The Wits

Changes and Plans Revealed

by Annie Posted on June 21, 2012

My brain is scattered today. Yesterday I was clearheaded and running on all cylinders which was when I revised the topics I wanted to bring up in this post…only in my mind and not in a smart way whatsoever like writing it down, having Siri take notes on my iphone, or anything helpful. I know what my problem is, I do it with everything, once I get something arranged-in mind or on paper-I put a check beside it and consider the task done and out of mind or consider it so apparent what I want to say that I think I don’t need to retain the info…this time it didn’t work. Method to this madness, I swear. (Really, I have a potty mouth.)

So I’m going to try to recall some of what I wanted to tell you.

1) You will see a little change around here. I updated the pages in the header area. I added a ‘custom order’ page, changed our ‘for sale/sold’ to ‘portfolio’ (I thought it sounded better) and added a ‘pieces we’re working on right now’ page which I’m most pleased with because you can follow along with exactly what we’re doing for the furniture refinishing biz. I thought the house work and other things were making it not so clear and wanted to get back on track for the original reason of this blog-telling ya’ll about the furniture we find and make over. Hopefully this helps.

milk paint — This was one clue about what’s going on with the empire dresser

2) I’m going to start organizing my Pinterest account better (which is under my food blog name-the dabble). It’s been set up to work for my functions and recently it didn’t even work for me so I decided to switch it up. That’s a work in progress.

I plan to make a board for hardware resources, still working on that awesome dressers board, edit the DIY and products I love board (probably a few others). I see Pinterest as a way to connect to people with similar interests/unique persons and rely on it for inspiration, rededication to my goals (seeing all those great things makes me want to create great things) and I love seeing what makes up someone’s world. You can tell a lot about a person from their boards and it is a nice way for businesses and the owners behind it to show their personalities. Some people don’t take it as that (perhaps the same people who belittle the connection factor of facebook) and I’ve had a non-supporter make idiotic comments about what I pin. Makes no sense.

Which reminds me. This quote was in the article about keeping it cool as a small business owner but it is a great advice for life in general:

“Before you diagnose yourself with depression or low self esteem, first make sure that you are not, in fact, just surrounding yourself with assholes.” — William Gibson

And this was in the same article from one of my favorite ladies:

“Only hang around people that are positive and make you feel good. Anybody who doesn’t
make you feel good, kick them to the curb. And the earlier you start in your life the better.
The minute anybody makes you feel weird and non-included or not supported, you know,
either beat it or tell them to beat it.” — Amy Poehler

Love them.

3) The sidebar to the right is getting a switcheroo. I created that facebook page for us last week which I am on more often than I should be, revealing things about our furniture projects (ok and the water/basement issue, articles I enjoy like how not to lose your cool as a small business owner (actually I think I meant to put it on the page but didn’t) and solutions for a painful internet (both great), home remodels, hardware and ridiculous requests from craigslisters).

Recently I talked about what route we’re going for the empire dresser which involves milk paint and as of this morning, I disclosed the plans for this guy below (oil-based enamel). Still loving that Soy Gel stripper. It worked great once again to remove the uggo shiny finish with little effort.

4) I’m happy to say the blue dresser-Joe-went on to greener pastures, a cottage bedroom. A nice woman and her son picked this guy up the other day. I love hearing the plans for our pieces and getting pictures. The vintage tufted couch landed in a very cute living room and looks great. Thanks, Megan!

5) A reader contacted me asking for help finding one beautiful knob to finish her project. I’m still trying to find it but gave her some links for resources- “those websites were better than anything ive found online my self :)” she said. If you need assistance finding hardware or anything for your project, I would love to help.

I believe there were a few other things I wanted to share but I’m blanking. Hope you have a clearheaded, wonderful day!

