Read more about the article BASEMENT BUILDOUT : DRYWALL

BASEMENT BUILDOUT : DRYWALL

It’s been a month since we finished framing and hung the drywall for our basement project. We had hoped to be sharing the final outcome with you by now, but the finishing touches have been stuck in idle as we’ve turned our focus to knocking out a few outdoor projects while the weather is nice. So, for a quick project update and to hold you over until we complete the finish work we’ll go ahead and give a glimpse of the new and improved space. Again, we’ve compiled a list of our handiest tools to complete this phase of the project.

DrywallTools

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Read more about the article LIVING ON THE EDGE

LIVING ON THE EDGE

Over the past two years, we have explored a few landscape edging options and have become proponents of the approach that “less is more!” First, we tried an easy-to-install, no-dig plastic edging. In general, we were pleased with the look, but over time this edging had a tendency to float where it wasn’t staked down and still allowed grass and weeds to creep underneath it. Second, we tried a limestone border using rock from a nearby construction site. We placed a temporary border next to the plastic edging last summer with plans of permanently installing this spring, but in the short time we had it we decided it wasn’t quite the look we were hoping for. So, on to round three with what we think is our best solution yet.

BackEdging

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Read more about the article BASEMENT BUILDOUT : FRAME OF REFERENCE

BASEMENT BUILDOUT : FRAME OF REFERENCE

With every home project, we’re learning that having the right tools makes things a lot easier. Ashley jokingly claims that I married her for her power tools because she owned more than me. (I guess that’s what you get when you end up with an Interior Architect — bonus!) And we basically have the best neighbors ever — who not only lent us a ton of framing tools, but spent an entire day helping us in the basement. So with the compilation of our tools and their tools, we really had no excuse to not tackle the basement framing plans. And since half of any project is prep time, hopefully the following will save you some time with your framing project. Here are some lists of tools and building materials needed to frame a wall:

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Read more about the article BASEMENT BUILDOUT : THE PLAN

BASEMENT BUILDOUT : THE PLAN

Teaming up for a home construction project probably isn’t the way most couples envision celebrating an anniversary together, but we have never been too concerned about doing things the conventional way. Life is pretty sweet with Ashley, and seeing her excitement to break out the power tools and learn some construction basics together is just another item in the long list of reasons why. To get things started, and especially since we’re rookies in this business, we wanted to get a good plan in place before we tackled this project. After some quick reading on the right way to build a wall, it was back to SketchUp to design our closet. On top of giving us a visual of what our completed project would look like, it helped get an accurate materials list together.

SUframing

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Read more about the article THE CHRISTMAS STAR

THE CHRISTMAS STAR

When I hung our Christmas lights a few weeks ago it was missing the finishing touch to complete the festive feel we were looking for, so we decided to go for a decorative Christmas star to finish the job. After a quick trip to Home Depot to see if there was anything that caught our eye, we quickly decided this was going to be a DIY project. We found a couple of 7-foot lengths of 3/4″ oak squares to build our own star. At just $0.67 per foot, the total cost for this project (since we already owned the rest of the supplies) was less than $10.

StarOnDoor

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Read more about the article ROAD TRIPPIN’ : SCHAAKE’S PUMPKIN PATCH

ROAD TRIPPIN’ : SCHAAKE’S PUMPKIN PATCH

We’ve had Halloween fever ever since acquiring Mya’s costume (check out her sneak preview), so we’d been planning a family adventure to the pumpkin patch. With weekends quickly filling up with activities, we decided an impromptu Monday evening road trip was in order. We had heard about a few good area spots, but the ones we knew of were either closed during the week or too far for a weeknight trip. Luckily, we came across Schaake’s Pumpkin Patch, a splendid family farm outside of Lawrence, KS.

SoHeavy

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