Ryan's

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How to Make a Floating Picture Frame

We’ve been updating our wall art over the past few months. One way we’re updating our art is by swapping out smaller art pieces for large form art. We’ve found a great way to save money by creating canvas wrapped frames from downloadable art, which you can read about How to Create Wrapped Canvas Art for under $100 here. With all the large form art now, we wanted to frame them. We opted for a floating frame style. This post...

6 Steps to Winterize Your Sprinkler System and Avoid Freeze Damage

Getting the water out of your sprinkler system before the weather turns frigid avoids potential damage to your sprinkler heads and lines. It’s also a great way to wear out the kids as they run around seeing what sprinklers are hissing like dragons. As water freezes, it expands, creating pressure that can break plastic and metal. Here in the PacNW, the crisp October mornings bring yard crews with pamphlets announcing winterizing in the $75-125 range. And one of the things...

You and Your Contractor: #02 Bids and Estimates

This segment discusses some ways to inform the project cost and estimate process. These steps have helped us negotiate with contractors. More importantly, they have helped us understand our project budget and protect our pocket book from overpriced help. The first estimate is rarely the final price for your project. That generally holds true for remodel work or larger projects. If it’s a simpler project, like repainting a room, chances are the price is the price. Yet, there is usually...

Updating Pendant Lights

Replacing and updating lights is a great project. Here is our adventure in finding the perfect modern lighting solution for our kitchen. It is a project that is possible to take on yourself. If you aren’t comfortable around electricity, then you should check with an electrician. For most replacement projects, it’s a matter of swapping out the fixture as the existing ceiling box should work. First Things First – Power Off and Check your Product Updating lights could get complicated...

Upgrade your Pulls and Knobs to Enhance your Cabinets

Swapping out your existing pulls and knobs is an easy DIY project and can really change the character of your space. It can be as simple as only needing a screw driver. Lucky us, we needed to drill new holes in our cabinets which was a wee bit stressful. Here are some tips and tricks to upgrading those knobs and pulls. Selecting Hardware Finish. Because the majority of our existing finishes are satin, we opted to stay with a similar...

How to Install Landscape Lighting on a Retaining Wall

Adding lights to an existing retaining wall is possible, but it is easier while being constructed. For both of our wall areas, we were fortunate enough to have areas where the ground rose up to meet the wall caps. After searching online and seeing what the landscape supply stores carried, I selected some powder coated paver wall lights. The process for install is fairly simple as I had already installed the landscape lighting transformer with some moon rays. Here are...

You and Your Contractor: #01 Your Ballpark Price

I am a project manager that has worked for Architecture and Engineering (typically little A big E) firms for many years. I scope, estimate, negotiate, schedule and deliver projects with multi-disciplinary teams. While the projects are different than a residential home project, there are some crossover lessons on how to develop your project and work with (manage) your contractor. My goal is to help provide you with some tools in your toolbox for making the project process smoother. Developing Your...

How to Avoid Common Wood Project Finishing Errors

There are a number of wood preparation and finishing errors on the project below. At some point, I’ve made them all and learned my lessons the hard way. I can tell you that prior to staining, boards always felt smooth and looked ready to turn a beautiful shade of whatever stain I was going to apply. Problem #01: Improper edge treatment and not enough glue. For your glue project, having straight and crisp edges will make your joins look flawless....

image of our completed pavilion

Backyard Pavilion Project

We love to be outside. There is a season in the Pacific Northwest that comes with a wee bit of precipitation – rain, mist, phantom droplets, and occasionally some snow. We also love to barbeque. After years of trying to stand in the fleeting covering of the protective overhang of the houses roof, we decided it was time for a proper covered area. This is our design-build and style journey of the Pavilion. This is currently a project in process...

Final Firepit

How to Add a Unique Backyard Fire pit

We love campfires, s’mores, stories, and sharing moments with our friends and littles! For years, we had great moments around our portable fire pit. After a fun evening of fun with friends, good food and watching the kids roast marshmallows and eat more chocolate than mallow, we sat watching the embers fade in our slightly rusted fire pit. We both agreed it was time for an upgrade and another design build project. The Replace our Sad Little Rusted Fire Pit...