Sunday, January 24, 2010

The Vacation Challenge

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

4 comments:

Christy said...

okay?!?!?! I am very anxiously awaiting to hear how much and what you got done! You are such as inspiration to us all!

Megs said...

lol It seems my brain stayed on vacation and I totally forgot about my blog! I'll be updating soon...

Unknown said...

This may be random but I noticed you own a few cats. What steps do you take to cut the hair down? I'm always fighting it but I'm afraid its winning.

Megs said...

Ashley, it's like a never ending battle due to the 3 cats. Plus, I'm allergic so I really have to stay on top of it.

I vacuum the floors once a week (moving the furniture) but also do a quick sweep through with a cordless vac 2-3 times a week. If you have mostly carpet, I'd suggest checking out a Dyson. Pricey, but trust me, it's a good investment. I borrowed one for a few months and it blew my decent vacuum out of the water!

The thing that gets me is all the hair over the furniture. I HIGHLY recommend the Pledge Furniture Roller. It's designed to be single use but there are ways of emptying it out and getting a few months of use out of it. :) Microfiber cloths pick up much more hair when dusting rather than old rags. I like the combo of microfiber and a spray.

Lastly, check out the Furminator brush. (Target has a cheaper knock-off version.) It seriously gets SO much hair than the regular wire bristle brushes. If you watch their video, the hair I get off the cats during shedding season is pretty close to that!

I seem to still have some airborne dust/hair and it bugs me! Someone recommended a high quality air purifier. If allergy season gets too bad, I may check into that too.

Hopefully those are some things that will help. Through trial and error, those are the best items I've found so far.