It is sad to say, but my mother is a hoarder. She's not quite as bad as some of the people you see on that TV show, but I think that is probably because my father would most likely burn the place down before it got that bad. The irony is that she enjoys watching those shows and it doesn't occur to her that she does the same thing. But I digress...
I think that as a result of her hoarding and the general messiness of my parents throughout my childhood, I have "rebelled" in such a way that makes me a bit of a neat freak. I'm not quite the over the top "freak out if anything is out of place" sort of person, but deep, deep down I think there is a part of me that aspires to be that way. I mean, I have the shelves in my linen closet labeled because, God forbid, a fitted sheet end up on the shelf with the flat sheets. Haha! I also have these bursts of de-cluttering where I just will go through and pitch a ton of stuff just because I'm tired of looking at it (usually prompted by watching a marathon of Hoarders). Clutter clearly gives me anxiety. Also I am fortunate in that I don't quite fully understand the paralyzing emotional attachment to items and especially broken useless things. I mean, I seriously love my old cars, and the thought of getting rid of them would just break my heart, but if it breaks beyond the value to repair, it is gone without a second thought. I hold sentimental value to very few items in my home. Most of what does hold emotional value to me is old furniture that I have especially the pieces that belonged to my grandmother.
Now, my DB is a WONDERFUL man by all accounts. He's thoughtful, considerate, helpful and just a fabulous person all around. He is also a bit of a packrat. He's had to move around a lot in his life which resulted in having to get rid of lots of his stuff periodically or stuff getting broken. As a result, the thought of getting rid of something that is his, I have discovered, really upsets him. I did not realize this until this May when we decided that we would move in together.
As you can tell from the blog title, my house is not huge. It is a comfortable modest size brick ranch with a finished basement. I love it, and it is just perfect for me. However, accommodating his full apartment into my full house meant that we needed to get rid of a lot of stuff otherwise we would be living in my nightmare of a cramped cluttered home. I seriously really did have nightmares of coming home and there being boxes stacked up to the ceiling in the living room and I wouldn't be able to get around and I'd wake in a cold sweat. So, I started selling stuff like crazy on sites like Craigslist. Sofas, beds, chairs, dressers, dishes, bedding sets, you name it, I probably sold it. I didn't think twice about getting rid of this stuff including the stuff I just gave away because I needed it out of the house before moving day. By the time we attempted to move his stuff the entire finished portion of my downstairs (family room, bedroom) was completely empty with very little exception, and the kitchen items, etc. was greatly downsized as well thanks to moving that stuff first and then going through all of our stuff together. In the end, I was quite happy sitting in the very empty family room and secretly wished I could have kept it empty.
Poor DB did not embrace downsizing with nearly the same zeal that I did. He was a real trouper though. To his credit he accepted that logically he couldn't keep everything, but it was clear that the entire process was extremely emotionally and psychologically painful for him. I didn't quite understand the necessity of keeping boxes of stuff that hadn't been opened in the three years since he had moved here from New England, or worse the boxes that were still sealed from his prior move. I wanted him to feel at home when he moved, and I really tried to make sure most of his furniture (sofa, recliner, desk, etc.) had a place. I really tried to keep my mouth shut as much as possible when it came to what was coming and what needed to go. I wasn't going to argue when he wanted to get a storage unit so he could keep more stuff. After all, if he wanted it bad enough to pay for it, who was I to say anything? We did have discussions on the necessity of keeping the broken dressers, but it was ok if he wanted to store them. He did send A LOT of stuff to Goodwill and I am very proud of him for making those decisions because I know it was very tough on him. Of course, it helped that we were exhausted and tired of moving stuff. We did survive the move without any bloodshed so that is certainly a success by anyone's standards.
It's been six months so far, and things are well. He's taken over the downstairs, and the upstairs is my domain. There are still some boxes to go through and put away, and here is where it gets tricky again. My philosophy is if it has a home, put it there otherwise get rid of it. Relatedly, if you don't have room for it, and you can't make room for it, then it isn't very important and you don't need it so get rid of it. Again, this is where the spurt organizing comes into play. I'll pick an area and declutter and send stuff to either the trash or to charity, organize what's left and then be happy. He's happy just keeping things piled in boxes forever. This is frustrating to me because I HATE seeing boxes. To make it worse, I can't do anything about it because they aren't mine. To make it even worse than that, the cat doesn't like clutter either and will spray stuff (especially anything smelling of plastic), so his stuff keeps getting peed on making everyone mad. Last night, I finally took some of his stuff and put it on the floor in my closet because it just needed to be out of the way.
