There were so many things that happened, these are the projects and posts that made the most impact in our personal comfort.
So here it is the beginning of a new year and while we don’t have to set our goals here, many of us do. It seems like a natural time to decide how we want the new year to go. It’s good, but it doesn’t have to be the only time we think about what we want to do.
I have found that I am most successful when I set goals I know I can accomplish. Adding one (maybe two) that will be hard, but I know should be accomplished.
I don’t plan out the whole year. I make goals as I go and once they’re done, I set more. Things do get done, though I must admit even more than my usual is accomplished when my husband is involved.
Goals of 2018
The Back Yard
Because of Tyler, within the 2018 year, we finished our back yard.
And got a dog, which was something we had put off for years. Here she is on our finished lawn. With the pretty Pavers Edge I did. 😊
Losing Some Weight
Because of my husband I finally lost the 10 pounds I’d been trying to get rid of for four years. He decided enough was enough and lost 60+ pounds this year! To be supportive I adopted the same changes and the pounds I had been fighting with for years melted away. I was shocked and grateful.
Finishing the Basement
We also finished our basement. Well, we still need a few doors and trim… and a bathroom, but we are claiming it!
We do have carpet, but this shot is so nice and crisp. The carpet is just going to have to make its showing later.
Personal DIY
It’s strange looking back on these accomplishments. As of an hour ago, I was most proud of my personal DIY projects, but they pale in comparison to the above goals (that Tyler made happen😂😂). I’m still way happy about the following.
My front porch bench. Made from upcycled, reinvented parts. I’m mostly proud of this piece because I literally saved everything from being sent off to the dump or being burned. Now I have a gorgeous bench and place to sit while I watch my kids play. The time was worth it.
The Stenciled Storage Chest was also fun. Though it wasn’t a built piece like above, I had alot of fun giving it new life. Furniture refurbishing is a rush. I love to see how much I can improve upon the worst case scenario.
Finally! A refinished table. This poor thing sat for years with a scratched top. I finally drug it outside and sanded it down. I also used a heavy duty, outdoors, polyurethane so it would last a little longer this time.
(please excuse our lawn, it got a little too much fertilizer😒)
The Fourth Generation Dresser – this one was special. I had the opportunity to refinish the dresser my grandmother, mother and I had used as children. I then passed it on to my daughter who gets to use it.
In the process of fixing up this piece, I thought of my grandmother’s life and wondered what stories this little dresser would tell if it could speak.
Personal Improvement
I wrote a few personal improvement articles. Which were some of my favorite posts to write and I have a few more in the works. For now, Overcoming Obstacles and The Art of Saying Yes.
Goals for 2019
Being logical, I really just want goals I want to do, with a few things I don’t want to do, but know need to be done.
Build a Loft Bed
My daughter has been waiting years for a loft bed. Since her room is long and narrow that was our plan early on. Several other projects crowded the loft bed out. This is the year. I’m writing it down, so it’s an official goal now.
Refinish the entertainment consol
This piece of furniture was described by my husband as the ugliest piece of furniture in the house. Which isn’t true, the desk is much uglier. My goal this year is to make it look like a $2000 piece of furniture. Tyler knows my plan and though he can’t imagine it, he says he trusts me. 😂
Finish putting up doors
You know how I talked about realistic goals? This is one of them, the unfun, necessary part.
Finish the basement bathroom
This is a Tyler goal, which means he will find a way to make it happen and I’ll be heavily involved – can’t wait for it to be over. 😉 I’m also grateful for an awesome guy who makes things happen.
A few months ago, while visiting my parents, I spent the night in my childhood room. Many things had changed since I was young, but there was one piece of furniture I remembered. A little dresser leaning against the wall. A bit unassuming, it probably wouldn’t stick out to the average person, but as I looked memories came flooding back. Things I had cherished, things I had worried about and friendships I’d made.
The little dresser had gone through many hands since I had last used it and the years were showing. Someone (perhaps me) had colored in the crevices with a green crayon. One wheel had fallen off the bottom and it now sagged on the floor. The sides had been roughed up by (not me, I would never do that 😉).
Suddenly, I wanted to fix it up and bring it back to where it once was. I asked my mom if I could take it and she said, “yes”!
