An Invaluable Resource: The Bungalow & Related Styles

I was surfing the net looking for craftsman style front doors to possibly replace the current door we have that is less than weather proof and I stumbled upon an AMAZING resource.

Now that we're tackling the exterior of the house, I have about 1.8 million questions. Especially since the house was built in the 1940's and our goal is to try and restore it as much as possible.

If you have a craftsman style house in Nashville or anywhere in the country, you'll benefit from taking a look at the Metropolitan Historical Commission's Nashville Old House Series--Bungalow edition.

Seriously, this is the best resource I've come across to date and it's free!

Check it out here: http://www.nashville.gov/mhc/pdfs/historic/OldHouseSeries-Bungalow.pdf

The Big Reveal

Just before the holidays we finished up the family room project (minus the crown molding). We couldn't be happier with the results, so without further adieu...I'll stop babbling and show you the results.

Cheers,

Laura

Customizing Your Home, One Built-In At A Time

It's been suggested that my blogging has been too slow...so here's my attempt to get you all caught up. Only one more post stands between now and the final reveal!

Once the ceiling and walls were painted, it was time to start framing out the built ins before we could install the wainscoting. (picture to the left is the way the room looked when we bought the house in 2008)

BASIC CONSTRUCTION:

We decided as part of the project to install book cases on either side of the fireplace.  For us this space was a bit awkward and not really usable so having two shelves for books, extra lighting and my vinyl collection made perfect sense.

Because there is a floor vent about 20 inches from the wall we knew that the shelves could be no deeper than 17 inches...which after building we realized was more than deep enough since standard book cases usually run 12 inches deep max.

To get started Paul took a million measurements and crafted the shelves outside before "custom" fitting them in place.  Using the table saw he was able to make precision cuts that he had only dreamed of before.  

That being said, no matter how much you measure or how perfect your cut is, nothing ever fits. This meant that he had to get creative and use a router and laminate top cutter to trim off the tiny bit of excess that was keeping the unit from fitting snugly in place. 

Why? Because the last thing anyone wants to do is disassemble the entire unit over a 1/4 of an inch. All in all a little patience and finesse yielded a perfect fit.

Once in place, we used 2 inch wood coarse screws to secure the shelving unit to the back wall.

DESIGN:

Based on a simple cabinet style construction, we decided to add hand-routed detail for a more decorative flare. To create the detail on the front of the shelves Paul glued two 1 x 2's together and used a Roman style Ogee router bit to mimic the door and window frames that run throughout the house.  Next he added a 1.5 inch piece of pre-milled trim to give it a bit more substance.

We also opted to change up the tops for a more craftsman feel, which helped them blend in with the mantel that Paul made previously from salvaged roof timbers from the old garage we took down last year. 

Using stain-grade Aspen we picked a stain and poly blend with a matte finish.  It took a couple rounds of sanding with steel wool to pick up the fine particles but after a couple passes with the foam brush--the tops were a most welcome addition.

All that was left was to install the adjustable shelf pieces and add a little paint (we picked a soft Du Jour white in a semi-gloss instead of your typical bright white in glossy). 

Voila!  Custom built-in book shelves.

Cheers,

Laura

Bungalow Paneling: Out With the Old, In With the New

Alright, its official, Paul and I decided to add some craftsman detail back to our family room with the addition of wainscoting.

Of course, after deciding this, we realized we had no idea how to capture the intricacies of quality a

nd legit wainscoting.  We 

started by surfing the Internet for styles we liked (see example to the left).  From there it was a toss up between bead-board or shadowbox--clearly, one of which would have been a much simpler install.

After testing a package of tounge-in groove bead board panels, we knew it was a no go. Measuring only 32 inches high, and 40 inches high with the addition of an 8 inch baseboard--they were simply too short.  Plus at about 2 inches wide per strip, you got a whole lot of busy going on in a room thats over 20 feet long.

So that left us with shadowbox wainscoting.  We started by taking a look at wood options.  For us, we knew we wanted to paint everything out white, so the grain didn't matter, too much. 

However, that being said, we wanted a quality piece of lumber that would paint out smoothly and lend itself to a more original feel for the bungalow.

We decided on birch and grabbed a couple of sample pieces before heading back to 1148 to map out a plan.  Using a chalk line, measuring tape and the sample pieces we were able to come up with a pretty good solution.

Time for prep, shopping and install!

PREP:

• Remove all baseboards, electrical boxes, etc. and give the area a good cleaning.  
  
• When you remove the baseboards, make sure to label the backs as to what went where, so that re-install is simple and smooth.
  
• Now is also a good time to prep the baseboards for paint by sanding and removing years of built up paint and stain and imperfections...(on an old house, be sure to test for lead paint before sanding)
  
• You'll want to look for old nails, screws or other items on the wall that would cause the plywood to - adhere incorrectly.
  
• Make sure you take solid measurments because quality wood isn't cheap and its not fun to overspend--as the old adage goes, measure twice, cut once.
  

SHOPPING LIST:

• 7 sheets birch plywood
  
• Chalk line (if you didn't already mark out your plans on the wall)
• 2 containers liquid nails
  
• 1 caulk gun
  
• 2 inch drywall screws
  
• Table Saw (if you don't already have one, you can always rent one!)
  
• Drill + the right kind of bit

Stay tuned next time for Install!!!

Cheers, 

LB