SO...to channel my angst about his stuff, I'm going to focus on some of my stuff first. I'm hoping that if I can clear out enough other stuff, we will have room for more of his too and then everyone will be happier. I think I will go through the storage area of the basement and reorganize it first. It was either a year or two ago I put in some shelves, but they've gotten disorganized mainly because things were just left on the shelves or used and not put away properly (thanks Dad!). I'm thinking that I need some containers to put the items in so that they stay, well, contained. I've done this with some other stuff and it is very successful and also protects the items from the dreaded cat issues since their room is also the storage room. I love the clear plastic bins! I don't understand why I ever bought the solid color ones before. Clear plastic is definitely the way to go!
BTW...can anyone explain to me the need to keep three boxes of vinyl records when you don't have a record player hooked up??? I'm still working on that one. LOL!
Monday, November 18, 2013
Friday, November 15, 2013
New project and the discovery that Junk yards are awesome!!!
Ok, it's been a little over a month since my kitchen project was completed, and I must say that I'm still loving it. I still find myself staring at my shiny wooden floors and am just so happy. The pine portion is already showing some scratches from the critters, but that was expected. I've got some throw rugs down on that area to protect it, so it's ok. It is always going to be better than that awful white carpet. My new fridge is in and still working great. My DB just loves it, so I'm happy that he is happy. I've gotten a lot of positive feedback from my kitchen projects, so I'm pretty stoked. Unfortunately, I can't go too long without working on some sort of project. My brain just gets bored I guess. Plus, there is the stress relief factor from working on something like that, so if I don't have one then I have no outlet for my stress from work/life. It is clear that I needed something new to focus on, so I have recently turned my attention to my vehicles.
I actually have two old vehicles, and I love them both. One is a Ford Explorer which is about 15 years old and the other is a Sable which is a young 10 years old. I love buying old used cars because I can get them inexpensively and can pay cash for them. Can I get a "Yay" for no car payments? I just don't understand how someone would volunteer to spend $500+/month for years just to own a car. My car is not status for me and as long as it gets me where I need to go and can haul my crap around when I need it I'm happy. Anyway, my Explorer is my work vehicle meaning it is how I schlep all of my stuff around for my projects not to mention being the critter mover too. The state inspection was due at the end of October, and happily it passed. When you have old cars that is one thing that is always a concern. Inspections are a necessary evil. They are important because they will inform you if something critical needs to be repaired before it actually breaks, but you always worry about what they will find and how much it will cost to fix whatever needs to be done. Add to the worry the fact that I hadn't really driven it in several weeks, nor cleaned it out in what probably is about a year. So, it was full of dirt, dog fur, crumbs, shriveled up plant pieces, sawdust and a thick layer of dust on the dashboard and everywhere else. Oh, and I had spider webs and ants too. It was so bad that I was totally grossed out just driving it back from the inspection station, and felt bad for the poor guy who had to do the inspection.
As you can imagine I was thrilled to hear that the truck had passed inspection with no problems, so the next morning I got up with the plan to have a "bless the vehicle" day and clean it up. I used to have a really old Bonneville and every time I wanted to get something "new", I would do this and once she was all clean, shiny and looking new again I didn't see the need for a "new" vehicle. So, I took the truck to a local car wash that has great shop vacs that work really well. Fortunately, I don't generally have much trash in my car, so I just started vacuuming. It took me forever because some of the stuff like the sawdust was pretty ground into the carpeting. It was already looking worlds better with just the vacuuming being done. I also put down a new rubber mat in the cargo area. I had purchased it several months ago and it was still rolled up in the plastic and had been flopping around in the back since then. I bought it after the project that caused all of the sawdust, and wished I had it prior to making that mess. I hadn't put it down yet because I didn't see much of a point until I vacuumed up the previous mess. It really had become a vicious cycle as you can see. After vacuuming, I started on the detailing. I cleaned, scrubbed and shined up the interior until it looked mostly new again. I was so happy to have it shiny and clean. You could actually see out of the windows again, and the seats were no longer covered in dog fur. It was beautiful! Then I zeroed in on my next project.
All of the cleanliness brought my attention to some of the wear and tear that happens when you own a 15 year old vehicle. I really got to notice some of the pieces inside that were cracked and broken. It isn't that I hadn't realized they were broken prior. It is just that the dirt helped split my focus so the broken stuff didn't bother me. Now that it was clean the broken pieces were like a glaring beacon to my OCD tendencies. My cruise control switch worked, but was broken so it was only attached by the wires and it hung down from rather than being attached to the steering wheel. While plugging in my cell phone one day, the plastic piece that held the cigarette lighter broke and pushed the lighter into the dashboard. The center console vinyl was cracked and would stab me in the arm with sharp vinyl pieces every time I rested my arm there. Then there are the myriad of warning lights on the dashboard, that were nothing really major, but still an annoyance. No matter how clean and shiny the truck was, those areas needing repair just took away from the awesomeness. So, I decided to get started fixing some of this.
