JLouis

#The_Wookie and I just moved into a place and have been having a blast moving in and setting up the house. Unfortunately, in an effort to increase the curb appeal, the previous owners removed a bunch of bushes along the front of the house that turned out to have had a very important purpose… blocking the large window that looked into the master bathroom’s shower from the entire neighborhood view. The windows are frosted, but you can still make out shapes and colors through the window when someone is in the shower. If you look closely in the “before” picture note that you can clearly make out shampoo and conditioner bottles in the window.

We liked how much natural light came into the bathroom in the mornings so we didn’t want something to completely block all of the light. It needed to be big and we needed it quickly. #The_Wookie and I tossed around a bunch of ideas to block the view, but given the timeline for the project and the size the only thing that made sense was some sort of privacy screen. So off to Pinterest we went, looking for inspiration.

I drew up basic plans for the supports and had a general idea that the majority of the structure should consist of horizontal slats. I decided to make the vertical posts out of rough cut 4×4 cedar posts and the horizontal slats out of thin cedar strips. I wanted a couple of different widths for the slats but I was unable to find anything that was the right thickness and widths. I ended up buying cedar fence pickets with the plan of ripping them to create the various width slats.

I dug the post holes approximately 20 inches in the ground. Before placing the posts in, I added 4-6 inches of pea gravel to the bottom of each of the holes. Then the posts where cemented in place. The vertical slats where cut to length using a miter saw and then ripped to get the different width slats. We ripped the slats either exactly in half or in 1/3 and 2/3 sections. The slats were then “randomly” screwed to the posts. I used a couple short sections of the off cuts to create spacers to keep the vertical spacing consistent. To cover the screws and the joints in the middle of the screen we used a couple of longer fence pickets run vertically and then screwed in place. We are very happy with the final results and it still lets in a lot of light into the bathroom, while preventing the neighbors from knowing every time we take a shower.

Here is a quick update from JLouis Labs. I have finally started to work on growing herbs as my 4th project for 2016 … well, that not quite accurate… I purchased some of the supplies for the project about a month ago, but I am just now getting around to planting the herbs. I had this crazy idea of building an automated herb garden that would water the plants and control the lights as a starting point for growing herbs. #The_Wookie pointed out that the “Everyday Thing” of this project were the actual herbs. I decided to start a bit simpler: Dirt + Seeds + Random Pot Like Containers + Water + Light + Luck = A chance of having some usable herbs. As of this evening, I have 8 random containers (4 mason jars, 2 milk jugs and 2 pots) full of dirt and seeds. I am excited to see what happens next.

The Boxers project is COMPLETE!!!! 2 projects down and 8 more to go! I think the next project is going to be either a herb garden or a wooden tool box.

I have not had as much time lately to work on knitting/updating the website because I have been helping #The_Wookie work on her quilt. I have become quite the expert HST (half square triangle, for those not in the know) cutter. Actually, my apartment has become a crafting mecca for #The_Wookie and myself. The sewing machine has been living on the kitchen table or the coffee table for the past couple of weeks, there are treads everywhere, a Cricut in the corner, and supplies stuffed here and there. I LOVE IT!