Wood working: my

Showing posts with label my. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

My favorites at Target

If youve been reading my blog for a while, you probably know that I love Target. The home section is a favorite for finding home items because of the great prices and on trend staple and designer lines.

Here are a few of my favorites this week:

The Nate Berkus line has finally landed in San Luis Obispo (better late than never!) and this has definitely been one of my favorite designer line to date, bravo Target and Nate! I love these jute rugs, especially the diamond one in the center. What a great way to add texture to a room!

These cable knit throws also caught my eye. The colors were really beautiful - the icky fluorescent lighting and phone camera dont do them justice!

and back to Nate, his curry bath line is the perfect mix of mustard yellow and pattern - I want!

There was so much more that I liked, I wish I would of taken more photos ...

Have you found anything recently at Target that was too good to pass up?

and last but not least,

Slowly but surely we are making progress on the credenza! Well be doing a two tone paint job so make sure to come back for the finished photos (Monday), but it has come a very long way from last week ...

eek!

Ive also gotten back to oil painting! I painted a lot in college, and havent had the space since, so it was been nice to get back to it. Check back tomorrow to see what Ive been working on!

If you want to see in process design shots or daily snapshots, you can find me on Instagram @ sarahmdorseydesigns

Thursday, January 23, 2014

My Cozy Shop Floor Part I The Cozy Part

My new shop floor is soft and cozy warm.

Where We Started On Friday Night.

There are many components to a great shop. One that I dont think gets quite enough credit - and one that Ive ignored until now - is the floor. Like many woodworkers with a garage shop, for years Ive simply used the original concrete as my floor. It was there and machines on wheels were able to roll on it - it worked.

As Ive finished up the odyssey that was my shop walls over the last few months Ive thought about the floor. After the work of the walls, the floor would be quick and simple - provided I could get all my crap off of it. When I realized that my kids would be away with my Dad and my Wife away with her sister on the same weekend I knew I had a chance to install the floor that I had to take advantage of.

On Friday of the big weekend, once everyone was on their way I began by moving all of the living room furniture into the dining room. Then I laid out drop cloths and began moving my shop into the living room. I brought my Cousin over and together we emptied everything out of the shop except the table saw, band saw and jointer. Then I paid him with dinner.

I dragged myself up on Saturday and got to work. Unlike many published designs for installing shop floors over masonry floors, I built mine without sleepers. To get away without the support sleepers provide, I used 60 psi extruded polystyrene (XPS) rather than the standard 20 psi. Between the high psi XPS and the diffusion the 3/4" OSB would provide to point loading of weight, I decided no sleepers would be needed. I didnt do any structural calculations, but so far the lack of sleepers hasnt been a problem.

The gap between the wall and the XPS is filled with Great Stuff

After vacuuming the floor, the first step was to lay down the XPS. I measured a relatively straight line about 1/2" off the curb at bottom of the exterior wall of my shop. I used that line to set the XPS. I filled the gap between the curb and the XPS with Great Stuff. I used Window & Door great stuff with my Pro-Gun, as I have for the entire shop renovation. The gun gives application control unachievable with the standard can and straw. The Window and Door Great Stuff is better than standard Great Stuff because it stays softer and expands less than standard Great Stuff, making installation easier.

Air sealing as I go.

The XPS I used has a rabbit around the edge. I installed it upside down so that when the sheets were laid against each other, the rabbits created a channel which I filled with M-1 caulking. This allowed me to air seal between the boards of insulation.

With the XPS down, it was time for OSB.