$5.00 Door knob

Remember these, my knockers from the dumpster. See Here

Well the spring in our lock broke and our front door would blow open in the wind unless we used the dead bolt. 

So we took this lock set

 outside handle

 inside handle

to Lowe's and for $5.00 had it re-keyed and got four keys.  Awesome.  (okay so the lock is a different finish on the inside but so is my door, and I know how to spray paint.)

 Now we have this,

 (I really need to paint, don't I)

I am not sure what this lock set would cost but not cheap. 

Thanks Mike for dumpster diving for me.  That is how you know you are loved. :)


By the way, I have taken a huge break from blogging.  I have had a neck injury and haven't been able to lift anything heavier than my purse.  So the air compressor and miter saw were definitely out.  I am feeling a little better and hoping to get back to projects. 

Boys striped bedroom

Here are the before pictures of this room.  I know it is hard to see but there were so many holes to patch it looked like a bad Venetian plaster job.

First I patched, primed and painted this room.

My son really wanted diagonal stripes.  I wanted a room he could have for a while and not out grow.  This is what we came up with.  When I started this I really had no plan as far as width of stripes and how many stripes.  If I did I would have changed it along the way.  I do my best work with no plan.  

I started by snapping a chalk line then masking it off with tape.  Then measuring up 18 inches and masking another line.  (If I had someone around to help I would have done less measuring and more chalk lines.)

We have this weird wall in this room so I continued the stripes around this room.  This was the trickiest part.  It took three tries to get the angle right.  I just went with what I felt looked right.  My husband asked why I didn't figure it out mathematically.  (How do you do that?)

After that it is just a matter of masking and painting.  I tried a few things to see what would give me the crisp lines I wanted. 

I tried using a putty knife to press on the tape making sure it was sealed well.  That helped a little but the line was definitely fuzzy.

Once I had a line on both sides I could use as a guide, I was able to use my Purdy brush and get a good line without tape.  This saved a lot of time.  I had to go slow but I didn't have to tape.  I love my Purdy brush. 

(The top is blue paint not blue tape)

A great tip for a crisp line is to mix a little caulk with water and spread it over the edge of the tape with your finger.  Let it dry for a minute, then paint.  This creates a great seal.  Just be sure to remove the tape while the paint is still wet. 

 (okay this pic is from a different project, but you get the idea)

This chocolate brown line was done this way.  Super crisp lines but time consuming.

After a lot of touch up the stripes were finished

 This project was very fun but really time consuming.  I think the stripes took me at least 12 hours to do.  I would recommend convincing someone to help you.  I tried to use paint I already had and mix paint together to make the colors I didn't have (I have a lot of leftover cans of paint).  For this project I spent $14 on paint and $7 on tape.  I feel it is a big impact for $21.

Top 10

Our hanging bed project made the top 10 in the DIY club monthly contest. YEA!  There are some amazing projects (some I think I will copy) you should check them out.  Winners announced next Monday.

I have also been featured over at Apartment Therapy, Sarah Rae Trover wrote this wrote this about our hanging bed

It's no secret that we have a love for hanging beds. The idea of our kids not being able to shove their toys and dirty clothes under them is almost more thrilling than date night. This one makes a big statement, could hold an entire slumber party in the air and we're 100% completely in love and in awe of the handiwork!

You can find this totally rad creation over at Sticks and Stones Home Decor. We always appreciate parents who have a mission to create something awesome and seek inspiration from other sources to get the job done. For this project they examined the way swings are held up on front porches and went from there.
They've been kind enough to share the entire project from start to finish and it's totally doable at home assuming you have a spare bed frame laying around and are handy with tools (or know someone who is). The cabling system is less daunting than you think and we whole heartedly give this diy dream room two thumbs up!

Thanks Sarah

Had I known I was having company I would have finished the room and tidied up the picture a little.  (When I wrote this post I only had 12 followers, mostly family and friends.  I didn't know it would end up on site thousands of people read every day.)  I wanted to get this post done quickly because I really, really want to win the DIY Club monthly contest.  Have you seen the list of sponsor products.  DIYers dream. 

Thanks DIY club.  This is a really fun.  You made my day.