Filling Floor Gaps With Oakum: Update 2 1/2 Years Later
Two and a half years ago, I filled the gaps in our original wood floors with oakum. You can read more about that process here. This is a niche solution to a common problem with homes built in the 1700s and 1800s with original wood floors and gaps between those floorboards. Our house was built in the 1780s and later added onto in the 1800s. It’s time for an update on how that oakum has held up! First of all, what is oakum? Historically speaking, oakum is a combination of natural fibers like hemp or jute and tar or oil that was used to caulk wooden ships to make them…
Happy List: #337
Welcome to the Happy List. Top o’ the morning to you! I’m glad you’re here. This week on the blog I shared how our living room has evolved in the last five years and how many throw pillows I have accumulated in that time. At this rate, we’ll be overrun with throw pillows in short order. I also shared on the blog the one thing we did not anticipate, or maybe buried in the back of our brains when it comes to repointing the stone walls in our basement. Now we are living with our choices. Ha! As always, thank you for being here. If you want to connect with…
What We Didn’t Anticipate When Repointing Our Stone Walls
We live in a really old home with a stone foundation. We started repointing our stone walls in the basement because it was time to tackle that project. Read more about that here. Homeownership 101 says you have to take care of your foundation if you don’t want your house to develop a catastrophic issue. For a stone foundation, the outer layer of stone has to be repointed periodically – every 50 – 100 years. Repointing stone walls means you remove the old lime mortar that is failing and replace it with new lime mortar. You only need to chip out an inch or so of the old mortar to…
Evolution of Our Living Room and New Bench Pillows
I’ve discovered a perk of not moving every two or three years. If you stay put long enough, you’ll have the time and inclination (the itch, really) to redecorate your home. As it turns out, redecorating is cheaper and easier than moving. I’m not ready to say it’s more fun because I actually enjoy moving. However, redecorating is pretty darn enjoyable too. You’re going to get hung up on the fact that I enjoy moving, aren’t you? Let me explain. It’s not the physical act of moving homes that I enjoy. It’s the adventure and newness of moving that really flips my switch. And let’s not forget how liberating it…
Happy List: #336
Hello and welcome to this week’s Happy List! I’m delighted you are here! I hope the first week of March treated you well. On the blog this week I shared an Easter craft. Easter will be here before we know it. I used gold leaf to decorate wood eggs and I think they look very sophisticated. Let me know if you try this technique. I also shared the St. Patrick’s Day floral arrangement I made with a more subtle nod to Ireland’s favorite holiday. Multiple holiday ideas in one week. Phew! Maybe I should take next week off. Ha! As always, thank you for being here. If you want to…
St. Patrick’s Day Flower Arrangement With Dried Lentils
Subtle is not an adjective usually paired with St. Patrick’s Day but this St. Patrick’s Day flower arrangement has a more subtle nod to a holiday I absolutely adore. No leprechauns or pots of gold in sight. That’s kind of a shame. I could really use a pot of gold. The star of this St. Patrick’s Day flower arrangement is not the flowers. Although, they are lovely. The star of the show is the vase! The vase finally gets its moment to shine. The vase is filled with dried lentils to mimic the design of the Irish flag. I used roughly equal amounts of green split peas, white rice, and…
Gold Leaf Wood Easter Eggs
If you enjoy a little bit of bling, you’ll love these DIY Gold Leaf Wood Easter Eggs. They are easier to make than they look and this idea is easily adaptable to plastic eggs if wood Easter eggs are not your thing. My wood eggs started as a $3 find in the Target Dollar Spot. Don’t worry if you don’t live near a Target. You can buy wood eggs online and I know because I’m no stranger to crafting with wood Easter eggs. I hatched up an idea to elevate these eggs to something you’d find in the designer section of Target and not in their dollar section. (Don’t even…
Happy List: #335
Hello, Hello! Happy first day of March! January felt like it lasted forever but February flew by. This week on the blog I shared the origin story of why we are currently doing work on our basement. We keep telling ourselves it will be worth it when we are done. I also shared the LED rechargeable lamp that has brought me so much joy at dinner time. As always, thank you for being here. Don’t be a stranger. We like talking to you! If you want to connect with us or ask a question, you can always comment on this blog post or send an email here. You can also…
Bright Idea: LED Table Lamp For Your Dining Table
I had a lightbulb moment a few weeks ago as it relates to dining table lighting. One of the reasons dining at a fancy restaurant is so delightful is because of the lighting. It’s not too harsh and, often, every table has a candle or mood light of some sort. You can recreate that ambiance at home with a candle or an LED table lamp for your dining table. The lighting in our dining room is not ideal, especially in the dead of winter. But that has changed now that I placed an LED table lamp smack dab in the middle of the table. No more centerpieces. It’s all about…
Why We Decided To Repoint Our Stone Walls Ourselves
On our long to-do list when we bought this Colonial Farmhouse fixer-upper was to repoint the stone walls in our basement. To emphasize how important these stone walls are, they are not there for show. They are our foundation walls. The foundation holds up the house. Taking care of it is not an option unless you want your house to fall down. We decidedly do not want our house to fall down. That would be bad. (Understatement of the year.) How did we know our stone walls needed to be repointed? The little piles of sand at the bottom of the wall were our first clue. We didn’t need any…