Family Ancestry and a Water Stand
This dresser (or more accurately the water stand-now-used-as-a dresser) not only belonged to me as a child, it had also belonged to my mother and her mother when they were children. As I began to get it ready for refinishing I couldn’t help but wonder about who built it. With the detailed curved joints and routed edges. This piece, dating back to about 1910, had to have been done by hand, as many electric tools weren’t in mainstream use yet, but how was it done? The whole piece intrigued me.
Life Happened
My grandmother was a hard woman from what I remember as a child, and I never talked to her much growing up.
As an adult I learned more about her life and found she had gone through her share of heartache and pain, enduring a history I likely never would. The wear on this little dresser seemed to be speaking to all it had witnessed during the lives of its owners.
Becoming a US Citizen
My grandmother sailed to America with her parents when she was 7 years old. Her father had wanted to come sooner, but couldn’t convince his wife to travel on the ocean, she felt it wasn’t safe.
Then the Titanic sank.
Titanic Sinking
My great grandfather hid every newspaper he could find, afraid they would never make it to America if his wife heard the devastating news. As much as he tried, she still found out, it was too big of a story to hide. She surprised her husband by saying, “They will be safer now. We can go.” They sailed on the very next ship.
The Big Move
So the great trip began, with packing and buying tickets, preparing for a new life and saying goodbye to family they would leave behind. Within a year after arriving in the states, both of my grandmother’s parents contracted Typhoid Fever. Her father died at the age of 38 leaving his wife a widow at 32, with 6 children, in a new country. My grandmother was 8 years old.
It must have been a taxing life trying to bring in enough to care for a large family. They moved in with my grandmother’s aunt who had also moved to the states and somehow paid the bills. My grandmother quit school as soon as she was able to start bringing in an income and help with the family. At the age of 16 she started working as a switchboard operator for the telephone company. Which I understand to be a pretty prestigious job for the time.
A Relationship Match
The new job must have given her a little freedom. She enjoyed dressing up and spending time with her friends. She loved jewelry and even had a few fashion wigs that were all the rage. She married one of the young men in her group of friends. A local baseball hero who wanted to be with her more than with any other girl.
The Great Depression
The great depression hit two years before they got married. I sometimes wonder if they held off getting married, waiting for things to work out. As the lean times rolled on. Perhaps they decided to make the most of it and start their life together on faith.
The depression left a lasting impression.
When my grandmother died she had boxes of necklaces and earrings most of them shiny, colorful plastic. It was cost effective and added that splash of color to make an outfit complete. More telling were the piles of money stuffed in bureaus and under beds.
A huge storage of food in the basement, mostly expired, gave hope of no hungry days ahead. Never using the food, they always bought new food to eat from their pantry, but the basement was there as security.
The depression hit at such a pivotal time. They never quite recovered.
A Life of Poverty
Poverty does something to you, it changes how you see life and reality. Much like the scars on the dresser, you can fix it up and bring back the color, but some things will never be the same.
A different perspective isn’t necessarily to be mourned. Even though scars remain, that can’t be sanded out, it adds character and history. A meaningful story, that might not have otherwise come.
Alzheimer’s and Sacrifice
My grandmother lived to be 96 years old and spent the last 10 years of her life with Alzheimers and near complete deafness. There were times when I would look down the hall and see my mother helping her to the bathroom or helping her get dressed and wonder why God kept my grandmother here so long. She clearly wasn’t getting anything out of life. Maybe, I wondered, it was to give my mother the opportunity to show how angelic she was, for it took an angel to do the things she did. As I refinished her dresser and brought back the charm from its early days, I felt like I was reaching back into the beginning of my grandmother’s life.
and I remembered.
I remembered, that as my grandmother’s mind was being ravaged by the affects of Alzheimers and she would be thrown back and forth in time, reliving anywhere from five minutes to 90 years ago. There were times she would laugh and joke with me.
I began to wonder if maybe my grandmother hadn’t always been hardened and grumpy. I began to think maybe life had been hard and resulted in her currently, fleeting, hardened self.
So here I was thinking, as I sanded and glued and nailed pieces back together. Maybe my grandmother had lived that long so that I could also catch a glimpse of who she really had been. In a way, as the dresser began to take shape and show it’s true self, I began to see that my grandmother deserved the same respect.