I started with Google and found some great YouTube videos on how to replace the cruise control switch and the bezel which is the big plastic thing that holds the radio, climate control, cigarette lighter, etc. They both looked really simple to do so I felt pretty confident that I could replace them. I was most worried about the cruise control switch because I was worried about setting off the airbag accidently, but the video showed me how to do it properly and it was very simple. I was then off to hunt through eBay to find parts. The parts were a little expensive, but not too bad when you compare to new stuff from the dealer. Then I read some car repair blogs suggesting how easy it was to find parts at the junk yard. That's the advantage of owning Fords....they made lots of them and parts are very easy to come by. I thought that going to the junk yard was a brilliant idea, and surprised that it hadn't occurred to me sooner. So, I planned a day for my venture, studied videos on how to remove/replace the parts I wanted and headed out there with my little tool kit. I have to say that I had a TOTAL BLAST. I totally LOVE the junk yard!! Have I mentioned that I'm a strange girl? It's like a huge yard sale for car parts, and so much fun! I did get some strange looks from the guys also wandering around there as I was stripping parts out, but I didn't care. Besides, the looks were clearly more surprise and admiration at seeing this "little girl" out there stripping parts rather than the creepy looks that could sometimes happen. It took me awhile to translate what I'd watched in videos with the actual removing of the parts, but I figured it out quickly. There is a learning curve after all. Going to the junk yard helps with learning too because you basically get to practice working on the cars there and if you accidently break something it doesn't really matter because the cars are already scrapped. I was so proud of myself though, and even more happy when I found out that the parts I got came to a total of about $5 (rather than $130 on eBay or $500+ from the dealer). I got home and installed them within minutes (thanks to the practice at the junk yard) and everything worked perfectly! I was so irritated at myself for waiting as long as I did when it only cost me $5 and some effort to fix it. Had I only known it was so easy!
Still on my car repair high and feeling pretty full of myself for doing a good job already, I decided to tackle the air bag light that had been flashing at me for almost 2 years. I already knew that it had something to do with the passenger side because when I moved the seat all of the way forward, the light went out. I had also asked a mechanic about a year ago run the error light code while I was getting something else worked on and he said it was a sensor gone bad and it would cost about $300 to replace. Again, I Googled and found some wonderful advice. Now, the actual mechanics online said to take it to a shop and not to mess with it because you could deploy the airbag, blah, blah, blah, but the "regular" people on the Explorer forums said that this error is common because the connection and/or wires under the seat often comes loose from moving the seat back and forth (to let people in and out since it is 2-door) and also because of people stretching their feet under the seat and catching the wire. So, I figured I'd check that first. Dad always says to start with checking the easy stuff first anyway. I went out there and checked the connection and pushed the clips together and even pushed wires in more. Sure enough, when I turned the engine on again, the light went out and hasn't been back on since. YAY! I saved $300+ for a "fix" that didn't cost me a dime. Double YAY!!!
Suffice it to say, I'm now REALLY full of myself. I've gone on to reupholster the center console armrest with some matching interior vinyl I found on eBay for about $11 and have even progressed to tinkering on the Sable too by replacing the headlight housing. My headlights were so frosted over and those headlight cleaning kits are CRAP! My dad and I have tried nearly every one and everyone we tried was just useless. It had gotten so bad that I couldn't see hardly a thing while driving at night. Dad suggested getting those super bright headlights, but I said that it doesn't really matter how bright the light is if it can't penetrate through the frosting on the lens. I replaced them last night, and not only do they make the car look amazing but I can actually SEE at night now. The difference really is astounding. Of course those parts I bought new rather than at the junk yard (because they were all the same or worse than what I had), but it was $100 well spent.
So, the only thing left to do on my truck is to repair the rear ABS speed control sensor. It's the last light I have glaring at me on my dashboard. It isn't too terribly important, but having that light on does mean that I don't have the antilock breaks working. The "regular" breaks work of course, but it would be nice to have that extra safety feature especially with winter fast approaching. Apparently, it's a real easy fix too, but it involves crawling under the truck. I'm not exactly a fan of the whole crawling under the truck thing though especially because it is already cold outside and is supposed to rain this weekend. It just doesn't seem like fun to fix stuff in a cold rain. The sensor costs about $25, but I called my favorite mechanic and they can do the work and replace it for $82. It might just be worth paying the extra $60 to have them do it. Again, this has to do with my dad's lesson on being cheap Vs. being stupid cheap. I'm fine with doing the minor interior repair stuff. You know, the stuff that if you screw up no one will die from it and the car is still drivable. However, when it comes to important vehicle functioning it may be best to let a professional handle it...especially one with a heated, dry garage and a car lift.
