She Wasn't Pretty

Caulk, Caulk, and More Caulk

2010-11-14T19:42:00.016-05:00

Let's just gloss over the fact that I haven't posted in 11 months, why don't we? I can't promise I'll return to churning out regular blog posts, but there is so much to update. I've painted the living room, dining room, built-in bookcase, and kitchen... then painted the kitchen back to the original color. I've purchased a new coffee table and entertainment center, an under-the cabinet microwave oven for my tiny kitchen, super-duper organized my built-in and closets, painted a fairly gross bedroom room closet, and started overhauling the mudroom.

However, today I did what I've been putting off for three years: caulking. The two big containers of kitchen/bathroom caulk and window/trim caulk have been mocking me for months. I'm not sure what got into me today but I worked for about 7 hours straight. (I work slow, ok?)

During the winter, the master bedroom is about 5-7 degrees cooler than the rest of the house. We have gas hot water heat. (The pipes are in the slab flooring.) Wonderful heat system except that the valve to the master bedroom is turned half-way off. During the last boiler servicing, I asked for the technician to turn it on 100%. The valve wouldn't budge. We have new windows so I figured the room was as warm as it would get. When I held my hand near the trim today, I felt a LOT of cold air. Not good.

I like to tape off to make the application easier. But I'm really disliking the Frog Tape. It would NOT stick to the walls. It was really strange. It worked when I bought it 6 months ago. It's not like I stored it in a hot or cold location. Three windows down and we'll see if the temp discrepancy keeps more at the 2 degree mark rather than 7 degrees! (The "outside" thermometer is keep in the living room.)

After I finished in the bedroom, I dragged my feet to the bathroom. The outside bottom of the tub gets so gross! I can scrub but it never gets clean!

I'm sure there was a better way to do it but I pulled up the old caulk with needle-nose pliers. Then scraped with a tool that looks similar to a flat-head screw driver. It will gouge the shower tiles but thankfully not the flooring tiles.

After vacuuming, I taped the area off.

I applied the caulk and here's my special secret to smoothing out the caulk: my fingers. Dip your finger in water and drag across the caulk. Wipe off the excess on your finger onto a paper towel. After finishing the area, remove the tape immediately.

Do not use this tool:

I had it and never liked it. I don't know why I didn't toss it. It makes it worse than if I hadn't done anything.

It takes a while for me to get the hang of getting it smooth.

But when I do, it gets better.

See, MUCH better!

(I realize my camera isn't the best quality. But trust me, I'm no longer embarrassed if guests see this.)

Since I had the caulk out, I figured it was time to tackle the bathroom sink. I would bleach the heck out of this any time I was expecting company. For three YEARS! Why didn't I do this sooner?

See how gray and nasty it gets? (I am really embarrassed by this.) Don't mind the ick around the faucet. I have no idea what causes this. I can use a Magic Eraser and Bar Keeper's Friend (the sure-fire combo) and it still won't budge. Eventually the caulk scraper removed it.

I taped around the sink. That was easy. A little tricky behind the sink but nothing a bunch of 1-inch long pieces of tape wouldn't solve. I couldn't tape on the countertop and keep the line even.

I decided to just apply a very thin line of caulk and hope for the best. It worked. I barely had any excess to wipe off. Then I carefully wiped around the sink with a paper towel. Viola!

I hope this helps someone that may be putting off caulking because it seems a little overwhelming. It really is fairly easy for beginners and it an important step in keeping bathrooms mold-free and your house more energy-efficient. Now I'll kick back with a beer and watch tonight's Boardwalk Empire. :)

P.S. Anyone have any tips for regrouting? The floor tile desperately needs it and I have no experience with it.

The Vacation Challenge

2010-01-24T17:53:00.005-05:00

I am on vacation this week! Whoohoo! (Although taking it in January seems a bit Pam-esque from The Office. lol) My challenge? Complete as many half-finished house projects as possible. Without spending a dime. Gulp. The reason for the second part of the challenge is because letting me loose in Lowes is not wise. I'll come home with an armful of tools (and a couple gallons of paint) for some new project. And the truth is, I have everything I need for these projects that I started one (or two... or three) years ago.

My current project: the built-in bookcase.

I never finished painting the bottom half when we moved in. It might not be noticeable, but some of the older paint is looking pretty dingy. I never touched the interior and it smells musty. So far one coat of Kilz primer is drying and it already looks (and smells) better. Now the trick is keeping the nosy cats out while it dries.

The picture doesn't do justice to how "blech" it really is.

With one coat of primer up, you can start to see the the old flat color was really a dull beige. I can't wait until I slap on some semi-gloss bright white and organize it all nice and pretty. lol

It's the Little (Lame) Things that Make Me Happy

2010-01-09T21:20:00.001-05:00

When I replaced the medicine cabinet, I worked on some new ways to organize. It... worked. But wasn't ideal. It got messy fast. I originally purchased the Ikea Semvik tumblers to store cotton balls, cotton swabs, and other miscellaneous items.

You would think it'd be pretty easy to remember which tumbler contained which items. However, one household member just couldn't retain that information. I thought I was smart when I printed up some clear labels. But the tumblers show fingerprints and get dirty fast. When I'd wipe down the containers, the printing would slide right off. Another clear label on top of the printed label and viola! Problem solved. Until the tumblers started to look... rusty.

Enter the unbreakable acrylic tumblers at Target for $2.50 each. Normally I'm not a fan of clear storage. I don't like looking at clutter. But really, who is going to be looking in my medicine cabinet except for me and Matt, and uh, I guess my blog readers? (Unless you're one of those snoopy guests. lol)

Basically, everything has to fit in my medicine cabinet. Nothing is stored in 21 inch wide vanity because it is pretty yucky under the sink. It's old and needs to be replaced. And this is good practice for when we replace the vanity with a plain old pedestal sink. So I tell myself, anyway.

Banjo Countertop, Be Gone!

2010-01-02T15:53:00.009-05:00

I've decided no new projects until I finish the ones I have started. That is my biggest downfall: no follow-through. I usually give up when projects are about 80% done. "Oh, I'll get back to it later" and then I never do.

Do you know how long the bathroom has been missing its wallplates on the lighting and fan switches? Yeah, about a year! That's a safety issue too. :( It's not that I haven't tried. I just could not get the screws to line up for some reason. But today, I conquered all! Or at least the wallplates.

Now let me show you around the rest of the bathroom. When we bought the house, we were blessed with this beauty of a medicine cabinet. Even better, the shelves were practically rusted through.

Don't mind the paint swatch on the wall. At one point, there were seven different patches of colors up on the wall. For a year. We ended up with Sherwin William's Kilim Beige. It was just leftover paint from the hallway. It's best represented in the wallplate picture above.

Please also don't focus on my nemesis: the banjo countertop that extends over the toilet. We'll eventually replace with a pedestal sink.

I still have some tile edge pieces to finish. See what I said about unfinished projects? I'm not in love with the light fixture but we were really limited by the space. Our ceilings are too low to fit in something pretty like this:

Trust me, we tried. The light doesn't reflect right. It needs to shine out, not down. But we'll keep looking. In the meantime, these $18 lights work just fine for now!

Stay tuned for when I show you around the rest of the bathroom in two follow-up posts: organizing the linen closet and organizing the medicine cabinet. Who knows, maybe I'll even treat you to more of the banjo countertop, complete with the cut-out for a box of tissues. Lovely.

Project Cost Breakdown:
Lighting: $18
Medicine Cabinet: $88
Paint: free (leftovers)
Lightswitches and plates: $4

Total cost: $110

A Day (Or Months) Late

2010-01-01T09:45:00.004-05:00

I should have posted a follow-up to my 2009 resolutions yesterday. But I guess today is as good as ever! Last year, I posted a very loooooong list of things to do around the house. But we'll get to that in a second. Let's first talk this year's resolutions:

Finish 2009's list
Blog once a week!

I used to love it then it began to feel like a chore. I made a concentrated effort to stop spending so much time online. It was nice! But I do miss updating with projects and I'm very behind on my Google reader. Like 2000 blog posts to read! lol

Ok, so let's see how well I did with the 2009 list, considering I pretty much did NOTHING to the house in the last few months.

Living Room/Dining Room
1. ~~Replace all outdated electric outlets~~
2. ~~Hide the cords in the entertainment center~~
3. ~~Paint the baseboard~~
4. ~~Replace damaged floor boards~~
5. Attach quarter round
6. ~~Replacement blinds for backdoor~~
7. ~~Decorate entertainment center~~
8. Rug to help anchor the space
9. ~~Organize entryway closets (one for hanging items, one with shelves and baskets)~~
10. Paint interior of entryway closets (Um... one down, one to go)
11. Finish painting exterior of built-in
12. Prime and paint interior of built-in (and start using it to store things!)
* Wish list: flat panel TV (come February!), ~~new couch and chair, more grown-up coffee table~~

Kitchen
1. Replace GFI outlets with matching ones that I bought a year ago
2. ~~Replace damaged floor boards~~
3. Attach baseboards and quarter round
4. Replace ugly fluorescent light above sink to something more modern
5. Hook up the garbage disposal that was installed nearly 18 months ago
6. ~~Start planning for new Ikea kitchen cabinets and countertops in 2010~~ Now I just need the funds! lol

Laundry Room/Mud Room
1. Prepare walls for painting (sanding area where cabinets were removed)
2. Paint ceiling
3. Paint walls (same color as living room)
4. Install tile Halfway there!
5. Organize space for shoes, coats, hats, etc.

