Naomi, Sage – Author at Plaster & Disaster

October 4, 2017 | By Naomi and Sage |

Disaster Confessional: Don’t Stare at our Stairs

Sorry about the title, everyone! We figure that if we’re going to share some really embarrassing and ugly truths about our homes, at least we should get to make puns while doing so. So consider this your part of the bargain.

Our disaster confessional series is distinguished by our use of horrible puns and bravery at sharing some really non-blog worthy areas of our home. It’s all too easy to project an idealized image on the internet, and we think it’s important to show the not-so-ideal parts, too. Fortunately, that’s easy for us, since we’ve got a lot of not so ideal things to share! We’ve talked about the various holes and gaps in our homes, our sheds and messes, and even that time that one of our basements flooded. (Spoiler: Sage’s basement has flooded numerous times too, she just hasn’t posted about it because last time she tried to do so, a different kind of disaster occurred and required coverage on the blog.)

You’ve probably figured out that today we’re talking about our stairs.

“My Basement Stairs are an Ugly Death-Trap” – Naomi

I was so proud to share my basement clean-out and new workshop space a few weeks ago!

But what I didn’t share was the situation going on right behind me as I took this shot…

And that’s the cleaned out version. The stairs are really ugly, with chipping gray paint and some sort of brown-ish fabric tread tacked onto each one. I’ve dreamed of painting these, but it doesn’t seem worth the effort since I don’t think they could ever look that attractive.

However, that’s not the worst part. They’re also quite unsafe because they are so steep and narrow. My size 6 foot just barely fits on them, and there is a big overhang that trips you on the way up and makes the stairs seem even smaller on the way down.

It feels really precarious walking down with a basket of laundry. Add to that a really low ceiling ridge (I’m 5’2 and I can walk under it, but it’s low enough that I reflexively duck).

Think that is bad? It used to be even worse. The top used to have these shelves jutting out, making the space feel really cramped and putting you off-center before you even started down the stairs with your basket of laundry.

The shelves were also a magnet for clutter of the worst kind.. the kind that you put there because you have no idea where else it should go. So when we cleaned them off in our basement clean-out, we decided to take them down entirely. They can’t collect clutter if they’re not there!

It doesn’t exactly make the stairs pretty, but it’s an improvement.

“USPS avoids my house” – Sage

Speaking of ugly death traps…my front steps have seen better days.

We barely use them (since we enter around the back), but I feel for the poor delivery people who brave them to bring us mail, pizza, etc. because they certainly don’t look or sound structurally solid. Like, would you feel confident walking up a flight of stairs where the first one has giant holes in it?

Maybe that’s why they have started leaving many of our packages at the bottom of the steps, and I can’t blame them.

I don’t think they’re actually dangerous yet, but I think we’ll need to replace at least portions of them next year and will need to repaint all the stairs and the landing. Yay for homeownership!

So be honest, are you glad you only have to see our houses online rather than trying to brave them in person?

September 25, 2017 | By Naomi |

Scrap Wood Storage Rack… Out of Scrap Wood

I am still so thrilled with my newly set-up basement workshop!

When I posted about it two weeks ago, I shared a small peek at my solution to storing scrap wood, and today I’m sharing that quick and easy DIY.

I don’t know why I didn’t just do it before. My scrap wood “collection” was constantly growing, but with no organization at all. It basically consisted of a few spots throughout the basement where I’d pile stuff, which made it hard to look through and see what I had. Sage has a nice closet where she keeps her scraps all neat, but I don’t have a space like that in my basement.

Pinterest revealed a whole lot of DIY solutions that looked pretty nice… and also looked like they used a lot of wood to make. Isn’t saving wood the point here?

(Sources: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4)

I knew I could make something useful using less wood, and using what I had on hand. I came up with this plan, based on #1 above:

Essentially, the only large pieces I’d need would be on the sides, and the rest would just be slats for the wood to lean against. I also wouldn’t need a bottom for the piece since it would be stationary – more of a rack than a container.

I gathered scrap wood to build it out of: a 2’x4′ piece of a sheet of 3/4″ plywood left over from the birdseed container, and a few random boards/long strips of 3/4″ plywood left from various projects. One of the boards was even “salvaged” from the clean-out of the basement itself (it was a random shelf put up inconveniently under one of the windows).

Within reason, I knew that I could let these pieces dictate the size of the rack, so I could be as efficient as possible in using the least useful pieces of wood for this. The plywood sheet was the only one I was sad to “waste” on a project like this, but it’s what I had on hand!

To form the sides, I measured 12″ from opposing corners on each of the long sides of the plywood, and then connected them with a straight line.

For the slats, I measured each to the length of my smallest piece of wood (with two of them 1.5″ shorter since they would be on the inside of the piece).

I then cut everything out with my circular saw.

I had picked two of the sturdier pieces to be the internal supports, and I attached them using my kreg jig.

I placed them in the middle of the side pieces, with one small adjustment. I drew a line exactly down the center, but then lined up the bottom one in front of the line, and the top one behind the line, if that makes sense:

Since wood will be leaning in the rack, I figured this would be a little more efficient, and let me fit in a few more pieces.

I then attached the front and back slats with regular screws and nails.

It is quite sturdy!

Loaded in with wood, it feels organized, but also easy to see and access all of the pieces. I added a bin to the side for the tiny scraps, and the few large pieces I just lean against the wall behind it.

Importantly, it’s not so organized that I won’t put things back in the right spot. Other than going roughly in order of size from one of the areas to the next, there isn’t a right spot! It will be pretty easy to maintain. And easy is the point.

Overall, this only took about an hour to make, used very little material, and is so useful. Moving the wood in here was one of the last things I did in the basement workshop set-up, and that made it even more satisfying!