Stay tuned.....
I actually have two old vehicles, and I love them both. One is a Ford Explorer which is about 15 years old and the other is a Sable which is a young 10 years old. I love buying old used cars because I can get them inexpensively and can pay cash for them. Can I get a "Yay" for no car payments? I just don't understand how someone would volunteer to spend $500+/month for years just to own a car. My car is not status for me and as long as it gets me where I need to go and can haul my crap around when I need it I'm happy. Anyway, my Explorer is my work vehicle meaning it is how I schlep all of my stuff around for my projects not to mention being the critter mover too. The state inspection was due at the end of October, and happily it passed. When you have old cars that is one thing that is always a concern. Inspections are a necessary evil. They are important because they will inform you if something critical needs to be repaired before it actually breaks, but you always worry about what they will find and how much it will cost to fix whatever needs to be done. Add to the worry the fact that I hadn't really driven it in several weeks, nor cleaned it out in what probably is about a year. So, it was full of dirt, dog fur, crumbs, shriveled up plant pieces, sawdust and a thick layer of dust on the dashboard and everywhere else. Oh, and I had spider webs and ants too. It was so bad that I was totally grossed out just driving it back from the inspection station, and felt bad for the poor guy who had to do the inspection.
As you can imagine I was thrilled to hear that the truck had passed inspection with no problems, so the next morning I got up with the plan to have a "bless the vehicle" day and clean it up. I used to have a really old Bonneville and every time I wanted to get something "new", I would do this and once she was all clean, shiny and looking new again I didn't see the need for a "new" vehicle. So, I took the truck to a local car wash that has great shop vacs that work really well. Fortunately, I don't generally have much trash in my car, so I just started vacuuming. It took me forever because some of the stuff like the sawdust was pretty ground into the carpeting. It was already looking worlds better with just the vacuuming being done. I also put down a new rubber mat in the cargo area. I had purchased it several months ago and it was still rolled up in the plastic and had been flopping around in the back since then. I bought it after the project that caused all of the sawdust, and wished I had it prior to making that mess. I hadn't put it down yet because I didn't see much of a point until I vacuumed up the previous mess. It really had become a vicious cycle as you can see. After vacuuming, I started on the detailing. I cleaned, scrubbed and shined up the interior until it looked mostly new again. I was so happy to have it shiny and clean. You could actually see out of the windows again, and the seats were no longer covered in dog fur. It was beautiful! Then I zeroed in on my next project.
All of the cleanliness brought my attention to some of the wear and tear that happens when you own a 15 year old vehicle. I really got to notice some of the pieces inside that were cracked and broken. It isn't that I hadn't realized they were broken prior. It is just that the dirt helped split my focus so the broken stuff didn't bother me. Now that it was clean the broken pieces were like a glaring beacon to my OCD tendencies. My cruise control switch worked, but was broken so it was only attached by the wires and it hung down from rather than being attached to the steering wheel. While plugging in my cell phone one day, the plastic piece that held the cigarette lighter broke and pushed the lighter into the dashboard. The center console vinyl was cracked and would stab me in the arm with sharp vinyl pieces every time I rested my arm there. Then there are the myriad of warning lights on the dashboard, that were nothing really major, but still an annoyance. No matter how clean and shiny the truck was, those areas needing repair just took away from the awesomeness. So, I decided to get started fixing some of this.
I started with Google and found some great YouTube videos on how to replace the cruise control switch and the bezel which is the big plastic thing that holds the radio, climate control, cigarette lighter, etc. They both looked really simple to do so I felt pretty confident that I could replace them. I was most worried about the cruise control switch because I was worried about setting off the airbag accidently, but the video showed me how to do it properly and it was very simple. I was then off to hunt through eBay to find parts. The parts were a little expensive, but not too bad when you compare to new stuff from the dealer. Then I read some car repair blogs suggesting how easy it was to find parts at the junk yard. That's the advantage of owning Fords....they made lots of them and parts are very easy to come by. I thought that going to the junk yard was a brilliant idea, and surprised that it hadn't occurred to me sooner. So, I planned a day for my venture, studied videos on how to remove/replace the parts I wanted and headed out there with my little tool kit. I have to say that I had a TOTAL BLAST. I totally LOVE the junk yard!! Have I mentioned that I'm a strange girl? It's like a huge yard sale for car parts, and so much fun! I did get some strange looks from the guys also wandering around there as I was stripping parts out, but I didn't care. Besides, the looks were clearly more surprise and admiration at seeing this "little girl" out there stripping parts rather than the creepy looks that could sometimes happen. It took me awhile to translate what I'd watched in videos with the actual removing of the parts, but I figured it out quickly. There is a learning curve after all. Going to the junk yard helps with learning too because you basically get to practice working on the cars there and if you accidently break something it doesn't really matter because the cars are already scrapped. I was so proud of myself though, and even more happy when I found out that the parts I got came to a total of about $5 (rather than $130 on eBay or $500+ from the dealer). I got home and installed them within minutes (thanks to the practice at the junk yard) and everything worked perfectly! I was so irritated at myself for waiting as long as I did when it only cost me $5 and some effort to fix it. Had I only known it was so easy!
