Passion Project Update #5

In my passion project I have been working on the floor plan. With the help of a friend I have found a website called HomeStyler. It is great. I created the entire floor plan of the house on there, with the changes I wanted to make. You can choose flooring, wall colors, doors and windows, trim, cabinets and even furnishings. So far I have only gotten to the cabinets in the kitchen.

Because of the lack of options, I just chose the default cabinets but will find pictures of what I really had in mind later. They also don’t have the appliances I wanted which was expected. I will put all of these things together on a board for my presentation.

Next I will start on the bathroom. I only have time to do one of them. I am going to a very simple look throughout the house, so the bathroom shouldn’t be hard. White tub, toilet and sink with grey walls and hexagonal black and white tile.

Thanks for reading, be sure and let me know what you think!

Passion Project Update #4

In my project I have been doing a lot of work. I am working on the layout of the house. I’ve taken the original layout and tweaked a few doorways. I have more majorly changed the kitchen. It just didn’t flow before. I have come up with two different options for the kitchen and dining room. I went through about 8 of them though. I just couldn’t figure out how to get the most out of this awkward little space.

I’ve also picked out the appliances, countertop, backsplash, wall color, and cabinets. I decided on teal vintage looking appliances, but they still have modern touches. The cabinets will be white, some with glass, some without. The counters will be grey marble, and the backsplash will be black and white checkered. These colors will really bring out the teal appliances. The wall color is what I got stuck on. Should I go with white or grey and make it neutral? I decided that a teal to match the appliances would suit the bright white cabinets well.

The floors will be the same throughout the entire house. Hard wood. Laminate was often used but honestly I hate it. Anyways, let me know what you think!

reddit

In class we were told to check out reddit. I am not very fond of this site, but I’m doing the assignment anyway. We were told to find two subreddits we found interesting and I chose lobotomy and

First I looked for stuff on lobotomies. I was interested in them after watching TV shows and Movies. In this article that I found this guy interviewed a woman who received a modern version of the operation. She was horribly depressed and had anxiety. She could barely get to work without freaking out. She said she tried everything from electrotherapy to medications. He states that the woman could no longer see her therapist. They had to start making house calls. They had contacted the only hospital in the U.S. who does the operation. She decided it was her last shot and when on with it. They did many tests on her and confirmed she was a candidate for the procedure.  She said it saved her life. It took her a few weeks to recover and when he last contacted her, she was slowly overcoming her issues. I love this article because most people think this is an awful practice but in reality it can help people when done properly and for the right reasons.

The writer also wrote about Walter Freeman who was the inventor of the lobotomy and who popularized it. He drove around the United States in his RV teaching different surgeons how to do the procedure. He ditched normal protocol by doing a transorbital lobotomy on a patient without the surgeon being present. A transorbital lobotomy is where they use an icepick like device (an ice pick in early days) to poke through the skeleton behind the eye socket with a hammer to jumble up the white matter synapses of the brain. This had much less infection and recovery time than a prefrontal lobotomy.

http://www.reddit.com/r/MorbidReality/comments/1n1a28/a_discussion_of_lobotomy/

Passion Project Update #3

I have been collecting pictures for my passion project. I didn’t do a very good job, but I got a few. Next, I am going to start designing the new layout and decorations. I’m really excited about that part.

This is a rough drawing of the lay out. There is a large living room connected to a hallway with two bedrooms. In the same hall there are some utility closets and a bathroom. Off of that hallway is a kitchen with a connected breakfast nook/dining room. The dining room connects back to the living room also. Off the kitchen on the other side there is an office and a laundry room. In the laundry room in a door to the back porch. There is a bedroom off of the office with a half bathroom. The master bedroom with a large closet and bathroom is behind the living room. There is also a shed in the backyard, a carport and a circle drive in the front.

Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying is a real problem now. People hide behind their phones or computers and use their words to hurt others.

In class we were told to create an online “campaign” poster directed to either the bully or bullied. We were given a few sites to choose from, and I chose one called S’more. It was very easy to use and I could add photos from sites like pixabay or flickr.

