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Framed Inspiration

12/30/2013

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I’m a bit of a ditz, in a forgetful out-of-sight-out-of-mind kind of way.  It makes staying on task with stuff, not to mention keeping up with stuff, a little hard for me.  So whenever I can utilize something that will help trigger my memory I’m all over it. 

If you watch HGTV you've probably seen a designer use a board covered with pictures, fabric, furniture cutouts, etc. It’s a great work tool but these boards can also simply be a collection of things that inspire you as well as a way to keep track of ideas and project notes. 

And, it does not have to be an actual bulletin board. Hey, we are way more creative than that, right? Anything that lets you easily collect, see and interchange the things you gather will work.  
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I wanted something pretty that was also portable so I could prop it in whatever space I am working in at the time.  This old frame found at a local thrift store for about $7.00 was just the jumping off point I was looking for.    
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The next step was to fit it with something sturdy and thick enough to support objects pinned to it.  Foam core makes a great backboard for this type of project and can be purchased at most arts, craft and framing shops fairly inexpensively. 

To make it pretty, cover it with whatever fabric you like.  In this case I purchased a bird print burlap because of our whole nest thing we have going on, but you could even use whatever you have tucked away.  You know, like those pretty curtains (or tablecloth, or throw, or…) that just don’t work anymore but you simply can’t bring yourself to give them away.  We all have them, and feel guilty every time we see them buried away unused.  So……

NOTE:   I did just catch this potential problem in time - before attaching the fabric, wrap the fabric around the foam core and dry fit it in the frame to be sure it’s not too snug to fit.   
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You can use whatever method appeals to you to attach the fabric to the backboard, but I really like spray adhesive.  It dries in minutes, but stays tacky long enough to allow for easy tweaking in the first few moments after applying.  After that it virtually disappears and doesn’t leave hard residue or puckering as it dries like other glues.  The only drawback is that it’s best used outdoors due to the odor and overspray, but if you have a well-ventilated area and a drop cloth you should be good to go.  Just as with any DIY product, be careful to follow that package directions.
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And Ta-Da!  Now I can pin project notes, fabrics, pictures, whatever inspires (and reminds!) me.
And while talking about creative idea boards, one idea that I’ve used for years is the inside of kitchen cabinet doors.  In this case I’ve collected photos of kitchens that I love, plus rough sketches of the layout and cabinet ideas.  It’s a little nudge every time I reach for the baking soda ;}
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So set your imagination free, and now you have a way to keep up with it!

HUGS!
Cindy


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A Christmas Peek at The Quirky Nest

12/17/2013

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With Christmas just barely a week away, we are still a whirlwind of activity, but that is actually pretty much the norm around here. 
In the past few weeks we’ve spent three weekends helping one son build a garage….
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Two weekends out on gigs (that’s my Hero on the guitar playing for The New Ramonos)…..
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And now we are snuggling in for Christmas….
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Barley telling Santa what he wants for Christmas….
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Willow looking pretty…..
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And not to leave Finn out....
Honest, he wasn’t hitting the eggnog.  I had just finished giving him a tummy rub and he was toooootally relaxed and a bit goofy…..
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A little Partridge….
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In a Pear Tree…..
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My Hero’s favorite holiday character is the Grinch.  Mortimer (the big guy) and Baaabette are trying to figure out how THAT happened…..
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I collect primitive Santa’s and sleighs….
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But could not pass up this adorable snowman….
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And let’s face it, who on earth has a tidy kitchen this time of year!?! 
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I hope you all have time to slow down and enjoy family, friends and much joy,

Cindy

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I Have Closet Envy

11/18/2013

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We’ve all heard, “A girl’s best friend is …., fill in the blank at the “….”. Typically, the “….” is something like diamonds, or a perfect pair of shoes, or let’s say something necessary – like a closet.  Who among us does not long for the perfect closet with plenty of roomy storage, unbelievably detailed organization, and decked out (in my perfect world) with a full length mirror, lots of hanging rods – with non-slip hangers, plus a large center island with oodles of drawers, and really, really good lighting.  Hummmm, great daydream.
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Back in the land of reality, our quirky little house came with only two not-so-perfect closets; a small storage closet at the top of the stairs off the master bedroom, and a rather decent sized one in the guestroom downstairs. But, the one downstairs also houses the 40 gallon hot water heater – whose idea was that!?!
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Mobile clothes racks are great inventions.  Just not so great as a long term closet solution.
I envy people who can walk into a space and immediately know where to hang each picture and place each piece of furniture and never have to move any of it because it works the first time.  My dad can do that.  I did not inherit that gene.  I need to live in a space for a while, settle in and wait for my little Muse to whisper, “What if……?” 
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We originally thought the two window alcoves, split by a wall between the master bedroom and the music room, were too small and awkward to be of much use.   

