Citrus Solvents. Did you know?

The new floor is in! With a few hours of work on Friday, several on Saturday, and a few yesterday, Scott and I managed to get the whole floor down and I love the way it looks. It is 4-inch wide utility-grade oak from Lumber Liquidators. Lots of color variation and knot-holes (which I am planning to fill with an ebony colored wood filler called Timermate in order to match the dark color of the wood around the holes). The floor looks rustic. Like wood. Which is what it is, after all, right?


I was originally planning to paint the floor white or stain it white to keep the room light and bright and because I knew the oak floors wouldn't go so well with my old pine sleigh bed, which is what Brynn sleeps on now. But, I'm so in love with the floors I think that the bed is going white instead. Let me know what you think about that. I'm a fan of painted cottage floors but I'm not sure I can do it to this floor.

In debating the floor finish with...um, myself, I've been putting in some serious time on Google. I'm looking for a non-toxic (or less-toxic) approach to finishing Brynn's floor. One that will still look good. That part is important. Water-based stains raise the grain of the wood, which is not thrilling to me. Oil-based stains are smelly and hard to clean up. Or so I thought.


So in my research I started learning about tung oil. It is arguably the oldest and least-toxic way to preserve a floor (and smells like the oil we used to use to work in my softball mitts). Tung oil is only non-toxic if you can apply it without the use of mineral spirits as a thinner. Ahhh, but therein lies the problem. In modern times, we've turned to solvents like mineral spirits to dilute tung oil by half to make it penetrate the wood better and dry faster. But mineral spirits aren't exactly non-toxic.

The current alternative to mineral spirits appears to be orange oil. Like, in Goo-Gone. There is actually a kind of orange oil solvent, called Citrus Solvents, that is 98% orange oil with 2% water emulsified into the orange oil. It is used as a non-toxic, eco-friendly thinner for tung oil, but also as a general cleaning agent, goop-remover, brush cleaner, and thinner for oil-based paints and stains. Of course, the big box stores like Home Depot and Lowes don't carry this special stuff (although they do carry lots of bogus orange oil products). Woodcraft doesn't carry Citrus Solvents either. But they do carry pure orange oil which seems to have the same properties as Citrus Solvents. So, yesterday I bought Woodcraft's tung oil and their orange oil and mixed them together and tested some on scraps from Brynn's floor. The oil seemed to penetrate well and dry quickly. I think I've found a way to avoid using mineral spirits on this project!


Now, the issue of color...tung oil alone makes the wood a bit more orange-toned than I think I would like. Of course, the samples aren't totally dry yet, so maybe that will change, but I doubt it.

Here is a photo of a milled barnwood floor that was finished with tung oil. Tell me what you think.


Today and tomorrow I think I will experiment with using a super-thin white or maybe gray stain under the tung oil and see what happens. Wish me luck!

Blank slate.

The secret renovation has begun. Well, not so secret, really, since it is posted here. But Brynn doesn't read the blog, so it's still a secret for her. We're keeping the door closed when she is at home and, thus far, she's resisted the urge to sneak a peak. It may have something to do with me telling her that I always used to sneak around to find my birthday and Christmas presents before they were wrapped, and I ruined the surprise every time. Actual surprises are a lot more fun than fake surprises.


She wants to know what's going on in here, though. She has been asking me every day, "What did you do in my room today?" I'm not telling. I mean, I'm not telling HER. Here's what I've done so far: disassembled her closet organizer and moved it into the hallway, removed the trim from around the closet, pulled up the carpet and carpet padding, removed the carpet padding staples, filled the holes in the walls, vacuumed the dust and grime and chunks of drywall and staples, cleaned the white trim and bead board, painted the white trim and bead board, and painted the walls. Actually, Scott helped me paint the walls (he's my roller guy), so I haven't done it all myself.


These photos, of course, don't show the new color. The new color is Restoration Hardware "Lilac." I was slightly worried that it would be too gray. Next to the more lavender-y paint samples, it looks gray, for sure. Next to white, it looks lavender. But not overwhelming this-is-a-little-girl's-room, here-have-a-Skittle lavender. It's a relaxing, close-your-eyes-and-take-a-deep-breath-of-lavender (as in, the flower) lavender. If Brynn had been allowed to choose, she would have picked out Crayola marker purple. Hopefully she won't be disappointed.


I'm planning to build a lot of furniture for this room. So much furniture that I'm contemplating investing in a paint sprayer (unless one of you owns one I can borrow?). I'm building some bookcases (one for Callie's room, one for Brynn's -- the cheap particle board ones we bought six years ago are shot), a lofted reading nook (like a lofted bed, only shorter), and a desk to go under the reading nook. I've got a plan for a desk chair, which I may alter to accommodate an upholstered seat. I'm sure a few other projects will come up along the way. Like, some way to make the closet organizer work again. Brynn used to use the drawers as stairs to get to stuff at the top of her closet -- stuff I put up high so that she wouldn't get to it. The drawers are busted and not replaceable because the company that makes them went out of business. And they seem to be a non-standard size, of course. So, I'm trying to get creative and think of ways to keep the bulk of the organizer without losing the drawer storage. Challenges.