Still on my car repair high and feeling pretty full of myself for doing a good job already, I decided to tackle the air bag light that had been flashing at me for almost 2 years. I already knew that it had something to do with the passenger side because when I moved the seat all of the way forward, the light went out. I had also asked a mechanic about a year ago run the error light code while I was getting something else worked on and he said it was a sensor gone bad and it would cost about $300 to replace. Again, I Googled and found some wonderful advice. Now, the actual mechanics online said to take it to a shop and not to mess with it because you could deploy the airbag, blah, blah, blah, but the "regular" people on the Explorer forums said that this error is common because the connection and/or wires under the seat often comes loose from moving the seat back and forth (to let people in and out since it is 2-door) and also because of people stretching their feet under the seat and catching the wire. So, I figured I'd check that first. Dad always says to start with checking the easy stuff first anyway. I went out there and checked the connection and pushed the clips together and even pushed wires in more. Sure enough, when I turned the engine on again, the light went out and hasn't been back on since. YAY! I saved $300+ for a "fix" that didn't cost me a dime. Double YAY!!!
Suffice it to say, I'm now REALLY full of myself. I've gone on to reupholster the center console armrest with some matching interior vinyl I found on eBay for about $11 and have even progressed to tinkering on the Sable too by replacing the headlight housing. My headlights were so frosted over and those headlight cleaning kits are CRAP! My dad and I have tried nearly every one and everyone we tried was just useless. It had gotten so bad that I couldn't see hardly a thing while driving at night. Dad suggested getting those super bright headlights, but I said that it doesn't really matter how bright the light is if it can't penetrate through the frosting on the lens. I replaced them last night, and not only do they make the car look amazing but I can actually SEE at night now. The difference really is astounding. Of course those parts I bought new rather than at the junk yard (because they were all the same or worse than what I had), but it was $100 well spent.
So, the only thing left to do on my truck is to repair the rear ABS speed control sensor. It's the last light I have glaring at me on my dashboard. It isn't too terribly important, but having that light on does mean that I don't have the antilock breaks working. The "regular" breaks work of course, but it would be nice to have that extra safety feature especially with winter fast approaching. Apparently, it's a real easy fix too, but it involves crawling under the truck. I'm not exactly a fan of the whole crawling under the truck thing though especially because it is already cold outside and is supposed to rain this weekend. It just doesn't seem like fun to fix stuff in a cold rain. The sensor costs about $25, but I called my favorite mechanic and they can do the work and replace it for $82. It might just be worth paying the extra $60 to have them do it. Again, this has to do with my dad's lesson on being cheap Vs. being stupid cheap. I'm fine with doing the minor interior repair stuff. You know, the stuff that if you screw up no one will die from it and the car is still drivable. However, when it comes to important vehicle functioning it may be best to let a professional handle it...especially one with a heated, dry garage and a car lift.
Stay tuned.....
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Why is it when you spend money on something, something else breaks?
I think it is a universal truth that when you save up money to spend on something major, right after the money is out of your hands something else major breaks. That was certainly the case this weekend.
As you may remember from my previous posts, I've just had the floors redone in my kitchen. Here's the shot of my beautiful floor again just because I love seeing it so much.
Well, this past Saturday morning I woke up and decided to have a bowl of cereal for breakfast. Don't judge me for not cooking...I was all by myself. I put the cereal in the bowl, added some sugar and then as I tried to pour the milk it plopped out in chunky disgusting blobs. YUCK!!! I was so mad! I had gotten the milk from Walmart and vowed to never buy milk from there again since it was still a week before the sell by date. I dumped the cereal out and just had some toast. Later that night, I decided to make some ice cubes. My fridge was still pretty empty because I purposefully hadn't shopped in order to get rid of most of the food to make the fridge easier to move out of the way for the floor refinishing. The freezer part was still completely empty, so I filled up my ice trays and plopped them in the freezer. The next morning I woke up wanting a big glass of ice water, so I giddily grabbed an ice tray and gave it a twist. To my shock and disbelief the water hadn't frozen after 14 hours in the freezer. Now it was starting to occur to me that my fridge was dying. CRAP!!! I put a thermometer in the refrigerator and it was 57 degrees, which now explained the chunky milk the day before. The compressor was running and it was cool, but not cold. I put all of the settings on the coldest setting and the fridge only got as cold as 51 degrees. At least the water in the freezer began to freeze, but not well. The fridge came with the house so it is at least 9 years old, so there really is no point in calling a repairperson to fix it. Time to buy a new fridge.
