Assortment

Reminisce | 6

Hello, friends! I'm popping in here to say a quick hello and welcome to those of you finding your way here for the first time from Simple Mom! My family and I are vacationing on the shores of a Montana lake, so you can understand why I'm smiling and waving, then closing up the laptop! Here you'll find number 6 in a series I've put together from the archives that show a bit of the inspiration for our little house as it was in the planning phase. Enjoy!

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Two Camps first posted on April 5, 2012. This one takes me right back to those first days when our cabin had just arrived; when all the walls and ceilings were natural beaded pine; when the whole thing smelled of freshly-milled wood; when everyone who saw it had a strong opinion about painting or not painting those planks (yes, there were some out-right gasps tinged with horror when the paint began to go up)! Even in our own family, there were differences of opinion about where the paint should and shouldn't go, so, in the end, we painted the entire main level, and left the loft walls and ceiling natural pine (with a painted plank floor). Win-win!

 

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If you happen to have wood plank walls in your future, you could do one of two things (after you squeal with delight that you actually have wood plank walls in your future!) -  you could paint them!

Or not.

There are strong opinions, it seems, in the 'Paint the Planks' vs. 'Never Paint the Planks' camps. Some think painting wood is next to sin itself, and others think not painting wood might be the untimate transgression.

I happen to like both, as you can see by a few of the photos I've pinned lately onto my Plank Walls board:

 

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Tell me, which camp are you in?

 

 

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Reminisce | 5

Things are full and summery around here, friends. We've done some boating, some trail running, some grilling, and now we've got some traveling around the corner.

I'm glad you've been enjoying these select posts reprinted from the archieves that I've been bringing back for you lately. Since we just visited the loft inspiration a couple days ago, I thought you'd like to see what we did for flooring up there. This post, entitled Painted Plank Floors, was first run on May 29, 2012.

There are some things that just get tricky. Like painting a wood plank floor* when you have  a knee that decides to rebel, refuses to bend, and therefore requires you to stick your leg out at 2:00 as you scooch yourself on your sitter back and forth across the floor, painting as you go.

Tricky.

S-l-o-w and tricky.

But, no matter, because you're liking very much this plank floor made from ripped plywood, which was nailed down with intentional cracks between the boards. It's imperfect and old-housey, which is exactly right. It's in the boy loft, which is exactly right, too. It brings some brightness to the natural pine walls and ceiling, and when it gets dinged, it'll just get a paint-over. 

Hopefully by then, that knee will have decided to behave.

 

 

*Floor Details: We used 3/8" plywood, ripped to 4" planks. The planks are in a random pattern of varying lengths. They were attached to the subfloor using flooring adhesive and a 1-1/2" brad nailer. Quarters were used as spacers to achieve the cracks between the boards. The planks were then sanded, vacuumed, tack-cloth-wiped, and given three coats of Sherwin Williams Porch & Floor paint, in a custom color, which reads white in the photo, but is actually a light gray.

 

 

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Reminisce | 4

As I take some time away from the blog for summering, I'm bringing back some favorite past posts to share with you! I like how this one, a reprint of The Small Within from March 2012, shows some of the thought process that went into the planning of our loft...

 

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There's a book that been much looked at and loved here, lately:  How to Make Play Places & Secret Hidy Holes. Yes, imaginations have roused to life with all the cubbies, shelters, tents and cocoons one can make with cloth, cardboard and wood.

It must be the same interest in the sheltering feeling of small spaces that caused me to have Small Home Designs and Inside the Not-So-Big House laying on the floor next to my bed right now. Treasures. Including this, found on the fly-leaf of Small Home Designs, hand written by a knowing soul:

"Dedicated to those who don't want to build mansions."

Love.

And, seeing that the words are written in a classic grandma-perfect hand, most surely by one who had known the beauty of small in her life, I find myself agreeing most wholeheartedly, seeing how she obviously knows.

 

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While thinking along these lines, I noticed that there is small, then there is the small within the small. Like the bed nook. Not a room, but a carved-out portion for the bed, linens, pillows, books, art, lamps, sleeping.  So much with so little.

Keep looking and you'll see what I mean...

 

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Are you nodding your head, too?

 

 

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