Why of Cork!

I know, its a lame title but I couldn't resist, the dork in me had to come out. As I discussed in my master plan, we purchased Cork Flooring from Lumber Liquidators to put down in our laundry room. My first post about our laundry room had a glimpse of what the previous linoleum looked like but I'll give you a better idea in just a few. This project was actually pretty simple (thanks to all of the help from my dad) and its made the room look really incredible!

So here is our former flooring in all of its glory. It wasn't that it was bad or looked terrible, we just wanted a higher quality floor for resale value.

Luckily we were able to leave it & just start adding everything else to the top since we picked out a floating floor (yet another reason we chose cork over tile). First we pulled all of the flooring out of the boxes & laid it around the den to "acclimate to our environment" for about 48 hours.

Next we laid down a moisture barrier, I'm still not sure that we really needed it but figured it was better to be safe than sorry!

We actually determined later that we started on the wrong end of the room but we made it work anyways. Lets just say that our lives would've been much easier had we been able to slide a full piece under the door jam rather than piecing it together. :)

We really only had 2 obstacles to our rectangle, the air vent & the dryer vent on opposite corners of the room. First up was the air vent, my dad used a combo of a drill & a jigsaw to make that cut. It was really close to the edge of the board so we accidentally broke one before getting the hang of everything. After getting it cut out it was a matter of quick measurements & cuts and banging the boards together until we got to the dryer vent in the other corner of the room. Then it was a guesstimation of a cut & trial & error until it fit. We thought we could just buy a PVC collar to cover it but apparently they don't make those. Oh well, it will be hidden anyways!

Our 32 square foot room took about two hours to do from start to finish. Here it is in all of its glory (without the quarter round to cover the edges).

Finally it was just a matter of trimming off the edges of the underlayment & placing the quarter-round back in, sealing up the edges & touching up the paint on the baseboards (Sherwin Williams Dover White in glossy) & the walls (Sherwin Williams Dapper Tan in flat - btw its not that funky yellow color you see below, the more accurate color is in the photos above)!

Laundry Room Re-do

Ok, so I've been pretty slack around here lately. Lots to catch up on but for now it's really just a teaser. Here is a link to my original post about our laundry room.  Well, we're FINALLY getting around to fixing it up. The in-laws are generously gifting us with a new front-load washer & dryer & the pedestals as our Christmas gift this year. They got an AMAZING deal on a fully-loaded Samsung washer & dryer set (not sure if that is the exact one but they look really similar) from our local Sears Outlet on Black Friday & they will deliver tomorrow.

Well since those giants are huge & extremely heavy so we knew that if we were ever wanting to re-do the floors that now was the time. I first read about cork floors over at Young House Love through their kitchen remodel & became interested. We first looked into slate but with the laundry room being right next to our bedroom I wanted something that would be a little quieter...not to mention warmer on the feet. We found the last 3 boxes of our style & color (pictures coming soon) at Lumber Liquidators for about $3 a square foot & started the install Tuesday night. I have to say that it was pretty easy & actually went really quickly once we got the prep work out of the way & got the hang of it all.

All of that will come to you soon enough but for now I wanted to share my plans with you for our future laundry room space as well as my checklist to both keep me in line & you in the know!

Here is a view from the ceiling. Feeling a little cramped? The room is just 4.5' x 6.5' so we need to use every imaginable space available to us. You can see the washer & dryer peeking out just a big under the blue cabinets (still haven't committed to that color but its my initial idea) & there are some other cabinets on the other side we'll get into in a minute. That thing on the back of the door would be the ironing board that I'm going to get some brackets to install & hang it there.

The green square on the floor is the Le Poeme rug from Ballard in Sage that is only $50 for a 2'x3' rug...sold!

The gold on the left wall is actually these safety pin plaques from Ballard as well that my sister & her husband bought us as part of a wedding gift. I have a big crush on them.

Here is a better view of the room as you walk in the door. We will be keeping the same wall color, just touching it up a bit.

Now turning to the right you'll find the washer & dryer with cabinets. Not really sure what the extra strip of white is at the top, it was just supposed to be crown molding.