On my poster I gave tips on how to control bullying. I talked about who you can go to for help. Parents, friends and adults at the school can usually help. If that doesn’t help going to the bullies parents could. I also talked about staying strong. If we are unaffected the bully will likely stop. They aren’t getting anything out of it so it won’t be fun to them anymore.

Bullying can be stopped. We just all have to work together.

Passion Project Update #2

This week I didn’t get much done on my Passion Project. I did a lot of brainstorming. I am going to take pictures soon. There is a lot to be done. It is very outdated, with built in linen cabinets that can’t be used for much and confusing doorways.

I will be drawing a layout of the house, deciding what walls/doorways/cabinets I’d like to change. Next I will pick out wall colors, flooring, cabinet colors, tile, baseboards and furnishings. All of which will contain the vintage feel that I am looking for.

I am really hoping for wood floors under the awful linoleum; but I can do without. I will pick a sample of reclaimed hardwood in a darker color. I want wood throughout the entire house. I think wood is much more neutral than gaudy linoleum of the 50s.

For the bathroom I am thinking a clawfoot tub. Those were more popular in the 30s and 40s; but they are going to go better with the house than a blue or pink tub. I would use them in both bathrooms. A wall mounted sink, medicine cabinet and standard toilet will finish it off. I will use silver fixtures and subway and hexagon tiles.

Thats all I have for now but I will be uploading pictures soon!

Article Review

I found an amazing article on Pinterest to help with my project. It really gave me a lot of inspiration on what things to focus on in the house. It was called 65 Home Makeover Ideas by Country Living.

It showed before and after pictures of an old country home. For the most part I liked the make over. One thing I didn’t like was all the white. Living in the country would not work with white everywhere. I think more colors should be added to the picture. I love patterns in a small amount. They had some nice antique furnishing. I like the idea of recycling something that was pre-loved.

They opened a lot of things. The open feel really makes a difference in an old home like that. They opened up the ceilings to reveal rafters. They used shelved instead of cabinets to showcase collectables.

This is going to be a great help on my Passion Project. I got a lot of inspiration from it.

Passion Project Update #1

I have done quite a bit of research for my Passion Project. I have contacted real estate agents to help find a house to use as my project. I couldn’t find one that fit my criteria. My grandma is the main reason that I started this project. She buys and remodels houses. She recently bought an old home, and that is the house I’ve decided to use in my project. The house was built in the 1950s. There was a small fire about two years ago. It is around 2,400 square feet. It has four bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms. They have added on to the house in the past. It has the potential to be a very cute house.

Twitter Follow Friday

I followed five new people recently. I followed the Scott Brothers, DIY Network, Nicole Curtis, ELLE Decor, and Nelson Treehouse. I am doing a passion project in class. In the project you are supposed to learn about something you love for 20% of each week. I chose to learn about home renovations. Their posts and tips may help me in my project.

The Scott Brothers help people find buy and remodel homes. They have a TV shows called Property Brothers, Brother vs. Brother, Buying and Selling, Brothers at Home, and Off Topic with the Scott Brothers. Drew is a real estate agent. Jonathan is a contractor.

DIY Network is a TV network of different DIY shows. On their Twitter they post different do it yourself projects.

Nicole Curtis has the show Rehab Addict. She restores old homes in Minnesota, Michigan and Ohio.

ELLE Decor is a home decor magazine. They post pictures of home for inspiration on decorating your own home.

Nelson Treehouse is about a “Master” treehouse builder. He has a TV show called Treehouse Master. He is the founder of Nelson Treehouse and Supply. He is hired by people to build them their perfect tree house.

Pinterest

My class is using Pinterest to help us with our passion project. Pinterest is pretty amazing. You make separate board for all your interests. You “repin” pictures from other people. When you click on the picture it sends you to the link for whatever you’re looking at. My favorite things on Pinterest are recipes, DIYs, houses, clothes, and weddings.

I found somethings on old homes and redoing them. I found a lot on original wood floors and clawfoot tubs. I found a few stories on some peoples’ journey to finding, planning, and refurbishing early 1900 homes.

This site is really going to help me with inspiration on my project. It has a lot of information about refinishing wood work. It will also help in picking the wall colors and other examples I will use in my presentation. I am excited to start my project!