This lumber had been sitting in our shed, awaiting the perfect project.  

After tackling the deck, we decided we needed a bigger table with more character and more seating.  So Adam got to work designing a new table and some benches using the lumber we already had on hand.  After he had his design, the next step was to plane all the spindles.  He took these worn out spindles for a trip through his planer... 

...and brought them back to life!  

He then laminated the spindles together to form planks for the table top.  This step took lots of patience.  After spindles were laminated into planks, he sent the planks through the planer again to get everything smooth.  He did have to supplement one cedar plank down the center of the table top since there weren't enough spindles to make the entire tabletop.

The base of the table came next!  He used leftover lumber and our old front porch posts to build the base.  Since the porch posts were already painted white, Adam decided to keep the base white.  Stripping and sanding off the paint would have been quite the job with all those nooks and crannies!  

The white base adds a bit of contrast and also ties in with the white railing posts.  

Adam had plenty of leftover planed lumber to build the bench bases.  Since those were nicely planed, he decided to stain those the same color as the table top.  He did have to grab a few more cedar boards to create the bench seats.  

Finding the perfect color to stain the table top and benches was quite the feat!  We wanted something to contrast the dark color of our deck, but still complement it.  After looking at several samples, we settled on a stain that turned out to be way too orange in person.  Ultimately, Adam decided to use Osmo Decking Oil in the color Thermowood.  It's the same product we used on our deck and have been very impressed with how well it's held up!  

Since we wanted to optimize seating, we decided to add two additional chairs to each end of the table.  Adam's mom was able to use our old patio table and chairs, so we opted to buy some chairs with a smaller footprint.  We also wanted to ditch the chairs with cushions since they would get wet when it rained, despite our covered deck.  The benches can seat 3 adults comfortably and 4 in a pinch.  So we can now seat up to 12 people!  We have already eaten many meals at the new table and enjoy spending time sitting around it.  

(At least Adam will look at me when I trying to take a picture these days...)

Our new dining set is the perfect addition to our outdoor living area!  It fits the space nicely, without taking up too much room.  There's still plenty of room to play and grill up dinner.  

I love that Adam built it.  I love that he saved materials from the landfill.  I love that it brings our family even closer together.    

Our New Old Kitchen Table

Allow me to introduce you to the biggest annoyance in my house, my dining room table.  While it's in good shape and does it's job, it has a very annoying feature.  Cracks.  Lots of cracks for crumbs and peanut butter and play dough and milk to settle into.  After every meal and craft and activity, I have to not only wipe down the table, but painstakingly clean out the many cracks of all the leftover debris.  I realize this is a very minimal problem, especially given the current global pandemic.  

But it was annoying enough for me to repeatedly complain about it to Adam.  So we started brainstorming some solutions.  Eventually we would love to exchange our pub-height dining room table with a standard-height round table.  The pub height just isn't ideal for our older family members or kids, so we think a standard-height table is the way to go.  It'd also be nice for the future round table to have multiple leaves so we could seat bigger groups of people for things like Thanksgiving and birthday parties.  (Fingers crossed we can safely gather by next Thanksgiving!)  Recently, Adam and I have tried to shop secondhand before buying something new.  We looked at a few tables on Facebook Marketplace that were either in need of refinishing or completely refinished.  Although we liked a few, we decided now just wasn't the right time to be going into strangers' houses to look at furniture.    

So then we turned our attention to the small pub table we have in our eat-in kitchen area.  It's really tiny and just doesn't comfortably fit four people.  But we have the space in the area for a larger table.  As luck would have it, there was a table in our basement that was from Adam's childhood home.  It was still sturdy, but looked a bit dated, despite caning being back in style.  But it was standard-height, the perfect size for the space and even had rounded corners as an added safety feature!  

After taping out the table size in our eat-in kitchen area, we were convinced it would be the perfect fit.  Now we just had to update it.  

Adam first tried sanding down the top to see if it could be re-stained.  He figured out it was just a wood laminate top over particle board, so staining wasn't an option.  Then we moved onto the idea of painting it.  Adam had some milk paint (General Finishes Milk Paint in Driftwood) in the basement that would cover up the laminate/particle board top.  The color was very close to the color of our kitchen cabinets so we felt it would tie in nicely with the overall aesthetic of our kitchen.

So Adam put on four coats of the milk paint, followed by four coats of a water-based topcoat in a satin finish.  This process resulted in a very even, smooth finish.  He also added some bracing to the bottom of the table to make sure it was nice and sturdy in case Archer or Lyla have any table dancing in their futures.  Adam decided to paint the bottom of the table (he only did one coat of milk paint) since the bottom of the table is visible from below in the family room.        

Once the table was painted, then we had to figure out what to do about the base of the table.  The original base was a bit bulky and would be difficult to paint given the caning.  We've always liked the look of hairpin legs and thought they would be the perfect way to update this old table.  After doing some research, Adam settled on an Ohio-based company so we could support a small business here in the United States.  We picked out some black powder-coated legs with the perfect little brass detail on the foot.  

The final piece of the puzzle was figuring out what to do for seating around the table.  We couldn't reuse the stools because they were pub-height, so we needed some standard-height chairs.  If it weren't for the pandemic, we'd definitely taken the secondhand route and picked something from Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist.  But we ended up going with these.

All the painting and curing and assembling was wrapped up just in time to enjoy our dinner on New Year's Eve around our new old table.  I'm in love with how it all came together!  I'm glad we were able to reuse an old table, but still update it to make it fit our style.  The gray works so well with the kitchen cabinets.  Our previous table was very similar in color to our wood floors, so it just sort of blended in.  But now our new table stands out in the best way!  

The legs are minimal and modern and tie into the other hits of black we have going on in our kitchen, like the appliances and cabinet hardware.  The black chairs also tie in nicely, while also being comfortable and somehow fit Adam, myself and the kids remarkably well despite our varying heights.  I might see if I can find some chair cushions secondhand in the future.  While the chairs are perfectly comfortable for a meal, a game of Liverpool (anyone else's family play this card game?) would be much more comfortable with a little extra padding.  

And I further broke my attempts at shopping secondhand to buy some silicone place mats for Archer and Lyla (alphabet & rainbows) hoping they will help protect the tabletop longer.  Both Adam and I realize scratches and dings are bound to happen, but thought the place mats would help.     

Adam produced another win!  Our nightly family dinners (& lunches thanks to Adam working from home) will be just a little bit more special gathered around this new old table.  

Want to guess the part I love most of all?  There are no cracks! :)