Hallway
1. ~~Replace outdated eletrical outlets~~
2. ~~Repaint with satin finish~~
3. ~~Paint baseboards~~
4. ~~Hang pictures~~

Master Bedroom
1. ~~Replace all outdated electric outlets~~
2. ~~Repaint~~
3. ~~Purchase comforter and duvet cover for new bed~~
4. ~~Install closet organizer (already purchased)~~ Decided against this idea
5. ~~Purchase matching lamps for nightstands~~
6. Paint doors and baseboards

2nd Bedroom
1. Replace all outdated electric outlets and light switch
2. ~~Install new carpet~~
3. ~~Remove 50% of items and give to Goodwill~~ Hah! Removed close to 90% of the items!
4. Install shelves (already purchased) What the heck was I even talking about here??
5. Paint doors and baseboards
6. Prime and paint interior of closet
7. ~~Find a better way to hide litter box~~
* Wish list: Bed for guests (Hmm, guess I'd have to move the litter box then!)

3rd Bedroom (a.k.a. Man Room)
1. Decor for walls
2. Paint baseboards and doors
3. Give 75% of stored items in closet to Goodwill
4. Paint interior of closet

Bathroom
1. Finish flooring in linen closet
2. ~~Paint walls~~
3. ~~Recaulk tub~~ Hallelujah! Silicone caulk is the guaranteed way to go. Even the bathroom-designated latex caulk isn't worth it. Silicone is a little messier but WAY better.
4. ~~Replace toilet~~ Wasn't on the 2009 list but was on the Ultimate list. The leaking toilet just forced us to do it ~~this~~ last year. And I love it! Well, as much as you can love a toilet.

Exterior
1. ~~Plant grass in bare spots~~
2. ~~Add additional ornamental grass to front yard~~
3. Plant ground cover on side of house Changed this to hosta and halfway done!
4. ~~Finish weeding and mulching retaining wall~~
5. Clear overgrown weeds from back fence LOLOLOLOL No longer on the list. It was just groundcover but I'll PAY to have someone do this.
6. ~~Dispose of the ginormous tub of river rock~~
7. ~~Paint exterior of workshop~~
8. Scrape and paint all trim
9. Replace both water spickets One down, one to go!

Whew! I got a lot done but I feel like I failed because there's still so much to do. (I know I'm just too hard on myself!) But the house improvements are never ending anyway, right?? :) I hope everyone had a great holiday and you'll be hearing from me soon!

The Dust Bunnies are Multiplying Exponentially

2009-11-23T19:55:00.001-05:00

There is a reason why my house is a mess and I haven't posted in ages. We have a new addition to the family. No, no babies. I am becoming the crazy cat lady.

I swear, I only went to PetSmart to pick up cat litter! Deceptively, they have kittens from local shelters in nearby window cubbies. I recognized one from a couple months ago. She was very needy and would rub all over the Plexiglas window if you held your hand up. After I read the description that she'd do best in a household with another active cat, I knew she'd be right for us. And roughly 15 minutes later, I was bringing home a kitten. lol

The transition had me quite worried. We separated her in another room and were slowly acclimating the other cats with her. Linus guarded the door 24/7. Lucy would just hiss. But after some time, everybody just loves each other!

Maybe now I'll finally get to hanging my dining room light fixture. (Three months after I was anxiously awaiting it to be delivered.)

Flipping It Around

2009-09-06T16:57:00.002-04:00

For the last year, I've debated flipping the living room with the dining room. The current layout, which is L-shaped, isn't very efficient. There's a LOT of wasted space in some areas and very tight quarters in others.

Current layout:

(Click to enlarge)

Layout via floorplanner.com.

See that space behind the loveseat? It needs to be somewhat open to access the built-in. I couldn't push the furniture against the adjoining wall due to TV placement. Overall, the current set-up was making the best use of the space. I even tried moving things around via Floorplanner and even the graph paper method.

After we had some new (smaller) living room furniture delivered last week, I decided to try the living room/dining room switch. Perfecto!

Here's a sneak peak of things to come (in its initial stages):

There's still a lot to do...

Change ceiling light fixture.
Purchase white coffee table, end table, and paint entertainment unit.
Decor for end table and back wall.
Add texture and lighten up the area via throws and rug.

No pictures of the dining room yet until I get my new dining room light. I found the perfect one for us, considering that the electrician won't be coming out any time soon. (It can be easily converted to hardwire.) So purty, isn't it?

I was unsure of entering into the house into the dining room. But it doesn't feel that way at all. And it's soooo much more open and airy with ample space to walk around. Much more entertainment-friendly!

The Hopeless Garage Door

2009-08-27T19:14:00.005-04:00

What do you do when the previous homeowner decides to put in this beauty of a garage door?

(from our initial walk through)

Yes, you are looking at that right. It is one of those yellow plastic rolling commercial garage doors. It was such an eyesore! To replace it would have set us back about $300. I have more important projects to spend that money on so what's a girl to do? Grab a can of paint, of course!

I thought painting it was out of the question because it was plastic and because it rolled. The light bulb came on once I realized the sections didn't actually bend. (Can you tell how often I actually go out to the workshop? lol)

I picked up a quart of enamel paint at Lowes. I took a deep breath and then just started painting. What I should have done was tested out a spot. What I should have done was tested its durability. Instead, I just went for it with this uneasy feeling that it might be peeling by next summer. No worries though! I scrubbed, scratched, and pressure washed after the first coat was up. It's not budging!

I hung the planters a little too low. (Tip, don't attach them without the planters nearby. For some reason I thought the chain was much shorter.) But overall, I LOVE LOVE LOVE it. Why have I been living with this ugly door for so long??

Some more before/afters:

I'm undecided about the side door color. I really think it would look better white but Matt pointed out how dirty it gets. Who knows how long it will stay this color. :)

Project Cost Breakdown:
Enamel paint: $10
Total: $10 Yep, that's it! Ugliness erased with only $10. If you count the paint for the entire workshop, it only set me back about $40. But that is a whole 'nother post where I cry about the scraping and sanding.

Ask and You Shall Receive

2009-08-27T12:03:00.004-04:00

But it might take me three weeks to get to it! I've been a busy little bee around the house (lots of new posts to come) so I haven't gotten to taking a full picture of the new bedroom lamps. Finally, here they are:

(It's a dreary day so the lighting is terrible!)

So if you were undecided before, what do you think? I think they are growing on me so they are here to stay. Until a cat knocks one of them over and breaks it. I've already come home to a lamp crashed on the floor. Speaking of which, they seem to be drawn to the camera. Out of 7 shots, they were in all but 6. lol

I think I need to do a less stark white color on the "art" above the bed. Those are actually ceiling tiles, believe it or not! I purchased 5 of them for about $40 (free shipping) and gave the other two to a friend. They are perfect for above the bed due to the lightweight material. If they fall off, no one's teeth are getting knocked out in the middle of the night. But let me tell you, they WILL scare the beejebus out of you if they fall on you while sleeping. So don't just stick them on top of the headboard for the night and think you'll hang them up tomorrow. Unless you want to give yourself a heart attack! lol

Falling Out of Love in 8 Seconds Flat

2009-08-14T17:55:00.005-04:00

I'm organized, analytical, and a planner. Everyone IRL jokes about how predictable I am. However, I can be impulsive. Really impulsive, especially with big decisions. My job, my hair (goodbye brown, hello blonde), even moving in with Matt. So far, all those decisions ended up being even better than expected. :)

I made an impulse purchase on something pretty insignificant: bedside lamp shades. Albeit, an expensive impulse buy. From a store with a sign posted, "All Sales Final". I had been eyeing a similar lamp at Target for ages:

I was picturing some drum shades with them but wasn't sure. See, I'm very lamp/lighting stupid. Then I saw a similar set up in Freckles Chick's blog and fell in love with the lamp combo and her style seen here:

Here's the bedroom so far:

(I now have three of those tiles above the bed to hang. Although they'll be lower this time. I'm just too lazy to get to it. And maybe put the duvet IN the duvet cover.)

The sales associate found a pair of shades, put them on the lamps, and I gasped. They weren't at all something that I would normally pick out. I was in love and it was unexpected. The price tag made my eyes bug out. But who cares! These are beautiful! Sign on the dotted line!

(Don't mind the cat toys. lol)

I got them home, set them up, and immediately started second guessing myself. Are they too feminine? Too frilly with the shape? The fabric too... rich? I loved the very subtle pattern. But I'm not sure if they go with the rest of the room or my style. Are they unexpected in a good way or a bad way? Let me know what you think.

Edit: I'll post a whole room view tonight. I guess I'll have to make up my bed first. ;)

New Year's Resolution Revisited

2009-08-08T23:24:00.006-04:00

I had this insane idea to make a ginormous to-do list as my resolution this year. There were 50+ items on that list! Fast forward to July and I knocked out maybe half a dozen items. I decided to have some friends over for Matt's upcoming 30th birthday so it was time to get my butt in gear.

Here's where things stand so far:
(Many pics to come!)

Living Room/Dining Room
1. ~~Replace all outdated electric outlets~~
2. ~~Hide the cords in the entertainment center~~
3. ~~Paint the baseboard~~
4. ~~Replace damaged floor boards~~
5. Attach quarter round almost there
6. ~~Replacement blinds for backdoor~~
7. ~~Decorate entertainment center~~
8. Rug to help anchor the space
9. ~~Organize entryway closets (one for hanging items, one with shelves and baskets)~~
10. Paint interior of entryway closets
11. Finish painting exterior of built-in
12. Prime and paint interior of built-in (and start using it to store things!)
* Wish list: flat panel TV, new couch and chair, more grown-up coffee table

Kitchen
1. Replace GFI outlets with matching ones that I bought a year ago
2. ~~Replace damaged floor boards~~
3. Attach baseboards and quarter round
4. Replace ugly fluorescent light above sink to something more modern
5. Hook up the garbage disposal that was installed nearly 18 months ago
6. ~~Start planning for new Ikea kitchen cabinets and countertops in 2010~~

Laundry Room/Mud Room
1. Prepare walls for painting (sanding area where cabinets were removed)
2. Paint ceiling
3. Paint walls (same color as living room)
4. Install tile 50% there
5. ~~Organize space for shoes, coats, hats, etc.~~

Hallway
1. ~~Replace outdated electrical outlets~~
2. ~~Repaint with satin finish~~
3. ~~Paint baseboards~~
4. ~~Hang pictures~~

Master Bedroom
1. ~~Replace all outdated electric outlets~~
2. ~~Repaint~~
3. ~~Purchase comforter and duvet cover for new bed~~
4. Install closet organizer (already purchased)
5. ~~Purchase matching lamps for nightstands~~
6. Paint doors and baseboards

2nd Bedroom
1. Replace all outdated electric outlets and ~~light switch~~
2. ~~Install new carpet~~ Installed tomorrow!!
3. ~~Remove 50% of items and give to Goodwill~~
4. Install shelves (already purchased)
5. Paint doors and baseboards
6. Prime and paint interior of closet
7. Find a better way to hide litter box
* Wish list: Bed for guests (Hmm, guess I'd have to move the litter box then!)

