Momplex

I remember back when we used our Get Out of Jail Free card on the Momplex, and I dreaded receiving comments about hiring help and taking a step off from DIY.

But you totally suprised me.

Instead, many of you commented that a good DIYer knows when to DIY, and when to seek help.

The primary reason we hired out the drywall finishing is tool investment.  In order to tool up to do two homes worth of drywall, we'd be into it about as much as the cost of hiring

Coulda shoulda woulda.  I only think it's fair to share with you our mistakes - and not just our successes - as we build the Momplex.  We are, after all, not perfect ... not even professionals.  We are just people, with a dream and a determination to take on the ulitmate of DIY projects.  And of course, along the way, we will have coulda shoulda woulda moments.  Remember when we put the foam up to cover the concrete to allow the concrete to cure?  If we had to do it

With the doors painted, it's time to take this -

And turn it into this -

Pretty crazy how just installing doors over cabinets can do that, isn't it?

The doors we ordered are measured for full overlay, and will require a Euro Style Concealed Hinge, 1-1/4" (sometimes referred to as Full Overlay), Face Frame.  

Full Overlay means the doors pretty much cover the entire cabinet - there's a 1/2" gap between all doors and

After spending a couple of days covering the upstairs subfloor in strips of plywood with 3/4" spacing grooves in between, we are really eager to move on to the next step.

We got a little white surprise up at the Momplex. I'll give you a hint. It's white. And it's here to stay.

Happy Monday!!!

A few weeks back, we built Mom a master closet system, and she's been loving it so far!

But we wanted to add a little more storage and functionality to the tower itself.  I'm not a huge fan of low shelves (maybe it's because I'm ready-to-pop-preggers and reaching into a low bottom shelf is a monumental task right now?).

Mom was going to add some baskets on the lower shelf, but those baskets cosst $20 - and we'd need two per sh

My friend Kate made me a believer.

When it came time to install a countertop for the Momplex Vanilla kitchen, we did go have a solid surface countertop priced out.  

The cost of the solid surface countertop was MORE than the entire kitchen!!!  And it would take 8 weeks and we'd have to pay for a full travel day each time someone drove to the site to measure, fit and install the countertop (yes, we are to blame there for living in the sticks in Alaska).

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On this day, I was very thankful to be a mom. And an Aunty. Because on this very long day, or should I say very long several days, not so much fun work happened at the Momplex. And someone had to stay home and take care of the little girls. Be comforted, honey. Most times, I'd rather be working up on the Momplex than taking on the endless cycle of dishes, dinner, loosing the desert battle, and then dishes all over again. Yes, in my house, dishes seem to come before and after cook

Man is our list ever getting short! We've just got a few things left to do before winter hits hard in Alaska. When we went on book tour, it really put a huge amount of stress on us to get as much done as possible while we can work and still feel our fingers at the same time. Numb fingers are no fun. Working at 50 degrees is a totally different story than working at -50 degrees. There was a lot of this going on as we worked late - even on school nights - trying to get as much done

FACEBOOK PAGE UPDATE: On March 14, 2014, our Facebook Page was hacked, I was deleted as the admin, and the page name was changed.  The hackers then started using the page to promote their own business.  Finally, the page name has been changed (to Ana White) and the permalink has been restored back to www.facebook.com/knockoffwood.  Unfortunately, the hackers also deleted all content on the site, and this cannot be restored. I am very sad to see so many of your photos and questions

If there's one thing I've learned about DIY over all the years and houses and furniture I've built, it's this: Don't give up until you get it right. So after a long, frusturating day of installing flooring, we got a good night's rest, and headed back up to the hill.

SUPRISE!!!

Remember the Momplex kitchen?

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Well, we started working on the next set of kitchen cabinets for Momplex Unit A - and man, have things ever been slow going with a newborn! The Ram's pretty much been a one man show this kitchen ... poor guy, on the last kitchen we built, his building partner was 8 months preggers. One of the things we really wanted to do this time around was put together video tutorials for the bigger steps in building kitchen cabinets. I know many of you find helpful to see something done, and not just r