We’re on Facebook

by Annie Posted on June 13, 2012

We started a Facebook page for the Wits. You can “like us”, or as we say “thumbs up” us, for a show of support if you like what we do (redecorate furniture and renovate our first home), what we find (vintage and antique pieces), where we live (Minnesota), how we dress (ha), how we dance (awesome), our taste in design, are a fan of home remodeling and DIY projects, love a good painted or stained piece, want to follow the trainwreck, keep an eye on us for criminal activity or for whatever reason. Any which way Greg and I appreciate it.

Greg doesn’t use Facebook much so it will most likely be moi…just the other night Greg thought they had a thumbs down option, asking in his angry tone who would thumbs down a family picture…it was the comment symbol (I had a good laugh). Lucky for him, I’m a pro. Not sure if that’s really something to brag about.

There are a number of ways to follow us (twitter, Pinterest, flickr) that you can find on the right side of the screen, below the search. Click one and it should take you to Wit Town. Very similar to Funky Town. It gets confused all the time.

But Facebook is where you’ll find our updates, questions, answer your questions, our finds (big and small), your finds (I love when you share a good garage/estate sale, free roadside item and the like), etc.. And I’m hopeless when it comes to twitter…I just don’t understand how to effectively use it after many years so facebook is a better fit.

I often ask pals on my personal page things I should be asking you guys like which hardware/paint color, DIY advice, which whosal or whatsit to put in a room and all kinds of things along that line. I list resources for hardware, fabric, decor, vintage/thrifty stores and events around the country, spiffy etsy shops or items, other bloggers with interesting posts (a lot of fellow renovation/DIY/furniture refinishing bloggers) and all kinds of things that catch my attention.

Probably not as intrusive and annoying as asking you new or interested readers to subscribe by email (although that’s nice too and I’m not above it). Facebook has the subscription option but you can simply ‘like’ us and choose how often, if you ever do, receive updates instead of receiving it by email each time, forcing you to go and see the post or delete the email without a glance (sad face). It’s a feature I enjoy using for all those blogger personalities I stalk with a Facebook page. Their posts simply show on your news feed whenever they choose to share along with your friends and family updates. And this is big for me because after 3 years writing about food on the other site, I have yet to start a Dabble page.

Hope to see you there!

Hot Hot Hostas and Future Plans

by Annie Posted on June 11, 2012

90 is hot. When the temps and humidity go up and you’re trying to gain progress on your backyard makeover you can easily overdo it. Digging, lifting, chopping, and pulling took its toll. We removed the plants the previous owner placed at the back of the yard (the ones with the aggravating and odd rock edge) and “pertified” other spaces by transplanting those plants (hostas and ornamental grass) all around the house. I was happy that some of my “dirt gardens” finally got some beautification. It looks like Hosta City which is better than Dirt Town. But it was free and looks good.

Greg and I were not feeling that swell after a few hours outside and decided to take it easy the rest of the weekend. Washed the car, ate Flavorice popsicles like in our childhood, took Henry to the dog park.

Greg mowed over the out of control weed garden. That may not look attractive but it sure felt good. That’s an area we have yet to clean up since we’re tackling the yard in portions.

We got to work on the empire dresser. The supplies I ordered for the piece arrived and I am searching desperately for hardware to complete the image in my head. We’re working fast on this one. As fast as we can while divvying our time amongst other projects.

So impressed with the spruce up Saturday that we went to our local nursery Sunday to see what they offer in blue hostas. I like the blue variety the best.

The idea is to get the mammoth size to place around the large tree on the side of our yard and the ‘Love Pat’ cupped version for other spots. When the mammoth hostas mature they will span about 70 inches.

I’m also trying to find a tree to fit the space above for some privacy and to block the neighbor’s fort. And we moved the pavers we are currently using for weekend fires. (Notice the use of the old picket fence that once divided the yard. Henry likes the dog next door and the wire fence wasn’t enough for his big puppy strength.)

breezeway — The space we're working on between the garage and 3 season porch.

The space between the 3 season and garage needs some love too. We made a temporary paver patio in there but it’s mismatched and not level. So that space is kind of a dud at the moment. There’s a big gap from the ground to the 3 season we’re planning to hide. The 3 season isn’t attached to the house very well and at some point we’re going to need to put joist hangers underneath. If we had the money, we’d just remove the thing because it was not built well and kind of detracts from the nice flow from the house to the yard.

