DIY Outdoor Drapes

At about 3pm, the sun reaches our back deck in full force. If you happen to be sitting out there at that time, it goes from being a dappled shady retreat to a scorching desert. After getting sick of doing the deck chair shuffle until the sun entirely pushes us inside, we decided to buy some outdoor drapes.

Then we realized outdoor drapes are EXPENSIVE! They are really pricy! Especially for 12 foot long ones that I needed for our deck. I waffled over how to make it happen for weeks at a time, and then threw in the towel. We were not getting outdoor drapes.

Then inspiration struck, I could make some! But UGH, that requires a lot of fabric… and any fabric that is nice and heavy and blocks the light…is also expensive.  I wasn’t even considering using outdoor fabric.

Then it struck me. Drop cloths! People use those things for everything! I could definitely make outdoor curtains with them. So we headed to Home Depot to buy some 12′ long drop cloth panels, and to find some inspiration on how to hang them. Our deck is 12′ wide. Can we use curtain rods? Nope, couldn’t find any that big. Wooden dowels? Still not available that long. Gas line pipe? ALMOST! But it was 10′ long and heavy, so it would consist of using two pipes and probably having to have a bracket in the middle to hold the weight…Then El Granto had a brilliant idea. Aircraft cable! BINGO! The drop cloths were light, and the aircraft cable could be tensioned into our deck with a turnbuckle. It would be perfect! We picked up a 50′ aircraft cable kit, two turnbuckles, two 4×12′ drop cloths, some large cup hooks, and some tarp grommets.

Back at home, El Granto got up on the ladder and secured the cup hooks to the deck, and attached one end of the cable system. We measured out where we wanted the grommets to go on the drape panels (Odin really wanted to help)

Odin thinks the curtains are his new bed

Through some trial and error (who doesn’t put instructions on a grommet kit!?) We finally found the best way to put in the grommets. It involved a vice, some rags, a hammer, and a few swear words.  (sorry there are no photos, I was too busy using profanities to take any.) After the grommets were in I measured the drapes to hem them and went inside to get out the sewing machine. I managed to find my sewing machine easily enough, but do you think I could find the box with all the thread and notions?! Not a hope. So I grabbed some hemming tape, and ironed the hems in the drapes. I figured if they fell out, I would go buy some thread and sew them back up. Once they were hemmed, we threaded the grommets of the drape panels onto the aircraft cable, attached the cable to the other side and tensioned it with the turnbuckle.

Curtain threaded through the Aircraft Cable
Cup Hook, Turnbuckle & Aircraft Cable

YAY! SHADE! WOOT!
Just one small problem…the space of the cup hook, aircraft cable clamps and turnbuckle means that the drape does not stretch all the way to the side of the deck. One day when we have a bit more patience, we will remove the turnbuckle on the North end of the deck, where the most sun comes in  (you really only need one turnbuckle) and it will work and look much nicer.

But enough of my bitching, here are the pics!

Before!

Backyard Before (note this is from when we bought the house, so a few things have changed other than just the curtains)

 

After!

Curtains in Action
Curtains Drawn to one Side

*To answer a few of the questions you may be thinking of:

  • Will we leave them out in the winter? We will take them in during the winter, and put them through the wash if necessary
  • How have they held up so far? Amazing. Water doesn’t seam to soak into them when it rains, they never stay wet or damp, and show no signs of mold or any other nasties yet.
  • Would we change anything? Only adding a tie back/hook for when they are not in use, otherwise its perfect!
  • Added Bonus: We have had a sweltering summer, and we have been using the curtains to block some of the sun from hitting the back of the house, and to shade the a/c unit. It has worked wonders.

SOURCE LIST:

Materials:
2x 4×12 Drop Cloths: Home Depot (we only used 2 panels, but could have fit 3 or 4, if your deck gets full sun more panels may be required)
50′ Aircraft Cable Kit: Home Depot
Tarp Grommets: Rona
2 Large Cup Hooks: Home Depot
2 Turnbuckles: Home Depot
Iron-On Hemming Tape: Fabricland

Tools Used:
Ladder, Drill, Measuring Tape, Sewing Machine, Iron, Hammer, Sharpie, Screw Driver, Wire Cutters, Wrench

Difficulty Level (on a scale of 1-5):

