smellofsawdust's Profile

I owned a 1950s home which was remodeled in the 70s, with lots of panelling and cabinets that were about the same color as shown in your photo. It was too dark for me. I, too, was on a small budget. I painted the cabinets white, painted some of the panelling, tore down other panelling, and put up a little bit of fun wallpaper. I removed the linoleum (I may die early because of asbestos), removed the awful glue (with a solvent that might also kill me), and painted the floor. I guess I could have skipped all that other stuff and just say--I first painted the floor white. Achhhhhh! The floor looked like it had risen several inches! I repainted it a golden oak color, which helped the floor recede to where it was supposed to be.

Ooh la la! One of my Sculpture professors challenged his students to make something out of plywood because it didn't really have a life or beauty of its own. One student built a human-sized cocoon, with all the layered edges showing. Gorgeous. I love plywood and OSB. We've built a house using plywood for many of the finishes. It looks well-planned out and wonderful, I must say!! Thanks for the great pictures.

Kilz makes a low-odor oil-based primer that still has an odor, but it's not as harsh as the "regular" oil-based Kilz. The problem I had with latex Kilz is that the tannin(s) of the wood leached through, even with two coats of Kilz and two coats of white paint. And even though the info on the can said it blocked tannins. I ended up repriming with oil-based, then I repainted with the white. That was a whole lotta paintin'!

Celery. It sits in my fridge till I throw it out. I'd be happy if I could buy one stalk at a time. Sad, huh?

I bought a large calendar (22" x 17") at Office Depot, a "month-at-a-glance" one with no dates printed on it. It probably had 24 pages. There's absolutely nothing cute about it, but I love it. It was very inexpensive, and I haven't minded filling in the pages with dates. It's become my "comand center."

I buy extra bags of fresh cranberries in the fall and keep them in the freezer all year long. We like a bit o' tart in our baked goods, so I often toss a handful of unthawed berries into muffins and even cornbread. (I'm O.K. with experimenting and with food not turning out "perfectly," whatever that is.) Our favorite is pumpkin pie--We call it "bobber pie," because the berries float to the top and look like lots of red fishing bobbers. We took one to a get-together last year, and the host, who said he doesn't usually care for sweets, asked us if he could keep it! Mmmmmmmm.

P.S. Is marine varnish slippery? Slippery when wet?

Wet Chi just might be my new favorite person. As far as thinking beyond my own needs/means/desires goes, instead of spending my money on luxuries I desire, I'm happier sharing my means with people with more needs. I'm also happy with my small galley kitchen. It's efficient, and it's kinda fun running into each other.

The more people to help you, the better. The last time I tried this with a friend, a third person jumped in, and the project was manageable after that. One of us held part of the paper up with a makeshift "lift," like you might do if you ever hang sheetrock on the ceiling. You might be surprised at how heavy wet wallpaper is--not too heavy to hold up, but heavy enough to be susceptible to tearing. It's a good idea to have extra wallpaper on hand, too.

Maggie, have you thought about laying IKEA butcher block on top of your laminate counters? Here, there, and/or wherever? My counters are extra-high and I'm short, but I've had no problems working on them.