Inspire Me Heather

{stories of a house} hello, hello?

{the phone in our kitchen}

There were many old items left here at our house when we bought it and one of those treasures was a wall mounted rotary style telephone. It was in the basement attached to a post and had been unused for many years. I have a friend that repairs old appliances and such so I took my old telephone to him to see if I could use it once again. After he had professionally tested and examined the telephone and determined that my telephone didn't require any new parts or to be repaired - it was easily modified to use with current phone jacks.

{inside of the phone, if you are interested}

We have it installed in the kitchen over our island where we all like to hang out and it has been so much fun to use. It doesn't matter who is sitting next to it when it rings (it's got a really neat ring too) as anybody and everybody will answer it! It has no call display so each call is answered in a happier maybe-it's-somebody-important-calling-us singsong voice. Dialing out is much slower and when you make a mistake you have to start all over again, but that's okay. One major advantage of an old phone like this is that if the power goes out, it's still usable. Also, there is no touch tone so when "they" on the other end say "push 1 to continue in English" you can't do anything, oh well.

Using an old style phone - Inspire Me Heather blog

{the telephone over our kitchen island}

My old telephone is a Canadian made Northern Electric G3 model phone. If you are interested in converting an old telephone, there are kits available on the internet and lot's of information out there too. We like that old telephone there on our DIY island that we made, but that's another story. Thanks for coming by and be sure to say "hello" in the comments section below!

If you liked my story, may I suggest more in this series:

how to: frame art and photos

{by me}

First you will need to pick out a frame. Choose one that will compliment your art or photo in style and colour without competing with it. Your frame should allow the art or photo some room to breathe and you can achieve this by using a mat.

Mats are what surrounds your image, it is usually an equal border but sometimes they can be thicker on the bottom side. You can use a single colour (most popular being white or cream) or not, and even textured - it all depends on what you want for your overall look. Mats are based on the size of the artwork or photograph and the amount of space you want between the art or photo and the frame.

If you don’t want to use a mat for your framed photograph, you'll need to space it off the glass as moisture could make the photograph "glue" to the glass and that would ruin it!

To use a purchased mat for example, look for the following based on your art work or photograph size:

For a 5"x7" art or photo use a 8"x10" frame and a 4.5"x6.5" mat opening
For a 8"x10" art or photo use a 11"x14" frame and a 7.5"x9.5" mat opening
For a 11"x14" art or photo use a 16"x20" frame and a 10.5"x13.5" mat opening

When you have disassembled your picture frame, lay the frame, backing board, glass, and mat onto a towel so nothing gets scratched. I like to clean my glass at this point so that it has plenty of time to dry before placing my art or photograph against it.

Next, place your artwork or photograph face down on a clean work surface. Apply tape (professionals use acid free paper tape) to all four sides with just half of the width of the tape touching the artwork so that when you flip it over, the sticky side half of the tape is facing up. When you have your artwork facing up, hold your mat over it and decide where you want it placed and attach to the mat. Assemble your matted art or photo in the glass and frame and have a look to see that nothing is trapped in there that you don't want. When you are satisfied, assemble your backing board and you are ready to hang!

{one of my photos}

Do you have any tips for framing artwork or photographs? I love hearing from you so please share your questions or tips in the comments section below!

{stories of a house} my herb garden

DIY herb garden - Inspire Me Heather blog

{a birdbath in the center of my herb garden}

My herb garden was a big rectangle vegetable garden when we bought our house. It had a large comfrey, which is a herb on one side and on the other side it had an alstroemeria, which is a lily (not sure why that was in a vegetable garden...). Both plants are perennial with the comfrey being very deep rooted and the alstroemeria producing large tuberous roots underground - both were there to stay! On the third quadrant there was a small tree so, working with what I had I took the very middle of my three plants and planted a stake at the center. With a stringline I walked in a circle with the shovel, sprinkling flour to mark the trail. The rest was easy; I tilled, dug and added compost to the soil making it ready for plants. There was a homemade birdbath on the property so I placed it at the very center of my garden as the main feature. I found bricks and old pavers around the yard too and moved them into my design creating a circle around the birdbath and "exit" paths - this allows anyone (kids) to wander though without disturbing my plants. I made a fence from and old picnic table and added that too to one end.

{the beginnings of my herb garden}

Next came a long investigation into perennial herbs for my area. I drew up my plan for the plantings on paper based on flowering times and leaf colour and height and spread. I have fennel, chives, parsley, sage, bay, marjoram, thyme, borage,tarragon, rosemary and lavender planted. Making a herb garden is great for a beginner gardener who's not quite ready for vegetables, it's fairly easy to grow with minimal maintenance and it's rewarding to enjoy the fruits of the labour all year round.

{my herb garden now}

There are other plants mixed in with my herbs for interest, a gunnera plant, several clematis, roses and some early blooming columbines mixed throughout. It is a delight to weed and putter though my herb garden and I like the fact that I had created it with what I had found around the property. There was also an old herb drying rack here too in one of the garden sheds and I use it to dry my herbs, but that's another story. I think my herb garden was meant to be!

If you liked my story, may I suggest more in this series:

Linking to: Fishtail Cottage

how to: use coconut husk liners in hanging baskets

{the natural look of coconut husks}

Coconut coir the fibrous material found between the hard internal shell and the outer coat of a coconut. This natural husk fibre is used in a variety of household products such as ropes, doormats, and brushes with one of the most popular uses being the liners in hanging baskets and planters.