Two out of five

Total Cost: $50

Training a Vizsla

Our pup Odin is a Vizsla. A Hungarian bird dog who’s been bred to point game birds for hunters then retrieve the bird back. I bet you’re asking yourself why on earth do we have a hunting dog in the city? Obviously not all Vizsla’s become hunters, some are just companions. (don’t let the hard core Vizsla owners hear this, I am a black sheep in the Vizsla crowd for not hunting my dog.) However because Odin was bred to work all day running in the field, he’s a bit more…well…energized than some most other breeds. If he doesn’t get enough exercise and mental stimulation he can be a handful. Don’t get me wrong, we knew what we were getting ourselves into long before we got him. We picked the breed for their athletic ability. El Granto and I spend our weekends walking the city, and wanted a dog to accompany us. He’s done even more than that. He gets us out walking rain or shine, hot or cold. We go hiking, jogging, swimming and walking. He has increased our active lifestyle to where we walk at minimum 5km each weekday and 10-15km each day of the weekend. We have also met a ton more people. Odin is the ultimate ice breaker, and we are constantly having people stop us to ask about our red bundle of trouble.

Has it been harder that I expected?! Abso-freakin-loutley. It’s a non stop job keeping up with him and keeping an eye on him. From crate training to loose leash walking, he has been stubborn and trying, but sometimes your hard work pays off. Last night we let Odin sleep out of his crate for the first time on a dog bed in our room. It entailed 15 minutes of us kicking him out of our bed repeatedly, then BAM, he got it and went and curled up on his bed and sleept the night through. A small milestone to some, but for us that was 9 months of work in the making. No bedding was eaten, no doors scratched and no barking screaming puppy. Hopefully one day soon we’ll be able to leave him alone in the house uncrated during the day, but for now I will take this small victory.

What was the hardest thing to teach your pet?

Office Lighting

The office light was originally a Ikea Erbium ceiling light that the moment a truck drove by would shake and rattle so hard you thought it was going to explode and rain glass down on your head.

Ikea Erbium Light

Not only was the light noisy, it was also b.o.r.i.n.g. So we needed to change things up.

We needed a fancy, pretty, shiny new light.

I started looking at Barn Light Electric‘s offerings and lusted after their Flush Mount Warehouse Pendant

Barn Light Electric’s Flush Mount Warehouse Pendant

I dreamed about  the Cimarron Pendant

Barn Light Electric’s Cimarron Pendant

And I swooned over School House Pendant “The Volusia”.

Barn Light Electric’s School House Pendant “The Volusia”

Then I realized I had already long ago spent the whole budget for the room on the makings of the bookcase and the desk, and I had NO budget left for lights. That meant that buying from Barn Light Electric, shipping to Canada, and then paying brokerage & duty fees was not going to be a feasible endeavor. Enter sad sad Kristen face.

So ‘pretty’, ‘new’, and/or their friends ‘shiny’ and ‘fancy’ were out of the question. We needed something cheap.

We just so happened to have a random light we took down from our bedroom sitting around taking up space and we swiftly swapped it out. It’s better, its not great, but will make do for now. The room has so much natural light from the giant skylight, that the light wouldn’t be on much anyways. So here it is, the new old light.

Moving forward I will be daydreaming about changing it out for one of the lusty Barn Light Electric lights.

Yeah…I’m a lighting loving weirdo, I know…

From Billy to Built-Ins

Our house is a three bedroom, two large bedrooms and one smaller. The smaller is of course the best choice for either an office or nursery. We wanted to plan for an office now, and if we ever needed it down the road, an easy transition to a nursery. Continue reading “From Billy to Built-Ins”

BBQ Area Facelift

We got a natural gas line and BBQ last spring. I knew we would use it a lot, but it is now the most used appliance in our home. I even cooked Easter turkey on the BBQ!

The BBQ sits beside our A/C unit on a raised platform off our main floor deck. The raised platform is made out of concrete pavers sitting in a bed of concrete. I have no idea why the previous owners would do this. To make matters worse, the concrete pavers were a bit too big for the platform, so some of them were broken and the pieces shoved in. It is beyond unsightly.

We wanted something to cover up the ugly mess, and spied Ikea Platta decking in their summer flyer. Problem is, we don’t have a car, and rarely get out to Ikea. El Granto’s Mum was taking a trip to Ikea last week, so we asked her to pick up a pack of Platta for us.

