decorating

Creepy Guy by the Water Cooler

~ joelshaw@sbcglobal.net ~ 1 Comment

You know that creepy guy at work that is always hanging out by the water cooler? Well, I have been working from home quite a bit, and I have a water cooler. By default, that made me the creepy guy by the water cooler. Notice, I said “made” and not “makes”. I have the problem solved! Now there is the pictured creepster to take my place.

I also always wanted an aquarium. However, I didn’t want to worry about keeping up with it, figuring out what kinds of fish get along, deciding on salt water vs fresh water… you get the point. Now there is no need. I have a maintenance free aquarium!

All joking aside, it is always fun to play around with paint. What started as a face drawn with a Sharpie turned into various attempts with paint. If you want to play around with this, I have a few suggestions:

  • Roughen the surface: the aquarium jug images rubbed off fairly easily when transported for refill, so I lightly sanded next jug and it was much more durable.
  • Acrylic paint seems to work fine. I used the cheap acrylic paint from Wal-Mart.
  • If you are going to look through the jug at the painted images, be sure to think it out and paint in reverse order. For instance, paint the things that will be in the foreground before the things in the background.
  • On the fish tank, my wonderful wife had the idea of drawing the outline of everything in black and then filling in the color. I think it turned out great that way. You don’t even have to be careful to keep inside of the outlines because you won’t be able to see it!

This wasn’t the most intricate DIY project in the world, but I thought it was fun and added some color to the pantry. I can’t wait until I break one of these jugs so we can paint another!

If you try it, you can celebrate with some good old fashioned fire water when you finish!

TURNING the Interior Decorating World Upside Down

~ joelshaw@sbcglobal.net ~ 1 Comment

IMG_0030A metal working lathe is a machine which spins (“turns” in machining parlance) a work piece and allows the operator to cut that work piece with extreme precision. It is an incredibly versatile machine with gearing and attachments to allow for cutting threads, tapers, radii, and just about any profile that a mechanical part might require. I have a fairly modern lathe in the shop for years, and I probably found it to be one of the most exciting acquisitions I’ve ever made.

What does this have to do with interior decorating? If you haven’t guessed by the title and the brief background, this post is about a metal working lathe and how it relates to my version of interior decorating.

I’ve always been fascinated by gears, wheels, motors, machinery, and just about anything requiring electricity or gasoline. Several months ago, a good friend who knew about my interests mentioned that his neighbor had an antique lathe and needed some money. I really didn’t need another lathe and had just been laid off, but I really like machines. I like them even more when the are antiques.

This presented two hurdles:

  • How to mentally justify my need for another lathe
  • How to get it working

KIMG0101My first hurdle didn’t take that much to get over. Firstly, I have more house than furnishings. Secondly, I’ve seen classy looking households that highlighted antique Singer sewing machines as sculptures. Why not a lathe?  Sewing machines and lathes are both industrial machines with belts and gears. In fact, a lathe is a much better machine as it has more gears, more belts, more power, more speed, and can even be used to make a sewing machine!

Bringing the lathe back to functionality wasn’t that much of a hurdle either. Disassembly wasn’t bad, and the motor worked fine after a bit of rewiring and repairing some shorts.IMG_0042

After getting everything working, an unforeseen hurdle popped up: how to display it so people wouldn’t find it offensive.

The first step required hours with rags, tooth brushes, and solvents. It still isn’t perfect, but it no longer slings grease. It can even be handled without leaving one’s hands and clothing dirty.

The next step was presentation. I thought a metal cabinet like most lathes rest on would be harsh, so I decided to go with wood.  I just happened to find a guy on Craigslist who makes benches from scrap pine, and he had a smaller one that nobody seemed to want.  I bought it, stained it, added a directional switch with a linkage to a forward/reverse handle, and voila.

KIMG0103The lathe can be seen on the edge of this picture of my dining room.

I’d like to finish by mentioning my reason for this post. I’ve mentioned putting a lathe in my dining room from time to time, and some people have responded with confusion or even downright anger. I hope this post will act as a tool to explain my reasoning so that we can all just get along.