The environmentally-friendly coconut husk liners are used in wire baskets and planters to hold the soil and to help keep the soil moist without causing root rot on plants. If you have ever tried to use just a coconut husk and soil before you will know that the water leaves the planter just as fast as it came into it - they can leak very heavily leaving your plants to completely dry out in-between waterings! So, what should you do?

First, measure your wire basket and purchase the appropriate coconut husk liners to fit, some are already pre-made into a bowl shape or you can buy it off the roll. After placing your liner into the wire basket, line the coconut husk liner with newspaper and get it completely wet. Poke a couple of holes into the bottom for drainage. Fill your basket 3/4 with potting soil and tuck in any newspaper that might be poking out. Next place the plants inside, spacing them apart and gently breaking plant's root ball with your fingers as you go. Fill the rest of the basket with soil going around each plant, taking care not to press down too hard. Give your basket or planter a good watering and hang it up, you're done!

{your newspaper may decompose after time but it should hold up for the season}

Do you have any tips for using coconut husk liners in hanging baskets or planters? I love hearing from you so please share your questions or tips in the comments section below!

Linking to: The Outdoor Extravaganza Plants & Flowers Link Party

project: decals

{my decaled family beach memories jar}

A decal is a design prepared on special paper for transfer onto another surface. There are several DIY ways to make your own decals and many ways to incorporate them into your home décor, have a look at these bloggers tips and tutorials:

The Homes I Have Made: DIY wallpaper decals - a tutorial

Creative Mess: swanky graffiti decal know how {tutorial} - how to apply decals

Love, Pomegranate House: custom kitchen canisters - using water-slide decal paper

City Farmhouse: beach bike silhouette wall art tutorial - makes a great custom piece

Oana Befort: DIY: swallows wall stickers - using sticker sheets

Paper & Stitch: make this: typography wall art decal - with fabric and corn starch glue

Grosgrain: real-life silhouette car decal tutorial - using a Silhouette machine

{stories of a house} we faked it

Inspire Me Heather - DIY Craftsman siding

{our addition with it's two new peaks, notice anything there?}

We've been working on an addition to our little 1920's Craftsman style home by adding 2 bedrooms plus and ensuite all over a carport and this is attached to the side of the house by using an existing bedroom as the stairway. We've learnt how to build from the tip of the roof all the way down to the ground (and under) by hiring contractors and now we are doing some of the finishing tasks ourselves. One of the jobs we've been working on is the exterior siding. Our Craftsman has the typical wood shingles on the main body of the house with horizontal lap siding covering the lower portion. It's got a low-pitched gabled roof with wide overhanging eaves and decorative brackets (also called knee braces or corbels) with the front porch under the roofline. We are still working on the details - there is still so much to do inside and out.

{painting shingles}

The shingles here have a unique pattern (I know they are unique as we both are looking at other houses for the same pattern, can't find it) and it is very important for us to replicate this look. Call us lazy but we actually painted the shingle pattern on the farthest away peak and from the road, you can't tell the difference! See for yourselves in that first photo - what do you think? I think that one day we will go and properly shingle that area but for now, it makes a funny story when we point it out to our friends.

{the old part of the house that we are trying to match]

Next up will be those corbels and then another coat of paint over the entire siding. Thankfully matching the colours is no problem as I spent a Summer 2 years ago painting the entire exterior by myself, but that's another story.

If you liked my story, may I suggest more in this series:

Linking to: Give Me The Goods Monday, It's Overflowing,

Today's Creative Blog & Twigg Studios

how to: choose the right sized rug

{some handy tips}

Rugs provide a foundation of colour, they define a style and they contribute to a rooms texture. An area rug can pull a room together and in some cases, be the focal point in a space. If you need to choose the correct size area rug there are a few considerations to take in mind. Once you determine the rugs purpose, you should be aware of door locations, traffic patterns, and floor vents. Your area rug shouldn't cover the entire room, here are some guidelines to help you decide how much space it should cover:

As a general rule, it is recommended that you leave at least 18” - 24” of bare floor exposed around all sides of an area rug and leave at least 12" between the edges of the rug and the perimeter walls in the room. If in doubt go big, don't let your area rug to look like a little island in the middle of the room.

In a living room there are two tried, tested and true scenarios: the floating rug layout has all of the legs of the sofa and chairs on the rug and the classic rug layout has the area rug just large enough to fit under the front legs of the sofa and chairs onto it.

Here's a tip: floating rug layouts are great for an open plan living rooms and classic rug layouts are perfect for smaller spaces.

In a dining room your area rug should be large enough to allow the chairs to be pulled in and out easily from the table without catching on the rug and 24" from the edge of the table on all sides should do it.

In a bedroom you could place a large rug right under your bed and extending out on either side 12" - 18" or have a smaller rug at the foot of the bed or have a couple at the sides of the bed covering either the length or width of the bed in either case.

For smaller rooms such as entrances and bathrooms a runner might be the ideal solution.

For your correct rug size, try laying out your rug area with sheets or towels - you can measure the length and the width and use that measurement to determine which size rug to look for. Whatever you decide, it's best to measure first!

{it's best to measure first!}

Do you have any tips for choosing the correct sized rug? I love hearing from you so please share your questions or tips in the comments section below!

Linking to: It's Overflowing