Elecrtical Wiring Projects

So, I've  been doing ALOT of research on electrical wiring diagrams and codes so that I would be able to safely add a light or two or move or add an outlet every now and then without having to hire an electrician for every little job.  I'm feeling pretty proud of myself.


My first electrical project on this house was simply switching out the old outdoor fixtures for newer, updated ones.  Super-simple.  Here are before and after pictures.

This is the only "before" picture I have.  If  you look closely, you can see the old, brass, too-small, builder-grade fixtures.

Here is the "after" picture that shows the newer, lantern-style, bronze fixtures.  They look SO much better!  I love the new fixtures.

My second electrical project (and first wiring project) was adding a light to the reading nook in the boys' bedroom.  I wanted the light to be a ceiling fixture that had a pull chain.  Unfortunately, the only affordable ceiling fixtures with pull chains were hideous.  So, I added a pull chain to a standard ceiling fixture and wired the light from an existing outlet on the opposite wall (which meant not so much fun hanging out in the hot attic to runt he wire).  But, here is the final product.  It turned out really nicely.

My third electrical project was super-simple.  I think anyone could do it--it wasn't near as scary as one might think.  I simply removed the old light fixture from the old ceiling fan and added a new one (I also painted the old fan to match the new fixture and give it an updated look.  Here are the before and after pictures.  I'm very pleased with the results and saved a ton of money by using the fan I already had.

After painting and adding the new light fixture.

Before alterations of any kind (sorry, only pic I have of before)

My next electrical project was to add lights to the outside of the shed.  I put flood lights on the side of it so that we would have light on the firepit area of the yard at night.  And, I added a wall light to the front of the shed that matches the ones I put in on the house and give light to the driveway in front of the shed.  Here are some pictures of the lights I installed.

My latest electrical job has been on the second bedroom remodel that I am currently working on.  I wanted to add storage drawers and such to the existing window seat so I tore out the window seat in order to build a new one.  When I pulled it apart, I found a working outlet inside of it.  Because it can't be used if it can't be accessed, I decided to move the outlet above the window seat so it could be accessible and thus usable.  My son was excited when he saw it and said now he could use it to charge his Nook when he was laying in bed or reading on the window seat.  That was reward enough for me. 

I have also now added reading lights with pull chains above each bed in the second bedroom.  You can see one of them in the picture above.  I was quite a sight, pulling the wire in the attic and trying to squeeze my huge pregnant self down near the eve to drop the wire down the wall--had to spread my legs across the joists and lay my belly between them. I don't think there will be anymore attic climbing during this pregnancy.

Remodel--Bedroom 2

Sneek Peek--This is how the bedroom looks today:

So, I still haven't picked out the carpet for the first bedroom remodel (which can be seen here).  Nor, have I gotten around to decorating that room.  You see, about the time I moved the two boys into that room, I found out I was expecting our fifth little tike.  A trimester of being way too sick to accomplish anything then followed.  But, being that I only have a few months before we welcome this little one into our home, I need to get at least the second bedroom done so that I can move the other two boys into it and free up the little room for a nursery.

Here's how the bedroom looks before.  Notice the "delightful" Phantom of the Opera theme left by the previous owners.  Needless to say, my boys haven't been thrilled with that theme for their bedroom. :)

Today, deconstruction on the bedroom began:

I have removed the closet doors and tracks, pulled up the carpet, removed the baseboards, disassembled the closets, and am now in the process of tearing out the closet walls and patching drywall.

My two oldest are finally big enough to actually be helpful with some of the work.  Here they are pulling out drywall nails.  They even said that it was "more fun that video games"!  What more could a mother ask for?

Next, I will begin building the built-in beds.  Keep posted for updates as things progress.  Things with this room may be slow-going as the demands of pregnancy seem to slow me down.

I am hopeful, though not really optimistic, of also being able to do the third room so I can have a cute nursery for this baby (since my last two babies didn't get to have a nursery--both being born during transition stages of our lives).  I would love to get the nursery done and not feel the urge to do it when the baby is actually here.  I would just like to enjoy having the bedrooms done and functional for the kids once the baby is here.  We shall see how it all goes.

UPDATE:  The closets are completely removed.  I moved the swamp cooler's water line to inside the wall.  I've got that beds and the window seat built.  I found a working outlet inside the old window seat, so I moved that above the new one so it is accessible and usable.  I've assembled and installed the drawers (sans the drawer fronts which I'm hoping to build this week).

