Working on my day off

November 14, 2016 / Matt Talley / Leave a comment

The house remodel seems to never end… I will be so glad to just be and live in our space at some point. We are close, but there are still details left undone – enough that I am trying to concentrate on one room at a time. My plan is to get each done in turn and then move on to the next. I wasn’t as successful at that as I wanted to be this weekend as I bounced back and forth between the living room and our bedroom closet, but I did get a ton done.

I installed the upper shelves and corner shelf in the walk-in closet, laminating two layers of 3/4″ plywood for really strong support over a 54″ span and in the unsupported corner. In addition to using copious amount of glue and screws, I attached the butted plywood edges together with wood biscuits – it is always a fine day when I get to crank up the biscuit joiner.

Almost a year ago, I sourced some corner shelves at one of the local architectural salvage places for less than $200 – far cheaper than what it would have taken me to build them. They came out of a 1930-40’s house and were painted Christmas colors, but I knew that they would be perfect for our living room, which was stripped of its built-ins at some point in the last 88 years. They have sat in storage and until this past week when I pulled them out and got some material together to permanently mount them. Stamps-With-Foot helped me set them in place after I built sturdy bases. Each of them cover a wall plug, so I am in the process of re-routing the receptacle using armored cable. I also have to build in an air-return duct under one and that has taken some serious brain power to get right. I will add trim this week and my wife and Mother-in-law will paint them cabinet white this weekend.

While I was at it, I punched out a rubber washer for a pot lid knob. I made the knob a couple years ago out of some scrap cherry firewood after the original plastic one broke. The original washer had corroded, so I made a new one and installed it.

I also took a couple minutes to mount the red glass post topper on the back fence. It was ordered (along with a spare) months ago and have meant to put it on every weekend since. There is always an excuse for why I didn’t, so I marched right out first thing Saturday with a tube of clear silicone and finally just got it done. It is the little victories that keep me going.

A Walk-in Closet for My Wife

November 9, 2016 / Matt Talley / Leave a comment

As part of the now 10 month rehab, remodel, rebuild of our house my wife wanted some space to hang her clothes and put her shoes and boots that was not an afterthought. A place that, for once was not crammed or disorganized and was purpose built. It was decided that we turn a small bedroom/office into a walk-in closet.

I sketched out a few ideas in my notebook and went over them with her. She removed a large shoe rack and opted for more clothes bar space. She also wanted a bunch of drawers to store smaller stuff in. I initially drew everything with a built in dresser, but changed it a little and made room for a free-standing French dresser made in Revel in the 1930’s that we acquired while living in Toulouse. There is 27 feet of linear hanging space using iron pipe (no sag), 24+ shoe cubbies, shelves, drawers, storage, and two full length mirrors.

I spent most of this past weekend getting the flat panel section dividers up, installing the clothes bars and adding top shelves. There are three areas that are made for off-season storage: coats in the summers/short sleeves in the winter. For these spaces, I decided to line one wall each with cedar. While some people might line the whole closet with cedar, I would advise against it unless you and your significant other wants to smell like a lumberjack constantly. Too much and the smell, while pleasing for me, pervades everything.

I lined two of the three spaces this weekend and got to use my old-school hand miter saw. While manual, it is faster to use in the closet – no dragging in a stand and cords and creates a LOT less dust than my big power Bosch miter saw.

I still need to add shelving on one side, put up all of the upper and lower panel trim, fill my nail holes, sand, paint, and bring the dresser in, but the space is usable and has allowed us to unpack all the boxes that have sat in our bedroom full of clothes. I will take the clothes back out on the day that I sand and paint.

Here is the progress to this point:

Puttering around in the shop

August 31, 2015 / Matt Talley / Leave a comment

I had a super shitty trip home from Morocco and was stressed out & pissed off when I got up Saturday morning.

First Coffee.

I then decided that and working on some current projects, a couple of little things on the lathe, and making lots of sawdust and wood shavings would make it all better.

I am in the process of building an old-school 6-board chest (now 8-board as I added a skirt to front and rear…) and had some white pine scrap sections left from the two sides and the bottom. I glued them up before I left for Casablanca and when I got home I decided to turn a quick fruit dish for the kitchen/my wife. It took all of about 20 minutes and is 10.5″ in diameter and 2″ tall. I am pretty happy with the results.

