Naomi – Author at Plaster & Disaster

I read somewhere that you should take care of the little things that bother you about your home right away after you buy it, otherwise you’ll just get too used to them and never get around to fixing them. That is definitely true. It is amazing how you can learn to just ignore ugly details when you see them every day!

We definitely have ~~a few~~ a bazillion in our home, but I’m proud to have finally taken care of a couple of them! Both were holdovers from our big renovation before we moved in, when we knocked down a wall and replaced the luan board walls in our living room and dining room with plaster. We’re so happy with the change, but it left us with a few things to wrap up. For example, this gap between the new plaster walls in the living room and the luan board in the hallway:

It kind of ruins the vibe I’m going for – especially since the vibe I’m going for is “this is a real, finished house.” Similarly, this ledge on the ceiling, which shows where we took down the wall dividing the kitchen and dining room, makes the whole space feel a lot less put together.

I left these for so long because they were so easy to ignore, and I knew the fix would be quick and could be taken care of whenever. It’s so easy to put those sorts of things off!

I don’t know what changed for me, but I finally took care of these two small problems. It started with a trip to a home improvement store for the trim pieces I’d need to fill in these gaps. I got two 8′ lengths of 1/4 circle trim for about $3.50 each and an 8′ length of corner guard for about $7.50.

I was over at Sage’s house, so got to take advantage of her table saw to make the cuts easily. I measured carefully, and then we secured the small pieces to the table saw using a piece of scrap wood.

This helped keep it safe and steady!

Installation was easy – I just used small finishing nails to secure the pieces to the wall and ceiling.

The only slightly tricky part was fitting the corner piece in with the existing trim that runs along the ceiling in the hallway. (It is hard to call it trim since it is just a little strip of wood, but it was in the way, nonetheless.)

I’m not sure it was the most elegant solution, but I just carefully sliced away at it with my X-ACTO knife until I could break it along the line I marked. It came off pretty cleanly!

Then all I had to do was caulk the edges, prime, and paint to finish the fix!

The ceiling looks a whole lot better. It is definitely still noticeable that there is a transition there (the only way to fix that would be to re-do the whole ceiling in the kitchen), but it doesn’t look unfinished any longer.

But I’m pretty proud of the corner to the hallway. It looks almost intentional!

These were such simple fixes, I’m pretty embarrassed that I didn’t bother to do them before. It makes me wonder what other little projects I’ve been ignoring for too long!

As you may have noticed lately, one of our favorite things to do is to find pieces of furniture that need some love and stick mid-century legs on them. Exhibit A:

And B:

Let’s be honest: that is any blogger’s favorite thing to do. But hey, when a formula works why change it? But we decided that today we’d reflect back on some of our favorite furniture projects that didn’t just involve new mid-century legs.

To make things interesting, we thought we’d have Sage pick a few favorites done by Naomi, and vice versa. First up, Sage gushes about Naomi.

Sage’s favorite projects done by Naomi

Naomi is really colorful and bold in her projects, which I always find inspirational. One of my favorite projects she did recently was her makeover of the little metal cabinet we found while ransacking that school last year. When we carted it out of the school, I was not convinced it had a bright future.

But with a lot of paint, creativity, and vinyl adhesive, Naomi turned it into an adorable piece that makes me wish I’d fought harder to take the cabinet home with me:

So jealous. Of course, it wouldn’t have been possible without my help.

Another one of my favorites is the console table Naomi made last summer. She built it in my basement so I got to see the whole thing evolve (there seems to be a common thread that I like the projects I helped with the most…). It was so fun to see something built from scratch — starting with a pile of wood:

And ending up a sleek and perfectly-dimensioned piece for her to show off her green thumb:

And lastly, how can I forget the awesome work she did sprucing up the little set of drawers in her dressing room? They had definitely seen better days:

But rather than just coating the whole thing with paint like many of us might be inclined to do, Naomi introduced me to the wonderful world of Howard’s Restor-a-finish furniture polish and wax. She used paint judiciously to add some interest on the inside and sides of the drawers, but left the natural wood exterior. With polish and new knobs, it’s like a totally different piece!

Naomi’s favorite projects done by Sage

When Sage gets an idea she is so resourceful and clever about figuring out how to execute it, which has led to some amazing furniture projects. I, of course, need to begin with the sleek, modern coffee table she built from scratch for her living room.

Isn’t it amazing? I love the bright color and the modern, geometric vibe!

There were so many tricky elements to this project – learning how to cut metal, building a top out of plywood that looks like solid wood, and figuring out how to make it structurally sound. (Sage’s note: Naomi is the one who suggested the final design for making it stand up while still looking good!)

Another of my favorites is the transformation of a basic craigslist dresser into a stunning mid-century piece.

These dull, bulky dressers are so common and I’m blown away that she had the vision for this transformation. Just some (hand-made) legs, a new base, stain, and a whole lot of work, and it is unrecognizable:

I can only wish that every sad, 1990s dresser on craigslist would be so lucky.

Finally, Sage saw the potential in this old library cart that we pillaged from a local school. Here it is looking sad and dingy in my driveway:

A coat of white paint and some gold polish on the wheels cheered it right up. But the real exciting part of this project was building little “wedge” shelves to provide some flat display space. (Sage’s note: Again, Naomi’s idea!) This was not easy.

Fortunately, she didn’t lose a hand cutting the wedges, and the result is amazing!

Of course, as you may have picked up from our recaps, we really are better when we work together! Let our awesome cactus side table prove this point:

We both learned so many new furniture making and refinishing skills this past year, and we can’t wait to see what the coming year has in store for us!