storage Archives - KREATING HOMES

DIY Wood Tiles

November 28, 2019 3 Comments

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Often times as creative and DIY prone people we see things that are pretty cool and think “I could make that!”. And we have. Everything from furniture, home goods, cleaning products, clothing, accessories… the list could go on. We have tried a LOT of DIY projects and products. But todays DIY is a new one even for us. We tried our hand at DIY Wood Tiles for the wine bar and we are thrilled with the results!

DIY Wood Tile Wall for Wine Bar Backsplash

Initially Bo and Nicole requested a tile backsplash and we searched ALL the usual spots for traditional ceramic tiles. We went through sample after sample but nothing seemed to spark a real interest. And then we came across a look that had them both using exclamation points in text. We were so stoked! After a little more digging we quickly realized the tiles were custom, out of budget, and not even available for our time line. This is where the DIY brains started to kick in.

We started to play around with ways to get a similar “look” using alternative materials. We considered paint, vinyl, tiles we could refinish… and then we came back to our ol friend plywood. After mocking up a handful of tiles we managed to convince Bo and Nicole it was going to come out just perfect(even though we had NEVER done this or seen this anywhere before…Ha!).

Cutting & Routing

Once we had the measurements and realized we literally needed to cut hundreds of tiles it was time to call in reinforcements! Luckily they have a fantastic pool of friends that have been really willing to help out through out the renovations. With 4 sets of hands working all at once we were able to get every thing cut and routed pretty quickly.

We went with a rhombus shape and round routed edges for the final product. Obviously the shape options here are vast and you could play with so many different patterns and layouts(we really want to try hexagon tiles next!).

In the end, we chose to make the final tiles with MDF instead of plywood. It cuts perfectly smooth and its a fraction of the price. Also, being that the tiles would be completely covered you would have no idea what the material is from the outside.

Painting & Paneling

Now the fun part! We hand dipped each tile in a mixture of three different colored latex paints to mimic the look of glazed ceramic tile. Generally there is quite a bit of variation in hand glazed products and we really wanted to transfer that look into our DIY version. We dumped all three colors in a pan, gave it a small swirl, and got to dipping. This was easily the most time consuming part but totally worth it.

To get the look of a glazed tile we also needed to address the shine and finish. We’re kind of obsessed with resin & epoxy YouTube videos(anyone else relate??) so we thought this was a perfect opportunity to try a project of our own.

Epoxy Pour

In order to minimize the waste (from run off) we first glued the tiles to panels of 1/4″ plywood. These were cut to cover the backsplash wall completely when placed together. We taped the sheets together from the back, flipped it over, glued the tiles on, and then took the panels apart to epoxy. *Its important to note we only glued the tiles which covered the seams on one half. This way, the panels came together on the wall like puzzle pieces.

In case you’ve never worked with or heard of epoxy let me give you a quick overview of perks: its incredibly shiny when cured, self leveling, and simple to apply. So basically perfect for this project! We laid our panels on top of 2x4s covered in plastic sheeting for the application and drying. Q poured directly onto the panels, Nicole helped move product with a sponge roller, and Bo hit the top with a torch to remove air bubbles. Like I mentioned previously, the epoxy is self leveling so as it dried it also smoothed out and drained through all the crevices.

Hanging & Grouting

The next day we had 3 extra shiny panels that were ready to hang! At this point we had more helpers stop by and everyone agreed: this was starting to look just like tile! We attached the panels with screws placed in the crevices which would later be covered. In the end, you couldn’t tell there were ever three separate panels. It just appears like a traditional tiled wall or backsplash.

To further the look of ceramic tile we decided to grout the panels. The routed edges gave us the perfect sized surface gap for grouting without having to leave space between the tiles. Yay for more illusions!

We chose an epoxy grout in bright white to really make the shapes pop. It was our first time working with this kind of grout and its very different than traditional tile grout. We learned really quickly to only do small sections at a time, use a very firm sponge or extra grout float covered in a microfiber cloth to wipe away excess, and get extra hands to help move things along!

This grout doesn’t require sealer and it cures super fast. Which also meant we were able to attach the corner round trim to the exposed side(on the left), add the electrical face plates, and caulk all the outer edges the same night.

The Final Illusion

These DIY wood tiles came out better than we ever expected and thats not always the case with DIY projects. This felt like a big win! To be honest, we just cant wait for another reason to experiment with DIY wood tiles😍

So would you venture into DIY wood tiles? Have you seen a shape or pattern you think we should try next? You know I’d love to hear all about it in the comments!