Four days in the US: lots of work, frenzied shopping, and severe jet lag

November 12, 2014 / Matt Talley / Leave a comment

I just spent 3.5 days in the US. I had to go over for a bunch of meetings that I just couldn’t do over the phone and this is how trip started…

Woke up at 04:00 and hopped in the shower.
 Had 06:30 flight to the U.S.  
Caught female French Bulldog chewing wife’s $400+ retainer in our new bed.
 Took retainer away and scolded puppy.  Went to get tooth brush.  
Walked back by bed while brushing teeth and headed to get dressed.
 Caught a sideways glimpse of the same dog peeing between our pillows and switching to the “I gotta shit” hunch.  
I LOST MY MIND!!!
 Grabbed dog, wife put robe on me (was still naked at that point) as I marched dog to the door in righteous fury.  
Wife stripped bed – no pee on pillows or new mattress.
 After completing her business, dog went into the kennel.  
She did it because she was pissed at me for taking her “new yummy toy” and for scolding her so early.
 It is official, she is getting fixed next week.
No way we are passing those genes on to continue her line of un-smart and passive aggressive Frenchies.
 Our other Frenchie (the smart and well behaved one) watched the whole affair with a dual look of “Wasn’t me!” and “Damn girl, you got in TROUBLE…”
As dessert, I got my balls manhandled by security at the Toulouse airport in a cup and smush maneuver that they must teach to the French equivalent of the TSA as this is not the first occurrence.

Work was work and there were lots of meetings and calls, but I had a couple of hours at night to run some errands. Anytime we go home, there is a list of stuff to get that we normally can’t find in France or if we can, it is crazy expensive: 12oz jar of coconut oil at Trader Joes is $4. Here it is the equivalent of $15.50. Really. You don’t want to know what vitamins cost and forget finding “your brand” of tooth paste.

My sweet wife, Stamps-With-Foot, gave me a list. A very exacting list and below are the places I went to check everything off:

Target
Bed, Bath & Beyond
Starbucks
Ross
3 different Walgreens
Ye Olde Vitamin Shoppe
Woodcraft (that was for me and I got in trouble)
GNC
West Marine
FedEx
CVS Pharmacy
USPS
Guitar Center (again me, but I only dropped $6)
Academy Sporting goods
Dick’s Sporting Goods
Barnes & Noble
Petco
Pets and More

I had to get the puppies new coats for winter ( on the list) and I had an arm load of pink frilly sweaters when a woman from my cooperate office walked by me in Petco and struck up a conversation. I felt especially manly standing the in the dog outfit section, deciding on which pink heart-covered puffy knitted number our female Frenchie would look best in. The lady may have snickered a little. Her husband was standing a few feet behind her – 6’2″, ~240 pounds with a large beard – he was holding a chihuahua mix with a purple harness and gave me a look of shared shame and defeat.

Making Little Stuff Around the House

October 6, 2014 / Matt Talley / Leave a comment

I have been remiss in posting for the last couple of weeks – my J-O-B has been sort of nuts and I have been trying to stay on top of things and stay employed 🙂 I have been putting around in the shop here and there at night before and after dinner though. Recently I have completed:

A salt cellar for my wife made from scrap red and white oak because I was tired of seeing the IKEA glass dish on the table.
A jar lid or two for the kitchen.
There have been a couple of honey dippers for turned gifts.
Specifically for my wife, I made rolling pins for fettuccine and ravioli pasta (or pie crust if my sweet bride happened to want to bake me a lattice top apple pie…) We had a friend who is a food blogger come over that LOVED them and I think that I am going to do one or two for her as well.
I added some wood-bling to a plunger handle – Why have mass-produced stuff sitting around like everyone else when 8 minutes of lathe time and a little oil/wax turns the mundane into the custom.
A glass bottle cutter so I can take the pile of bottles we generate and make candle covers, tumblers, and glass funnels for my wife and for Christmas gifts. It was a non-specific request from her that has won me brownie-points.
A book shelf made from a small 1931 cast-iron lathe and a hunk of reclaimed barn/house beam from here in France. I cleaned both the beam and lathe up a little, added a little stain to the wood, light sanding, and a coat of poly. I mortised in a couple of reclaimed oak runners to serve as feet and the keep the ends of the beam from splitting. The lathe was then bolted down and I added one of my bowls to give the books a proper purchase. The tool rest is turned and mounted on the other side to keep the books upright. I think it looks awesome and everyone who have come over in the last month has either asked where I got it of how I thought of it. Make my ego swell a bit….

Driven Outside

Tag: For My Wife

Working on my day off

A Walk-in Closet for My Wife

Puttering around in the shop

Four days in the US: lots of work, frenzied shopping, and severe jet lag

Making Little Stuff Around the House