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  • Hi, I’m Emily

    Emily Fazio

    I'm a home improvement enthusiast, living a very merry DIY lifestyle.

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Cinco de Happiness (en Mayo)

May 11, 2012

From time to time, I do little DIYs that make me happy. Or ask for advice on completely miscellaneous projects. Or get compelled to remind you that I’m human by admitting that I’ve never once checked to see that the door to the office closed, only to find this week that it doesn’t even fit into its own doorframe. How weird.

In celebration of Mayo, we’ve been pigging out on tacos and guacamole, and did a few little projects to boot.

1. I raised the roof.

Not really, I raised the curtains in the sunroom. It was a subtle change, but it raises the height of the room which translates to “I’ve raised the roof”. Last fall when I installed muslin curtains I must have had on my super-flat shoes. They were installed to be level with the top of the window, but after gawking at them for the last few weeks while I work at the new sunroom table, I decided they weren’t hung close enough to the ceiling, making the whole room look squatty. There was an easy fix to cure their weird positioning: raise them up 6 inches. Fortunately, there was plenty of extra length to the curtains, and they were adjusted without a hitch.

Raise the roof, or just raise your curtains.

2. I passed it on.

Big thanks to The Better Half for choosing me to participate in Karah’s Pass It On Project; what a sweet surprise it was to find these tile coasters in the mail!

Cute little coasters!

In exchange, I happily picked a few friends and fellow bloggers to “pass it on” to, Cait of Hernando House and Erin of Erin B. Inspired. Both funny and talented ladies have been long time supporters of my little blog, and I wanted to give them a little love in return, so I sent off two handmade wooden picture frames with windows just a little bigger than 3″x3″. Made with reclaimed real 2″x4″ boards from local salvage, the wood is warm and rich and still very lightweight from being dried out for the last 80 years. Mailed with plexiglass and wire, they’re both perfectly imperfect but have a great history and natural charm.

Wooden handmade frames from salvaged scrap.

3. I destroyed Pete’s Harley. And I need your help.

OK, not really destroyed, but I did get a terrible amount of oil-based stain on the fender over the winter during one of my little outdoor staining projects. The good news is that he isn’t angry with me. The bad news is that nothing I’ve tried has worked to remove it (I’ve been testing products on the plastic tail light splatters, not yet on the delicate finish of the actual fender). Not acetone, not car cleaner, not car wax, not soap. I guess I still need to try mineral spirits, which is what I normally use to clean up my paint brushes, and I might try WD-40 as a final effort, but I’m thinking it’ll have to go to the shop for a buffer. Any other tips (I’m lookin’ at you, Rust-Oleum)? And how much does it cost to get a motorcycle refinished?

Bad girlfriend, dirty Harley.

4. I’ve been doing research.

There are only two doors in my home that appears to be original to the house. The rest, the bedroom doors, bathroom door,  and basement door are 4 styles of mismatched hollow economy-style models. And what’s there now is dinged, cracked, and stained at that. Two of the closet doors are totally removed and MIA. Replacing all of them has been on my list for awhile, and the planning intensified recently when I realized that the office door doesn’t even close (right, I haven’t even tried to shut it in 3 years).

Who knew, the door to the office doesn't even close.

Instead of buying new, I’m looking to find salvaged doors that match the original charm of the house. I’ve started my search, hoping to find bargain-priced originals sized to match my door frames. $15 each would do, if I could possibly get so lucky. This one here would actually fit the office doorframe perfectly.

Bargain-priced replacement door option.

We shall see how easy this proves.

5. I finally made a decision. And I’m happy with it.

I don’t usually splurge on a Groupon/Living Social deal unless I know with certainty that I can use it and make it worth my investment. We’ve eaten a lot of Sushi over the last year this way which has been fun, but California Rollin’ seems to have finally caught onto our clever way of getting 8 rolls for a $15 Groupon and changed all its rules pertaining to the deal. Shucks.

When I bought one for Overstock.com during the winter, I considered it an insta-win. Priced at $10 to get $20 in merchandise, I figured there’d be plenty of items for me to pick from. Fast-forward 3 months, and I had spent hours scouring for anything that I could buy that wasn’t a total investment piece (I wanted to keep my purchase close to the $20 store credit) but there was nothing I needed or wanted for the value. In the end I landed on a $29.99 woven basket which came in the mail yesterday. Good news: It’s darling. And I’ll keep it. I take back all of those frustrated comments about the site.

Woven Basket by Nkuku.

