OAK HOUSE DESIGN CO.: August 2020

Restoration Hardware Dupe Drapes

Thursday, August 6, 2020

We have a Restoration Hardware Outlet about an hour away. But even at outlet prices, it's still a bit pricey for me. But there is something about their monotone, neutral, luxurious style that I love. Looking thru their catalog, I've always loved their yummy oatmeal-colored linen drapes. So I decided to make my own!

I sewed some for my family room a couple of years ago using linen I found at FabricStore.com. No affiliate links to them, but I still linked to the fabric, because it was so reasonably priced compared to every other linen I found. Below is the actual fabric that I chose. It says heavy, but I would still consider it a lightweight linen. If you're looking for fabric, you could always request a sample for $1.50. The ones they send are suuuper tiny, but it will give you an idea of the feel and color. Maybe I will do a 'linen tasting' in the future and collect several samples and compare for weight, color, texture, and of course price!

(check out my post on this DIY Desk)

I especially wanted to share these drapes that I made, because I am starting on a new set of drapes with this beautiful blue+white striped fabric I already have on hand. (Psst! I just found an old post and turns our I purchased it in 2013! So seven years ago, but I still love it!) It has no manufacturer markings, so I don't know who it's by or even it's fiber makeup. But it feels like a cotton/linen.

The method I used is the simplest I've ever done for lined drapes, so I thought that was worth sharing in case you were interested in completing your own! Follow along on Instagram for now, but once they're complete, I will write up a post for how I created them!

kitchen

Give Yourself a Gift in the Morning, Clean at Night

Growing up, my mom gave each of us kids a night to wash dishes. I don't remember what my night was, but in a family of seven and no dishwasher, it felt like quite a bit of work. Now, as an adult, I don't go to bed without cleaning the kitchen. I might be 10 or 11 p.m. getting it done, but it will happen. And I guess I have my mom to thank for that!

Now that it's just the three of us in my family and we have a dishwasher, it's a lot less work. So what exactly do I do? Now that we are home all day, and eating at home all day, I try to load dishes into the dishwasher thru-out the day. After dinner, I load in anything left and wipe down the counters and cooktop. I also give the floor a quick sweep. There are some people I know who don't use their dishwasher at all--those are not my people, lol!

I only hand wash things that are too large for the dishwasher or not meant for it like wooden utensils and my dutch oven. For those things, I like using a these basic scrub sponges and little wooden scrubbers like the ones below for cleaning pans and dishes. The right tools make the job a little more enjoyable!

Creating this habit at night serves as a gift to yourself in the morning more than anything else. You get to wake up and start your day in peace and with a clear workspace.

What about you? Are you one of the wild ones who skip using the dishwasher?

Share the good habits you have at night that set you up for a calm morning!

kitchen , Oak House Reno , Vent Hood

Series: An 80's Kitchen DIY Reno-{Part 15-Building the Vent Hood}

Monday, August 3, 2020

We've reached the last project I completed for the Kitchen Reno Series. This one I did a couple of months ago since we've been in quarantine. As I mentioned in a previous post, I had lots of inspiration for the build. But at some point you just have to get to work.

Going back to the beginning, we had a microwave over the cooktop initially.

I moved it to a new cabinet and added a vent hood last year, but plans to build a wood vent hood got put on hold.

To begin, I removed the cabinet doors and built a frame.

It was trial and error figuring out the angles for the cuts that would lean up against the frame, but they didn't have to be exact. Just close enough to be flush. It was a 15-17 degree angle on the top and about 22.5 degrees on the bottom.

I knew I wanted a stained wood shiplap look for the hood, so originally I purchased 3/4" poplar as the facing. But after getting it up, I realized it would be too thick to add any additional trim along the bottom.

So I took it down and found this 3/8" thick by 4" wide hobby wood in pine at Lowes. It comes in 2, 3, and 4 foot lengths, and the thickness was perfect. It also comes in a few other thicknesses. I found that not every store had the same variations of lengths and thickness of this wood. It also comes in Poplar and Oak and Home Depot carries a similar wood.

Cutting the face panels was easy, but the sides were angled. So I held up a piece to the side of the frame and marked the angle that way before cutting. I also decided in advance that the raw edge would be on the face of the hood, and I would cover that with trim later.

I added 1/4" maple plywood for the bottom section of the hood, and 3/8"x 2" pieces of the same wood as above to trim it out. I used corner molding for the two corners. The mitered trim angles on the bottom were right at head level and were super sharp. So I later rounded them out with my sander.

Along the top of the hood, I added a thin 3/8" x 3" to box out the top section so that I could later add crown molding.

I wanted the hood to stand proud of the cabinets and look as if it was completely separate from the cabinets. So I had to take down the crown over all the cabinets from the fridge to the oven tower. I later reattached after finishing the vent hood.

Once the trim was complete, I felt like it needed a little something extra since the trim was so simple.

It finally hit me...corbels! I found these wood corbels at Wayfair. As you can see below, there's hardware on the back of it to slide onto a screw head. Well it slides down, which would have left a 1/2" gap between the hood and corbel. I petitioned Instagram, and a friend made a suggestion that helped me come up with a solution. I turned them around to slide 'backwards' onto the vent hood instead of 'down' on the cabinet face frame once installed. But it was perfect, because they're just decorative and aren't structurally holding anything up.

They are a little longer on the down section than they are on the top section, so I had to trim them a bit. But they sanded down nicely along with those pointy corners.

I stained the hood with a mix of Minwax Provincial + Weathered Oak and finished it with a Matte Polyurethane, taping off to protect the paint.

And here she is!

THIS is why I moved the microwave below the counter! Adding a simple recirculating vent and creating this custom wood hood really elevated the look of the kitchen. If you're thinking about doing something similar and have any questions, let me know!