are we worried about asbestos exposure?

By Karah | June 17, 2013 - 7:08 am | dining room, diy, home improvement projects, key west, old wood, tutorial, unfinished projects, video

7 Comments

So, we told you last week that we called in the professionals to whip our hardwood floors into shape.

The timing actually worked out perfect since we had a friend come to visit for the week. So I could do some gallivanting around Key West and still feel like things were happening around the house. Extra points to me for slacking off and still ending up with floors that look like this right now. :) (And if you like gallivanting pictures, they all go down on Instagram, I’m @thespacebetweenblog.)

Beautiful, right?!?! They are the perfect shade of Marley. :) This picture makes me so happy! It is beginning to start to feel like a real room … one where we can live in, with furniture and artwork … we’resoclose.

The guy we hired to do all of the sanding just needs to finish up around all of the edges and then a final full sand with a finer grit sand paper and then we are going to be talking stain. We haven’t settled on a color yet, we haven’t even really settled on the light, medium or dark debate. Which makes me a little nervous, but the floor guy said he has some suggestions that he’s seen work well with our type of flooring (the now extinct Dade County Pine) so I’m hoping to see some samples this week and get that all figured out.

Then the weekend agenda has been designated to staining. The plan is for Joel and I to tackle the staining and finishing work.

I sure do hope it goes well.

But before we can get to all that, for everyone who asked about what we discovered regarding the potentially asbestos vinyl tiles, and our thoughts on asbestos exposure, here’s the skinny from our reputable ‘floor guy’ himself.

(more…)

i’m floored {hardwood floor restoration prep part deux}

By Karah | June 14, 2013 - 7:08 am | dining room, home improvement projects, key west, living room, scraping wood

7 Comments

Well, I do have to say that I was super flattered by all of the great responses on the scraping carpet pad post saying that you think we can totally DIY the refinishing of our own hardwoods. Thank you for that!

Would it be inappropriate for me to agree? ;)

Seriously, if we were just dealing with the floor that has the glued down carpet pad, we would totally tackle it.

And we are pretty sure we have unfinished hardwood floors in both bedrooms that we’d love to get our hands on and refinish DIY style.

But this vinyl tile adhesive is cray-cray people. Honestly, you can’t even really tell there are hardwoods under there. (more…)

balance makes the heart grow fonder {$100 giveaway}

By Karah | June 13, 2013 - 7:08 am | life, no

27 Comments

You know we’re a DIY blog around here, right?!?!

And we will DIY anything big and small.

We like a super duper easy DIY, or a more complex, multi-step project, or even a back breaking, not-that-challenging-but-incredibly-time-consuming home improvement.

We really do love them all, and balance really is the spice of life. I can’t imagine only having drop ceilings to remove every. single. day.

Seriously, can we just think about that for a second. Ummmm, nothankyou.

But, the other side is that there also needs to be more to my life than the DIY projects we tackle around the home.

I’m in this for the long haul, I have a whole Key West conch house renovation to complete, and I am still only on the first room. And we still have rental properties that are always calling my name from afar with a ‘this needs to be replaced‘ and a ‘that could use a new coat of paint‘.

And I haven’t even taken the time to make new friends around here. :/

So when I have the opportunity to try out a new cocktail, and spend an evening with my love, watching the sunset over the ocean, with our feet dangling over a dock ~~while we talk about our DIY projects~~ I’m all in. (more…)

and this room is called … {painted wood floors?}

By Karah | June 12, 2013 - 7:08 am | entry, key west, old wood, paint, wood salvage

33 Comments

Ok, we’ve got a little debate going on in this house and we need your help.

This is serious business people.*

*this is not one bit serious

What would you call this … area? (more…)

the best kind of work {you are the…}

By Karah | June 10, 2013 - 7:08 am | crafty, diy, driftwood, free, key west, paint, stencil, upcycle, wood salvage, word art

17 Comments

Joel’s birthday was Saturday.

To be honest I have to think way too hard to realize exactly how old he is.

My bff actually asked me. She’d think it would be a good idea to make a big deal if it was one of those milestone birthdays. You know the ones.

The ones that end in 0 or 5.

Lucky for me it turns out it’s only one that ends in a 4.

Phew. ;)

We’re not really birthday people.

We like to make the most of the everyday. Turns out we made this commitment to each other a few years back … after 10 years of making the most of everyday completely of our own accord … we thought it would be a good idea to proclaim this commitment to everyone we know.

Turns out that wasn’t really a good idea. (more…)

open sesame {how to frame a doorway}

By Karah | June 7, 2013 - 7:08 am | carpentry, dining room, diy, home improvement projects, key west, kitchen, tutorial

7 Comments

This project could also be categorized as ‘just another reason to use my new framing nail gun’.

With just two, fairly straight forward, projects under her belt she has already saved us a ton of time. Joel and I joke all the time about having the right tools. I can’t even tell you how many times we’ve tried to accomplish a project and the only thing standing in our way was the right tool … or actually the lack there of.

Lesson = learned. Thank goodness. It may have taken a few ~~hundred~~ projects to actually get it. But, an investment in a good tool can make all the difference in ~~marital bliss~~ the success of a project. :)

Apparently a nail gun speaks my love language.