I have always envisioned our house with double exterior doors leading to the patio with a pergola above, nice grilling area, luscious grass ~~as far as the eye can see~~ as far as the property line allows, projecting movies on the side of the garage, and a bonfire pit with cozy seating.

outdoor-backyard-movie — From AmberLee at Giver's Log blog

Since we have a secluded area under the pines, I also see lanterns and string lights in the tree canopy, above a table surrounded with an eclectic mix of chairs for lovely night dining. I can dream. Oh, and a brick oven somewhere out back where I can bake a pizza in 2 minutes flat. All enclosed with a modern fence for privacy. Can you tell we really enjoy being outside?

Forgot to mention that last weekend our new neighbors were cleaning up their yard and gave us two bushes. I haven’t a clue what they are but they fit the space and are mature. Adding those around the house put me in the mood to do more for aesthetics. That’s when we sat one evening by the bonfire, me in my homemade adirondack and Greg in the wingback chair we picked up a few weeks ago at a garage sale, and designed the patio space.

We weren’t crazy about the previous layout because it confines the space. The lot has a decent amount of land for being in town.

Sunday afternoon we planted some grass in the partially shaded pine area behind the garage. Please grow. Please. Otherwise, back to the drawing board. We considered other options but we would love to use that space for pets/kids to run and play, where you can go barefoot. If I could, I would never wear shoes this time of year. Unless I want a root to go through my foot, that’s not happening in our yard. Two pairs of shoes have holes in the bottom from the roots, only one reached my foot and only gave me a little prick. They are no joke. We have approximately one million to dig up.

I didn’t get a chance to tell you what we accomplished the weekend before. Put in a new frost free spigot outdoors using Pex. The outdoor ramshackle plumbing had to go. In the future we’d like to replace all plumbing with Pex tubing.

Greg finished the ladder to the attic and all that awaits is putting the finishing touches in place which happens to be the most expensive and complicated portion. The most complicated portion could possibly be the amount of money it will take to finish the house and yard. Figures are increasing. Until we can afford to go further with the plans, it’s going to look a mess around here. We have a plan in place to eliminate a few debts before September which will free up quite a bit more for the monthly budget. Gotta be realistic and we love the challenge.

Two Lamp Makeovers and Catching Up

by Annie Posted on June 7, 2012

Today is about catching up. I continue to look through my projects folder and see tasks that have been complete for weeks. Some are not complete and as Greg would say these days, “so sue me,” but are at a point of content to stop and get back to later. Greg’s phrases change and cycle so it will be something different next week.

None of the house is styled-no paint or art on the walls of our doing, bare rooms and only enough of our own furniture to get by until we get to the point of obtaining the new look we’re going for (a mix of vintage,eclectic and modern using thrifty finds), so there isn’t an exact purpose for these items I’ve done yet…maybe ever. I have been in a phase where I want to see if I can do other crafty ideas, mostly seen on Pinterest. That’s what Pinterest does to you.

After my admission about not being the best crafter beyond decorating furniture post. That was before I told you readers about our DIY chalkboard and after our DIY pinboard in our studio office. Making me look like a liar (there was a sigh of relief when they turned out as well as they did).

There’s always something up my sleeve idea-wise and sometimes something up my sleeve starts to take a back seat to the new something up my sleeve and nothing or barely anything gets accomplished or shared. Just a bunch of stuff up my sleeves and I’ve already got ~~muscular~~ flabby arms so it’s getting uncomfortable.

Remember this $14 mercury glass lamp I got at my local thrifty/vintage decor store and how I wanted to change the shade…

We rewired it using a kit, ordered a plain shade and spray painted it dark blue (best color ever to me) using upholstery spray paint. I thought the blue offset the gold and pale base.

It’s still a bit wobbly and the harp isn’t quite the right size after 3 tries (lots of lamp parts hanging around here) but I’m ok with it for now. Maybe all the right parts will come to me like life often hands us at the right moment.

