Y’all. I know what you’re thinking. “This room still isn’t finished?!” I’m right there with you. I’m frustrated. But as of today, the only two things left to do are to (1) touch up the paint on the ceiling, and (2) iron and hang the curtains. Well, that’s not exactly true, because I created one more project for myself, and it’s a real source of frustration for me. But more on that in a minute. First, let me share two useful bits of information with you.
The first bit of information is that I tried Danish oil for the first time this weekend, and I’m a huge fan! I never would have thought to use it except that a small bottle of Danish oil came with my WaterRower, which is made out of walnut. My WaterRower been sitting in this room ever since I got it and put it together (maybe a year now?), so it was in here during the master bathroom remodel as I was using this room as my workshop, and creating all kinds of dusty messes in here.
So after that abuse, the wood on the WaterRower was looking very dusty and dry. So after giving it a good cleaning to remove all of the dust, I got out the tiny bottle of Danish oil that came with it and start applying it to the wood. That tiny bottle didn’t go very far, so I headed to Home Depot and picked up a container of Watco Danish Oil in Dark Walnut.
I just applied it with a paper towel, and it leaves such a gorgeous finish! Danish oil dries to a hard finish in about six hours. It’s very easy to use — wipe on with a cloth, wipe off the excess, let it dry. That’s it.
I really didn’t have any doubt that it would make the (real) walnut look beautiful, but I wondered how it might work on cheaper wood that is stained in a walnut color. So I decided to try it on the bars of the Swedish ladder. I’m not sure what kind of wood these are made of. I don’t think it’s pine, but it is some sort of very light white wood. The Danish oil worked beautifully on these as well. You can see the difference between the oiled and the unoiled bars below. The Danish oil gave the bars a deeper, richer color.
I also gave them a very light sanding with some 400-grit sandpaper, and the combo of the fine sanding and the Danish oil gave these bars a really beautiful satin sheen.
Next up, I want to show y’all just how useful the Uproot Clean tool is. This is a tool that I bought specifically to clean pet hair (cat hair) off of my velvet furniture. It’s works amazingly well, and is very fast and simple to use. I’ve never tried it on any furniture other than velvet, but evidently it works on clothes, carpet, and just about anything else.
So after painting Matt’s Theracycle exercise bike, I was putting everything back together and had to find a way to clean up the Velcro straps on the pedals. These things were filthy because when the bike isn’t in use, the straps are always on the floor like this…
He’s had the bike for several years now, and we’ve always had pets, so the Velcro had picked up so much dog and cat hair over the years.
I had no idea how to get that out of the Velcro, because everything I’ve tried in the past (dog brush, cat brush, flea comb, etc.) had not worked. But then I remembered the Uproot Clean tool.
It worked like a charm, and each strap took less than a minute to remove all of that fur that it had collected over the years. I couldn’t believe how easy it was!!
If you have pets, I highly recommend the Uproot Clean tool. It’s quite amazing.
Okay, now let’s talk about this entry to the room. Before this weekend, I had already decided that a decorative ceiling light wasn’t going to work here. I didn’t like the idea of looking into the room from the music room and seeing two ceiling lights (the hallway light and this light) so close together. So I had already decided to use the 1/2-inch lights that look like recessed lights that I used in the main part of the room.
So I got my ladder and cut a hole. Now let me remind you that these lights can go virtually anywhere. It doesn’t matter if there’s a ceiling joist there. You can still put these lights there.
Well, what I didn’t anticipate is that right where the light needed to go, there wasn’t just one ceiling joist in the way. That wouldn’t have been aproblem at all. No, there were about five joists all nailed together to create a six-inch-wide area of solid wood. I’m not sure if you can see it in the picture below, but that’s nothing but wood all the way across the exact spot where I needed to put a light.
I can guarantee you taht there’s no other place in my entire house where you’ll find that EXCEPT for the exact spot where I wanted to put a light. Talk about frustrating!!!
So I just screwed the drywall back on to the wood, and patched it with drywall mud. It still needs lots of sanding, and probably one more coat of drywall mud before I can paint it. So as of this morning, it looks like this…
I couldn’t believe it. I mean, these lights can go virtually anywhere. That’s one reason I love them so much. But what are the odds that I chose the ONE spot where five 2″ x 6″ pieces were all connected to each other to create a massive six-inch-thick beam? So there won’t be a light in the entry to the room. I’m fine with that. It’s not that big of a deal. But having to repair a big hole in the drywall on the ceiling in a room that is virtually finished is such a frustration.
So make that THREE things that I have to do: (1) touch up the paint on the ceiling, (2) iron and hang the curtains, and (3) finish repairing the useless hole that I made in the drywall on the ceiling. And I have a completely free day ahead of me, so the room will be completely finished today. I promise I won’t be putting any more useless holes in the drywall, or coming up with any more last minute projects that I want to do in here.
Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.
I hope you’ll join me on my DIY and decorating journey! If you want to follow my projects and progress, you can subscribe below and have each new post delivered to your email inbox. That way you’ll never miss a thing!