3rd Bedroom (a.k.a. Man Room)
1. Decor for walls
2. Paint baseboards and doors
3. ~~Give 75% of stored items in closet to Goodwill~~
4. Paint interior of closet

Bathroom
1. Finish flooring in linen closet
2. ~~Paint walls~~
3. ~~Recaulk tub~~

Exterior
1. ~~Plant grass in bare spots~~
2. ~~Add additional ornamental grass to front yard~~
3. Plant ground cover on side of house 50% there, but planting hosta instead
4. Finish weeding and mulching retaining wall
5. Clear overgrown weeds from back fence
6. ~~Dispose of the ginormous tub of river rock~~
7. Paint exterior of workshop 50% there
8. Scrape and paint all trim
9. Replace both water spickets 50% there

Yowzers. I can't believe I've gotten all of that done! Of course, I could have done it without my sidekick: coffee. Eh, and maybe Matt. :)

My Very Own Hell's Kitchen

2009-07-25T13:15:00.000-04:00

I FINALLY have kitchen floors! Let's throw a party! Actually, we will be having one next month because I'm so happy that my house is finally presentable enough to have company over. Why wasn't it presentable before?

Original peel-and-stick tile (and PINK paint from the previous owner):

Looks decent in the photo but awful in person. Dirty was caked in the crevices and the tile was blech. To match the lovely border, I suppose.

The new floor:

(Wall color is Dutchboy's Roasted Tomato)

Then the ice maker leaked and wasn't discovered until two days later. I lived with the concrete floor for too long as we worked on other projects. And thank goodness we didn't replace right away because the water heater leaked a couple months later and would have ruined it again.

The kitchen was finished Thursday night. I walked into the kitchen about 8 times yesterday and giggled every time. lol It makes the room look so much more airy! It feels twice as large.

I still need to add baseboards but it looks pretty good so far doesn't it? :)

Project Cost Breakdown:
Paint and supplies: $40 (WalMart's Color Place and tinted gray primer)
Light fixture: $40
Light switches: $12
Floors: $76 (Ikea's Tundra laminate in maple)
Total cost: $168

The next step is to replace the kitchen cabinets. The existing ones aren't very functional and they are OLD. Original to the house so that makes them 60+ years old! I've been eyeing the Ikea ones in Adel White.

The only great thing about having such a small kitchen is that it's not that expensive to replace the cabinets!

When Big Projects have Little Visual Payoff

2009-07-22T11:01:00.001-04:00

It's an awful feeling when you slave away for 2 full days and have very little to show for your work. :( I've mentioned before that we had some water damage to our floors a while back. The laminate started to separate at the seams. Most cracks were the width of a penny.

We've made a lot of progress but the change isn't huge. It's not like when we went from pink carpet and walls to laminate and warm taupe walls:

Two days later, we're about 75 percent done. We just have to do the two entryway closets, a small portion of the dining room, and the kitchen. My knees are bruised, the tendons in my wrists kill, and my hamstrings are so tight! Oh, and I have a couple oddball cuts and dings. (I'm a klutz!)

In the thick of it:

I've had to be super organized when we pulled up the flooring. (While it might not look like it from the above pic! lol) Most of the boards weren't damaged. The ones that were just happened to be in the MIDDLE of the room so everything had to be pulled up. I marked which boards to toss, which ones could be reused if the end was cut off, etc.

See those cracks?!

I marked the underside of the good boards with numbers so we could lay them back down in the same order. It was all about efficiency and reusing what we could. Matt thought I was crazy! But I'll have more than half of the 10 boxes leftover.

I even marked the quarter round (which we had never gotten to installing) so I'd know which room and area the pieces belonged when we put it back together. I have no idea what EW stands for though! lol Entryway? Or East-West and I forgot to mark the room??

Our disarray of a living room as we had to move everything from one side to the other:

(At least I was able to coral those cords nice and neat while they were exposed.)

There are no "after" pics because, well, it photographs exactly the same. lol But it will be nice to have a real kitchen floor instead of a concrete one!

57 bags of top soil, 7 gallons of paint, and an aching back.

2009-06-25T22:42:00.002-04:00

Before:

(The deceiving picture from the online listing that I mentioned earlier.)

This is what we saw in our walk-through:

This is what we were working with come spring/summer:

Overgrown shrubs, dead grass, a sad faded yellow paint color, and a floral mailbox. It was depressing. But now, not so much. :)

Please ignore the big blue tub. It houses all the river rock that I'm still pulling up and eventually delivering to my friend's fire pit. There is still a lot to do: scrape and paint trim, fill in the bare areas, finish transplanting the rest of the hosta to the side of the house, new edging... The list is never-ending.

As an overeager homeowner, I:

1. Painted. Yep, the ENTIRE house, by MYSELF. Olympic's Stone Grey for the house color and Phantom Mist for the shutters. It looks black on the paint chip but is a wonderfully rich espresso brown. All for about $150. Yes, you heard that right. $150!

2. Ripped out the shrubs. With the help of a generous friend. Who am I kidding? I didn't "help"at at. She was wielding that ax just fine. If it was left for me to do, those shrubs might still be there today. (I'm paying her back in the form of river rock.)

3. Dug up a ton, literally, of river rock. Replaced with black mulch.

4. Slowly added new plants. Last summer, I was about 25%.

I think I'm about 50% this summer. Hopefully next year, I'll find exactly what I need to fill in the rest of the area.

5. Decorated with some hanging baskets. My $5 Boston ferns and $5 hanging baskets from WalMart. $40 for all of this. Can you believe it?

Another quick before and after:

6. My favorite part was fixing that grass for under a hundred bucks. 57 bags of top soil, fertilizer, and a bag of grass seed later:

7. I was glad once we got rid of the ugly mailbox. We had a little giggle when Matt pulled it out of the ground. We replaced it with a basic black house-mounted one. (One that I hung a bit too tall. I don't think my mail carrier can close it. I didn't think about the fact not everyone is 5'9". lol)

8. You can't see the house numbers because I removed them from the pics, but they are of the floating numbers sort. Similar to:

I think that's about it. lol This totally inspired me to break out the "listing" pics of the house and compare them to the "now" pics. Look for more blog posts to come!

The Eerie Similarities of...

2009-06-25T20:42:00.007-04:00

Online dating and online house hunting:

Many of our friends know that Matt and I met on a online dating website. At the time, I just finished with school and was incredibly shy. (I've now done a complete 180 thanks to my job!) I had a really hard time meeting people and online made it very easy. It was like window shopping for a man. lol It was mostly entertainment and not anything I took seriously. Until I met Matt. :)

However, online dating taught me a few things:

1. Pictures can be deceiving. Just a headshot may be hiding his special wolf t-shirt.

2. Profiles can be deceiving. "I like to kick back and enjoy myself" translates to "I drink beer until I'm stupid and puking everywhere. Then you can clean it up."

3. Go with your gut. If you have a bad feeling, your instincts are kicking in for a reason.

4. Give people a chance. On paper, someone may not seem to be your type but you may be surprised once you get to know them.

When we started house hunting online, I was amazed at the similarities it had with online dating.

1. Deceiving pictures? Check! Isn't it amazing how awful neighboring houses are carefully cropped out of pictures? Rooms can look beautiful online... only to discover the work is shoddy and a bit scary.

2. Deceiving descriptions? Check! "Cute little dollhouse" means that only DOLLS will fit inside the house.

3. Go with your gut. There were a few houses that we didn't spend more than 15 seconds in. I just had a baaaaaad feeling. Like the one that smelled a bit funny. A bit funny like they were hiding a huge water/mold problem.

4. Don't prejudice yourself. The house we ended up buying? I almost refused to look at. lol I'm glad that Matt convinced me. I had a gazillion reasons why I didn't want to, but the second I walked through the door, I just knew. It had good bones. It felt like "home". And the cosmetic work it needed? Not an iota of a deterrent.

Stay tuned for some of those deceiving pictures, the "real" pictures of the walk-through, and some "afters"!

Guess what? MORE Drawer Organizing!!

2009-05-16T12:28:00.007-04:00

This time, I'll show you my other addiction. (That is, the one besides organizing.) It's makeup. I'm a makeup whore. I don't wear a lot on a daily basis but I like having options and I like to play around with it.

Having so much of it, though, slows me down in the mornings because I can't find what I'm looking for. A small container with plastic drawers is what works for me. I picked it up at Target or WalMart for about $5. It's about 6" x 7" x 8".

I organize the drawers in order of how I apply my makeup. Concealer, foundation, powders, and primers in the first drawer. By the way, those little sample containers that you get at Sephora are GREAT for repurposing. I use Dr. Brandt's Pores No More (amazing stuff!!) on a daily basis and touch up late afternoon. The stuff is so expensive that I won't buy two tubes. I keep the original container in my purse and this little pot at home. (Not vice versa because I don't want to be dipping dirty fingers in the pot and contaminating the product. I can be assured I have clean hands at home. A little harder at work.)

The next drawer stores my eyeshadows. They are small pots so I used a leftover container that fits perfectly in the drawer. You could probably also use a shelf liner to prevent the sliding around. What I hate about Bare Escentuals is that you can't tell what color you are grabbing. If you store them upside down, viola! Unfortunately, if you do that, the loose powder will fall through the sifter and make a mess. My solution is to not remove the inside sticker after you purchase the product. Take something sharp (and sterilized) and poke a couple holes through the sticker. Only a small amount will now come through the sifter.