The respect to regain and be remembered for who she had been.
This is how you transform your ordinary desk into the best kitchen island imaginable. I know, It’s pretty presumptuous to claim “the BEST,” but there are so many cool things to consider for your next island – YOU might even decide it’s the best…if you want, no pressure.
First you need to find the perfect desk, dresser, cabinet – which ever piece speaks to you. I collected five desks before I settled on this one. I liked the curve of the top drawer and the symmetry of the drawers.
Kitchen flow — A kitchen island can pull a whole kitchen together and make it the most accessible, efficient place in the house. To make this dream a reality, look around your kitchen, where do you spend the most time? Do you make a lot of smoothies, really like to throw things away (me), have children who like to cook and who you want to teach to clean up after themselves? All of these kitchen uses can be incorporated into a well built island. Consider what is near your kitchen island. As you can see below, our table was near one end of the island. So we placed the tilt out trash on that side, making it easier for our kids to scrape off their plates before putting them in the dishwasher. Since we had also redone the kitchen we had a deep drawer built in that held our everyday bowls, plates and cups. This drawer was placed conveniently between the dishwasher and the table allowing our kids to put away dishes and set the table – such a beautiful thing! We also kept the island temporarily short so our children had a counter height where they could make lunches themselves and help cook in the kitchen. (read about the Kid Friendly Kitchen here)
This arrangement was perfect for us. A tilt out trash helped our kids to clean up after dinner then each put their plate in the dishwasher. I wanted our kids to know how to work in a kitchen even if it’s just to take care of themselves. Here is the tilt out trash can. I first saw this idea while living in New England and decided one day I would have one. Little did I know that one day I would feel comfortable enough with power tools to make one myself and I’ll show you how on this post.
This was the portion closest to my oven, I wanted my island to be useful on every side. Consider what items you want easy access to. You could easily include your blender near the fridge or a shelf that holds all your drink accessories. I chose to have a place to slide a few cutting boards and pizza stones. Eventually I put some hooks right under the counter there for hot pads, but you’ll just have to take my word on it- I don’t have a picture.
Consider making a cut out for trash on top – easy food prep and looks awesome. Place a cutting board next to the opening and prep away, simply sweeping scraps off the side. You can read about how to make our own counter top with food prep access here.
Tilt out garbage — no more smashed toes from roll out versions. I like that it tilts out instead of having to roll along the floor, it take less space to toss your stuff.
First you have to build a structure the size of your trash can and attach it to your desk or dresser piece. You can see that I made the 2×4 structure come just under the top of the desk. I did this so I could use the desk top as reinforcement for the structure to fit in. Later after I added the top counter piece (read about it here), I added a few spacers to the trash can structure so it was the same height as the desk top. I also used wood glue and varying sizes of screws to attach it to the island. Pay attention to where the hardwood is in your desk. There were good places to screw into along the drawer supports, the top and bottom of the desk. If I were to do this again I would use 2x2s and not 2x4s. It wasn’t weight bearing and added unnecessary weight. But I guess we can sit on the island and jump up and down and it won’t break so that’s a plus. 🙂
The tilt out door was built by creating a bottom piece and front “door” piece. Basically a square wooden rod the length of your door and two right edge triangles to act as support. In the second picture you can see I had just added wood glue and was preparing to add the plywood door. I further attached the door to the support triangles with short screws that would not come through on the other side of the door.
I then used a continuous hinge to attach the bottom of the door to the island. A small chain was attached at the top so it wouldn’t fall all the way open.
I added several adjustable felt pad levelers so I could move the island without it damaging my floor and the adjustable feet helped me get a perfectly balanced top. Simply tighten or loosen each foot until it gives contact to the floor.
I used sliders on the bottom of my recycling cans, inexpensive and only cost $7 instead of $75. It is also much easier to clean and get to added storage behind. Make sure to use a heavy use, polyurethane on the floorboard of the island to hold up from the sliding.
Useful shelves –There was room behind my recycle cans so I added a shelf for more storage. Here I stored extra can liners and rarely used baking containers. You can see there is a cut out portion where the recycling bin fit.
