While we are a little hesitant to completely retire this blog, it obviously has been neglected for some time.
But there is great news!
We have a new blog. It has a food and wine focus. Please visit us there!
See you over at the new site!
A+A
DIY Plumbing Pipe Shelves April 14, 2010
Lately we’ve been working on ways to get the most out of our small spaces. Last week we focused on the office.
We have a lot of books that we want to keep on hand, but also keep out of the way. We decided to look into installing a floating shelf up high close to the ceiling. The goal was to have the books accessible from a step stool, yet unobtrusive enough that you could stand underneath them. A few websites had some nice looking shelves made out of galvanized plumbing pipe, which we were happy to borrow ideas from. These are the posts that we used for inspiration, we found them both on apartmenttherapy.com:
Elizabeth and Mike’s shelves: Click here
Morgan’s shelves: Click here
This is the room/wall we were focusing on.
As you can see, this room needs some help.
Using the ideas we found on apartment therapy, I came up with a design for two shelves, one about 8 feet long and one about 51/2 feet long.
I bought a whole bunch of 1/2 inch galvanized pipe and fitting. Elbows, tees, flanges, etc. The total cost of the hardware (not counting the boards) was about $100. This is some some of the piping partially assembled.
Getting the fittings ready for painting.
I wanted to paint the piping matte black, but I was overridden by our chief design specialist, so we went with a matte green. The paint was actually called Camo.
These are the flanges.
The best way I could think of to paint the pipes was to hang them from a tree. Every piece got about 3 or 4 coats of camo spray paint.
With some twine and a stick.
For the boards, we wanted to use recycled wood. We drove all over Oakland looking for any kind of used 1×12, but couldn’t find any. So we went with some new pine 1×12. We stained it with the darkest stain we could find. The boards and the stain brought the total cost of the project to about $140.
I had to improvise the workspace. Each board got 2 coats of stain.
After everything dried, we assembled it in the room.
Getting it onto the wall was the hardest part, but we managed ourselves.
And the finished product. We are very happy with it.
Alex and Allison
Alameda February 11, 2010
I mentioned Alameda a few weeks back because it is where we took the photo for the Christmas card. We return to Alameda pretty frequently because we have a storage unit on the island. We are currently moving out of the unit, and squashing all of our extraneous belongings into the shed we have in the backyard.
The storage unit is on Alameda Point, the majority of which sits atop an old military base. A large part of the base is abandoned and defunct. The are some businesses that have made a home out of the old airplane hangars, but Alameda Point has a very desolate feel to it. On every trip I make to the island, I take my camera. I am drawn to not only the cool historical aspect of the area, but also the empty, abandoned, and cast-aside feeling the place imparts on you when you explore.
This is the USS Hornet, which fought in World War II and then went on to pluck the Astronauts from the first moon mission out of the ocean when they returned to Earth. It is permanently docked and houses a Museum.
One of the tie downs.
This is one of many abandoned docks. Fencned off for your safety.
This is an old sign, with a rusty lock and the bottom to keeping it safe from tampering. The sign faces north, but it is still so hammered by sunlight that it has no visible text or images.
Best of all, Alameda point is a great place to park your van for a few weeks…
Alex and Allison
Seed Starters February 3, 2010
We are excited to have some seed starters planted and watered.
Our list so far:
Tomatoes
-Beefsteak
-Jubilee
-Plum
Peppers
-Anaheim
-Jalepeno
Greens
-Mesclun mix
-Spinach
Herbs
-Dill
I made a makeshift greenhouse out of a plastic storage bin, which I think will be perfect to keep the temperature up and the moisture in.
In addition to figuring out what else we want to grow, our next task will be to improve the soil out in the yard. It is clay soil, and will require some serious amending to become viable. We are currently shopping for some cheap compost, which I think is the best remedy for clay soils. No huge hurry though, since the seeds starters will take at least a few weeks to be ready for transplant.
-Alex and Allison
Hello, Stranger February 1, 2010
This is some Little Red Riding Hood graffiti art on a lamppost on our street. North Oakland is covered in graffiti, and this is one of the few efforts I’ve seen that I find tolerable. I really like it actually. It’s a pretty picture, but has such a sinister implication…