Until one day when I moved one of the racks into an alcove and heard my little Muse whisper, “Ah-HA!” 
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One of the lovely things about closet systems is that they are so versatile; in no time we had two closets that met almost all of our hanging needs built into the two alcoves.  
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This closet is in my Hero’s music space, so by default it became his closet.  He likes color and pattern so we used the same large paisley print fabric used elsewhere in the room to make a closet curtain. Down the road, when the grey end wall is finished out with white shelves, we plan to add a window seat cushion covered in the same paisley fabric to tie it all together.  
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We hung the curtain close to the wall using wire hooks that just screw into the wall, and some odd hooks that I had on hand that I stitched to the curtain.

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          I like how the curtain hangs flat giving the effect of wallpaper. 


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                                          Shoe cubbies on the back wall provide extra storage.  
                                          And a door hanger functions as a clothes butler.  
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                                                     Plus a plug-in LED light strip for, well, light.
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My side is almost finished, but I haven’t found the right curtain fabric yet. 

I’ll touch base again with final photos when we get around to wrapping up this project.  But that could be a while, you would not believe how many projects we have going on!

Though not quite my dream closet, they do work great and are really all we need.  Plus on the up side, the limited space means I absolutely must be good about editing my clothing and not holding onto things that no longer fit or work in my wardrobe.  (Notice I did not say anything about giving up shopping for clothes.  A girl has to have some fun after all. )

I hope each and every one of you has your perfect closet living in your home and not in your dreams. If not, I hope you have as much fun creating a fun, funky closet that suits your needs too.

HUGS!

Cindy
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It's a Big Cover Up

11/7/2013

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With the air handler and gas furnace installed we were finally able to unpack and begin settling into our upstairs rooms.  We also had to figure out how to cover up the unsightly air handler and furnace, and keep the cats out of the knee wall space.
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My Hero is pretty handy with this type of thing and in no time he had constructed this great platform-box enclosure. It is rock solid with top and front panels that open easily for access.  (Those two weird looking blocks sticking out of the ceiling will make sense in a moment.)
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Plus it’s a great place for stackable storage, but who wants to look at all that stuff? 

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Years earlier my Hero bought a church window turned mirror in a little shop in Exmore, Virginia. It took a bit of effort to get it anchored in place (using those two weird blocks), but it turned out to be the perfect screen.
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We also put a protective back on it, but not before my Hero had another brilliant idea.
The addition of two LED light strips creates a soft glow through the stained glass panels. 
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Plus it makes a pretty night light over the stairwell. 
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I made curtain panels to flank the window; the fabric color is a close match to the frame which worked to soften the fact that one end of the window is different from the other.  We also chose a length of bold paisley to curtain the doorway into the storage area for a splash of color.  It's not quite finished, but close.

We are still working on ideas for ways to create storage and hide ductwork in the rest of the room; more about that as it evolves. 

For now, sometimes you just have to live in a space, and maybe listen a bit to an old house to get a sense of what to do next.   

Joy!

Cindy
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I'm Hot & He's Cold

11/7/2013

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We bought our home in the spring.  It was a cool spring, but the heat of summer was just around the corner and I am a total wimp when it comes to heat.  I simply shut down, can’t help it.  At the opposite end of the spectrum, my Hero loves the heat and humidity of summer and hates the cold.  Somewhere, for a brief glorious time during spring and fall, we are both comfortable.

With the installation of central air and heat a priority we immediately lined up several companies, interviewing each with the same question, “So, just how do you recommend we run duct work?”  Not everyone had a good answer, and only one got it right.   

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Just in case you've never had this problem, or are facing these issues, old houses are typically not great candidates for big, long runs of air ducts, or air return vents or air outlet vents.   Let alone where on earth do you put a big clunky (and not esthetically pleasing) air handler and furnace when you don't have a basement, or attic, and only one real closet?  
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Upstairs, by opening up the knee-wall, there was just enough room to lay the air handle on its side (yeah, I didn't know you could do that either) and fit it along with the gas backup furnace into the attic eave. 

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Duct work could then be run through the eaves feeding vents through both the upstairs knee-walls and the downstairs ceilings down both sides of the house. 

A LOT of dust and noise and workmen in and out for days on end, but when the first wafts of chilled air moved through the house on the first hot day of spring (timing truly is everything) it was all worth every moment of getting there.  And you can just imagine how happy my Hero was with the toasty warm gas heat during the winter. 

Now that we had resolved the heating/cooling issues, we needed to find a way to keep the Kitty Boys from exploring where they had no business being.  Again.  One of the workmen failed to completely block the ductwork just once and of course Barley took that as a great invitation to check it all out.  Fortunately the unit wasn't running and we got him out before he got himself into trouble.  Cats!  Next step – The Great Cover-Up, it really turned out to be a great solution.  

HUGS!

Cindy
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The "Oh Darn" Moment

10/31/2013

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You know that moment when it dawns on you just how perfect that thing is that you decided not to buy even though you knew it was really good and you should?  I mean it was really perfect, but you passed it up because you just couldn't put your finger on why it was perfect so you left it in the store?  I mean that sort of one-of-a-kind-thing in the thrift store that you know is now gone, long gone because someone else got it?  Ugh.  It was a rustic medium sized drum shaped faded yellow I've-never-seen-another-like-it woven basket, for $30.  Thirty Dollars.  I collect interesting, functional baskets.  And I passed it up.  Oh DARN!