 

Cabinets on the sides will have doors (see reference idea below) & yes we have an old birdseed bucket that is used for a multitude of things but came with the ubiquitous name of "puke bucket" thanks to what it was called in my childhood. Mom & Dad kept it classy folks. The silver bar will be for keeping extra hangers around & most likely will inevitably be used to dry my bras...the class is embedded in the DNA. I haven't done a lot of measuring so my idea of how this will all pan out may not be accurate but this is the rough idea. I'm loving these knobs from Anthro but will pbly see what Hobby Lobby has before diving in.

Next up, the left side of the room.

Hidden behind the door will be a rack for our OXO Floor Sweeper & my newest friend in the cleaning game, my Shark Steam Mop. On the right side will be a much thinner cabinet.

I'd like to put a tilt-out drying rack up top to dry larger pieces of clothing so they aren't scattered throughout our downstairs, similar to this old piece from Ballard.

Below that I'd like a shelf for perhaps some carpet cleaner, stain remover, etc & a taller shelf for the things you need but don't really want to see like the plunger & toilet brush. Finally below that I'd like a built-in area for our dog's bowls since that is typically where we keep them but it would be nice to have them look a little more professional.

I think that's about it! So here is our ever-growing to-do list. I still have to run everything past the husband & the master builder (my dad).

1. Order new floors
2. Get underlayment for floors
3. Remove shoe molding
4. Install new floors
5. Get a pipe collar to cover where the new flooring meets the dryer vent. - canceled this, they don't make them...oh well!
6. Install pipe collar - see above
7. Get quarter round
8. Paint quarter round
9. Install quarter-round
10. Touch up baseboards & quarter round
11. Remove existing shelf
12. Touch up walls
13. Touch up trim around doors (see here for the issue with it) 
14. Trim transition piece
15. Replace transition piece
16. Get washer/dryer delivered
17. Order rug
18. Order new air register (ours was stark white & I found one in aged brass online for only $6)
19. Place in new air register
20. Get hooks for ironing board
21. Install ironing board hooks
22. Buy crown molding
23. Paint crown molding
24. Install crown molding
25. Buy cabinet materials
26. Buy new dog bowls (the ones she has now are a little gaudy for my taste)
27. Build cabinets
28. Paint cabinets & cabinet trim
29. Install cabinets
30. Install cabinet trim
31. Install cabinet knobs
32. Buy hanging bar
33. Install hanging bar
34. Replace light bulbs to be the swirly efficient kind (see why the peeps at Lowe's love me?)

We've still got a LONG ways to go with this project but I'm really excited to see progress & will share how far we get after the weekend!

Cheesy Chicken Pot Pie

Since we have become people that rarely eat red meat, Tim doesn't really like fish & I seem to forget that pork outside of bacon actually exists, we eat a LOT of chicken. Just about every night that we eat meat, it is chicken. Making sure there is some variety is imperative to keeping our tastebuds from rising against us in revolt.

As it has begun to get colder I decided it was about time for some chicken pot pie. First I boiled 3 chicken breasts with bay leaves.

Wreath Renewal

The wreath on our front door has seen better days. It used to be a pretty green color but has now faded away into more of a light Smurf blue.

Since structurally it's still pretty solid I decided I would just spray paint it to give it new life.

I started out by laying it on the ground of the lot next door so I didn't end up with a funky colored lawn or driveway and used a yellow for the base. I didn't want it to be solid as I still wanted a hint of the greenish/blue peeking through.

Here is how it looked after the first coat.

Next up, a deep red/burgundy color. I layered it in so the yellow and blue/green still also showed.

Here are the results of that quick spray.




Next up, an orange. I wanted more of a deep orange but settled as it wasn't available. I sprayed it on and again let all of the other colors peek back through.

Here is the result of that quick spray.



Finally, I wanted something just to take the brightness of the colors down a bit so I sprayed a quick coat of a beige I already had.



Here she is in all of her glory.



I let it dry for about 10 minutes, threaded the ribbon back through and placed it back on the door as good as new!