Next, I will need to build the drawer fronts.  Then install the rest of the bed nook.  Then, it will be onto building the closet armoire and installing base and window trim.  Stay tuned . . . .

UPDATE:
Drawer Fronts are routed, built, and ready to paint and install:

Window Seat is cut, routed, and ready to be finished and installed:

Window sill is cut, routed, and ready to be finished and installed:

Door casing and base boards are all installed and ready to be finished (since all the molding is doubled-up, this was twice the work as I had to make all the cuts twice):

And, my final accomplishment for this week--Pull-chains added to lights and wire finally pulled so that lights are ready to be wired and installed:

Things have been slow-going with the pregnancy slowing me down, but it's been a productive week.  I'm exhausted but hoping to continue to make good progress toward finishing.  Next, I need to trim the remainder of the built-in bed nook and then build the closet armoire.  Then, all that will be left is priming and painting everything.

UPDATE:  Walls and ceiling are painted and the window seat and window sill are installed:

Now onto finishing the bed nook and building the closets . . . .

UPDATE:  Ceiling and back wall of bed nooks, installed:

 

UPDATE: I have the BEST parents ever!  They decided to come visit for a day and help me with the remodel--a much welcome visit as I am so exhausted and need to get this room done soon!  As a result, I am almost ready to start building the wardrobe!  The face trim is now installed on the bed nook and the window seat.  All the trim and walls are primed AND painted.  The ceiling fan is refinished and ready to be hung.  The reading lights are wired and installed in the bed nook.  The drawer fronts are installed and pulls attached to the drawers.

Trundle bed fits nicely.  Mattress fits properly--just need to add the second one.

 

Now, all I have left to do before building the wardrobe is to install the door in front of the trundle and hang the shelves along the back wall of the bedroom nook.  I would also like to add a faux beam above the window alcove and need to install the ceiling fan, but those can both be done either before or after the wardrobe.

UPDATE:  Shelves are installed.  One mattress in place (though still need the other and matching bedding) .  Now onto installing the trundle door and faux beam . . . .

UPDATE:  The boys are already insisting on sleeping in their new room, even though I haven't built the wardrobe yet.  But, I finished everything else today--Ceiling fan is refinished and installed and beam is built, stained, and installed:

Now we just need carpet and a closet . . . .

UPDATE:  I am on the final part of the remodel--the wardrobe.  First, I made a plan and shopping list:

Over the last couple days I have built the bones of the wardrobe:

As you can see, Nathan already moved his shirts in.  :)  Now, all that is left is to build and install the drawers and doors, cut the shelves, and add trim.  Then, it's painting the wardrobe and we will be ready for carpet!

UPDATE:  The wardrobe is built.  I'm just waiting for the mirrors to be cut and trying to make a final decision on the hardware.  All the "open" spaces in the picture will be mirrors.  Also, it only has one coat of paint on, but the paint guys COULD NOT mix the color I chose and a second coat is definitely not going to get it as dark as I wanted.  It was supposed to be darker and grayer.  Instead it seems kind of like a robin egg blue.  I'm not loving the color--it's more feminine and I wanted a more masculine color--and I am debating if I should try to mix paint again so I can paint it a different color before I insert the glass.  What do you think?

UPDATE:  I have finished the wardrobe:  the glass and hardware are now installed.  No goign back on the paint color now!

UPDATE:  After just nine MONTHS of trying to decide on a carpet choice (yes, it really did take me that long to make a decision), the carpet is FINALLY in!  It looks so much better in person than in the pictures.  it is a textured carpet so it looks very classy.

And,  because my sister insisted that we need to remember how pregnant I was while doing this remodel, she made me take and post this picture (as well as one in the other remodel, which I will add to that post):

And, check out this adorable hamper my sister found for me to use in the room!  I'm so relieved I don't have to make one myself.  Haha!

UPDATE:  "Santa" brought the boys pillows for their window seat.

And Grandma bought them these beautiful quilts for their beds:

UPDATE:  I just build this little bed-side step-stool to go next to the beds so my two-year-old can climb into bed more easily:

Sling Chairs

The story of my sling chairs begins with my awesome neighbor.  He's in his mid to late 80s and he shares my love for working with wood.  Remember when I was building the sink for my boys' bathroom (you can see it here)?  Well, he noticed me out on my driveway building it.  That was the beginning of a beautiful relationship--one where he brings me free wood (remember all the beautiful hardwoods he brought me that I turned into breadboards--you can see them here, and the 1/4 ply I was able to use for the built-ins--you can see them here).  Well, the first wood he brought by was this pile of unplaned 1x2s:

You see, my dear neighbor, although long ago retired, still works hard volunteering at The Happy Factory (click on it to check it out), a non-profit organization that my friend runs and that was founded by her late husband.  It is AWESOME!  Definitely check it out.

