Three Saucers in the Dining Room - Triple Bubble Light Fixture from Modernica

Let's take a break from kitchen progress and peer in the other direction, toward the previously neglected dining room.  You already saw that we hung the floating Ikea credenza.  Eventually we'll make a waterfall top to finish the look (I fell in love with this plank of purpleheart wood but, alas, it was too narrow).

Moving at a glacial pace, we unwrapped our vintage teak dining table and brown leather chairs brought from the townhouse.  Truthfully, I've been over the look of the chairs for a long time but I can't find anything as comfortable so I'm thinking of having them recovered in something bright, but I'm secretly hoping I'll find more Eames chairs for a steal!  I have a good feeling about the upcoming yard sale season . . .

The townhouse dining room, to refresh your memory

At least now we can also enthusiastically check off dining room light from our to-do list: 

I've long known what light fixture I wanted for the dining room, but then I waffled.  The dining room electrical box was, in my opinion, positioned weirdly and so at I first wanted to move it.  After polling electricians, the unanimous answer for how hard it would be to shift over the box (given its location, the structure beneath, and then repair of our popcorn ceiling) was a unanimous, "oooooo, uggggghhhhh, pretty difficult".  I started looking at lighting options that could keep the box where it was but move the light fixture over, but none had the mid-century look I craved.  Undeterred, I started moving the dining table around nightly, to find the ideal position for the new box I was determined to have, and ended up right where the builders had put it.  Elsewhere it blocks the stools at the kitchen counter, impedes convenient access to the patio doors, prevents flow from the living room to kitchen, or results in a crummy view.  We actually have plans to widen the kitchen when it gets its phase two remodel, so I realized that even if we are going to move the light permanently, it makes sense to wait until our plans are firmed up.

After all of this waffling, I ended up back at square one: three George Nelson saucer pendants, please.  But I still dragged my feet.  The price . . . I learned that ordering direct from Modernica was a bit cheaper than purchasing through a Canadian distributor, but when Modernica recently held their 15% off sale I finally decided to go for it.  Modernica actually doesn't deal direct with Canadian consumers.  Lucky for me, besides the gorgeous scenery, there is another perk of living in Northwestern Ontario, in a city that borders Minnesota: an American shipping address!  I'm not normally one to cross the border just to save a buck (I like keeping jobs in Canada!), but I saved $348.  It was still a huge purchase (plus we bought two kitchen stools), but this house might be my only chance to bask in 14 foot tall ceilings, which call out for a statement-making fixture.  To make this splurge possible, I spent only $25 per piece on the other nine light fixtures we replaced, so the total lighting cost for the lakehouse feels balanced in my mind. 

As a reminder, here's the old dining room light, swagged to perfection by the former owners. 

And the dining room now:

I'm pretty impressed with the quality of the pendants.  I was worried about the ceiling fan clanging them together but, even on the highest setting, they barely budge because they're quite substantial.  The fibreglass is beautiful - just really, really stunning in a way I didn't expect, even though I'd seen a whack of these in store and online.  It has the softly sparkling texture of freshly fallen snow on a sunny day.  That sounds unnecessarily poetic, but it's the best description.

For installation tips, I'll refer you to the instructions:

The tricky thing for us was hanging on to all three saucers while wiring.  Also, once you trim it to length, you have to end each cord with a knot beneath the plate and my only complaint is that they don't totally fit.  We got it 98% flush but they really should offer a larger cover for the triple bubble fixture option.  It took a few hours, and two sets of hands, but it wasn't any trickier than most light fixtures - just triple the work.

Here one last look at the house when we bought it (with the previous owners' belongings):

Still more to do, but it's so nice to actually be able to relax and enjoy a meal in here now.  It took us far too long to set up the table, and even after that we were using the dining room for painting, sewing, and piling stuff.  Now we can really start living in here!  With temperatures soaring (ha!), now we need a BBQ . . .

Szuka is ambivalent about the new lights, but a BBQ sounds good to her.

Laundry Room Eames Hang-It-All in White

 
Yesterday you saw our track-hack (I love writing that), plus the drop-dead gorgeous drapes my Mom sewed to hide the washer, dryer, and our laundry rack (which we didn't hack).  Today I'm sharing the progress we've made on the other side of this wee little room, including the addition of an Eames Hang-It-All . . . Rack (I'm having a lot of fun today).