DIY, storage, wine bar

DIY Pipe Shelving

November 26, 2019 No Comments

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A big part of any wine bar is storage. Wine, glasses, decanters, openers, accessories… there is a lot a wine lover starts to collect over time. Luckily most of this is also really attractive and perfect for something like open shelving. This DIY Pipe Shelving brings a ton of storage with a modern farmhouse vibe and we LOVE it!

Distressed Wood Shelves

The shelves were cut from 1″ thick Stain-grade-spruce/pine-panels. To get a more farmhouse look we roughed up the edges a bit with a hammer and even cut some chunks out randomly with a utility knife. Theres no right or wrong way to do this and TBH I find the more random you make your marks, dents, cuts, etc. the more authentic the distressing looks. We finished the shelves with few coats of penetrating stain in Weathered Oak.

Steel Pipes and Fittings

The shelves are held together by and hung with a combination of steel pipes and flanges. We used a mixture of 12″ and 16″ lengths for this project. The longer pipes gave the ceiling lights just a bit more clearance to keep everything nice and bright. The shorter 12″ pipes(plus flanges) were just the right height to allow both glasses and bottles to be stored.

The assembly is simply a matter of tightening flanges to the ends of each pipe and screwing the flanges to the boards. You’ll want to make sure the flanges are evenly spaced from the edges of the shelf boards to keep everything squared up. Its also worth pre-drilling your holes so you don’t risk the screws splitting any of the shelves.

Ceiling Mounted Shelving

When it came time to hang these we marked where the flange holes were and then checked for studs in the ceiling. Unsurprisingly not every screw would be hitting wood so we made sure to use some pretty heavy drywall anchors for the ones that missed. Its also really helpful to have a few extra hands when hanging these!

So are you loving open shelves? Ready to try DIY Pipe Shelving? Are you using steel pipes for any other DIYs in your space? You know I’d love to hear all about it in the comments!

DIY, home tour, kitchen, loft life, storage

Home Tour: Kitchen

October 25, 2017 25 Comments

Its been a while since we moved into our loft. For quite some time the kitchen was in a constant shuffle. Its one of the most used spaces and I may(ok, definitely) be particular about how things are situated. My only excuse is that I do 99% of the cooking in our home. Ha! So now that things are just right I thought it was time to share the Kitchen Tour!

Home Tour Kitchen

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One of the best things we did when we moved in was make this kitchen island. We have shuffled the contents here and there but overall its stayed the same. And we LOVE it. This adds so much extra storage to our kitchen and our most used items are conveniently within reach.

Home Tour Kitchen

Some of the shelves are open for storing larger items and others we’ve found containers for. We’ve used a combination of collapsible bins and magazine organizers for most everything. And lastly, we found the perfect adjustable wine storage! This took some trial and error but when this is built into a square it fits perfectly in the cubes of the expedit shelves.

Home Tour Kitchen

We also attached this magazine rack to the far side for lid storage. I just love these things! I’ve used them for years even before we built this island. They have been discontinued at the stores(Ikea) but you can still grab similar ones on Amazon. Ive attached them to kitchen carts and even the inside of kitchen cabinets. Its honestly the best way I’ve found to keep lids organized so far.

Kitchen Tour

Other easy organizing products Ive found are wood trays and chalkboard labels. The trays I’ve painted to match the rest of the decor in the kitchen. And yes, of course I used chalk paint and wax! So far these have held up really well and the wax finish cleans well with just a wet rag. The labels I found on Amazon and I use them on EVERYthing! I cut them to fit on smaller jars and use the full labels for larger canisters.

Kitchen Tour

The other thing Ive added here and there is plants. I used to have the hardest time keeping ANY plants alive but something about this place is turning that right around! I think the amount of light we get in the loft is playing a big part. It may also be the plants themselves. Ive narrowed it down to a few varieties that are pretty indestructible. Generally speaking, I can keep succulents and philodendrons alive. Lets all cross our fingers that they are still alive after this is published. Ha!

Kitchen Tour

So what organizing products or DIYs are you using in your kitchen? Are plants taking over your countertops too? You know Id love to hear all about it in the comments!

loft life, storage

Bike Storage Part 2

August 8, 2017 11 Comments

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Bikes. We obviously love them and not long ago I posted about our first bike storage solution. The bike pulley has been one of our favorite finds and it has served us well so far. That said, we were ready to find another way to store the second bike in our loft. We wanted to check out other options so our stairway/ceiling space didn’t get too cluttered. Which is when we found these bike hangers. They can be hung from the ceiling or a wall which meant they provided LOTS of options!

Bike Storage

When we first moved into the loft we didn’t think much about the opening in the down stairs room. I just assumed we would design around it and leave it as is. I should have known better! After trying a few different floor plans for both rooms(either side of this wall and opening) I was really wishing the thing was just solid. So we closed it off with curtains and set up the living room accordingly.