I hadn’t done much research on the product or its brand pre-purchase, because I was in a Living Social redemption panic 2 hours before it expired, but when it arrived I was excited to see that it was a legit nkuku product, which according to the website retails for £39.95, a figure that converts to about $64.50USD based on today’s currency exchange.

Sitting within my CB2 bedside table, it’ll be good for holding an extra blanket and a few books.

Woven Basket by Nkuku.

Best of all: If we have the same decor taste, I think you’re going to really like everything that nkuku sells. Inspired by African and Indian artists, its contemporary designs are super-eco, made from natural materials, there’s some really great stuff to swoon over. I’m going ga-ga for these Franjipani Floral Cups, the Ishara Basket, and the Oni Glass Collections Box. And everything else. You?

Have a fun weekend (and Happy Mothers Day)!

 

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Decor  / DIY  / Sunroom

Emily
I'm a home improvement enthusiast, living a very merry DIY lifestyle. You can find me writing for HGTV and DIY Network, follow me on facebook and instagram, or drop me a note if you'd like. I love notes.

14 Comments


Karah @ thespacebetweenblog
May 11, 2012 at 8:51 am
Reply

WoW! You are one busy lady!! Thank you so much for the shout about on the Pass It On project. I’m pinning your project and sharing your post on facebook…maybe someone can help you with the Harley stain issue. Luckily it sounds like your husband is an accepting guy. :) Have a wonderful weekend!!
Karah



    Emily
    May 11, 2012 at 2:41 pm

    Thanks for sharing it, Karah! I’ve already gotten a few leads on what it could take to fix the Harley, so I really appreciate it :)

Jocie @ The Better Half
May 11, 2012 at 10:27 am
Reply

Oh my goodness, i love those frames you made! so cute! glad you liked the coasters. :)



    Emily
    May 11, 2012 at 2:40 pm

    Thanks Jocie! And thanks again for including me in the project!

Patrick Huber
May 11, 2012 at 12:27 pm
Reply

Emily,

I’ll show the Harley photo to my associate here. He may have a couple of suggestions for you.



    Emily
    May 11, 2012 at 2:40 pm

    Thank you! The PA did not work (but made the stain very shiny ;) ).

    Patrick Huber
    May 11, 2012 at 2:42 pm

    Ok. I asked Ken to put together some suggestions. He wondered if it was oil-based stain or water-based.

    Emily
    May 11, 2012 at 2:43 pm

    It’s oil-based.

mary
May 11, 2012 at 4:28 pm
Reply

Have you tried bug and tar remover from the autozone store?



    Emily
    May 11, 2012 at 4:30 pm

    I haven’t! Think it’s strong enough without degrading the finish?

    Patrick Huber
    May 11, 2012 at 4:40 pm

    Emily,

    This from Ken:
    OK I had a good look at the bike. My guess is that since the other items she has tested will not take the stain off the tail light, Protect All may not either. The best way to check out our stuff in this application is to wet the area with our product and let it stand for 2-10 minutes and then wipe it off. This is an “out of the ordinary” application for an out of the ordinary situation.

    Alternatively, I could suggest that the she consider some Clay. These days most of the big Auto Wax Lines supply Clay Bars in a kit and those readily available at local Auto Parts stores like Oriely’s, AutoZone, and Pep Boys. I’m a fan of Clay Magic but that’s getting harder to find these days. Looks like on-line is the only place now.

    Other than that, mineral spirits will probably work but the surface should not be soaked in it. Mineral Spirits should be dampened into a clean shop towel and just the stains touched and held for a moment and then wiped once it is clear that the stain is saturating the towel or cloth. This process will take some patience. Once done, the surface should be washed and then waxed very well.

    If she doesn’t want to do this a good detailer in her area probably can handle the job easily, but it will cost more than the average wax job. I’d bet under $100 to fix this and wash and wax.

    Emily
    May 11, 2012 at 10:11 pm

    Wow! Thank you for this thorough response!

    I’ll test the PA on a longer-setting test, and I’ll look into clay as well. Mineral spirits are scary, I figured it’d need so much waxing and buffing to be back to perfect that it’s worth paying someone to do it right.

    Wish me luck!

    Patrick Huber
    May 12, 2012 at 1:10 am

    Good luck! :-) You’ll get it.

Tim
May 22, 2012 at 11:27 am
Reply

Paint thinner. I went to an auto body shop because my car is covered in a light layer of stain. They tried paint thinner and it took it right off. They said its not aggressive enough to ruin your paint if you put it on a cloth first and to wash it after. Works like a charm;)



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