The final drawer stores the items that I apply last.

I used to store my brushes in the appropriate drawers until my collection started growing a little too much. I had to find an alternative. I really like my brush roll from Sonia Kashuk. I bought mine at Target on clearance for about $7. They still have it in other patterns for about $12.00. This is essential if you have a lot of brushes.

If you only have a few, this piece is good for organizing your makeup and brushes. It's pretty efficient if you don't have a huge arsenal.

I swear I don't wear ALL that makeup on a daily basis. In fact, I went to the MAC counter today for some new eyeshadows. I asked for a "day" look. I ended up with what I consider an "evening" look. lol

The first step is admitting you have a problem, right?

2009-05-04T18:55:00.010-04:00

I've been cooped up in the house for the last eight days thanks to an injured foot and acute bronchitis. Unfortunately, waiting for prescriptions to be filled at WalMart leaves me in a very precarious position. This means I have to wander the store for 30-45 minutes. I don't even want to guess what will happen when I transfer my prescriptions to Target. lol

As I was waiting, some little drawer containers were calling my name. At $2.27-$2.37 each, how could I resist? My existing containers weren't working out so great. See here? Where the chopsticks kept poking out? The drawer is already fairly organized but it still bugged me. The containers slid around too.

Keeping in mind three important organizing ideas, I got to work:

1. Purge, purge, purge. Get rid of those items you don't use.
2. Keep like-with-like.
3. Everything has a place. (I think I've said that before but it's so important that it needs repeating.)

Now, these little babies hook onto each other and prevent the slide-around. Looks a little better, don'tcha think?

It even worked for my food storage containers. The Ziplock bags to store the lids was such a great idea... until Matt told me that he doesn't like using it because there's still water on the lids when he takes them out of the dishwasher. (I couldn't argue that he should just dry it off since he does ALL the dishes! lol)

And with the three extra organizers that I bought "just in case":

Say what? "No Soliciting" Signs are Tacky?

2009-03-27T19:37:00.006-04:00

Apparently some people think this. Apparently these people don't get solicitors at their doors! lol I just picked up a small sticker that fits in my screen door. But it must be minuscule (or invisible) because my door bell continues to ring.

After the following conversation, I decided to make my own sign.

Ding! Dong!
Me: Yes?
Solicitor: I'd like to show you my cleaning products and get your opinion.
Me: (pointing to sign) Isn't that soliciting?
Solicitor: No, I don't consider it to be soliciting.
Me: Well, I do.
Solicitor: No, I don't think it is.
Me: Can I buy your products if I'm impressed with them?
Solicitor: Yes.
Me: (closes door)

My new sign:

No Soliciting

Solicitation so·lic'i·ta'tion n. [suh-lis-i-tey-shuhn]
1. To petition persistently; importune: solicited the neighbors for donations.
2. This means selling something.
3. Requesting donations.
4. Advertising
5. Surveys
6. Viewing my phone bill to see where you can save me money.

7. Saving my soul.
8. And yes, YOU too. If you don't know my first name, then don't ring my doorbell. TIA!

I'm taking votes on how long it will be before my house gets egged. By the way, for those of you in need of a nice unobtrusive sign, I found these.

The Final Reveal

2009-03-22T16:38:00.003-04:00

I know I promised this months ago! But what can I say? Life happens. :)

Here is what I was blessed with when we bought the house:

First things first: new paint, carpet, and light fixture.

Life was hunky-dory. Until we got a great deal on a king mattress and a new bedroom set. The new bedroom set is a warm cherry color, which looked awful with the gray walls. I wasn't ready to give up the gray yet so I moved that color to the Man Room. Then I was off to find a new paint color that would complement the furniture and carpet. It turns out that those two items are mutually exclusive.

Eventually I decided on Sherwin William's Kilim beige. After a couple months, I HATED it. Well, hated it with the carpet. Other than that, it's a good color so I moved it to the hallway.

And the new color I chose? Ralph Lauren's Natural Gray. The same color that is in my living room.

A quick reminder of the before:

And now the After... Tada!

(Inspiration for earring organization from Making it Lovely.)

I was ready to give up the plum accents, thinking it wouldn't work with the wall color or furniture. (It didn't look so hot with the beige wall color.) But it turns out I was wrong! Yea!

Project Cost Breakdown:
Paint: $26
Carpet: $216
Installation: $75 (family friend)

Ceiling light: $40

Light switches and electrical outlets: $15
Duvet: $80
Sheet set: $60 (originally $180)
Quilt: $35 (originally $70)

Curtains and rods: $72
Wall decor: $70

Knickknacks: $20 (All bought on clearance.)
Total cost: $709

I know I didn't include the cost of the new mattress and furniture but I strongly believe you can make over a room without purchasing new everything.

Still left to do: buy lamps for the nightstands, actual artwork for above the bed, a classier alarm clock, replace the recycled curtains, and a couple more decor items. Maybe some more exciting sheets. But for the most part, it is done! Done! What do you think?

Ahem! (tap tap) Is this thing on?

2009-03-11T15:01:00.008-04:00

I'm back from my hiatus. I know it's been a while. I wasn't in the house-renovation mood for a while. Then I found some more interesting things to take care of...

Introducing Linus and Lucy:

The night we adopted them, we had no intentions of bringing home a cat, much less two! We only went to get information on the adoption process. But Matt and I came across these two 6 month old kittens and couldn't say no. The two littermates were found in a local warehouse. They were starving and underweight. The foster mom, Rose, was at the shelter so it was great that we had the chance to ask a lot of questions about their personalities and needs.

I completed the adoption paperwork that asked the standard questions like:

1. How long will you give the adjustment process? (Duh! As long as it takes!)
2. Do you have any current pets?
3. If not, what happened to them?
4. Can we contact your vet for references?

I just answered very vaguely that I had a cat that was recently put to sleep. I didn't mention Fatty by name. The vet was xx Animal Hospital. The foster mom was reviewing the paperwork and looked up to ask, "Was Fatty yours?" I just looked at her bewildered, wondering how she knew. She said she works at that vet and knew about Fatty. I knew then that these two kittens were meant to be.

However, I really do have some house updates. Whoohoo! I finally got a paint color picked out for the master bedroom. (And painted!) I bought some new bedding and spray painted a bunch of decor. I was really happy I was able to reuse some of the previous decor. Initially, I didn't think the plum and lavender would work with the new furniture.

So here is a taste of what's to come:

I need to clean the bedroom of cat toys and clutter before taking more pictures. Then I'll give a full before/after update. I'm so excited. This room has done a complete turn-around, if you'll remember:

Scary stuff!!

Goodbye my Sweetie-pie, I love you.

2009-01-31T18:32:00.005-05:00

The last 24 hours have been very painful for me and Matt. I had to say goodbye to my cat, Fatty, of ten years. My best friend of ten years, my cuddlebug of ten years, my baby.

After the long-awaited diagnosis of a food allergy, we thought all was well. Then Fatty started losing weight in the last year that couldn't be diagnosed despite multiple vet visits and blood tests. Overall, he was still himself but with a little less energy. But Thursday night, he began a swift decline in health. He would not eat and refused to drink any water. He was having trouble even standing. I took him into the vet first thing Friday morning to find out that he was in renal failure, his heart murmur had progressed, had an enlarged liver, and was anemic. The vet wasn't optimistic with treatment because of his severe weight loss.

The decision to put Fatty to sleep wasn't easy but I was completely at peace with it. It wasn't fair to make him suffer like he did Thursday night and Friday morning. It was horrible seeing him like that. Matt and I were with him until the end and I'm so very glad that I was. I was there to comfort him, tell him I loved him, and give him kisses.

But Fatty was more than this ball of medical problems. He was a sweetheart. Fatty would be at the door to greet me when I got home. He would follow me from room to room. Cry outside the bathroom door until I came out. Sleep on my lap while I was watching TV or on the laptop. He would sleep on me (under the covers) the entire night and only get up when my alarm clock went off. If he wasn't next to me, he was either eating or in his litter box. That was it. Fatty was a very vocal kitty. If you said something to him, he would answer back with a meow. It was never a quiet household. He was a source of constant amusement and Matt and I often made up Fatty responses...

Matt: Why is Fatty looking at me like that?
Me: He's imagining what you'd taste like with a little salt and pepper.

Even his name is a silly story. We adopted Fatty and Skinny when they were kittens. Those weren't their original names though. We couldn't really decide on names. Skinny was noted as underweight at his first vet visit. We referred to him as "the skinny one" and Fatty became "Fatty" by default. :) I had to put Skinny down about 5 years ago. Enough time to have distanced myself from the pain of losing a pet.

I think the worst part of it is adjusting to life at home without him. I never realized how much our lives really revolved around him. I don't hear the clickity-clack of his nails on the floor. I wait for him to jump up on the couch with me. I don't have him laying on my legs as I type this. He's not sprinting to the faucet as I turn on the water. He's not running into the bathtub as soon as I step out of the shower. My bed is very lonely.

But I was blessed with the best cat possible. The most affectionate cat ever and one that was FULL of personality. He will be missed greatly. Do me a favor and hug your pet extra tight tonight.

Hallway is Done!

2009-01-19T20:08:00.006-05:00

I posted previously regarding the need to repaint my hallway. It had a flat finish that two adults managed to get really dirty, really fast. I used the reject color from the master bedroom. Similar to the previous hallway color but in a satin finish. (New color: Sherwin William's Kilim Beige)

Before:

After:

Did you catch that?

Before:

After:

lol It DOES make a difference. But apparently not one that is picked up by the camera. But I love it!

So about that reject bedroom color... I finally have a paint color picked out for the master bedroom! In fact, I already have a coat on the walls. (I'll save the color announcement for when it's done.) It's looking fabulous. But it needs a second coat and my legs hurt too bad from painting the hallway, bathroom, and bedroom yesterday. It will have to wait until I can move like a normal person and stop needing assistance getting up from the couch. In the meantime, back to my cabernet.

