{Because Inquiring Minds Want to Know!}

I have received a lot of questions about some of our projects and what tools and/or advice we would give.  Here’s a list of tips, answers to questions, and product suggestions (or at least what we have used). 

1. Be patient.  If it doesn’t look right…take it down and try again.
2. You’re NOT going to “ruin” your house.  We still have to work on this one.  We really don’t want to ruin our house, and sometimes a project scares us just because we may ruin something.  We’ve been pretty lucky, and haven’t had any major problems…but if we do, I think we will get through it (maybe with a little help from a professional if needed).
3. Be creative!
4. Go for it…sometimes what scares you the most, will be the most rewarding!
5. What is lattice? We used lattice on our Rast Hack drawers, to trim out the sides of our Mudroom, and to our Door Casings.  It is a thin (1/4 inch) piece of pine wood that comes in two sizes.  We get ours from Home Depot or Lowes, and it is usually found in the back of the store with the trim, casings, and moldings.  If you can’t find it, just ask someone…and they will help you out!
   
6. Crown Molding – Product Suggestion:  We found a product this past summer that was a crown molding that was reversible.  This meant you could cut your angled compound miter and then flip the other side for a perfect fit.  We found ours at Lowe’s.  It is called Flip Face, and it is also found in the molding section, as well.
7. Tips on crown molding.  Justin found a great website to help him set his saw here.
   
8. What tape do you use?  Frog Tape…it’s green and perfect in every way.  You can use it on fabric or walls, and you will always have a perfect line.  Skip the blue, and go for green.  Trust me!
9. What stain did you use  on the Mudroom Bench?  I mix 1 part (or one small can) of  English Chestnut with 1 part (or one small can) of Special Walnut.  This mix seems to compliment the wood floors and cabinetry in our house.
10. Where did you get the corbels you used on your mudroom?  Home Depot!  They are the best.  Layla used them on her kitchen cabinets at The Lettered Cottage and Young House Love just used them on their open shelving in their newly remodeled kitchen.  And for$8.86…they are must have item when doing a shelving unit of any type…including our mudroom.
11. How did you paint your mudroom?  We used a roller and a paint brush.  Sprayers scare me.  I’ve heard they can be finicky and can clog.  Our favorite paint brushes are Purdy.  We ALWAYS add Floetrol (for latex paint) to our paint to extend drying time and which alleviates streaks and brush marks!
12. Tools We Can’t Live Without
    1. Skil Saw Compound Miter: We got ours from Lowe’s.  (Christmas gift from my mom.)  It was about $70.
    2. Evolve Nail Gun and Compressor:  We got ours from Sears.  It is a Craftsman Evolve and was about $80 for the compressor and gun.
    3. Dremel MultiMax:  This is a great, multiuse tool.  Justin cut all of our baseboards when doing the casings with this tool.  The Dremel was about $90.
13. Is your header new?  Did you use Picnik?  What are you going to do when it’s gone?  Yes, I change my header all of the time.  I think I finally have it the way I want it.  I used Picnik and Picasa together.  I have no idea what I’m going to use when Picnik goes bye-bye…but I will probably shed a tear or two.

Quick Header Tutorial:
-First, I make sure my pic is the right width is pixels.  My blog calls for a 1050 pixels heading picture for it to fit centered.
-Then, I used the shapes for the borders.
-Then I added text.  When I find a color I like, I write the number down so I can use it in blogger for my titles, links, and widgets.

I hope I answered some of your questions!  If I haven’t answered a question, shoot me an email at acharmingnest@gmail.com!  I will try to get back to you as soon as possible!