Here's a photo of the chair I'm going to build. I wasn't going to post it yet, but if you've read this far, you deserve this eye candy.


I'm planning to add a footrest to the front, and the upholstered seat...I think. That is still to be determined.

If I can find a way to get the big hunk of carpet out of the room, I'll start laying hardwood tomorrow. Cross your fingers.

It must be fall

This fall, as happens every year...er, every year that we haven't been in Mexico...my family is at the mercy of my fall soup obsession. So far this week we've had pumpkin soup (from San Francisco a la Carte -- my kids LOVED it), cream of tomato soup (from Cook's Illustrated Soups and Stews -- Scott said it was the "best ever"), and tonight we'll be having roasted cauliflower soup (from an old issue of Gourmet Magazine). I'm trying to replicate the roasted cauliflower soup we had at the wedding last weekend. I never would have considered making it without tasting it first -- it was super tasty.

Although I always love the warmth of soups in the fall, part of my obsession this week is due to my refrigerator being overloaded with CSA veggies (fall is bountiful here in Colorado -- we finally have an abundance of tomatoes and peppers, plus the usual cruciferous veggies and leafy greens), and part of it is because Scott and I overate last week while on vacation and need to get back to normal. So, we've been eating spinach salads for lunches and veggie soups for dinners. Actually, as Jen (the bride) was zipping up my bridesmaid dress last weekend, she asked whether I'd even tried it on. She was having a tough time getting the zipper up. Eventually we got it zipped, but I didn't take a deep breath all night long. I swear it fit perfectly a week earlier. But a week of vacation -- you know what that can do!

So, here's to your fall recipes. Cheers, and enjoy the abundance.

The finished locker cabinet

I was actually done with this before we left for vacation last week, but the baskets hadn't arrived yet and I didn't really want to post the finished product without the baskets installed. So, here it is!


The teal paint is called "aged mint" by Ralph Lauren. It's the same color as Callie's wrought iron bed and the frames on the artwork above her bed. I was originally planning to paint the cabinet the same white as our trim ("the right white" by Restoration Hardware) but got bored just thinking about it and decided to go for teal instead.

The cabinet is made out of solid pine with paneling on the back. I added eight inches to the height of the original plan (to accommodate the drawers) and took off about 15 inches in width. Each locker has two hooks on the inside, for hanging the girls' backpacks and lunch boxes. Callie's locker is on the left -- you can see her school calendar hanging in there. It is so great having everything in one place. The baskets hide Libbie's collars and leashes, our library books, and my purse and the drawers house our cell phones (plugged in for charging), extra keys, chapstick, sunblock, and sunglasses. Originally I hadn't planned to put hooks on the side for keys, but Scott insisted. Not so pretty, but very useful!

Here is what I learned from building my first piece of furniture: BUY STRAIGHT WOOD. Duh. Probably going to the hardware store without my children would help me accomplish that next time. Besides the crap wood which made it impossible to build a square cabinet, I'm very pleased with my first adventure in furniture building!

A sneak peak

My new entryway locker cabinet, inspired by this one by Ana White. Not quite square but not bad for my first shot at furniture building. Ready to prime and paint.


And, proof that I actually DID do it all myself.

My very own pumpkin spice latte

I realize that there are easier ways to get a pumpkin spice latte than making one yourself from scratch. I'm not exactly known for doing things the easy way, and I am both too cheap and too lazy to drive to Starbucks to get one of their pumpkin spice lattes, so here is my alternative version. It's not as sweet as Starbucks, which I'm sure you could figure out how to remedy if you are so inclined.

1. Along with your coffee beans, grind a bit of whole cinnamon, a few whole cloves, and some nutmeg. Or add ground versions of all three to your beans before grinding or add them to your already-ground coffee. If I had ginger on hand (I usually do, but not today) I would add it, too. But then I guess it would be more of a gingerbread latte? I suppose you could just use a bit of pumpkin pie spice, also something my spice drawer is missing today.
2. Make espresso -- I use my stovetop espresso maker similar to this one for almost all of my coffee needs. I suppose if you are a drip or french press person, you could just make extra strong coffee in your regular pot?
3. To half a mug of milk, add a squirt of pure maple syrup and microwave until hot. Yes, PURE maple syrup. Not Mrs. Butterworth's or Log Cabin. Or use sugar if you don't have real maple syrup.
4. Froth your hot milk and maple syrup with something like this.
5. Pour your autumnally-flavored strong coffee or espresso into your hot frothed milk and bask in the glory of your self-sufficiency.