Ladder Pot Rack

We were lucky enough to get hold of an antique wood ladder (Special thanks to Harold and Vienna Harr for letting us dig through their old barn and take this beautiful piece) and decided the best application for it would be as a hanging pot rack in our kitchen.  

After cleaning and sanding down the ladder a bit we applied a single coat of an off-white Milk Paint to help maintain its aged look.  After the paint dried we then used a fine grit sand paper to expose some of the grain and reinforce the look of wear and tear.

Before....

Milk Paint

First Coat Finished!

To hang the ladder we used a pair of antique pulleys once used on the farm Jen's family owned. (we'll try to find out more details)  We also found a surplus of old meat hooks, also used on the farm, which work perfectly as the actual pot hangers.

We used Steel Wool to knock off old rust and
grime from the  Pulleys and Meat Hooks

Installing Eye Hooks in the Beam

Preparing to Erect

Done and Done!

 

Drywall

Our next project is to make something decent out of our spare bedroom space on the second floor. The existing wall separating the living room from what we are making our spare bedroom was coated in thin set (presumably so it could have been tiled like everything else) and had some cutouts that would make it difficult for us to give guests any privacy.  On top of all this the wall was further carved up during the installation of the ductwork so we ended up deciding to drywall over the old and start fresh.

The existing wall.  Lots of holes...

 In addition to just closing up the wall, our plan is to remove the door to the bathroom and build a pair of barn style sliding doors for the bedroom and bathroom that would share the same track.  We also wanted to add a pair of new outlets and cable hookups for the installation of the television shown in the picture above.  It's hard to tell from the picture, but the existing door to the bathroom was your typical residential style door that was installed in an opening identical to the opening to the adjacent bedroom.  The gap above the door was covered with a piece of canvas.  After we removed the door here is what was left...

Speaking of no privacy...

Progress Pic - Starting to wrap around the duct...

Jen showing off
proper drywalling attire.

One side complete!

New Addition

  A wood stove!  We found this retro looking 1950's stove on craigslist and
thought it fit right in with the craziness that is our second floor.

We're not sure how much heat it will contribute, but we have our fingers crossed because we love the way it fits in the space.

Our plan is to tile (yes, more tile!) the wall behind it and create a hearth with a piece of slate left by the previous owner.  The same tile will be used as a border around the slate.  A sample of the tile is shown below, currently being used a a cat buffet.

3rd Floor Electrical Work

Before we started, there were only 2 ceiling lights and one quad outlet on the entire 3rd floor. To make things worse, the switch for the lights was located at the bottom of the steps which meant before going to bed at night you would have to climb up the steps in the dark after switching off the lights.  Needless to say we decided we were better off removing the old stuff and starting over.  

The existing lights and ceiling conduit

Some shoddy lookin wiring

 Conveniently there is a sub panel on the 3rd floor which makes installing new electrical devices much less complicated.  Since all of the exterior walls are solid masonry and there isn't a plenum space above the existing ceiling, all of the new wiring had to be installed in metal conduit. However, we thought this was just fine because the conduit would would only add to the overall industrial decor of the space already afforded by the exposed duct work and sprinkler pipes.

Jen Installing a Run of Conduit

Greg Installing a Junction Box

  We decided to layout the lighting for the floor with a dedicated control for a ceiling fan, a switch for general lighting, and a switch for a light over our wardrobes.  Additionally, 2 three-way switches would control another run of the same mason jar stair lights we installed on the floor below and a new light at the top of the stairs.

Installing the Ceiling Fan Junction Box

 

The Finished Ceiling Fan

We chose a simple black ceiling fan which was meant to be installed in a large barn or commercial space.  The hardware it shipped with was meant for attaching the fan to a bar joist, and we made it work by attaching a large metal hook attached to one of the rafters instead.

Light Switches and Conduit Bends

Fan Controls and more Conduit Bends

We found this beauty at the Brooklyn Flee Market.  It's just temporary
in this location as we're planning on crafting a light out of old
barbed wire for this location.  Stay tuned...

More Mason Jar Lights!

Finished Pallet Walls

The pallet walls are finished and we are thrilled with how well they came out.  In retrospect it was a lot more work than what we originally anticipated but we both think it was well worth the effort.  We also installed new electrical outlets at the bottom of each enclosure and put stainless cover plates on them to match the spiral duct.

1st Floor

2nd Floor

Electrical Outlets

Next up is installing new electrical wiring and lighting on the 3rd floor!   

Crafty Things

In an attempt to show our 3rd floor some love we recently made ourselves bedside lamps.  The bases came from our local thrift store and look really great w/ a fresh coat of paint.  The shades are cheap, Ikea originals w/ the decals placed on the inside.  They only show up when the light is turned on.  

The office needed some attention as well and thanks to a recent trip to Coopersburg, PA (birthplace of Harold Harr) with Harold and Vienna Harr for some treasure hunting, we were able to made some shelving out of wood crates and a wine cork tack strip made from wine corks and old tongue and groove floor boards. We got a lot more cool stuff from that trip and hopefully we will be posting more fun things in the near future.

Pallets!

We have been steadily collecting pallets over the past few weeks so we could use the wood to enclose the main supply air trunk for the hvac system.  Finding the pallets was very easy.  The biggest challenge was dismantling them into separate pieces, and with a heavy dose of saw-zalls, hammers,crowbars and elbow grease we got the job done.  

There was a lot of this...

And a lot of this...

After we had a nice stock of wood boards we scrubbed them down with soap and bleach to kill off any bacteria and wash away the dirt and grime that had accumulated during their lifetime as pallets.

Pallet Remains

The fruits of our labor

Installing the boards in place was very rewarding because the pieces went up pretty quickly.  To cut around the duct Greg used a compass from studio class to match the diameter of the duct.  So far so good!

Lookin' Good

Jen Planning Ahead