It took 5 minutes to lay the tiles, then we realized we didn’t have enough. Back to Ikea and another box of platta later and we were ready for another go at the deck tiles. Here is a before look. Note the busted ass patio stones.

BBQ Area Before
BBQ Area Before

We moved the bbq, then used some Dricore leveling disks to try to level out the uneven pavers. We figured Platta was a deck version of Dricore, so we gave them a shot, and they worked great!

Using a Dricore Leveling Kit to level the Platta Deck Tiles

Here’s the area covered in the tiles.

BBQ Area Covered in Deck Tiles

Aaaaaaaand here is the after!

BBQ Area After
View of Backyard Deck after BBQ Area Facelift
Backyard

A much nicer looking BBQ area. The decking actually matches our Ikea acacia wood chairs. I love how it looks so much that I am contemplating covering our whole lower deck in them. Our poor lower deck really took a beating with the reno, and no matter how much I sweep, scrub or give it a death stare, it looks dirty and shabby. What do you think, to Platta or not to Platta? (and don’t even get me started on that terrible grass and crooked walkway, that is being dealt with later in the fall or next spring.)

SOURCE LIST:

Materials:
2 x Platta Deck Tiles: Ikea
Dricore Leveling Kit: Lowes

Tools Used:
Hands and good looks

Difficulty Level (on a scale of 1-5):

One out of five

Total Cost: $66

When it Rains it Pours (The Chair Hunt Part II)

I posted about my chair hunt less than a week ago.

By that point I had been scourging Craigslist & Kijiji for an antique bankers chair for weeks. I had dragged El Granto into many an antique store, and even shook my fist at the TV when I saw Sarah Richardson had found one at an antique store on queen street. I wasn’t mad at Sarah, I was mad that I hadn’t been there first!

So I wrote the post, and sent my Mom an email asking her to keep an eye out for a bankers chair (she’s even more resourceful than I am) I then forgot about putting my chair request out into the world, and got back to work.

Fast forward to Friday. My Mom comes for a visit, and shows up with not one but TWO bankers chairs. One antique that was in brilliant shape, and had the original chair mechanism and everything, and a second one that was a more modern version. I was flabbergasted. My Mom had found the vintage one on Craigslist for a steal, and the second one was found on the side of the road by my Mom & Dad’s friends.

Antique Bankers Chair that my Mom Sourced from Kijiji (unassembled)
Modern Bankers Chair that my Mom’s Friends FOUND on the road! (Mom had to take it apart to fit it in the car)

Then I go into work on Monday morning and get an email from a co-worker that says “Look what we found on the curb!”

The Chair my Awesome Co-Worker found at the Curb

SERIOUSLY?! I couldn’t find one if my life depended on it, and two people managed to find ones thrown out for garbage on the side of the road?! Hell, I should just give up my searching for things, and make a list for everyone else to find. Thank you all so much.

I am also looking for old reclaimed red bricks for a new patio, and some old picture frames…just saying.

Here’s the antique chair assembled in the office

Antique Bankers Chair

Weekend Fun

For the last 4 weekends, we have done home improvements of some kind. We have had a To Do list, we have visited a hardware store at least once, and we were given sore muscles and bruises in return. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE getting things done around the house, but sometimes you need to recharge the batteries. This weekend was a battery recharge.

We had a bbq, went to the beach, visited the Big on Bloor festival, had good friends over, visited with family, and took a trip to Ikea and Costco.

Odin & I driving to the beach in a convertible
Odin’s Ears and My Hair Blowing in the Wind
El Granto & Odin Playing Fetch at the Beach
Odin Swimming
Odin Fetching Stick

What did you get up to this weekend?

History of our House

As you may by now have figured out, we live in an old storefront.

After we purchased the house, we spent an afternoon in the City of Toronto Archives trying to researching the history of our home. We learned that it was built sometime between 1912-1917 and originally served as a Grocery Store. Later on it was used as a Barber Shop, then after WW II it was a Laundry Service. Originally the store was on the main floor, and an apartment upstairs.  Unfortunately we did not uncover any historical photos of our house, but here are a few from the neighbourhood.