DIY Snow

2009-01-16T18:11:00.008-05:00

(Fixed the video link. Sorry! Not that making snow is ALL that exciting.)

It has been cold in Indiana lately. Very cold. I woke up this morning to a negative 15 degrees (Fahrenheit). -35 degrees F when considering the wind chill factor. Ladies and gentlemen, that is COLD!

Apparently when it's this cold, you can turn boiling or near boiling water into snow in less than 1 second flat. Here's how:

1. Fill a cup with near boiling water.
2. Throw the water (without the cup) as high as you can in the air.
3. Poof! It's snow!

This works best when the temperature is around 0 degrees F and it is a very dry day. We tried it at -7 and -1. It worked much better at -7 F.

We (my coworkers and I) spent a considerable amount of time this morning filling up multiple cups of water and quickly running outside to toss it in the air. This didn't get old for quite some time. lol My friend texted me a video of her office trying the experiment as well. Out of her 4th floor office! Hilarious!

I Know I'm a Tease

2009-01-03T20:44:00.010-05:00

Just a preview of what's coming up for the master bedroom!

Here is the before, the temporary, the I-thought-it-was-finalized-color, and the new contenders.

You can see the dark chocolate color (with red undertones) of the new furniture. It looked awful with the gray paint and plum accents so that's why it needed to change. The beige I used afterwards is too light for the space and clashes with the whitish-gray speckled carpet. Although the color picks could change as I haven't bought the paint yet. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Getting a Jump Start

2009-01-03T19:06:00.005-05:00

I have started on my New Year's Resolution To-Do List. I figured with 56 items... that's about an item a week, right? Well, some of them are pretty easy so I've (almost) knocked out a couple already!

We have replaced some of the electrical outlets in the house. They were old and a few must have gotten bent because nothing would plug into them! (Not even non-polarized plugs.) To make matters worse, they had been painted over by the previous homeowner.

Before:

After:

Hah! Difficult to tell, huh? lol But I swear, it's these little details that really makes a difference in the house.

Apparently the hallway used to be painted a lime green:

I also started painting the hallway. I originally painted it about a year ago with flat paint. (Ralph Lauren's Canvas, I believe.) I thought, two adults? It can't get that dirty. Wrong! There are grimy hand prints everywhere. I had some leftover Kilim Beige by Sherwin Williams that I had used in the master bedroom. (I am repainting again because it doesn't look good in the bedroom.) I ran out before I finished my first coat. Oops! I made a quick run to WalMart to have them color-match it. No biggie since the second coat will be from the same can.

Before:

After:

Well, that's coming tomorrow. It still needs a second coat but it is looking so much better. I never realized how much the sheen matters in such a small space. The first night I couldn't figure out what the glow coming from the hallway was. It was a nightlight in the dining room reflecting off the wall! Crazy. I will finish up tomorrow morning and post pics. Then I'll get starting on repainting the master bedroom!

Biting Off More Than I Can Chew

2009-01-01T08:47:00.013-05:00

Happy New Year to everyone! I'm not a big one for resolutions but I am a list-maker. So my resolution is to start tackling more projects around the house, big and small. Our budget is tighter than usual because Matt's hours have been cut at work. (A reflection of the current economy.) Therefore, my projects will be the most visual bang for the buck. The list may be long but I can't wait to start crossing things off!

Living Room/Dining Room
1. Replace all outdated electric outlets
2. Hide the cords in the entertainment center
3. Paint the baseboard
4. Replace damaged floor boards
5. Attach quarter round
6. Replacement blinds for backdoor
7. Decorate entertainment center
8. Rug to help anchor the space
9. Organize entryway closets (one for hanging items, one with shelves and baskets)
10. Paint interior of entryway closets
11. Finish painting exterior of built-in
12. Prime and paint interior of built-in (and start using it to store things!)
* Wish list: flat panel TV, new couch and chair, more grown-up coffee table

Kitchen
1. Replace GFI outlets with matching ones that I bought a year ago
2. Replace damaged floor boards
3. Attach baseboards and quarter round
4. Replace ugly fluorescent light above sink to something more modern
5. Hook up the garbage disposal that was installed nearly 18 months ago
6. Start planning for new Ikea kitchen cabinets and countertops in 2010

Laundry Room/Mud Room
1. Prepare walls for painting (sanding area where cabinets were removed)
2. Paint ceiling
3. Paint walls (same color as living room)
4. Install tile
5. Organize space for shoes, coats, hats, etc.

Hallway
1. Replace outdated eletrical outlets
2. Repaint with satin finish
3. Paint baseboards
4. Hang pictures

Master Bedroom
1. Replace all outdated electric outlets
2. Repaint
3. Purchase comforter and duvet cover for new bed
4. Install closet organizer (already purchased)
5. Purchase matching lamps for nightstands
6. Paint doors and baseboards

2nd Bedroom
1. Replace all outdated electric outlets and light switch
2. Install new carpet
3. Remove 50% of items and give to Goodwill
4. Install shelves (already purchased)
5. Paint doors and baseboards
6. Prime and paint interior of closet
7. Find a better way to hide litter box
* Wish list: Bed for guests (Hmm, guess I'd have to move the litter box then!)

3rd Bedroom (a.k.a. Man Room)
1. Decor for walls
2. Paint baseboards and doors
3. Give 75% of stored items in closet to Goodwill
4. Paint interior of closet

Bathroom
1. Finish flooring in linen closet
2. Paint walls
3. Recaulk tub

Exterior
1. Plant grass in bare spots
2. Add additional ornamental grass to front yard
3. Plant ground cover on side of house
4. Finish weeding and mulching retaining wall
5. Clear overgrown weeds from back fence
6. Dispose of the ginormous tub of river rock
7. Paint exterior of workshop
8. Scrape and paint all trim
9. Replace both water spickets

Whooo! That seems like an awful lot! But spread across 52 weeks, I don't think it will be so bad! We'll see! It will give me lots of blog posts I think. lol

Back in the Saddle Again

2008-12-27T11:26:00.012-05:00

I've stopped watching BBC's You Are What You Eat and resumed watching TLC's Property Ladder. The motivation has returned! Part of Matty's Christmas present was to surprise him with installation of carpet in the 3rd bedroom. (Long story on why it was sitting rolled up in the 2nd bedroom for many months.) I spent the 23rd repainting the room and the morning of the 24th getting the carpet installed while Matt was at work.

Orginal room with yellow walls and blue carpet:

Repainted with Matt's choice of green (that I hated):

And finally, the new gray paint that flows with the rest of the house and new carpet:

When Matt arrived home, I shut the door and told him to check out the "finishing touches" that I made to room after painting. We joked that I hung up some new decor, specifically kitty posters ordered from Scholastic. He opened the door and was shocked. He loved it!

We'll still need to decorate in here but that's another battle. lol I'd like something modern/contemporary and Matt wants something with cars or aeroplanes. I think a nice compromise is if I can find pictures of what he likes but in black/white and mat it in contemporary frames.

Project cost breakdown:
Flooring: $350
Paint: $14
Light switches/outlets: $7
Light fixtures: $20
Total: $391

My Christmas Eve House Project

2008-12-22T22:14:00.007-05:00

Part of the reason I haven't made an entry in so long is because my camera is broke. (An unfortunate circumstance of clumsy hands and a little too much beer.) What's a post without before and after pictures? Well, I promise, one is coming soon! I seem to think I've said that before, but I really promise this time!

There is a definite "before and after" project in the works. And who schedules it for the morning of Christmas Eve? Yes, yours truly! You can call me crazy but it IS part of Matt's Christmas present so it's totally worth it.

Matt has been dreaming about a Man Room since the day we started house shopping. About 18 months ago, an outside water spicket leaked and ruined the carpet in "his" room. (And ruined the brand new laminate in the hallway.) I bought new carpet and padding and got a few estimates for the installation. Per the recommendations, we were told to get the hallway floors fixed first because of the transition piece to the carpet. We replaced the hallway laminate a few months later... only to have the ice maker leak and ruin the kitchen floors. Then weeks later, the water heater leaked and ruined the entryway and living room floors.

So... due to other priorities, we never got around to replacing the carpet. It's been sitting, rolled up, in the second bedroom. All of a sudden it hit me last week while racking my brain for gift ideas for Matt. I already had scheduled off on the 23rd and 24th. I made a few quick phone calls and arranged to have the carpet installed on the morning of the 24th. Just two hours after Matt leaves for work!

I'm most excited about getting to repaint the room! (He already guessed that surprise. Boo!) The room was originally a pale yellow when we moved it. It wasn't "manly" enough so Matt chose a dark green. Definitely NOT my favorite. He finally agreed to let me paint it a dark gray. (The color that used to be in our master bedroom that I was in love with.) Yes, technically, I am painting to benefit both of us. But shhhh, he doesn't need to know my motivation!

When the carpet gets installed, I'll update with some pics and Matt's reaction. In the meantime, here are some "before" pics.

Um, not my wreath. It was the seller's:

The existing green paint and old carpet:

Stay tuned for the "Afters"!

Still Haven't Found the Motivation...

2008-11-30T20:28:00.006-05:00

... to get anything done around the house. So instead tonight, I am watching "Nazi Scrapbooks From Hell" on National Geographic. It feels very odd to me, watching the footage. Only three years ago, I visited Auschwitz and Birkenau. There isn't really any accurate description that I can use to describe what I saw. Eerie. Chilling. Evil. None of these words can really capture the inhumanity. However, it's really something that I strongly believe that everyone should see at some point in their life.

"... at Auschwitz is the presence of absence. In other words, you feel the absence of the people who were there." That is very very true.

When you walk into Auschwitz, there are long rooms with glass encasements that run the length of the room. Rooms filled with human hair. Rooms filled with only toothbrushes and hairbrushes, piled waist-high. Rooms with only suitcases. Rooms with mounds of shoes. Seeing this and realizing it was only a tiny tiny fraction of the people that came through there... again, indescribable.

