Pallete Wine Rack

A few months ago I salvaged some old palettes from the school where I work. They had a lot of character and charm and so I decided to release my inner Pinterest and make two wine racks.

Once I sawed them in half and constructed the basic wine racks (I'm too impatient to explain all that—see Pinterest!), I decided to stain one and finish it with polyurethane and put a couple of coats of polyurethane on the other to see which one I liked best. I'm only keeping one. I'm selling the other.

Here's what the wood looked like before I began:

Lookie, here I am using my new electric sander that my father-in-law, Rick, got me! :-) (Action photo compliments hubby.)

On the first wine rack, I used Sherwin Williams' Wood Classics Bistro Walnut. I went with the Wood Classics series, which isn't straight up paint, since I was working with a rougher wood. Here's what it looked like after two coats of the stain:

It was clearly dry looking so I needed to apply poly as a wood sealant. Here's how that turned out after two coats:

Glossy, glossy!

On the second palette, I simply applied two coats of polyurethane to accentuate the natural imperfections of the wood to give it texture and character. See:

Check that out up close:

Here's a close-up comparison:

At the end of the day (actually more like weeks!), we decided to keep the wine rack with only poly. I will be selling the stained wine rack locally. Message me for more information!

Now I've got to find a way to mount this on the wall because it is HEAVY. I might even add the wood attachment to the bottom that would allow me to hang wine glasses underneath. 

Cheers!

Playroom Space-Saving Idea

When I was planning Nora's playroom, I made a list of all the things I would like for it to include. Then I noticed that my list was really, really long and my space is a bit limited.

Two of the things on my list were storage and a chalkboard. Here's a pic of the storage unit we have from Target:

Rita, my mother-in-law, suggested I combine storage and a chalkboard to save space. Rather than put the el cheapo cardboard backing on the unit that came with it, we decided to get a custom board cut and just slap a couple coats of chalkboard paint on it. Then we just attached the board using screws. Also, don't forget to season the board with chalk.

A million months after her wonderful suggestion, it's finally done. The unit's very heavy, but we're considering mounting it on the wall for extra stability.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter.

A Carpenter

Jesus was a carpenter.

My daddy is a carpenter (by choice — or maybe at first out of necessity — rather than by trade).

Obviously I hold carpenters in high regard. As we toast today to 2014 and new beginnings, I am excited to announce a new beginning of sorts for my blog. Maybe more like a resurrection ;-)

There was a time before Nora when you saw home renovation projects and overall craftiness. You'll recall my father's helpful home improvements, like our Pottery Barn-inspired mirror:

Our foyer coat rack:

Our pantry:

And the raised bed for my garden:

You'll recall that my father-in-law and husband redid our back porch, including repainting, rescreening and recarpeting:

We all pitched in to lay stones for a patio in our backyard for a grill and picnic area:

There were also a lot of landscape projects, a kitchen redo (one month before Nora's arrival) and lots of home staging!

These projects were backbreaking. Everything took at least twice as long as we anticipated — and probably ended up costing about that, too. And we love it!!!!! I love getting my hands dirty for a cause. In 2014, there will be more of that (Nora & God willing!). I'm going to start small and build my way up to bigger projects (remember, there's an entire upstairs of my house that is blue and is beckoning me….). I hope to build my wood-working skills a bit at a time. Hopefully the carpenters in my life will step up and help when I get in over my head. And I will get in over my head.

So, for now, consider me a weekend, nap time warrior.

Consider this blog Simply Melville-lous, redefined.

I have a guy now who is supplying me raw materials for some of the projects I've dreamed up. Like I said, I plan to start simple. Here is a preview of the materials for one of the first projects I'm planning:

Happy New Year everyone! Make this the year that you do what you love.