Online I went trying to see who was having a sale on appliances. Fortunately it was Sunday and the start of a new sales week and nearly everyone was beginning their Columbus Day sales. All of the stores were offering 10%-25% off, free delivery, etc. Honestly, the timing was pretty good all things considered. I mean how often is one's refrigerator nearly completely empty when it breaks AND it happens to break at the beginning of an appliance sale?
So after getting some advice from my dad, my constant consultant on all things, I headed off to the main stores in town: Lowes, Home Depot and HH Gregg. They all had pretty good deals but I was discouraged because I'd been eyeing the super nice Samsung freezer on the bottom refrigerators for the longest time. I loved everything about them but the price. At $2K-3K+ for a fridge it was out of my price range on a good day and even more so since I had just spent a good chunk of money to refinish my floors. My cash was a bit more used up than I would have liked, and I simply refused to spend more than I can afford and put an obscene amount on my credit card. Plus, I just have a really hard time spending that much money on a refrigerator in all honesty. I did know that I wanted stainless steel because I have slowly been replacing everything in the kitchen with stainless and had even gotten the brushed stainless accessories (pot rack, microwave, cabinet knobs). I could have probably gotten away with black, but it would have never truly made me happy, and it would always be unmatched in my eyes. However, it was an option if necessary. I'd much rather have unmatched appliances than be broke trying to pay off an insane amount of debt.
After hitting the three stores in the morning, I was hungry so I came home to forage for some lunch (since it looked like I was going to be too poor to eat out at a restaurant for awhile...LOL!!). While I was home, I decided to give DB a call and tell him about the top choices I had found so far and get some of his input since he too would have to live with whatever I ended up buying. Not only does he give great advice, but he's always super supportive of anything I do. He really is awesome. So we discussed the pros and cons of the top two in the range that I could afford and still kinda liked. I know he could tell that I was disappointed that I couldn't get the fridge I actually wanted. He said that since this is such a big purchase and I would be living with it for several years, that it is probably a good idea to splurge a little bit (not to the point of bankruptcy of course) and actually get something that made me happy. He then reminded me that that not only do we have those 3 main stores in the area, but within a 30 minute drive we have multiple locations of those same stores as well (2 Home Depots and 3 Lowes stores), so he suggested visiting all of them just to see if they might happen to have a fridge I really like on a clearance isle. WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT??? I always try to by off of the clearance isle when I can anyway, but it just never occurred to me to visit the duplicate stores too. It was brilliant!!
Now I was off to the duplicate stores. I was surprised to see that the prices for the same items were actually different in the different locations. Now, the difference isn't much, but it was still surprising to me. I did find one at the second Lowes that I liked a little better. Then...it happened. A salesman walked up to me and asked if he could help. I asked him if they happened to have any clearance refrigerators. I had seen several marked down, but nothing marked "clearance". He said that they oddly keep them in the back of the store and he thought he remembered seeing one back there. So I followed him around the store, and I saw it. They had the beautiful big stainless steel Samsung refrigerator on clearance. It had been returned and had some scratches and a slight ding. It didn't have the water and ice dispenser in the door, but who cares? It had an icemaker so I was satisfied. I started measuring and the dimensions would just barely fit in my door. I was SO HAPPY!!!
I don't care about the small ding in the freezer door. Heck, I'll probably end up shutting the freezer door with my foot a couple of times so a small ding is nothing compared to what I'll be doing to it. The best part is the price. The price of the fridge went from the original of $2,300 to $900 after the markdown and a few other discounts I was eligible for. I saved enough to be able to afford the 4 year extended warrantee. Normally, I view those extended warrantee plans as being a waste of money, but since this is a clearance item I felt it was necessary. So in the next 4 years if it craps out not only will Lowes repair it for free, but they will reimburse me $250 for any lost food too. So I'm happy all the way around because I got exactly what I wanted at a great price. I would have never gotten it had I not listened to my DB's great advice to go to the different stores and look for some scratch and dent. He's so smart!!
As you may remember from my previous posts, I've just had the floors redone in my kitchen. Here's the shot of my beautiful floor again just because I love seeing it so much.
