A Simple Renovation

Today, I would like to welcome back my wonderful husband to The Mustard Ceiling. He is here to teach you how to replace electrical outlets and light switches. I cannot tell you how nice it is to finally have 3-prong outlets throughout our home. For months we had to carry around plug adapters for the computer, coffee maker, etc.

Welcome back Alfred!

Our home is old.

How old is it?

The wiring in the house has circuit breakers, screw in fuses and the Bar fuses in the electrical system.

Yeah it's really old, and yes I am getting middle-aged myself.

A quick cheap way to update any room is to replace the electrical outlets and light switches.

You will need:
1- Flat Head screwdriver
1- Flashlight
1- Needle Nose Pliers
1- New cover for each plug/switch replaced ( I recommend splurging on the unbreakable kind)
1- New Switch or Plug for each one that you want to replace.

Step 1: Turn off circuit breaker to the switch that you want replace. (Otherwise you may kill or seriously hurt yourself.)

Step 2: Check to make sure the circuit is off. You can check this by plugging in a light and try to turn it on. If you can't turn it on then you should be ok.

Step 3: Remove the old cover and remove the screws on the top and bottom of the plug.

Step4: Pull the plug out of the wall. Don't go hulk and just yank it out, but it should have enough slack in the wires to be pulled out of the wall a few inches.

Step 5: Loosen one of the wires, remove it and replace the wire on the new plug on the same corresponding location.

Step 6: Repeat step 5.

Step 7: If the plug has more than 2 wires, then refer to this link.
http://www.ehow.com/wall-socket/

Step 8: Replace the Switch/socket and replace the cover.

If you don't feel comfortable trying this project then do not. Calling an electrician is always an option.

Good Luck,
Alfred

Thank you for stopping by today, and for changing out the plugs and light switches in our home. I also want to thank goodness for handy husbands, they help with so many projects and always seem to have it figured out.

This week I am linking up our dining room at Houseography.

Melissa hosts a link party every week, featuring a room in the house, this week we are linking up dining rooms.

Also, check out this amazing giveaway at Just Dandy.

Closet + Office = Cloffice

It's Alfred, Elizabeth's husband, again for another to-do post. The Cloffice was one of our more unique home improvement projects, and the most fun. Why? because it was new, it was trendy and it was finally going to be a space for me in our home. Guys, if you live with or marry an Interior Designer, you don't get a whole lot of the house to call just yours.
When we moved into our house,we quickly realized that we had to solve the problem of where to do the un-fun stuff like pay bills, do homework and maintain our family records. Our house only has 2 bedrooms and setting up a guest room in our office, or an office in our guest room was "unacceptable." Solution: Turn one of the many closets in the house in to a mini office.

The process was pretty easy and took us bout 3 days, about 2-3 hours a day. Like any project read all the steps a few times, before starting the project.

Step 1: Remove doors to closet.
You can replace them later, if you would like to maintain the illusion of an closet, or hang a curtain up like we did.

Step 2: Remove all shelves, poles, and junk from the closet.

Step3: Patch all holes to make sure it is ready for painting.

Step 4: Paint the Cloffice.

Step 5: Shelves.

These can be made out of furniture grade wood and painted any color you want. Make a plan for your shelves, #, height, and if you want cubby holes or not. Draw your shelves to scale on a piece of paper to make sure it looks about right. You can use the golden ratio I discussed in my previous post to make the dimensions pleasing to the eye. The Construction is easy. Use 1/2 x1 pieces that go the depth of the shelves to hold the shelves on the wall.

Step 6: Framing the Shelves.
The goal is to make it look like a built in piece of furniture, so once the shelves are up you need to "frame" the shelves to look like a bookcase. A piece of 1/2" x 1" wood down the height of the shelves hides the wood you used to hold the shelves up. A piece of crown molding also works well at the top to give it a finished look. Finishing nails works best for attaching the wood.

Step 7: Prep and Paint.
Putty up the holes for any screws/ nails, and joint and sand 'em till they disappear. Then prime, and paint. We used oil based, semi-gloss Benjamin Moore paint, not the stuff from the blue or orange stores.

Step 8: Prepping the Desk Surface.
We used a piece of chopblock wood countertop from IKEA, but you can use anything. Stain the wood to your desired color. It may take a few coats, and don't let the stain dry, this will make the stain uneven. When deciding on the dimensions, you want to leave 1/16" space on either side of the desk for crumbs, dirt and other junk to fall through when you clean it. Plus, leave a 1" gap at the back so that you can pass electrical wires up through the back of the desk.

Step 9: Installing the Desk.
Use more 1/2" x1" pieces of wood to brace the desk up and attach the desk with small 1" L brackets. Don't forget to leave the gap in the back. Screws work best, but make sure they will not go through the depth of your desk, and you don't attach at a seam in the chopblock.

Step 10: Electrical (Hardest Part)
If you already have an electrical socket in the closet then your job is easy. If not you can install an electrical outlet, yourself or hire a professional to to it (Recommended). Also if you have a light in the top of the closet you can replace the simple light bulb with a more fancy ceiling light. Make sure when planning your shelves that you leave enough room to install the light.

Step 11: Creativity
Let your creativity go and fill your cloffice with what you think you need, books, magazines, bills, small stone lions. Here is where you design the details. If you want to be able to cover up the cloffice you can reattach the doors or put up a curtain.

Those are the basics. You should now have a unique selling feature in your home and a space other than a kitchen table, guest room, garage or box of papers, dedicated to organizing your life. Good luck.

Alfred

DiggerList...Have you heard of it?

Yesterday, while thumbing through one of my design magazines I read an article on the website diggerlist. Have you heard of it?

It is a site similar to craigslist, but is solely dedicated to home improvement items. You can find anything from dry wall, lumber, flooring to furniture and lighting. It is a great way to score deals on home improvement items. Lucky for us DIYer's, the website recently went national. Simply sign on and input your zip code and voila...DIY paradise.

A couple of interesting things I found:

Pottery Barn Telescope

Location: Dallas, TX 75201

Category: Interior Decor

Shipping: No shipping

Description: New with tags, brass telescope on wood tripod. Still in box. Purchased from Pottery Barn, Original price $99. Asking $50, cash only. Non smoking house hold. 11x8x19 1/2" tall. Sits on desk/ table.


Kitchen Cabinet Set

Location: New Orleans, LA 70112

Category: Kitchen

Shipping: No shipping

Description: This 6 piece cabinet set is now available at the Preservation Salvage Store.
The dimensions for each cabinet are as followed:
1- 30" base
2-18" bases
1- 30" x 15" wall cabinet
2- 18" x 10" wall cabinets

(sold as a set)

Century old fir shiplapped siding

Location: Cross Plains, TX 76443

Category: Wood and Lumber

Shipping: No shipping

Description: Century old farmhouse, comprised of northwestern fir is being disassembled. All the exterior shiplapped siding is being removed first. The exterior side has the weather patina so often seen in rustic craft/artistic picture frames. The interior (underneath side) still has the original color. Boards range in length from 2' to 14' and 6" in height. Asking $0.75/linear foot (not board foot). If buyer desires more than 100 linear foot-please make an offer. Buyer must come on premises to pick up. Pictures available upon request.

Check it out. Have you ever heard of diggerlist? If so, have you ever purchased anything off of it? I would love to know more. I am excited to find another helpful resource.