Bike Storage

The space stayed this way for quite some time and my bike lived on the other side. It was generally propped up against the wall and while it wasn’t in the way it still visually cluttered the space. One day while propping my bike up after a ride I realized the bike was about the same size as the opening itself. Lightbulb moment! I lifted the bike up and sure enough it totally fit in the opening. The wall here is thicker than normal so the width of the handlebars also wasn’t going to be an issue.

Bike Storage

After I bought two hangers we installed them using drywall anchors. We spent some time living with a “framed” bike I realized I wanted the option to close the space completely. Back to Amazon to order some basic curtain panels for the office side of this wall! After hanging a new rod and both panels the bike storage part 2 was complete!

Bike Storage

The panels look a bit translucent in the photo but its just the sun/lighting. They are completely opaque and when they are closed you cant tell there is anything behind them. Its insanely easy to hang my bike up and throw the curtains closed after a ride. And nobody would ever guess there is a bike or opening behind these panels!

I realize not everyone has an opening specifically like this but its not the point. The point is to look for unexpected spaces to use for storage! Im sure most people don’t evaluate hallways, banisters, windows, openings, soffits, etc for their storage potential. But if you look past the “assumed” function you may just find a little hidden storage potential.

So what spaces have you converted into storage? Have any other fabulous bike storage tips to share? I’d love to hear all about it in the comments!

bedroom, loft life, storage

Storage Solutions: Underbed Real Estate

July 31, 2017 6 Comments

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Underbed Storage

If you follow me on instagram you’ve seen #loftlife plenty. I love it. Really its been a challenge in the best way to adapt to loft living. One of the challenges we’ve come across is how to live(realistically) in an appealing space when everything is so open. It takes very little to clutter up this loft so finding hidden spaces to use for storage has been crucial. Obviously those “hidden” spaces are scarce in the loft. But everyone has at least one great hidden space for storage: underbed real estate!

The number of underbed storage boxes and bins available is nuts! You can find them in nearly every color, size, and shape so if you have ANY space under your bed you can take advantage. We have a fairly low bed so it took a bit of extra online searching to find a set that would really utilize the whole space. I came across these and decided to give them a try. I could fit 6 total under our king size bed and they were totally affordable.

Underbed Storage Solution

After living in our loft for a few weeks we had weeded out the items we wanted to keep with us but didn’t use very often. Some of the items that made it into the bags were spare linens, seasonal clothes, and bulky beach towels. With 6 full bags these are totally life savers for our closets and cutting clutter. This is basically the equivalent of half a closet people!

Underbed Storage Solution

After living with the bags for a while I was completely happy with their usefulness. Their visual clutter…. not so much. We don’t have a comforter that reaches to ground so being able to see them under the bed was obnoxious. Enter my search for a bed skirt that didn’t remind me of something from a victorian home. Also, am I the only one that thinks of Bunny and the dust ruffle argument when bed skirts are brought up? Didn’t think so!

Underbed Storage Solution

Again, our bed being lower than average meant finding a suitable product took a little extra searching. If you have a standard height bed you can use one straight out of the package. Unfortunately this was not the case for us. They simply do not make bedskirts the right size for our height. So I ordered the closest size, trimmed, and hemmed it to fit. Hemming is one of the simplest sewing skills but easily one of the most useful for DIY projects. If you haven’t mastered this I promise its worth looking up a tutorial and/or practicing. It will open up the products you can use for projects significantly.

Underbed Storage Solution

With the 6 underbed bags and and 1 custom fit bedskirt we have completely upped our storage! The fact that you cant even tell we are using the space for storage is a total bonus as well!

Underbed Storage Solution

So what spaces have you used for secret storage? Have you converted your underbed real estate into useful space? Tell me all about it in the comments!

loft life, storage

Bike Hoist Storage

June 2, 2017 1 Comment

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Bike hoist storage

Bike storage. Unless your place has bike lockers(lucky you!) or you have your own garage(luckier you!) bike storage can require some seriously creative solutions. This last move left us with no garage, patio, or lockers for outdoor gear and specifically things like bikes. The items we only use on occasion like camping gear or our skiing gear lives happily in storage while not in use. But bikes are something that get used on the reg around here and needed to stay in the loft. So began my search for a solution so my living room didn’t double as a bike rack. Enter: bike hoist storage!