Bloor & Lansdowne 1923
Lansdowne South of Wallace 1929

After the Laundry Service shut, a woman lived alone in the building until just a few years ago, when the people who owned the house before us renovated it.  It is an interesting home, it is semi-detached 2 story and is only 12.5’ wide. It’s almost 60 feet long however and it houses 3 bedrooms, 1.5 baths and an unfinished basement. It has over 10’ high ceilings on the main floor, a storefront window, 3 skylights upstairs, a 2nd floor deck off the master, and a walkout from our living room to our yard and detached garage.  El Granto & I loved that it was an old storefront, and even though when we bought it, it had been “decorated to sell” . By that I mean beige. We could see that it had potential for us to insert character back into it, and make it ours!

Here are some pics from the house before we moved in.

Kitchen
Main Bathroom
First Floor Powder Room
Master Bedroom
Staircase and Hall view from Livingroom

 

Did I mention before that the ENTIRE HOUSE WAS BEIGE?!
Forget Fifty Shades of Grey, my house is Fifty Shades of Beige!

Installing Office Chair Rail

I like trim & moulding. Scratch that. I am kind of obsessed with it. Especially in an Edwardian home, I feel like we should have trim everywhere. Baseboard, Wainscoting, Board & Batten, Chair Rail, Plate Rail, Crown Moulding. I love and want it all.

So every room we reno, I tend to try to sneak in some trim. The office was no different. It was crying out for a chair rail. The one problem with the office was well, the walls were about as straight as Elton John. My favourite chair rail, which is a solid oak, ¾” thick beauty from Central Fairbank Lumber would be amazing, but would not fair so well with my squiggily walls. I needed something a bit more pliable. So El Granto, Odin & I walked to Downtown Lumber and picked out a lovely simple mdf pre-primed chair rail, and carried it home. Yes, I said carried it home. We do not own a car. So when we need building materials, we either rent the home depot bring it home van, or we buy from Downtown Lumber and walk the 2.8km along the West Toronto Railpath to and from Downtown Lumber. If you ever spy two crazy looking people and their red dog carrying home a 2×4’s on the walking path, that would be us. It’s actually not that bad. One person can easily carry a few 8 foot boards, it’s when it comes to 10 or 12 foot boards, that it’s helpful to have a friend. The biggest thing we brought home were 2x8x12’s for the deck. Those suckers were heavy! The folks at Downtown Lumber are even so kind to tape together multiple boards for me, so it’s easier for me to carry home.

Back to the task at hand… We walked home with our chair rail, and I quickly measured up my walls, and made a cut list. As our miter saw is in the garage, I prefer to do a cut list with all my angles, and head to the garage to cut everything at once. I am anal retentive when it comes to measuring and my trim cuts, so they are usually bang on. I quickly cut all the pieces. It was really simple as the whole room was only 5 pieces, so 10 cuts. My chair rail was a shallower depth then my door molding, so we decided to do flush cuts at the door frames. This means out of my 10 cuts I actually only had to miter the two corners (hint hint, this means that the other two corners in the room house my built in bookcases.) I then marked where the studs were on the wall and brad nailed the trim in place.

Now here is some edumacation for you. This is what a 2” brad nail looks like when you hit a drywall screw in the wall. He’s not a happy nail, neither was El Granto when he had to pull that angry nail back out.

What Happens When Your Brad Nail Hits a Screw
El Granto Removing Rogue Nail

When setting the chair rail position, I originally laid it out level. As the floor is not the least bit level, it looked really off. Instead I decided to make it parallel to the floor, which meant to the eye it would look all nice and straight. In cases like this, doing it right will make it look all wrong. So there is my advice, DO IT WRONG. Brilliant eh? Using the flexible MDF chair rail worked so well. It curved to our wacky walls perfectly. Now, had we painted out the chair rail white it would have accented how crooked the walls are, but as we were painting the chair rail the bottom wall colour, it would (hopefully) blend in.

We then filled all the nail holes with paintable caulk, and ran a tiny bit along the top of the chair rail, which made it look seamless to the wall.

Chair Rail Installed! Yay

Then it was time to PAINT!

HAHA aren’t I a tease? Painting post tomorrow I promise.

SOURCE LIST:

Materials:
MDF Chair Rail: Downtown Lumber
Brad Nails: My Garage
DAP Paintable Caulking: Home Depot

Tools Used:
Miter Saw, Measuring Tape, Compressor & Brad Nailer, Level

Difficulty Level (on a scale of 1-5):

Total Cost: $40