It's a far cry from how this side of the room looked before:

We're planning on building a nicer cabinet to hide our electric panel as soon as the kitchen is done.  For now I've focused on easy fixes.  I couldn't find a container for dog food that I liked, so when I stumbled across this huge stock pot at a restaurant supply outlet I decided it would be cute (and practical) for storing Szuka's kibble.  I also couldn't find a pretty, washable rug for the space so my Mom and I made a little washable quilt for Szuka in lieu of a rug.  One of the things I love most about DIY is making something custom: this mat not only matches the drapes, but it also fits the space perfectly - even slipping under the doors just so.

Szuka mostly likes to sleep on bare floor these days, but if she wants to cozy up she can.  At the very least, the mat offers some more colour (for me) and keeps her bowls from sliding around (for her).



The process was sort of trial + error, so I didn't take photos but when we sew the bedroom drapes I hope to make another matching mat, and will write up a quick tutorial then. In a nutshell, we found a washable, cotton quilt liner (Nature's Touch eco-cotton blend batting, in the Queen size which we folded over) at Fabricland and essentially sewed a giant pillow cover for it.  Mom sewed the edges with the mat cover inside out and when it was nearly sewn, she flipped it the right way around, inserted the batting and hand sewed the final seam closed.  She ran two sets of stitches along the channel where the fabric changes to anchor the batting, but a pattern could be sewn anywhere (along the edge, in zigzags - anything to keep the quilt from bunching).  The whole thing can, theoretically, be tossed in the washer because both the cotton batting and fabric were pre-washed.



Because this room sees so much traffic (as Szuka's space, the mudroom, the laundry room, and the only access to the powder room), when it comes to accessorizing I want most things to be both a workhorse and a show pony.  I've always liked the Eames Hang-it-All (who doesn't?), but the colourful version isn't really me.  When I spotted an all-white one in the Ottawa EQ3 store I immediately envisioned it in the lakehouse - especially after I found the polka dot curtain fabric and the curvy Marimekko fabric for the living room pillows.  My friends at EQ3 generously provided the Hang-It-All for the laundry room spruce, and it's perfect for the space.  To me the white-rack-on-white-walls looks sculptural.  I really don't think I need to convince you of its aesthetic merits, but practically speaking this rack is sheer genius.  The large, solid wood balls are perfect for drying snow-soaked mittens and hats, without pulling them out of shape.  Everything from Szuka's towel to her collar find a temporary place to land, and we always have a spot for guest coats.  In a pinch, I've used it dry clothes if our dry rack is full - it's just so handy.  It also helps the room feel more cohesive with the rest of the house, and the mid-century feel I'm after - this no longer looks like a neglected utility room.

I hung up two paintings by Hubby's grandpa for some more colour, but I'm still swapping art around.



There's still work to do (isn't there always?), but for now I'm so thrilled by how much we've updated the space, with just paint, some fabric, and a few well-chosen accessories from high (my new Hang-it-All) to low (the $24.99 Ikea light fixture). 

For more laundry room progress: see how the curtains were made, check out the difference paint alone made in freshening up the space, and take a peek at how much the new hardware changed the look of all of the rooms.

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Hide a Washer and Dryer with Easy DIY Gathered Laundry Room Curtains on a Track

Last time you saw the laundry room it was a thoroughly scrubbed, and freshly painted, blank canvas.  I'd love to swap out our clunky washer and dryer for something new and sleek - and build custom storage, plus install a statement-making tile wall while I'm at it - but for now the mission is concealment.  I use a wall-mounted dry rack to dry our laundry and I don't relish the idea of airing the laundry (dirty or not) to every guest who needs to use the adjacent powder room.  I was really happy with our laundry room curtains in the townhouse, so I decided to improve on the idea for the lakehouse and rooked my Mom into helping me sew pretty curtains to hide my washer, dryer and laundry room sink.

The first change I made to the laundry room curtain idea: a curtain track instead of a curtain rod.  I picked this curtain track from Country Curtains (with extra track rod slides) because I thought it had a nice style and finish and looked the least industrial.  I believe that this Levelor Track System (found on Amazon) is the same one. 

I've thought about adding a mini-pelmet, but in the end I liked how the track looked on its own.

How to Hack a Curtain Track so it Lies Flat:

(One issue I had was that the curtain track arrived bent from shipping, but the customer service at Country Curtains was fabulous.  They were apologetic and helpful, and immediately remedied the situation, which was hassle-free on my end).