Very affordable counter top design — plywood. I know, why would anyone choose plywood. Well it was meant to be a fill in until I could get my glorious butcher block top, but the fill in worked out so well I quickly moved on to other things. Who knows, I may add a butcher block top one day, but for now, here is how you make a plywood counter.
Easy to clean — After you have finished adding all your favorites to the desk you will need to choose trim and paint to pull it all together. I chose a simple trim that looked easy to clean and didn’t have small areas that would collect more things for me to clean:). I also chose a satin finish paint that could hold up to a lot of use and a lot of washing. Each of these trim pieces were caulked before painting to fill in gaps and give it a professional look. This thin trim is actually extra slats from our 2″ blinds. They didn’t add a lot of bulk, but still gave the island nice defining lines.
There you have it, the Best Desk to Kitchen Island, or the best for me. I would love to hear about your must haves in a kitchen island, share comments and pictures below.
Hi, I’m Natalie. I’m a mother of four, an artist, and a DIYer that loves to reuse, recycle, and refurbish. I have an obsession for power tools and teaching others how to save money while improving their home.
How does one become a home renovator?
Growing up, my dad said he could tell I was an artist from the moment I could hold a pencil. I loved to draw, until I discovered clay, then I absolutely loved clay. A new medium which allowed me to make anything I needed or wanted. It was empowering. I felt I had finally discovered my medium of choice. Until we bought our first house. There I discovered power tools and the realization that I could change a home into anything I wanted.
That is empowering.
I didn’t have to beg someone else to make what I envisioned and I didn’t have to save thousands before I could even think of updating.
Developing creativity
I grew up in the country, building forts and crafting doll outfits out of leaves. This rich background in natural, unadulterated resources, made room for a creative side. I often look at my children and hope I’m giving them the same opportunity. google.com, pub-2449347215660105, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 It doesn’t matter if you are a doctor, plumber or artist, creativity helps you solve problems and see things in a way that others haven’t yet. Creativity helps the world progress.
Choosing a Career
In high school I thought I wanted to be an illustrator. After I illustrated my first book, though I enjoyed the process, it wasn’t as fulfilling as I imagined it would be. A few years later we sold our first renovated home. The home sold very well, we had people writing letters begging us to sell to them. Not only was home renovating more profitable than drawing pictures, I absolutely loved the creative process. I quickly became a home improvement enthusiast.
But…
Home improvement is still a hobby next to my day job. Though I loved art and took plenty of courses in college, I was drawn to human development, intrigued by why people do what they do and how we can actually overcome and progress. I came away with a degree in Marriage, Family and Human Development.
In the last 20 years I have
worked with businesses to hire high functioning adults with disabilities and helped them stay employed.
Overseen the mental health and disabilities in a Head Start spanning four counties.
Organized Preschool co-ops and Summer art and science camps.
And worked as a behavior coach in an elementary school to solve behavioral problems and help children thrive while learning.
You will find personal development articles on my blog for all the reasons listed above. To live a full life you need creativity and happiness. I truly believe understanding why we do what we do is the best way to personal improvement.
Energy Conservation
When I was 8 years old I visited the city dump and you could say it was life changing. We throw so much away when it could be fixed up and have value again.
Energy conservation and recycling play a big part in my designs. In fact our home went from being a top energy user to consuming half of what other homes our size were using. The improvements we made also made us more comfortable, while saving money.
Few things top the feeling of seeing a finished job. When you can sit down on your own creation or design the perfect space you’ve imagined in your mind. Having people like it so much they are willing to pay you for it is the cherry on top.
Welcome to my journey, turning a house into a home through power tools, good food and personal improvement. I hope you find what empowers you to accomplish everything you’re working for.
Whether you follow my plans to the detail or use it as a springboard into what you have been searching for, best wishes in your journey.
Hi, I’m Natalie. I’m a mother of four, an artist, and a DIYer that loves to reuse, recycle, and refurbish. I like power tools and teaching others how to save money while improving their home.
This arrangement was perfect for us. A tilt out trash helped our kids to clean up after dinner then each put their plate in the dishwasher. I wanted our kids to know how to work in a kitchen even if it’s just to take care of themselves. Here is the tilt out trash can. I first saw this idea while living in New England and decided one day I would have one. Little did I know that one day I would feel comfortable enough with power tools to make one myself and I’ll show you how on this post.
I added several 
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