Living room updates galore!
Last time I had walls, a floor and a fireplace. I have nearly completed the room in the intervening 6 weeks! What else can you do in the middle of winter really?
Window Placement
Of course right where I wanted to place the fireplace is where the only window in the room resides. (except for the front opening wall). The middle hole is the original window. I bought a couple of cheap ones from China to flank the fireplace. I measured out where the windows were to fit using, you guessed it, math! Using a combination of the Dremel, a box cutter, a saw and sanding blocks I finally got the new holes made and a good fit for the windows. And yes, ALWAYS use a mask, especially when cutting a manufactured product like MDF. The dust is very fine and not good for your lungs!
Ta da! Problem solved. I will cover the old hole when I do the siding….one day. That was the exact look I wanted.
I noticed that the fireplace looked a bit sad so I made a grate, filled with paper,kindling and logs ready to be lit, a basket of logs and a bucket of tools. Much better! I also made a flatscreen TV and hung it over the fireplace. The TV is made from ABS plastic – my new favourite material!
Covering the TV
One thing I knew I had to do was make some sort of covering for the tv – because it stick’s out like the proverbials. I had noticed little mini barn doors on Pinterest and thought – why not? The doors are basswood and cardstock – pretty easy to make right? For the *rollers* I used snaps and glued them together, this was then attached to the doors using some metal painted in black with some flathead pins that look like little nails. Then came the problem of making the rail and affixing it to the fireplace. Of course I had already FIXED the fireplace to the floor and wall – big mistake! After about 4 different versions I settled on a bamboo skewer painted black attached to a metal bracket that I screwed into the fireplace. This drove me MAD for 4 days! And I still need to make a support for the middle of the rail because it’s drooping a bit and that’s not helping my perfectionist side =)
Beams
The ceilings in this house are very high and need details to make them a part of the space. I didn’t want to copy the kitchen ceiling and rake it so I went with some reclaimed wood beams for *cornice*. It sort of frames the living room which is nice =)
Cabinets
Underneath the windows needed some cabinets for storage and to put stuff on (because stuff!) I made these from basswood and flyscreen netting for the wire. The drawers work but the wire doors don’t, I was losing patience, so I glued them in and all the deco. The colour is the same as the kitchen cabinetry.
Furniture
Time to start making something to sit on I guess! The dogbed is already made and even comes with it’s own light. I made this months ago, maybe more! It was an old dresser or something. The light is battery powered and lives in the decorative box.
Well, that’s the dog sorted – now I can rest 😉 Nope, I have so much stuff to post I’m making a Part 2 with some more furniture and decorative items =)