The track actually comes with brackets so it can be ceiling or wall mounted (first and second pictures below), but I didn't like the look of them - plus they made the track angle away from the ceiling slightly.  I decided that drilling right through the track would look better.  It was really easy to do and doesn't interfere with the function at all. 

We used a hammer to tap in a nail to mark where we wanted to drill (to keep the bit from wandering), and then simply drilled through using a bit slightly larger than our screw.  We affixed it to the ceiling using the screws that came with the track, plus our own wall anchors.  We opted for four screws: two at the ends and two spaced out evenly in the middle.  Thanks to our little hack, it's a much cleaner look (see our adjustment in the photo on the right) and functions perfectly. 

I never liked the gap between the ceiling and the curtains that the Ikea rod in the old laundry room had, and this curtain track has solved that problem for me!

The track is adjustable from 66" to 120", which means we got a perfect wall-to-wall fit.  The track is totally worth the $45.50 I forked over!  It slides so smoothly and easily.  If I'm carrying a load of laundry, I can just nudge the curtain with my shoulder and it slides (no glides) out of the way.  But even though the track functions so smoothly, because I chose a heavier weight fabric, it doesn't wiggle around or flutter when people walk past or we open a window. 



How to Sew Gathered Curtains:

While the track is fabulous, what also makes these curtains better than the original is that my Mom and I sewed gathers into them so when I close them, I don't need to fuss to make them look good.  I just shut them so the panels overlap slightly and the gathers do all of the work for me, making sure the curtains billow and drape just so. 

How to Make a Hem with Twill Tape:

To sew the top, my Mom used twill tape.  We decided on twill tape instead of folding over the edge twice because we wanted it to look finished, but be less bulky, for the next step.

How to Sew a Gathered Curtain Panel:

We determined how many gathers we could have by first measuring the total width of curtain panel, plus the width of the space each panel needed to cover.  Then we figured out how many folds we could have given not only the distance we wanted between folds, but also the width of curtain lost in the folds. 

For the laundry room, the space is 8" long and per panel we have 16 gathers but 18 clips (for the two ends).  We couldn't have really added more, but we could have opted for fewer.  Once we did our math (and double and triple checked), we marked the fabric and then Mom sewed the gathers:

Then we just affixed the clips!  We double checked the length we wanted and pinned the curtain in place.



How to Add an Invisible Hem to Curtains:

For the bottom hem, Mom turned the edge over once and sewed it by machine.  Then, for a more polished look, she turned up the edge again and hand sewed it in place so that from the front there is no visible stitching.  The fabric is thick, so she could easily hide the stitches on the back.  I wanted a pretty substantial hem so that there is more weight to the curtain and also so that in case it shrinks in the wash, we have plenty of extra to let the hem down.  

It's like it was hemmed with invisible thread!  My Mom is so talented.

Lucky for us, the side edges had this really neat fringe that we decided to keep.  That decision really made this project go more quickly.

I found the fabric at Fabricland and it's really substantial.  As a bonus, it's reversible!  It's made by Rosedale Coordinates and the colour is "Lakeside colour story" - which is pretty appropriate.  It also comes in an orange polka dot and a pink, if I remember correctly.  I couldn't find it sold online, but this polka dot fabric is kind of similar.  I've included a photo of the tag below, so if you show your local fabric store, they might be able to track it down for you.

It's supposedly not machine-washable, but that seemed horribly impractical so I tossed it in the washer and dryer before we got started.  I had purchased a little bit extra, which was a good call because it shrank quite a few inches and became a little more textured (and wrinkly, despite a good ironing), but I'd say it washed pretty well overall.  I think it will relax a bit more.  I needed 6 meters for the curtains, but there was a 50% off sale.

Obviously I liked this fabric for the turquoise (!), but it was the cream polka dots that really sealed the deal.  I think the cream - as opposed to white - looks great with the beige and cream flooring that the kitchen, laundry, and powder room all have (which we aren't changing until we renovate this space in a few years).

My white socks are there not only to show off how clean my socks are, but also how beige the floor is.

The turquoise is actually really similar to the turquoise kitchen cupboards (a little more subdued), but because the laundry room gets so little light, the fabric looks even more muted in there.  It's perfect!

Before Szuka joined us, I would have told you that dogs don't really care about decorating, but this gal is weirdly interested in anything different.  She has been visibly excited, and disappointed, by certain aesthetic changes we have made so far, so it worries me that she has been contemplating the laundry room from the hallway. 

UPDATE: see the rest of the budget-friendly laundry room makeover here.

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