"Arbeit Macht Frei." Work Brings Freedom.

Auschwitz grounds

Execution wall

Guard Tower

Patrolled border

Birkenau Entrance: "Death Gate". The largest of the the Nazi concentration camps.

"In March 1944, the Germans invaded Hungary. Hungarian Jewry underwent in 4 months what had taken 3 years in Poland. The invasion was March of 1944. Ghetto-ization was April and early May.

437,402 Jews were shipped to Auschwitz between the 15th of May and the 8th of July, almost all to Auschwitz. 437,402 Jews on 147 trains in 54 days. The arrival rate at Auschwitz was approximately 8,000 people a day. 80% of whom were killed immediately upon arrival."

-Micheal Brenebaum, Ph.D., Director
Ziering Holocaust Institute

Remains of Crematorium #2

View of brick barracks through barbed wire

View of remains of 300+ wooden barracks

Wow, so I was not intending this to be such a depressing post. Sorry! On a bit of a lighter note, this past summer my uncle told a story of when he was young. The allies had ordered all lights out at night (small town in the Netherlands). He and his brother jimmy-rigged a bicycle tire on the roof to power a light bulb so that they could read at night. :)

Oskar Schindler's Factory Gate

And the purpose of my trip:

Habitat for Humanity

This building process needs its own post. It was so much fun! Hard work, but fun! I went into it blind, not knowing a single member of the 12 person team. It was eye-opening, humbling, somewhat dangerous (for a non-builder like me... ahem. Definitely not OSHA safe!)

Down under (and sunburned) at the Wieliczka Salt Mine. Very cool! I swear! Who though a salt mine could be neat?

Everything was made (carved) from salt, including the chandelier "crystals".

Underground lake and tunnel

In Krakow

Airing my Dirty Laundry

2008-11-17T20:35:00.001-05:00

I am so unmotivated with the house reno projects that I've taken to organizing. Pinky promise that I'll show some of those projects soon. In the meantime...

I can’t turn a wooden hanger away:
My closet is the worst use of space ever. It’s big… 10 feet wide. But only 4 of those feet are easily accessible. I bought a double-rod ClosetMaid organizer; I just haven’t installed it yet. (Yeah, that lack of motivation...) If you haven’t figured out that I hate visual clutter by now, here’s Meg at her most obsessive-compulsiveness.

First, get rid of your wire hangers. They aren’t pretty, they get caught on each other, and they put weird stretch marks in your clothes. Buy a bunch of plain plastic hangers. Personally, I like wooden ones.

Then organize by type. I like to separate my collared shirts from my camisoles and Matt’s work shirts from his t-shirts. Then I organize each section by color. Yes, I said color. Stay with me here. I swear it really cuts down on the decision time. When you dress, don’t you base a lot of your decisions on color? What matches or “goes” with the outfit?

This was my brain this morning: I’ve worn black pants nearly every day in the last week. Before anyone thinks I’m wearing the same pair of pants over and over, maybe I should wear gray today. (Scan gray pants, pick a pair.) I think a teal or green sweater would look good with the gray. (Scan green sweater section.) Hmmmmm… I need to layer a shirt underneath. (Scan to the purple camisoles and find one that goes with the style of sweater.)

Containers multiply like gremlins in my house:
I also love drawer organizers. It helps keep my bras separated from my undies and my trouser socks from my gym socks. I spared you from the actual items. I’m sure no one wants to look at that! (And I really don’t want my underwear posted on the internet.)

Even the dirty laundry doesn’t stand a chance:
I hate sorting laundry. Hate it. So having a few hampers in my closet makes me sort as I undress at the end of the day. When I throw a load into the washer in the morning (practically sleepwalking and wondering if I have any non-black pants that are clean), all I have to do is grab the hamper and take it with me to the washer. No sorting required.

I'm Betting Only 0.35% Finish Reading This

2008-11-12T21:13:00.003-05:00

I've noticed that a portion of my blog hits are actually coming from Google searches, like "How To Hang an Ikea Malma Mirror." I knew I wasn't the only one that couldn't figure that out! lol I'm probably going to lose some of you at this point because this particular post is very specific. So unless you plan on installing Ikea's Tundra laminate flooring soon, you don't need to bore yourself by reading any further. I promise I'll return to the house renovation posts soon. (And probably some more organizational posts too. I can't stop. It's a sickness.)

Now for those of you needing some tips on the installation process of the Tundra flooring, this is for you, especially after that super-duper sale on the flooring from last month!

We choose Ikea's Tundra flooring because overall it’s a great product for the price. Very durable! It wasn’t in my budget to do Pergo. I think Pergo is a slightly superior product (in density and installation) but if you are looking to save money, this is the next best thing! The other products in this price-range looked… cheap. First of all, we had some help in our installation. My brother (a former Lowes flooring manager) and BIL (who does floors for a living) helped us start. If you don’t know someone that’s done this before, don’t worry! Take one of those free laminate flooring classes that Lowes/Home Depot runs. We learned lots from it and got some actual hands-on time in the class.

Tools:

1. The spacer/taping block/metal thing tool kit that Ikea sells.
2. I don’t know much about saws but you’ll need a saw that will cut the boards the long-way and the short-way.
3. A hammer
4. Knee pads like what volleyball players wear. Trust me, your knees will thank you!
5. An old dense paintbrush (to wipe off the dust in the lip before you click and lock)
6. A little hand saw specifically for cutting under door frames

Underlayment:

I don’t think you have to buy Ikea’s brand. You can pick up other brands at a home improvement store. Just don’t buy Ikea’s cardboard-like product. Not good if you have any water issues like we did! Most underlayment is plastic. It’s also usually a moisture-barrier (a MUST if you are installing on a slab) and helps quiet the sound. Check the packaging to make sure about the moisture-barrier. As you lay the sheeting out, you’ll need to tape the seams with special underlayment tape which is available at any home improvement store.

The product itself:
When you buy the flooring, leave it in the boxes. Put it in the room where they will be installed. They need to acclimate in the box in the room for at least 48 hours. If you don’t have central a/c and can install in summer, I’d do it because humidity makes it expand.

Each box has nine boards. While all the boards are the same exact size, they don’t all have the same exact pattern. (Meaning the wood grain look to the board.) If you install them willy-nilly, it looks fine. But it looks fabulous if you install them in the right order because then all the boards look continuous and the seams aren’t as visible. I think there are three patterns. As you open the boxes, you’ll want to separate the each pattern into it’s own pile. Figure out which pattern matches the next pattern. Then install board 1, then 2, then 3, then 1, etc. Hopefully that makes sense! It can get a little tricky because the pattern was a bit puzzling if I remember correctly. It was like 1, 2, 3, 2, 3. It took us a few minutes to figure out something that seemed really simple. lol

Figure out how you want to run the boards. North to south? East to west? Some things to keep in mind… sunlight. Depending on which way you run it, it can make the seams appear more noticeable. i.e. Our boards run north-south. Our sunlight is mainly southern sun so you see the seams a bit more in the light. (Not really noticeable, IMO.) They “say” that I should have installed it east-west. But my hallway, entryway, and galley kitchen all run north-south and it looks much better when the flooring is run in the same direction.

General installation: Lowes/HD can probably tell you much better than I can. But just some things I remember... The spacers are important because the laminate will expand in hot weather. The spacers help accommodate for this. There will be a gap between your baseboards and the flooring. Purchase some quarter-round and attach it to the baseboard after you install the flooring. My suggestion: paint the quarter-round the same color as your trim. I’ve seen it the same color as the flooring and it just doesn’t look as sharp.

The click-and-lock is pretty easy. Before you actually do that part, I use an old paint brush to dust off the lips of the boards because the grit can prevent the boards from being seamless if you don’t. This is the one very apparent downside to Ikea’s quality. It’s almost like there are little jagged cardboard pieces in there sometimes.

Watch Ikea’s online video regarding the actual installation or youtube it (since their video is a bit of a joke with cartoon characters and no sound. lol But you’ll get the picture.) It shows how to start, how to overlap each row’s seams, etc. The first row you lay is easy because you are only clicking them on the sides. The subsequent rows are a bit more tricky because you are clicking them on the top and sides.

Let’s say you are working on row 2:

Lay down the first board in row 2, click-and-locking it to the board above it. Wiggle the board into place at the top. Make sure it’s seamless all the way across. Sometimes you REALLY have to wiggle it and press into it. Once you lay down the board, the seam disappears if you did it right.

Put the next board close to the previous board but give it a tiny bit of space on the left/right side (depending which direction you are going). Push it into place with the board above it. Then take the plastic tapper and lay it on the side of the board. Tap the block with a hammer until it “clicks” into place with the board on the left/right side. Be careful where you place the tapper. There’s a bit of a ledge you need to lay it on. If I wasn’t careful and didn’t put it on the ledge, I’d break the edge of the board. Very frustrating! But once I figured that out, it was smooth sailing! The metal thingy included in the kit comes into play when you get to the edge of a row because the tapper obviously won’t fit between the board and the wall.

Continue this process until finished. And viola! You have a great looking floor for a great price.

Wine for Lunch?

2008-11-06T20:21:00.004-05:00

I've been in need of a lunch bag for quite some time now. I usually use an old plastic grocery bag until it rips and my lunch falls on the ground in the parking lot. But this morning I told myself that it's time for a designated lunch bag. I never have extra plastic bags anymore since I've started using canvas bags for my shopping.

Enter an unused grocery store wine bag.

My grocery store offers a free wine carrier with any wine purchase. The problem? There are six spots and I never buy six bottles at a time. The bag is just a waste... until I started looking at it a bit closer this morning. It's the perfect size for a lunch bag. However, the interior just won't work for my food containers. Unless my lunch is wine, I suppose.