Then there’s this lamp. With that $1 base I found at a garage sale (all about those garage sales).

The base was spray painted Rust-oelum Glossy Winter Grey…

Used a shade I already had but you can find a similar plain shade from Target and a yard (you could do with half on this size shade if you trust you won’t screw up…I was not that confident) of fabric from Carousel Designs in mist and grey chevron. Then I more or less followed (to get the gist) Sherry’s tutorial from Young House Love (another favorite of mine…people are going to think I’m sucking up with all this name dropping but remember this post is about 5 in one in order to catch up a little) on adding fabric to a lamp shade.

This is the finished product.

A crooked shot but what the hey. Many of my shots are. I already have a friend that called dibs if I were to ever sell this lamp. That makes me feel like I did something right.

So, I’m all twitchy from wanting to jump on styling the house, finding a place for my creations, putting us throughout…still a long ways away. I’m working on a post where I show you how we really live, what the house looks like on any given day. Greg hears my pleas for us to transition to more decorating than destruction every.single.day…like the backyard makeover still in progress. Turns out, it costs money to do those things. And I just recently finalized what I want the patio/breezeway area to look like and it’s not cheap, folks. And we’re all about budget and cost efficient ways but we’re also about trusting our instincts. New grass will be planted which we’re going to try to do a patch in the pine area, that used to have a little grass, for testing. That will be one thing on our list to try this weekend and the weeks will tell if it works. I’m skeptical but it’s in my nature.

patio idea — Patio idea...Greg's version...mine made him laugh (my drawing abilities are limited)

I’m also trying to find alternatives to bluestone pavers-the large kind with a more modern twist. I love this look that Morgan from the Brick House has on her tumblr. I actually just found that out. Total coinkidink. It’s been pinned on my account for a while now and the one I keep going back to. I had one of those moments that make sense since she and I tend to be on the same page in terms of decorating. Her style is my inspiration for much of our mid-century place. Her thrifty finds make me jealous and her talent doesn’t quit.

*And if you’re wondering how the neighbor/pet etiquette thing went, well, after some discussion with friends in person, on facebook/flickr and one very rude comment directly sent to this blog, it seems the majority of persons…after some discussion about the extent of the damage which was a little trampled (and seeing the area today, nothing is killed, ruined and has perked right back up) along with my apology, think I’m all good. Good to know because I was leaning that way. I kept the nasty comment, hinting I wanted my dog to die among other ridiculous notions, out because this is not a place for fighting and rudeness. Which reminds me, over at one of my favorite blogs, Primitive & Proper, and another top choice blog in my books, Living Savvy, is a combined series about blogging etiquette which I love. Guess what today’s topic is-comments. Boom! Nice timing.

How do you handle the comments or commenting? Have you any lamps to show me? I’d love to check them out.

Question About Neighbor Etiquette

by Annie Posted on June 6, 2012

There are a number of things I could tell you about today but I’m here with a question about neighbor etiquette.

I’m a girl from the country. My neighbors (one being my grandparents) were not close by, as in they were not 50 feet from my doorstep like the ones we have today. We had pets. The dogs roamed the property and life was good. Greg has a similar background. We now live in town, in a quiet neighborhood, on a nice lane, with a dog.

Each and every day, Henry, our 6 month old pup, goes to do his business either in the front or back yard. Since we are without a fence, one of us has to keep an eye on him. He’s out around a dozen times a day without problems going into someone else’s yard nor is he a barker. He is at the point where he doesn’t need to be on a leash, has been for months, and he sticks relatively close to us when we’re outside. It’s been great. Once in a while, twice in his life, he has gone across the street to greet the neighbor lady that used to adore him. She now treats him like a nuisance (she’s a self-proclaimed person who doesn’t like dogs…except sheepdogs which Henry happens to be).