The Happy Factory makes the most darling little wooden toys for poor children.  My sister-in-law was even able to take hundreds of the toy cars to Ethiopia to give to the children in the orphanage from which my nephew was adopted.  My own children play with these well-built toys all the time.  I love the Happy Factory for the service they do and, well, as you know, I love wooden toys (you can see some of the toys I've made here)!

Anyway, occasionally the Happy Factory receives donations of wood that is unusable for the toys.  They then donate that wood for other uses--like for me to use for my projects.  :)  So, I decided to come up with a plan for how to use this stack of 1x2s that my neighbor brought me.  And, I turned to Ana White--I LOVE her DIY building website--you can see it here.  Anyway, she had these plans for foldable sling chairs.  I used the 1x2s to build these chairs last year and then they sat in the garage until I found the time to stain them this year.

They are currently sitting on the concrete pad near the firepit grass (don't mind the pallets and such in the background--we're still cleaning up) so that we can easily pull them around the firepit when we want to use it.  Of course you can see the journey of the firepit area of our yard here. It's actually turned out to be a nice location for them, as you can enjoy the sweet smell of the honeysuckle we have planted there while sitting in them.  Mmmm.  You can see the concrete in relation to the firepit in this picture (again, please ignore the mess, which has since been cleaned up):

When I built the chairs, I didn't want to use standard outdoor fabric because (1) it is SO expensive, (2) it doesn't last as long as I would ideally want, and (3) I wanted water to be able to easily drain through it without making the fabric soaking wet in case I wanted to leave the chairs out on the grass in the sprinklers.  So, I put an ISO ad on craigslist for anyone who may be throwing out an old trampoline mat.  Sure enough, we found someone who gave us their old torn mat.  I cut it up and sewed it into the slings.  The trampoline fabric solves all of the concerns:  (1) free, (2) long-lasting, and (3) dry.  And the chairs are super comfortable to lounge in.  I may make a few small tweaks in the design if I were to build them again so that they can have a more upright position (since they are multi-position chairs anyway) and so they can fold even flatter.  But, I'm glad to have them done and to finally be able to use them.  Even the kids love to lounge in them.  I only wish I had made more when I was building them.

Vegetable Garden

So, we're finally getting around to putting in the vegetable garden this year.  I drew out the garden plan and Cam bought the plants.  Now, Cam has been planting all the seedling and seeds and I have been working on these bad boys:

This is about 1/4 of the garden markers I made.  I'm not much of a crafter, but I saw this idea somewhere (can't remember where) a couple years ago and thought it was cute, so I thought I would give it a try.  AND!  Doing so meant that I could not only whip out the old pocket knife, but also use one of my "power" tools that gets very little use:

My grandpa gave this to me when I was a kids (he was my "tool supplier" for the first 20 years of my life, starting with my first socket wrench he carved my name in when i was 2 years old after I repeatedly stole it from his tool box to play with).  Notice the kids on the box.  Haha!

Oh the things my mom entrusted me with as a kid . . . .  I am not so brave with my own kids--maybe it's because they are all boys?  I am grateful to her though, as I learned so much as a kid.  Anywho, this thing gets REALLY hot--I can't believe I didn't have some terrible accident when I was a kid (or while burning the words into these garden markers as an adult for that matter)!  Here are a couple pictures of a few markers in place in the garden:

Anyway, I will post more pics of the garden as it starts to grow.

I'm so lucky to have married such a hard-worker:  He planted the whole vegetable garden.

The planter I added last year at the back end of the vegetable garden:  The tree seems to still be doing great.

UPDATE:  Veggies are coming in nicely:

UPDATE:  Looks like we will have a "Great Harvest" this year.  And, Cameron took the extra Flagstone leftover form the firepit and laid a quick walkway along the vegetable garden to spare our bare feet from walking on the sharp gravel.  It's fun to start reaping the fruit of our labors.  We picked our first tomato of the season yesterday!  Yay!

UPDATE:
Here's a couple photos of just a very small percentage of this year's bounteous harvest.  We've been very blessed this year.