Well, this past Saturday morning I woke up and decided to have a bowl of cereal for breakfast. Don't judge me for not cooking...I was all by myself. I put the cereal in the bowl, added some sugar and then as I tried to pour the milk it plopped out in chunky disgusting blobs. YUCK!!! I was so mad! I had gotten the milk from Walmart and vowed to never buy milk from there again since it was still a week before the sell by date. I dumped the cereal out and just had some toast. Later that night, I decided to make some ice cubes. My fridge was still pretty empty because I purposefully hadn't shopped in order to get rid of most of the food to make the fridge easier to move out of the way for the floor refinishing. The freezer part was still completely empty, so I filled up my ice trays and plopped them in the freezer. The next morning I woke up wanting a big glass of ice water, so I giddily grabbed an ice tray and gave it a twist. To my shock and disbelief the water hadn't frozen after 14 hours in the freezer. Now it was starting to occur to me that my fridge was dying. CRAP!!! I put a thermometer in the refrigerator and it was 57 degrees, which now explained the chunky milk the day before. The compressor was running and it was cool, but not cold. I put all of the settings on the coldest setting and the fridge only got as cold as 51 degrees. At least the water in the freezer began to freeze, but not well. The fridge came with the house so it is at least 9 years old, so there really is no point in calling a repairperson to fix it. Time to buy a new fridge.
Online I went trying to see who was having a sale on appliances. Fortunately it was Sunday and the start of a new sales week and nearly everyone was beginning their Columbus Day sales. All of the stores were offering 10%-25% off, free delivery, etc. Honestly, the timing was pretty good all things considered. I mean how often is one's refrigerator nearly completely empty when it breaks AND it happens to break at the beginning of an appliance sale?
So after getting some advice from my dad, my constant consultant on all things, I headed off to the main stores in town: Lowes, Home Depot and HH Gregg. They all had pretty good deals but I was discouraged because I'd been eyeing the super nice Samsung freezer on the bottom refrigerators for the longest time. I loved everything about them but the price. At $2K-3K+ for a fridge it was out of my price range on a good day and even more so since I had just spent a good chunk of money to refinish my floors. My cash was a bit more used up than I would have liked, and I simply refused to spend more than I can afford and put an obscene amount on my credit card. Plus, I just have a really hard time spending that much money on a refrigerator in all honesty. I did know that I wanted stainless steel because I have slowly been replacing everything in the kitchen with stainless and had even gotten the brushed stainless accessories (pot rack, microwave, cabinet knobs). I could have probably gotten away with black, but it would have never truly made me happy, and it would always be unmatched in my eyes. However, it was an option if necessary. I'd much rather have unmatched appliances than be broke trying to pay off an insane amount of debt.
After hitting the three stores in the morning, I was hungry so I came home to forage for some lunch (since it looked like I was going to be too poor to eat out at a restaurant for awhile...LOL!!). While I was home, I decided to give DB a call and tell him about the top choices I had found so far and get some of his input since he too would have to live with whatever I ended up buying. Not only does he give great advice, but he's always super supportive of anything I do. He really is awesome. So we discussed the pros and cons of the top two in the range that I could afford and still kinda liked. I know he could tell that I was disappointed that I couldn't get the fridge I actually wanted. He said that since this is such a big purchase and I would be living with it for several years, that it is probably a good idea to splurge a little bit (not to the point of bankruptcy of course) and actually get something that made me happy. He then reminded me that that not only do we have those 3 main stores in the area, but within a 30 minute drive we have multiple locations of those same stores as well (2 Home Depots and 3 Lowes stores), so he suggested visiting all of them just to see if they might happen to have a fridge I really like on a clearance isle. WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT??? I always try to by off of the clearance isle when I can anyway, but it just never occurred to me to visit the duplicate stores too. It was brilliant!!
Now I was off to the duplicate stores. I was surprised to see that the prices for the same items were actually different in the different locations. Now, the difference isn't much, but it was still surprising to me. I did find one at the second Lowes that I liked a little better. Then...it happened. A salesman walked up to me and asked if he could help. I asked him if they happened to have any clearance refrigerators. I had seen several marked down, but nothing marked "clearance". He said that they oddly keep them in the back of the store and he thought he remembered seeing one back there. So I followed him around the store, and I saw it. They had the beautiful big stainless steel Samsung refrigerator on clearance. It had been returned and had some scratches and a slight ding. It didn't have the water and ice dispenser in the door, but who cares? It had an icemaker so I was satisfied. I started measuring and the dimensions would just barely fit in my door. I was SO HAPPY!!!