I started ripping one of the interior seams to make a larger space. Viola! And I still have a space for my water bottle and whatever else I plan to carry with me that day. (Today, that's my grocery coupons and ads.) I love when I figure out new uses for old things.

Can your house be secure enough?

2008-11-04T19:09:00.004-05:00

I've been getting quotes on some home security systems after I had a strange visitor at my door on Sunday afternoon. Let me first explain that I am a somewhat suspicious person. I work for a bank so I am trained to look for security threats, especially physical threats and identity theft. I've also had the unfortunate experience of going through a bank robbery, complete with a gun pointed at my head. It's not a fun thing and it took me a long time to get over. But if anything, that experience gave me the gift to start paying more attention to my surroundings.

I don't usually open the door if I don't recognize the person through the peephole. However, this time I did. Standing there was a teenager. He said he was there to pick up a bag. Having never seen this kid before (or any bag), I was thoroughly confused. I asked what type of bag. He said it was a paper bag, motioning a size slightly smaller than a grocery bag. I asked him when and where it was left. He said the bag was left on the front porch last week. I kept repeating that I didn't know what he was talking about. He shrugged his shoulders and left. I watched him jog off to his friend that was standing in the street. They walked away, not stopping at any other houses.

Was it drugs and they had me confused with another house? Were they casing the place? Were they checking to see if anyone was home before breaking in? There was a residential burglary one block down last week. I've been wanting to get a home security system but this just helped me get on the ball. I started making calls. I also started talking to the neighbors, seeing if they have noticed anything suspicious.

Well... I found out the deal with the kid. My neighbor said the bag was for a church food drive! lol She received her bag last week, filled it up with canned goods, set it on her porch, and saw a boy (fitting the same description) pick up the bag Sunday afternoon. Whoops! Couldn't he have just said that?! But I'm not changing my mind about the security system.

I have been getting some quotes/assessments from three different security companies. During the house assessments I discovered that I've been doing a lot of things right. Here are some tips to make your house less of a target:

1. Keep exterior areas well-lit and trim down any overgrown shrubs. I keep my porch light on dusk to dawn. I will be replacing the side and back lights with motion detector lights. Always have an interior light on at night. I keep a living room light on a timer.

2. Deadbolts. Seems obvious but I was really surprised when I knocked on my neighbors' doors. Some didn't have deadbolts and others had pretty flimsy locks. A police course taught me that the screws for the plate into the door frame should be at least 2 1/2 inches long. It makes it much more difficult for the door to be kicked in.

3. Use double cylinder deadbolts on doors with glass. Two of my doors are half glass. If I had a regular deadbolt, all you would have to do is break a small pane of glass, reach in, and unlock the door. Do yourself a favor and use the deadbolts that need a key on both sides to prevent this. (To avoid a fire hazard, keep the key nearby... just not within reach from the door.)

4. Keep your curtains closed when you are not home. Don't give potential burglars a chance to look in your windows, looking for items to steal. I am most adamant about this when I am at work and a little more lax when I step out for a quick errand.

5. Consider a monitored security system. My homeowners insurance offers a 15% discount if you have one. Not bad!

6. If you are on vacation, stop your newspaper and have the post office hold your mail. (Both are simple and common requests.) Keep lights and tv's on timers. Make sure your lawn is mowed or driveway is shoveled.

With the holidays coming and the economy in it's current state, banks know that identity theft, burglaries, and bank robberies become much more prevalent. Be aware of your surroundings and keep safe!

Sometimes the Creativity Bug Bites Me

2008-10-31T22:09:00.004-04:00

... but most times not. Although, every once in a while I come up with a clever fix for the inconveniences in my house.

Both of my problems are related to electrical. I can change out a light switch or electrical outlet, but I don’t tackle anything more than that. I needed a cheap fix that didn’t require an electrician.

Case in point: my living room has no light switches. Sure, I could just turn on the lamps with the switch on the cord. But it was a hassle because the “on/off” was actually located behind the entertainment center. Plus, there are two of them to deal with.

The other lamp is on a timer. Just to distract you for a moment... isn't the capiz lamp gorgeous? Originally $60 but snagged for $11 on clearance.

Rather than spend the money on hiring an electrician, I bought a $15 receiver that plugs into the electrical socket. I plug the lamps into the receiver and an itty bitty remote controls the lights.

Pretty nifty, eh? Kind of like "The Clapper” but not so 1984.

The remote isn’t your only option. It also comes in a remote light switch. It looks like a regular light switch plate. But it’s not. You just screw it anywhere into the wall. Viola!

Next up was my mudroom, which only has one light switch. It is a small room that is sandwiched between the garage door and the kitchen door. Since there is only 7 feet to cross between the doors, why should you even need to turn on a light? It could have something to do with the 14 pairs of shoes strewn about. I would love to able to turn on the light when I enter the room, cross the tornado of shoes, exit the garage door, and turn off the light behind me. My failed solution: a nightlight. No amount of light was enough to see in that pitch-black room. My next solution: a motion-detector light switch!

The sensor coverage is 150 degrees. Not bad! It also detects motion up to 30 feet away. That’s not all, folks! It will automatically turn off after your desired amount of time of inactivity. We set it at 1 minute to save electricity. (After all, when I'm in the room, I'm usually moving.) It also has a customizable sensor so that the light will not turn on if it detects enough daylight. The mudroom has a window and a door with glass inserts. It’s bright during the day but just too dark at night. For $15, I don’t have to worry about twisting my ankle anymore. Worth it to me.

I'm an organizing dork

2008-10-28T07:48:00.001-04:00

I'll admit it. I love organization. I love organized organization. My heart goes pitter-patter in the storage section of Ikea and Target. I stay away from Container Store because I know what's good for me. I organize on a budget so I won't even tease myself by going in there.

But quite honestly, I have to be organized. My house is on the smaller side (1250 sf) which is perfect for the two of us, a cat, and a little one if the time comes. My house doesn't feel small and I think it's due to my lack of "stuff".

Here are some things I've learned throughout the years:

1. You can't organize junk. Get rid of the items you don't use. Show no mercy. If you think, "I might need this" or "I could fix this" just Get. Rid. Of. It. Every once in a while I come across items that I wonder why I put it away, like a broken camera. I planned on getting it repaired... but instead bought 2 additional (and better) cameras since. Or I find items like VHS tapes when I no longer own a VCR. Cassette tapes. Ahem, Spice Girls.

Don't kid yourself that you'll sell it on Craigslist or eBay. Have a garage sale. (Personally, I skip that step.) Whatever doesn't sell, immediately put in your trunk and take to Goodwill. Except those old cell phones! Donate them to your local women's shelter.

2. Don't buy organization containers without analyzing what you need. After de-junking, look at what items you need to organize and buy the containers that fit those needs. Don't do this step until you finished with step 1. Measure your closet shelves (width/depth and height) and buy containers that make the most of the space.

3. You don't need uber-expensive containers to organize. Check the Dollar Store, Target, or WalMart. I found matching canvas totes on clearance at Lowes after Christmas. Ikea has some cardboard containers that don't look very cardboard-ish. I have them hanging out in my living room, organizing everything from dvds to frequently used tools and small electronics.

4. Be creative when it comes to containers. My favorite trick: plastic zip lock bags and a Sharpie. My medicine cabinet doesn't store medicine. That's what happens when you are a make-up junkie and Sephora is your kryptonite. The cute little plastic drawers don't really fit my needs (but they may fit yours) so I stick it in a canvas tote, organized by bags so I can easily find what I'm looking for.

5. One word: Clear containers. (Ok, that's two.) It makes finding things a lot easier. I use clear containers behind closed doors. I don't like the visual clutter of clear storage but that's just me.

6. Label. Label. Label. Even with clear containers. It doesn't have to be anything special or printed. I like my labels uniform because it gives me secret pleasure. I know, I'm weird like that.

7. Hooks are your friend. I don't have a place to store my jewelry so some hooks behind my bedroom door are perfect for this. I also have a couple hooks on the wall for my robe and hoodies that would otherwise end up on the floor or thrown over a door.

8. Use dual purpose furniture. My entertainment center also stores blankets, magazines, and other various items. What about a coffee table that has storage? Use under-the-bed containers for off-season clothing. Create even more space under your bed by using bed risers. Use those same containers under your couch if you can. I store extra blankets under mine.

9. Think vertical. If you've run out of room, think up. One of my fav fav fav products is Ikea's Lack shelf. I have a couple but I've seen pics of walls with 5 of them lined up. The result is modern and clean. (Don't mind my cat and his new napping spot.)

10. Organize in a way that fits your lifestyle. I have trouble with paper clutter. I signed up for as many e-bills that I could. I adapted the tip of going through my mail as the first thing I do when I enter the house. Junk mail goes straight in the recycling bin. But the stuff that needs to be shredded? Not so easy since the shredder is located in the spare bedroom. I since moved it to the mudroom and I take care of those items when I enter the house.

After writing this entry, I just discovered this great blog: The Unclutterer. There are some really helpful hints and organizing ideas. Any tips that you use and are willing to share?

Battle of who is Smarter: Meg or the Mirror

2008-10-26T10:28:00.002-04:00

The contenders:

Ikea Malma mirrors:

Meg:

I just bought 12 of these mirrors for my entryway. I already have a mirror in my entryway but it just doesn't look finished.

In addition, when the front door is opened, it hits one of the sconces and keeps marring the freshly painted door. So I bought these iron scroll-y things for $3 each on clearance at Target. Blech.

I thought that adding a frame around the mirror would snaz it up. Until I put this ginormous 6 foot thing in my living room.

It's only a few feet away from the entryway. I think two big mirrors make me look a little vain. But in all honesty, it's a decor trick to bounce some light in this dark area. $36 is a lot cheaper than a new front door with some glass inserts. (That will come. Just not in the budget right now.)

But sadly, these Malma mirrors have been sitting on the floor for 3 weeks now because I couldn't figure out how to hang them. Like in traditional Ikea style, there weren't any instructions. (I would have even settled for their picture-only instructions.) Google wasn't helping except to reassure me that I'm not the only one in this quandary.