And for the project at hand … I we really wanted to make more of a seamless transition from the large living room and dining room combo room into our kitchen.

I don’t know about your, but I just like to have the kitchen feel like it is in the center of the action, even if the action is not in the kitchen. No matter what we’re doing, whether it’s preparing a quiet dinner in, entertaining friends or just refilling our wine glasses we find ourselves in and around the kitchen a lot. And who wants to feel separated from all of the action* while tending to business in the kitchen?

*I fully expect all of the gigglers who were so entertained by all of the ‘stripping’ to be equally entertained by all of the ‘action’.

Here is what the doorway looked like when we moved in.

No, that bright light isn’t heaven … that’s just the kitchen.

And here’s that same view today, with the back door shut to block all that natural light.

BAM! I’m in love.

Joel’s first reaction was that we’re really going to have to have an awesome kitchen since it’s now baring it’s soul to everyone who walks into the house. To which my giddy, excited reaction was “I know! I can’t wait!”.

We discovered that I apparently suffer from a bit of DIY beer goggles. Maybe it’s all of the hours I spend brainstorming ideas or perusing catalogs but I really can only see the beauty in this old ~~girl~~ house. I don’t know, just every time I open a drawer that sticks or shut a cabinet door that refuses to stay shut or discover our refrigerator leaks (Yes, that happened!) I am picturing what she is going to become and not worrying one second about what she is right now.

I’m in love people! And lucky for me my husband does not mind my emotional affair. But he still sees her a bit more like this.

Aaaaanyway, I love that the opening is now much less of a doorway and much more of small wall with great wood slats.

And for the DIYers out there, here is what we’ve learned about how to frame a doorway.

(more…)

upcycling ideas {new uses for old reading material}

By Karah | June 3, 2013 - 7:08 am | book page crafts, repurpose, upcycle

11 Comments

Last week was a big week around here. We’ve got central air people!

Well, I’m jumping the gun a bit, but by the end of today we should be all hooked up and cooled down.

And it’s June. And we’re in Florida. And it’s HOT.

So it’s none too soon. And Mico will be happy to have all of these big shiny things out of her way.
And this is one of the projects we decided to hire out this go ’round.

We have actually DIYed and installed all of our own duct work before, in the pre-blog era. And we still pat ourselves on the back for that one. It is hard work, in less than ideal conditions (either the attic or the crawl space) and we feel accomplished and knowledgeable for having done it.

And very thankful that we had saved up enough that we were prepared to pay the pros to do it here. :)

But I don’t know about you, when the house is crawling with workers (there were 2 HVAC guys and then 2 electricians running the wires specific to the new units coming and going all week) I tend to not like to get myself knee-deep in major projects. Either the workers end up needing to work in the very spot that I’m trying to be productive or I want to be keeping a close enough eye on what they’re up to … making sure that the spot they are about to make a huge hole in my beautiful wood slat ceilings is the right spot.

So, I busied myself trying out some new recipes in the kitchen ~~that tasted good even with a little sawdust~~ and checking out some fun upcycling ideas we may find ourselves incorporating into our space around here down the line.

AND, I added a new little section to the sidebar. It is definitely still a work in progress but I want to make it easy to access everything we have going on that is specific to our Key West conch house renovation. So I created pages that are specific to the most sought after information around here. Everything from the home improvement projects we’ve completed and tips we’ve shared to how much moolah we’re spending and a quick link to our video tutorials. Coming soon will be an ever evolving house tour (I’m dying to get to some afters already!) and source list. ’Cause what’s the point in showin’ you what we’ve got if I can’t show you how to make it or tell you where to by your own. :)

So click on over, check it out and get a deeper look into the craziness that is our current life. Because we wouldn’t have it any other way and sharing it with you all is just the bees knees.

And if I’ve at all coordinated this right if you look left right now … there it is! It’s appropriately named ‘our Key West conch home renovation’. Creative, right?!?! ;)

Now …

After we finished the newspaper as a creative wall covering I got to thinking about other creative ways to use old reading material around the house. (more…)

make your own craftsman style trim and molding

By Karah | May 31, 2013 - 7:08 am | dining room, diy, home improvement projects, key west, living room, tutorial, video, woodworking

10 Comments

I am so stoked that Kilz is our primer sponsor for our Key West Conch house renovation. I’m happy to share how Kilz primer is an invaluable part of any renovation or remodel project. Check out our sponsorship details here and our full disclosure here.

Yep, it’s time for a little trim and molding around here. ~~Finally!~~

We don’t really work on a daily schedule or itemized project plan. And if you asked me when we moved in how long it would take to get through the renovation of the living room / dining room combo (why did we start with the biggest room again?), I would have said that I had no idea. And I still don’t. :)

Right now we’re about 2 months in and we’re hanging trim. It feels like such a victory. (Hooray!) And at the same time it feels like it has taken forever to get here. (Boo!) hahaha

I knew from the get go I we wanted a craftsman or mission style look. Simple, clean lines … something that wouldn’t take away from the already existing character of the wood slat walls, but would add a fresh look to the old charm. (more…)