Bike hoist storage

After scouring the internet and reading a ridiculous number of reviews it seemed clear this was the solution for us. Being that we are in a loft we have crazy tall ceilings and making use of some of the overhead space made perfect sense. We considered a few different positions but the space above our stairway landing seemed the best suited. First, it wasn’t going to be a visual/decorative issue since the stairway doesn’t have much going on. Second, the landing shortened the distance we needed for installation. Other areas of the loft are 20+’ from floor to the ceiling so this was a big deal. The height above the landing cut the distance down significantly and we could use the ladder we already had. And lastly, the bike actually fit in this space!

Bike hoist storage

Luckily Q’s road bike is incredibly light(only 18lbs) but even if you are riding something with more heft these hoists can hold up to 100lbs. Knowing the hoist could handle the weight we moved on to hardware. The area we wanted to place the hoist wasn’t lined up with studs(typical!) so we needed drywall anchors. Since moving in I’ve used a number of different hanging hardware but we went with zinc drywall anchors that can hold 50lbs each. Once we had all the parts it was just a matter of measure, mark, and drill to get the hoist in place. This is really Q’s area of expertise so I got to sit back and watch(and occasionally hand tools up the ladder!). The whole process only took about 30 minutes.

Bike hoist storage

Its been a couple weeks now and we love this system! Even if we didn’t live in a loft I’d absolutely install one in a home, garage, etc. Its so easy to use, easy to install, and totally affordable. A win in all accounts! So what bike storage has been a win for you? Have you converted to hoist storage? Are you loving it? You know I’d love to hear about it in the comments!

DIY, kitchen, loft life, storage, upcycle

DIY Kitchen Island

March 31, 2017 32 Comments

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Kitchen storage. Is there really ever enough? In my case the answer to that has always been NO! Enter the DIY kitchen island project that upcycled our old furniture into something crazy functional.

We’ve lived in so many different spaces and even the ones with the biggest kitchens still lacked enough storage to house all my kitchen supplies. I realize I may have more than the average person (and even most foodies). But! Being a food photographer as my “day job” means my kitchen doubles as my office. All my tools, dishes, thingamabobs, etc double as my props. Do you see why a DIY kitchen island was the first project we tackled upon moving into the loft?! Right.

The Pieces

When we moved across the country we decided to use Upack to move the majority of our household goods. The company drops off a container, you fill it, they drive it across the county, and eventually drop it off at your new home. Simple and super budget friendly. Only hitch is you have to pack it all yourself. We’ve moved a lot in the last 10 years of making homes together. And yet we’ve never packed for this big of a move and never with this kind of container. We did our best and man did we pack a lot of ~~junk~~ items into that space… maybe a little too much. At least weight wise. And maybe a little too much on top of what used to be our dinning room table…

When we finally unpacked enough boxes to uncover the table we realized the wood completely split(insert super sad face). At first my mind started to wonder how we could repair it. How we could alter it. How we could start some new woodworking projects in the middle of our new place. Quickly I realized that was too crazy even for us!

So we pulled the legs off and figured the top itself could make a great desk top or even just another backdrop/surface for my shoots. We quickly changed that train of thought too! Once we unpacked another stack of kitchen boxes we realized there was a serious needed more storage. Obviously a DIY kitchen island would be perfect in the space.

The Assembly

DIY Kitchen Island — (Doesn’t that space look like it was made for a huge DIY kitchen island?! I thought so too.)

We already had a few old expedit bookcases and some metal legs from a previous configuration. (Obviously its been a while since Ikea stopped making these…serious bummer! Luckily you can still grab a copy cat version online!).

To assemble the ‘island’ we just tipped the bookcases on their sides, arranged them back to back, attached legs to the bottom, and threw the old table top on! Yes, it was that simple.

The Accessories

After a few more days of unpacking and I added the lid holder to the far side. We rarely walk around that way and its relatively hidden. A bit more unpacking and magazine holders were added to corral those annoying water bottles which are always too tall to fit in apartment kitchens.

I also added some fabric storage bins to hide some of the less attractive items. As much as I love seeing pretty kitchens with open storage and all white plates and pottery… thats just not realistic for me. I have a variety of sizes, colors, and shapes and when you try to use open storage with multiple colors it just looks messy and visually cluttered. So fabric storage bins for the win!

After a few days of using the island we added some rubber feet between the table top and the book cases to help with the small amount of shifting we had. We didn’t really want to attach the top with brackets or other hardware because it seemed like overkill and would look messy. So far there haven’t been ANY issues with shifting but I’ll come back with an update after it gets a little more use.

Update: after nearly a year of use we never bothered to add additional hardware. The rubber feet were plenty to keep this table top in place!

So DIY project #1 for this loft is officially complete! What DIYs do you have planned for the weekend? You know I’d love to hear all about it in the comments!