Door Re-do Part 1

We have been pretty busy as of lately. With all of this wonderful sunshine we have been having Fumi and I have been working on finishing some unfinished projects. We are replacing our existing interior doors with vintage doors I found on ksl a few months back. 

Here is what they looked like when I bought them:

They are actually in pretty good condition but they have multiple layers of paint and I want to strip it all down and stain the original wood. I found a great tutorial on how to do it here. I don't know if any of you have ever stripped old paint before but it is quite the project and very messy.

 After we stripped all the paint off, we started sanding them down 

(we as in, Fumi: 90% Me: 10%. Fumi and the sander bonded, and I couldn't figure the darn thing out.)

Fumi used his sweet little tool to sand all the decorative edges.

Here is my 10% contribution:

After many hours of physical labor, here is the door all sanded down, well one side at least.

So I haven't quite decided which stain to use on them yet. 

But I do have some ideas...

I love the airy feel of these whitewashed doors.

 

This stain is pretty...

And I love the color of this coffee table mostly because it was stained with a homemade stain. Using only a glass jar, distilled white vinegar and a steel scrubber... The tutorial is here.

Oh and hardware! How could I forget! I want to keep the old charm and incorporate these little beauties into our design...

Hopefully it won't be too much longer until my doors are complete!

Monday

Fumi and I had a nice relaxing Easter weekend. We spent Sunday with family and I forget how nice it is to catch up with everyone. I have an amazing family that I am so grateful for. To celebrate them and get myself in the Easter spirit, I made little individual place cards for dinner for everyone. I saw the idea here, and decided to try a diy version.

I have to admit, they turned out pretty cute. 

Monday was a beautiful day, with much to celebrate. Fumi and I decided today that we will head to Japan late May early June. I am so excited to meet his parents for the first time and see where he grew up. We have been saving for this trip for about six months so we are really eager to pack our bags and get there. Another reason to celebrate; Fumi's images from a shoot he did with his friend Jake are nominated for NAHA, which stands for North American Hairstyling Awards. This is a HUGE deal and this award show is the biggest in the business. The awards will be given in July in Vegas, so I'll let you all know how he does. I am so proud of him :)

We picked up some fresh fish at the fish market and had sashimi for dinner.

We had Salmon and Himachi.

I could eat this everyday.

So fresh and light.

Lately I've had that song, I think I'm turning Japanese, I really think so.. stuck in my head. But I really do! I am so surprised at what I eat now. Some really weird shit and it seems completely normal to me. Like the other night we had octopus balls for dinner, and we had fish pancakes the night before. I cannot wait to experience Japan.

I'll leave you with a few images of my pooch. I felt like Mocha was ready for an outfit change so I tied a ribbon around her neck instead of her usual collar.

Fumi thought a headband was a better idea....

Actually it looks more like an old fashioned toothache remedy...

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Maybe a little cuter...

Well this week I am wishing for more sunshine. Although I think it's supposed to snow tomorrow. Yuck. 

I'm working on a little project involving my current mailbox and wood dowels. I think I'm a little wood crazy. I have been covering everything in it lately.

Can't wait until it's finished so I can show you all.

Have a wonderful week. 

xo

Barn Wood Wall

Ok folks, what you have all been waiting for.. THE barn wood wall. I am so happy with how it turned out. My dad is a so very talented. He is responsible for this masterpiece. As you can see we still need to put on outlet covers, baseboards, and accent it with some colored accessories. But as tough as a lesson as it is to learn, patience is a virtue. Oh and the door you see in the above photos is a work in progress. I am planning on stripping them and replacing my existing interior doors. Oh and I'm sure you are wondering about that adorable dress? My aunt gave me that sweet little number. She thinks it is pretty old but has no idea where it came from. It just showed up at her house one day. I wish that kind of stuff happened to me! But that is a whole other post.. Back to the barn wood!  Here are some pics from the process:

So this is kind of an awkward before & after. 
So sorry. I'm still new to this blog thing and I'm
not sure how to flip them just yet. :-/

Laying the first couple of layers. To get an even, consistent, flow of wood my dad first used a stud finder to locate all the studs on the wall. Then he drew a line (which you can barely see in the photo above) following the stud from the top to bottom. He then brick layered the wood all the way up the wall, using a nail gun, nailing only where the stud pencil lines were.

Here it is with a little spring accent. I officially love spring.

Our home addition (the whole story)

So when Fumi and I fell in love he was living in this cute little house with Mocha,

(his nine-year old wiener dog, whom I have proudly adopted.) 

How could you not love this face?

He actually had 737 up for sale when we were first together so I was helping him fix it up so he had a better chance of selling it. So we started with the back of the house, the addition. So with the help of our friend Melissa, we picked out a nice neutral color and gave the room a nice face lift, as seen here:

It's hard to see in the picture below, but while we were painting we noticed a little water bubble. We didn't think it was a big deal, but after having a qualified construction worker look at it, we were living under a big mess. After removing the sheet rock we found severe water damage. No bueno.

It turns out whoever added this addition onto the original house practically built it on top of a deck, no foundation, no permit, not up to code. NIGHTMARE!! But fortunately our homeowners insurance helped with some of the expense.

 So over the past year we have had to demolish half of our house, and completely start over.

Mocha; ball in mouth.

 

But there were actually many advantages of starting this part of our house over again. We were able to put in a big sliding door that I found on ksl classifieds for $200. We also were able to keep the ceiling vaulted to make the room feel more spacious and open. 

So after starting this project in March 2010 the "just" of it was done in January 2011.

Before paint and carpet....

In my short time being a home DIY-er I have discovered that every project I attempt takes about five times longer than I expect... This paint job that Denise and I attempted was also kind of a nightmare.

After lighting our paint three times we finally achieved the right color. 

Then came carpet!! Which I was soooo excited for...

We got a great deal from Shag-Ra-La on this remnant piece. If your in the Salt Lake area and are in need of carpet, you can't go wrong with them. We had Steve Gallegos install it and he was so great! Really fast and professional.

So there you have it. The full story. But of course it's not quite done yet.. Here are some inspiration I'm using for the room:

Via Jersey Ice Cream Co.

 Love this barn wood wall.

Im planning on trimming the sliding door like this... Love that it's modern with that old charm.

Im planning on trimming the windows like so...

So these images are what I am planning on doing structurally, I'll soon be posting on what I want decoratively later.....
xo,
Ashton

DI Goodies

I had a creative itch today that I couldn't deny...
So I decided to hit up my favorite Sugarhouse DI.
I just rhymed ;D
So here is what I snatched up....

I have a plan for these... Stay tuned.

I have a deep love for branches.. Couldn't resist this beauty for $5. I think I will spray paint the vase a turquoise blue...

Lovely little frame :)

Beautifully shaped candlesticks.

I am going to do a little research on how to make those glass vases bright white again... Im not sure if you can tell but they are a little dingy.. A few hints on the purpose of the vases. Three words..

Spring.

Salon.

Display.

Happy Thursday everyone!