Fast & Easy

Each year our HOA has an annual meeting to discuss everything from the previous year, express concerns & vote in the Advisory Board for the next year. This year Tim's yearly colonoscopy (it was clean!) landed on the same day which allowed for me to be home taking care of him most of the day. He was back to his normal self by dinnertime which was also the same time as the meeting. I thought it would be nice to go a little early & take dinner with us, a little picnic if you will. I ran a little short on time so I don't have pictures of the final food but you can use your imagination right? :)


First up was Broccoli Salad, one of my favorites! First I mixed a cup of mayonnaise, 5 tablespoons of Apple Cider Vinegar & a tablespoon of sugar.

I then added in some cooked bacon (about 1/2 a cup but you can add as little/much as you want) along with some finely shredded cheddar (again, about 1/2 a cup but you can add as little/much as you want).

 

 Next up I chopped a head of broccoli & half of a purple onion to add in.

Everything was stirred together & placed in the fridge for a minimum of an hour.

Next up, Ham Delights. I found these poppy seed rolls at Trader Joe's & thought they would be perfect (although traditionally I've always made them with Hawaiian Sweet Rolls).

I mixed up 1/2 a cup of butter with a few tablespoons of mustard (to taste), some Worchestershire (to taste) and about a tablespoon and a half of poppy seeds.

I then spread the mixture onto both sides of the cut rolls.

Piled on the ham & cheese (whatever kinds you like) & baked in a 350 oven for about 10-15 minutes. Basically until the cheese melts & the mixture on the buns does too.

Finally I made some homemade Fresca. This was incredibly easy & I have no idea where I got the idea. First I zested an orange, a lemon & a lime.

Next I boiled one cup of sugar into one cup of water in order to make a simple syrup. I added the zests after all of the sugar had dissolved.

Finally I took the zested fruit, added in another orange & lemon & juiced all into the cooled simple syrup. Finally added in some ice & Ginger Ale & it was good to go!

At this point we were no longer going to be early so I threw everything into a bag & we rushed to the meeting but got to enjoy our fantastic supper during it!

Failure

This is by far the worst meal I have ever created. I don't know what my problem was but I was completely off this night. 

Here it is in all of its glory, what's that your asking? What is that sauce? Well funny story...those are actually mashed potatoes. See where we're starting to go with this?

Everything started out normally, I just got a fry basket for our cookware & decided to use it. I quartered some red potatoes & started boiling them.

Once they were fork-tender I put them into the blender.

I added in some frozen garlic cubes. Trader Joe's sells them & they are fabulous.

I also added in salt, pepper, sour cream & milk (way too much milk) which left me with soup. I tried to thicken it up with cornstarch but that gave it more of the consistency of glue. The flavor was good but I couldn't get past the consistency.

Onto failure number 2. Next up, oversteamed green beans. Whenever I steam vegetables I always use this fabulous little silicone insert & typically have great results.

This time not so much, wilted & oversteamed vegetables are pretty disgusting & don't do a lot for you nutritionally as most of the nutrients have been cooked out.

Next up, a semi-success. Tim doesn't eat fish, he's convinced that he won't like it so I decided to work on changing his opinion. I spoke with the guys behind the counter at Whole Foods that suggested Dover Sole Fillets as they are a mild fish. 

I started out by mixing Panko crumbs with grated parmesan cheese, salt, pepper & paprika. 

I also mixed up 3 eggs with some milk added in salt & pepper again. 

I dipped the fillets into the egg mixture then covered them with the panko mixture followed by placing them into a hot cast iron skillet with some olive oil until they were nice & brown.

Throughout this entire post you may be asking yourself what is the burnt hockey puck looking thing on the plate? Well, that was the biggest failure of them all. There were extra panko crumbs which had become a bit like a dough with the egg mixture.

I had the brilliant idea of frying them up as well. I really can't tell you just how terrible they really were. Tim told me they were pretty good with ketchup but I have the feeling he may have been stretching the truth a bit.

So there you have it, my biggest failure in cooking thus far. I'm sure I'll have many more in the years to come but hopefully none will taste this bad again!