Looking back, I accomplished quite a bit this week! (Please note: this post is not affiliated and any products/companies mentioned are purely for informational purposes).
Multipurpose dining nook
My first goal for the week was to finish the mini dining room makeover that I had begun the previous week.
Since moving in to our new place in January, I had hopes of adding a breakfast bench for extra storage and seating. With the rising cost of lumber and the many other projects that my partner, A, and I have slated, I decided a makeshift solution was required if this nook was to come to fruition.
Robyn helped me secure two of the four-cube IKEA Kallax units using the resale site, OfferUp. I laid these horizontally after A made one minor cut to the baseboard trim so they’d be nearly flush against the wall.
I then had a major fiasco picking up inserts for the units from my local IKEA store. Usually, I am a big fan of their curbside pick-up service, but I was left waiting for over 20 minutes (despite being first in line on the waitlist) until after closing time. I had to call the store three times before someone finally brought my order out and then the cushions I hoped would go on top of the bench were way too thin, but I finally got my other items.
I ended up ordering different cushions from Amazon and made a second trip back to IKEA to outfit the top of the benches.
Here’s the finished product!
I added the Kallax-insert drawers to either end of the bench for storage of small school supplies (pencils, rulers, scissors, flashcards, etc) and then the BRANAS baskets for school books and manipulatives. My favorite thing about the bench is that each child has his own basket and then I have one for my teacher curriculum books.
It’s still mid-summer and many weeks from when we’ll start our full-scale school schedule, but this bench has already helped organize our quick daily “summer school” activities.
Oh, and I used outdoor patio cushions for the bench seats to make them more water repellent and easier to wipe clean.
Patio Mini Makeover
This project was more recently inspired. We built a raised garden bed near the basement entrance and I decided the little concrete patio would make a great seating area (for enjoying the view of the blossoming flowers and cooling off in the shade with a good book, perhaps).
We had a few issues to address here. The paint on the walls was chipping somewhat, the patio floor was pretty cracked, and the area to the left of the slider doors was pretty barren and strewn with leaves.
I started by clearing the area and powerwashing everything – walls, doors, floor, and the deck posts/decorative rail.
A. helped me to fill the cracks in the patio floor using backer rod and a special caulk that would bond to the concrete and expand to fill the space.
I then used a DryLok masonry paint (in gray) on the walls in this area. It took two coats, but I like how it came out so much, I am considering painting the rest of the foundation walls in the future.
We installed a cedar 3-seat porch swing by mounting it to the overhead deck joists and covered the dirt area to the left of the patio with landscape fabric before filling and leveling the space with pea gravel.
A’s dad gave us some old planter stands and boxes, which I filled with begonias and impatiens and placed around the patio area for decoration.
After sitting in the swing a few times, we opted to remove the decorative half wall/fencing, and I added a woven plastic patio rug. I plan to add some cushions to the swing and some kind of seating in the gravel area eventually, but I am very pleased with the final result of our week’s work!
Peel-and-stick kitchen backsplash
A few months back, we replaced one of the countertops in our kitchen with butcher block, and I decided to cover the retro yellow laminate backsplash in peel-and-stick tile.
It was a bit of a pain, so I opted to hold off finishing the trickier areas (around the window above the sink, near the stove, etc). I knew we wouldn’t be able to replace the countertop in these areas for a while so I wanted to weigh my options for the backsplash.
Then, on a whim, I decided to order more of the peel-and-stick tiles this past week and finish the update. The countertops are still going to have to stay for a while, but I am glad I made the change.
I am less glad that I decided to stay up until almost midnight finishing the project, but I was on a roll!
It was a very busy and productive week for sure, but I spent the majority of the 4th of July laying in bed binge watching Seinfeld to recuperate. Totally worth it.
I’d love to hear your feedback on this week’s projects! Have you ever used peel-and-stick tiles? What do you think I should replace the remaining laminate countertop with when the time comes?