There were two small hooks and a short piece of string included. Huh? I finally realized you need to screw the hooks into the back and run the string through the hooks a few times. But if I screwed them into the back, the mirror won't lay flush on the wall. Now, I love me a tilted mirror ( a common restaurant decor trick.) But it wouldn't look right with two rows of tilted mirrors.

On top of that, I'd have to screw in 24 of these hooks. (Did I mention I'm lazy?) There were no pre-drilled holes. I'm not that ambitious. But necessity (or laziness) is the mother of invention. I found these 3M picture hanging strips from their Command Adhesive line.

What do you think?

I may add some hooks for coats underneath the mirrors at a later time. Not necessarily for my coats (because it's visual clutter to me and my OCD tendencies). But while I have 2(!) hall closets across from these mirrors, they are currently serving as storage. Not something I'd want my guests to see.

Corn Maze or American Gladiators?

2008-10-22T21:11:00.012-04:00

I had the joy of completing my first corn maze this past weekend. Even with living in the heart of Indiana, I've never done one before. Plus there are several intricate ones in my area to choose from. When the idea popped into my head, I ran it past Matt.

Me: What do you think about doing a corn maze tomorrow?

Matt: Isn't maize considered corn?

Me: No, like a maaaaaaze.
(As if sounding out homonyms helps.)

Matt: Oh. Well. Um.
(Apparently sounding it out does help.)

Me: It'll be fun! Like... like a labyrinth! Ooh, remember Pan's Labyrinth? Such a good movie!

Matt: Do you remember the guy with the eyeballs in his palms?

Me: Yuck! Did you have to bring that up? So are you up for the maze?

Matt: Does it have any obstacles? That'd be fun.

Me: Huh? No, no obstacles. What do you think this is? American Gladiators?

Matt: That would be COOL!

It was a beautiful day for it:

The maze was 9 acres and supposed to take 1 - 1 1/2 hours to complete. Within the first few minutes, we both agreed that it was a good idea that we didn't watch "Signs" or "Children of the Corn" the night before. Twenty minutes in, I was getting irritated. We were backtracking, there was no apparent strategy, and you couldn't even give up if you wanted to! What if I was stuck in this corn until tomorrow? Or eternity? There were no cheat maps or clues. But oddly enough, I started to develop a strategy that worked. (Tip: rock-paper-scissors isn't very effective.) The strategy was to make it to the outer edges of the maze and try to work our way around. I'm not sure why that worked but it did. We made it to about 9 of the 12 checkpoints within an hour when we found the exit by accident. We both agreed it would be best to not press our luck.

Outside of the maze, I had the most delicious sweet corn and chicken chowder. Yum! Corn chowder is my favorite. Then I topped off with a hot caramel apple cider. When leaving, I got the enthusiastic response that every girlfriend longs to hear: "Well, that didn't suck as bad as I thought it would." We'll definitely be back next year. And maybe even try the corn shooters! (You shoot ears of corn under high pressure at a distant target.) Who thinks of this stuff?!

Matt is 6 foot tall. The corn stalks towered over us.

We never even saw the bridge in the middle of the maze until we were right upon it. You could look out over the entire maze. This is just a small portion of it. Can you see that the higher view is NOT helpful? At all?

Gah! Am I out of my mind?!

2008-10-15T22:03:00.011-04:00

I stupidly STUPIDLY volunteered to throw a Super Bowl party. I know, it's months away but it will be here before I know it. But first, who am I kidding? I don't even know when the Superbowl takes place. Super Bowl? Superbowl? One word? Two words? Pretty sure it's mid-January. Or is it late January? Why am I freaking out? The house isn't dirty. The simple truth is that I don't entertain a lot. And there's a lot that I need to get done, which mostly means the flooring...

If you could be head-over-heels in love with a floor, I would have married my recently installed floor. But thanks to a leaking refrigerator, leaking water heater, and leaking water spicket, I have some sections to replace. Unfortunately, I have to take it ALL apart to get the different sections.

I went this past weekend to Ikea to pick up more flooring while it was on sale. 60% OFF!! How could I pass that up?! Plus, I’m almost positive it’s being discontinued. Now or never. I'm not one for day-after-Thanksgiving-shopping. I'm a shopper but I'm not competitive. When I ran track in high school, people would pass me by and I couldn't care less. I knew what Ikea would be like so I bought my aggressive dear friend, Sabrina, with me. If I can't elbow people out of the way, she can! But I was sooooo not prepared for the masses of people. We waited in line for 1 1/2 hours total before the store even opened. We had a plan. I run with the cart, she jumps the cashier block and starts grabbing boxes. And we talked a big game in line. (We had to pysche the other people out.) Every time the Ikea employee walked by the crowd-control rope barrier, my heart raced. Is she letting us through now? How about now? Now? God, is she doing this to be evil? Then all of a sudden, it was a GO. Go! Go! Go! Banging carts, sprinting across the sales floor, people yelling, people pushing my cart out of the way! Oh, no you don't honey! This relaxed, non-confrontational, roll with it girl became that person. The one you avoid at the Black Friday sales. It wasn't pretty. But I got my 11 boxes at 60%. Karma will get me, I'm sure.

My beautiful floor before:

What happens when mucho water mixes with beautiful floor:

See the cracks? :( That isn't supposed to show.

This is why I don't have people over. The concrete just isn't very welcoming. I am seriously embarrassed by this. And what do normal people do when embarrassed? Post of picture of it in a public blog I suppose? (Sorry, I couldn't get a non-blurry shot for the life of me. But trust me, a clear shot would have made you turn away in disgust.)

Some other things I need to take care of:
1. Paint the baseboards

What you don't see in my pics is that the baseboards only have a thin coat of primer covering up the pink paint. Which leads me to...

2. Attach the quarter-round

Something we never got around to... thank god since we would have had to pull it up when replacing the flooring. But I have this tricky doorway problem. Straight quarter-round but rounded trim around the doorway. Any suggestions?

3. Install carpet in the 2nd and 3rd bedrooms

The carpet is disgusting in the 2nd bedroom. I already have the carpet. It's sitting smack dab in the middle of the room. The 3rd bedroom is missing half of the padding. (Thanks, water spicket!) In order to get all this work done, I'm attempting something I have never done before... stop watching TV. I am a major TV junkie. I am trying to put my new DVR to use and see what happens. Wish me luck!

Buh-Bye Ugly Carpet!

2008-10-09T19:28:00.014-04:00

When we closed, we had a laundry list of items to complete before moving in. Top of the list was painting and replacing the flooring. We were lucky that we were house-sitting for friends at that time. The pics of the existing carpet don't do it justice. It was an honest-to-goodness pink beige.

Not my style, to say in the least. I know you are asking what is the weird splotch of color on the wall. Well, the previous owner never moved her piano when painting. So she tried to color-match. Is there anyone out there that would have wanted to keep this color?? Not only was there the pepto-pink-paint-puke, we also had this awesome floral border.

However, I think the former owner ran out of border midway through. What's a girl to do? Well, apparently cut out the flowers and strategically scotch tape them in the empty spots.

After a little freak when we realized what we had gotten ourselves into, we got to work. First up to bat: the floor. We decided to install a laminate. And our crazy selves decided to install ourselves... with a lot of help. After doing some extensive shopping around, we decided on Ikea Tundra Laminate Flooring in Maple.

Matt pulled up the carpet and padding, only to discover a tile underneath. It was original to the home and most like contained asbestos. Who had the thankless job of chiseling that up? Mmmhmm, yours truly! This was also about the time that I developed the flu. Full-blown, achy bones, tossing my cookies, type of flu.

Let's not forget about the gorgeous tile in the entryway. I know, I know. I was crazy to want to replace it!

Looking a wee bit better, don't ya think? The paint is one of my favorite parts of this room. It's a perfect taupe. (Ralph Lauren's Natural Gray) It is so cozy and inviting.

And finally:

Project cost breakdown:
Flooring (1000 sf): $1000
Paint: $112
Light switches/outlets: $50
Light fixtures: $60
Total: $1222

Move Over Mr. Gallon of Paint

2008-10-04T10:31:00.021-04:00

You've been replaced... 'cause spray paint is my new best friend! For those of you on a tight budget (or just want to save some cash), welcome to the amazing wonders of spray paint.

First project: I bought some unfinished frames from Ikea. Super cheap but not the style I needed.

I painted them bright white and printed out some pictures from my trip to Poland. Love it! (Sorry some of the frames are empty. I have to reorder a few of the pics.)

Project cost breakdown:
Frames $23.90
Spray paint $3.98
Photos $11.63
Total: $39.51

On my way out to the garage to spray paint the frames, I spied the door bell cover I tossed aside 18 months ago when I painted the living room.

I never put it back on because it was such an ugly color and outdated. Besides, an uncovered door bell fixture looks so classy.

Do you know how difficult it is just to buy a replacement cover? Especially when you don't need an entirely new system?

Project cost breakdown:
Door bell cover: $0
Leftover spray paint: $0
Total: $My favorite kind of makeover!

Today's lesson: never shop for home decor and be disappointed when you find a great deal but it's the wrong color. Spray paint is cheap, easy, and quick. (I'll break the legs of anyone who says the same applies to me!) The variety is endless: flat finish, satin, gloss, semi-gloss. You also have surface specific paint: wood, plastic, metal, even appliances! So get going!

It Hurt Your Eyes

2008-09-21T10:57:00.008-04:00

When we bought our first home in April of 2007, I don't think we really knew what we were in for. Matt and I could see that the house had good bones, but she was outdated. I refer to the house as "she" because the previous homeowner was an older woman that had an obsession with peachy-pink paint. Pink walls, pink trim, and in some cases-pink ceilings. All in flat paint. Oh, and how could I forget the pink-beige carpet?! BLECH! I considered it my obligation to turn the uber-feminine house into something that was a little more modern yet inviting.

Does this hurt to look at?

A peek of things to come: