Leaded Glass Started!

Sharon determined can be quite a force for productivity! Today we finally solved the border came problem we've been avoiding. We went to a local stained glass store and then they sent us off to a stained glass restorer's business.

The stained glass restorer told us nobody uses lead came on borders anymore. That would explain why none of the local businesses carry it. If we special order it we have to buy an entire 45-pound box and it could take weeks to arrive. And, unfortunately, we need three different sizes of lead came!

So, today, we finally surrendered and bought zinc came from the restorer who was willing to sell us some from his own stock. (He doesn't sell supplies—he makes new stained glass panels and makes repairs for people.) We just bought enough for the kitchen cabinet. We still need to find some more in the right sizes for the rest of the doors or reuse the old lead came from the existing panels.

Anyway, we bought zinc border came. Then we needed to figure out how to cut it. People in the business buy expensive saws; we didn't want to. But somebody on a stained glass forum suggested this tiny 2" cut-off saw sold by Harbor Freight. It is pretty cheesy but it works! And was loads easier than a hacksaw and miter box.

All the border pieces are now cut for the kitchen cabinet!

Now we need to get the final measurement with the came in place and print out the leaded glass pattern in the correct size. Hopefully that will happen in the next couple of days.

Kitchen Tour

We got a call from Chelly from Craftsman Design & Renovation (our remodel kitchen designer). Apparently, our kitchen is going to be included in the Architectural Heritage Center Kitchen Revival Tour 2012 on April 14.

Anyway, Last fall CDR asked if they could submit our kitchen for the tour, but since we had never heard anything, and the Architectural Heritage Center has been advertising this event for at least a month, we figured we hadn't made the cut. So, when we got the call today, it was quite a surprise!

Ack! One month! Our To-Do List just did a major reshuffle. The leaded glass panels just zoomed right up to the top. Sharon is going to try and find the border "Y" came and get that ordered ASAP. If we can round up the last bits we need, we could probably finish the two panels in the kitchen cabinet in time for the tour.

We also need to line up the hardware for our pantry doors. Time to get this room finished!!

Here's their flyer! Look—that's our kitchen!

Urbanite Path

Even though it was cold and windy this morning, it was not raining (much), so we went outside to finish the planting strip path. We're using chunks of broken concrete (called urbanite) leftover from breaking up our driveway where it was sloped incorrectly.

Jeff had dug the path last week, when we actually had some nice weather.

This morning we filled the ditch in with several wheelbarrel loads of gravel and stomped around on it to level and tamp it down. Then we dumped in several inches of sand. Then Jeff put the concrete chunks back on the sand and we filled in any large gaps that were left with appropriately-sized pieces.

Jeff spent a lot of time working sand in and around the chunks to level them.

Then we put a large pile of sand on top and Jeff swept it around to find high or low spots. Then he spent another half-hour or so fixing those pieces.

Then he was able to mostly call it quits for the day. It could probably use some more sweeping, but the forecast is for rain for the next 10 days, so the rain will probably wash off the excess sand.

Rainy Weekend

What do we do when it's raining outside and we're unmotivated to do physical labor? Stare at our computers of course! Jeff needed a weekend with his Civilization computer game. Sharon spent the weekend with SketchUp diagramming the rest of the projects we've got on our "short list."

 The side fence...front and back.

The side fence was really instructive to plan because it was possible to see how the diamonds would or would not fit into the space available. And there was a significant amount of fussing over the gate to get the pieces to fit. We're not really sure we can build this, but we are going to try...eventually. Probably after or during the garage remodel. But now we can start keeping an eye out for materials.

And the kitchen pantry... We're also not in a rush on this project as that "temporary" metal rack is working out fine.

Then Sharon got a little silly filling her closet plan diagram with storage tubs... =) The closet, when finished, will surely never be this tidy.
It's really cool all the SketchUp components others have created and saved for sharing.

Flitting from Project to Project

We've had a fairly productive week, but we've got so many projects going right now that we're just sort of flitting around working on different projects depending on our moods and the weather.

Sharon made further progress stripping the guest bedroom closet door. It's nearly finished. She's just working at picking paint out of the corners of the moulding in the recessed panels. As usual, it's slow going.

Paint stripping nearly done

Jeff started digging out a "path" on the planting strip at the street. This will help when we walk across the ground to the car and the ground is muddy. He didn't quite have time to finish it before it got dark and today it's raining.

Laying out path

Digging out path

We've precisely measured the lead caming on our existing leaded glass panels. (We had to borrow a tool that would measure in 32nds of the inch.) We believe we know what size outer border we need to order now and we're planning to get that done next week.

We spent a couple hours shuffling storage so the furniture was accessible from the front and so we can start bringing over stuff from the garage to get ready for its remodel.

Shuffling furniture

Stowing doors

Sharon finally broke down and ordered the rods and hardware bits to make roller shades. She is working on "remodeling" the curtains she made for the parlor a few months ago.

Roller shade rods

Sharon also ordered lace curtains for the dining room. She ordered the Meadow Lily lace curtains, a design dating from 1910, being offered by Burrows.

Meadow Lily lace curtain

Meadow Lily lace curtain

Salvaged fir boards

Yesterday, Sharon, with some short spurts of help from Jeff, spent another full-day stripping salvaged fir boards. Several of those boards removed from the kitchen had originally been stained; she had to sand down through the outer layer. We should have more than enough now to finish our closets in the master bedroom.

Jeff mostly finalized the design for his closet. Now it's time to acquire the rest of the materials, and the saws, and get to work.

Beautiful day (for paint stripping)!

We had beautiful weather today! Though we probably should have worked on shellacking the master bedroom woodwork, it was so nice outside Sharon felt drawn to the outdoors.

She first spent a couple of hours cleaning up paint on the guest bedroom door then she got tired of that and decided to work on a faster project; something she could finish in one day. So she decided to work on cleaning up salvaged fir removed during our remodel because we need wood for our master bedroom closet installation.










On that topic, Sharon put together a plan for her closet! (She's quickly becoming a SketchUp junkie.) She decided to put cube storage behind racks of clothing on the left side since the space was so deep. We're planning to build the cubes and shelves from douglas fir plywood, and whatever lumber we need to support the rods and shelves, we're hoping to reclaim from the salvage in our garage.

Here are a few views of her planned arrangement.

The plan for Jeff's closet is nearly complete. It should get finished this evening and then we'll know exactly how much wood we'll need to clean up to reuse for both projects.

SketchUp Rocks!

We're getting close to having a garage remodel plan! We've updated the drawings with our salvaged doors and added a lot more roof detail. We're finally getting close enough that we're ready to try going to the City for guidance. Maybe we'll even file for the permit.

Remodeled Garage Edge View

Framing Plan Edge View

Remodeled Garage Front View

Framing Plan Front View