One, he’s a puppy. He’s a big puppy and will be a bigger dog. He’s well-behaved 95% of the time (except he did eat my last pair of flip flops the other day). We trained him to do a number of things and continue to work with him. He loves people and animals. He can’t get enough attention. He does have a tendency to jump up after months of discipline. We believe that with age will come a calmer dog.

Anyway, he did just this this morning, crossing the street. He woke up today and said to himself, I know I’m not supposed to but I’m going to run across the street (in front of our neighbor’s moving car) to see my pal who is gardening. Henry ran over to her and I, still in pajamas and only socks, ran after him, apologizing…at least I think I did. It was not a pleasant experience. Her look was as if he does this every day and she was fed up with it. Am I supposed to give her a formal apology? Am I supposed to pay for any damaged plants? What’s the protocol here?

Again, this is only the second time in his life that he has done such a thing and the first time was because she was calling for him to come over. And she has since lost interest in paying Henry any attention even though he’s excited to see her, begging for some love. It breaks a pet mom’s heart. Unfortunately, our closest neighbors are not dog fans (the car of the person he darted in front of, of course) while the rest of the lane has a dog or two and can’t resist Henry’s sweet face, giving him some love when they walk by.

Which brings up another point-how do you deal with persons claiming not to like dogs who come to your house? Are you supposed to put your dog in his crate or block him or her in another room? What do you do when that person reprimands your pet, especially when it’s unnecessary?

I can’t wait to have the money to put up a fence so he can roam without constant supervision.

Let me know your thoughts on this. Have you had any experiences with neighbors and your pet?

Meet Joe

by Annie Posted on June 4, 2012

Say hello to my favorite color in paint form on one of my favorite things in the world, a beautiful dresser.

Original hardware intact. I know, that’s different for us. Normally we add some new knobs/pulls/whatnot which I tried but just came back to my initial idea to use the original pulls with a new spray finish.

And it is a long time coming. I remember sanding this baby while thinking about my grandpa’s health over the winter. He has since passed away so it’s kind of a special piece for me. The one I poured myself into to prevent those awful, sad thoughts from consuming me when I could do nothing to help the cancer that took over his body. Seeing it finished has an odd effect, like a form of acceptance, as if each portion completed were a grieving phase. Something about the dresser in its completeness makes my soul happy.

Grey is tops on my list too. The dark blue and grey (and the inside of the drawers are painted a light blue-grey shade) just makes me happy. I think grandpa would like the dark blue too. Maybe it should be named Joe after him.

It required some new veneer so we could paint the fronts without the crack in the drawers becoming a problem in the future. Someone at some point had stripped the veneer off, leaving a crack on each drawer front. The glides also needed some work, along with one drawer bottom. But it’s all good now.

This piece is up for grabs in our etsy shop. This could be hard to part with.

New Attic Entry

by Annie Posted on May 29, 2012

Look who finally has a new attic entry. We do! Sure we need a few more parts (rungs to continue going up).

Thanks to my husband, Greg, and father-in-law, Greg (Big Greg as I call him). Over the family visit, this was their task while I watched and snapped a photo once in a while. It seemed like great bonding time.

Greg wriggled his way into the old, tiny opening and I followed to snap a picture and make sure he was okey dokey. Tight spaces and I are not friends.

I popped my head into the attic to keep an eye on my husband, reminding him of the time he stuck his foot through the ceiling in his mom's old office.

He took inventory of where the new entry would be and then figured out how to pull this thing off.

They built the “stairs to nowhere” as we called it.

Cut the entry and voila! (Of course, it was more difficult than that but I was an onlooker this time…with a vision in mind, still to be completed.)

Then it was this for a loooong time (more important things to do I guess)

What vision is that? (Because you darn well know it was not simply for a new attic entrance, not just trying to figure out how to utilize the weird built-in hutch that used to exist but to take advantage and make something functional and cool.)

Those stairs will need to be hidden and that is where the whole shebang will come together, make you “ah, now I get it.” Which will have to wait til we can afford the parts…or maybe I’ve already shared the plans with you and can’t remember. Oh well, no reviewing on my part then. Plenty of other things to do right now. Ciao!