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That was the weekend before last, and this past weekend as I was organizing the pantry-laundry shelving that my Hero had just installed, and deciding how to use some of my growing collection of vintage containers, I finally knew where that basket would be perfect.  Right there on the shelf.  Darn.

But the story doesn't end there.
When I told my Hero how I regretted not bringing that yellow basket home, his immediate response was, "Okay, let's go back and get it."  Do you see why he's my Hero?  Now, putting this into perspective, it was Sunday afternoon and going to get that basket, which I was fairly certain was no longer for sale, meant an almost hour long drive down I-95 in crazy weekend traffic through downtown Baltimore to the warehouse district. And he was absolutely willing to take me. Hero.

Allowing sanity to prevail, and feeling certain that my perfect basket was now residing in another lucky, and smarter, person's home, I offered an alternative. We live within minutes of a sweet little waterfront town named Havre de Grace that is home to several of our favorite antique shops.

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In the back corner of one shop, buried under several pieces of kitchenware, we found this clam basket. We had been looking for one at a good price, and here it was. Happiness.

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Another stop was an old fishing cannery turned antique mecca. A bit of prowling through the two floors offered up four vintage glass insulators.  We have a rather cool project in mind to use them for down the road.

Plus an old white column that I don’t have a photo of because it is now in the spidery garage, but we had seen it the last time we were at the shop and it still intrigued us. There is real craftsmanship in how it was made and though we still don't quite know what to do with it, this time we listened to our hearts and brought it home with us.

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And my favorite find, even better than the yellow basket, is this. Do you know what it is?  I swear, it was sooooo hard not to do a happy-dance right there in the store when I found it. And now this little chicken feeder is all mine.  Now, admittedly, my Hero did think I was a bit crazy being so excited about a rusty little old metal trough...

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Until I showed him what a lovely table centerpiece it makes.

Okay, I have to be honest here.  This was not my idea. I saw it at one of the shops at Old Lucketts Store and fell in love.  And now I have one too.  Joy.

Anyway, that's how my Hero turned my "oh darn" moment into a very special Sunday afternoon.  Oh, and he even took me out to dinner by the water before heading home. Bliss.

Hugs to all,

Cindy

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Let the Projects Begin!

10/2/2013

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Even before we moved in the list of projects had grown to mind boggling proportions.   We had to prioritize the immediate concerns – the main support beam under the house had to be reinforced, a sump-pump and waterproofing were needed in the crawlspace, and we had to figure out how to install central air and heat where there was no duct work already in place.  In the end, though, it was pretty easy to see what had to come first.

The large single pane windows original to the house were almost all cracked and painted thoroughly shut.  For safety and energy efficiency they had to be replaced.  Fortunately we found a company on Angie’s List that could provide quality windows that looked remarkably like the originals. One day of noise and mess and DONE!    

Removing old windows and the installation of new ones isn’t exactly exciting or blog-worthy helpful, but it was necessary.  Also necessary, and much more creative and fun, was making curtains for the front room.



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Welcome to our Bare Nest

10/2/2013

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The moment I saw the Real Estate photo I knew she was mine. The little cottage
that had been in my dreams.  I mean literally, I had been dreaming about this
little yellow house with a deep front porch trimmed out in white gingerbread
surrounded by flowers.  We made her a last moment addition to the list on the
final day of our home search.

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    Welcome!

    I’m Cindy, thank you so much for visiting The Quirky Nest. 

    The Quirky Nest derives its name from our Realtor's query, "What are you looking for in a home?" to which my Hero responded, "Something quirky, no cookie cutter houses."  And so this little house became ours.  The fact that it came with no less than five birdhouses plus one vine-wrapped bird condo kinda underscores the whole nest thing
       
    We share our home with one large Chesapeake Bay Retriever named Willow, and two kitty boys named Finneus and Barley.  AKA, the kids. 

    I'm a recently transplanted Southerner. We're not really all that far north of the Mason Dixon Line, but there are moments when I feel a strong kindred spirit with Dorothy.

    I'm the mom of three grown sons and the grand-momma of two beautiful granddaughters. Two fabulous daughters-in-law are an added bonus. 

    I qualify for most, but not quite all, senior discounts.  It’s sort of a blessing with a curse.

    I'm a hunter-gatherer. Antique shops, flea markets, dusty old junk shops and architectural salvage yards are my perfect playgrounds.  Finding that unexpected something that I didn't know I was looking for makes me absolutely giddy. 

    But mostly, I find my greatest joy in helping others, nurturing my family, creating a warm inviting home, and adding a little of my history to the things I touch.

    My Hero and I have a very long list of projects that we are undertaking around our home.  Old houses, with their lath and plaster walls and less than level or straight anything, bring a whole different set of issues to the table and I can’t wait to share our challenges and solutions with you.  

    In 2020 our little house will be a century old.  We, my Hero and I, are working hard to make sure she is ready for the next 100 years and would love for you to join us on the adventure.

    Joy to all!

    Cindy

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