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| Isn't it beautiful? |
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| Look at all of the room!!! |
FINALLY...beautiful kitchen floors
Ok, so I last left off having done demo to my kitchen floors. By the time I was finished it looked like this.
It turned out so much more beautiful than I even dared hope it would, AND I was actually $200 under budget for this project! YAY!!!! I really wish I had done this sooner, but I think if I hadn't lived with the icky white carpet for so long I wouldn't appreciate this as much as I do. Every evening during the process I would turn on the light in the kitchen and just stare at how beautiful the floor looks. In fact, a week later I am still doing it. It was so hard waiting the 4 days for the poly to cure so I could move my furniture back. It looks SO great now. My kitchen is becoming a beautiful blend of rustic and modern which I totally love.
My DB hasn't seen it yet. He's still on his business trip and I purposefully didn't send him any pictures or post anything specific on Facebook. That's been the hardest part for me is keeping the surprise. I'm TERRIBLE at keeping surprises!!! I've done well with this one. He comes home tonight and I just can't wait to see his reaction.
Now I want to rip up ALL of the carpet in the house! I'm trying to be patient and save up. I'm definitely going to call this same contractor to do the rest of the house. I probably could handle the DIY on the rest since I shouldn't have holes and old walls, but Joe did such a FABULOUS job that I think it is worth it for me to spend the money to have him do it. It helps out a local businessman who is actually really good and a joy to work with, and also frees me up from the mess and work of doing it myself. I can tinker elsewhere.
Since this was way outside of my DIY skills, the process began of collecting estimates from contractors. Most were good. A few didn't bother calling me back which told me that I absolutely didn't want to hire them anyway. One actually basically ridiculed me for getting more than one estimate. He actually said, "Most people just call me and don't bother calling anyone else". He was also substantially more expensive than all of my other estimates, but he was the highest rated on Angie's List. I'm thinking that a. his ego was getting the best of him, and b. he made the price so high because he just didn't want to mess with all of the challenges of this floor. I found two contractors that I really liked and it was a difficult decision. I ended up picking the one I did because when he came in he immediately not only told me what kind of wood my floor was made from, but also informed me that I had TWO different types of wood on my floor. None of the other contractors mentioned that. Apparently the half at the bottom of the above pic is red oak, but the rest (from the big hole up) is all pine. He scraped tested areas of the floor to check the condition and he had a pretty reasonable plan of action. He confirmed that this would be a challenge and it wouldn't look perfect, but it would have character. I happen to LOVE character, so that was fine. I mean, isn't the main reason on having an old house is because of the character?? What was amazing too is that he was actually the lowest bid. YAY!!
So, Monday morning he arrived right on time and got to work. We had lots of little meetings as work progressed because that hole and the concrete needed to be removed and repaired. He came up with an idea of an inlay which would not only fix the problem but provide a pretty transition between the two different types of wood. I thought it was a great idea. When I saw it after he created it, I really loved it.
The more I heard him work, the more thankful I was that I hired a professional. There was absolutely no way I could have been able to do this and have it look even remotely decent. This is where my brilliant father's economic lessons really resonated with me. He always told me that it is great to be cheap (meaning frugal), but always remember that there is a big difference between being cheap and being "stupid cheap". Stupid cheap will always cost you more in the long run. This was definitely one of those cases where a DIY attempt on my part would have been stupid cheap. It is important to know one's limits.
SO...after two good days of sanding and various repair and two more days devoted to poly coating I now have a beautiful new floor...with character!
It turned out so much more beautiful than I even dared hope it would, AND I was actually $200 under budget for this project! YAY!!!! I really wish I had done this sooner, but I think if I hadn't lived with the icky white carpet for so long I wouldn't appreciate this as much as I do. Every evening during the process I would turn on the light in the kitchen and just stare at how beautiful the floor looks. In fact, a week later I am still doing it. It was so hard waiting the 4 days for the poly to cure so I could move my furniture back. It looks SO great now. My kitchen is becoming a beautiful blend of rustic and modern which I totally love.
My DB hasn't seen it yet. He's still on his business trip and I purposefully didn't send him any pictures or post anything specific on Facebook. That's been the hardest part for me is keeping the surprise. I'm TERRIBLE at keeping surprises!!! I've done well with this one. He comes home tonight and I just can't wait to see his reaction.
Now I want to rip up ALL of the carpet in the house! I'm trying to be patient and save up. I'm definitely going to call this same contractor to do the rest of the house. I probably could handle the DIY on the rest since I shouldn't have holes and old walls, but Joe did such a FABULOUS job that I think it is worth it for me to spend the money to have him do it. It helps out a local businessman who is actually really good and a joy to work with, and also frees me up from the mess and work of doing it myself. I can tinker elsewhere.
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Floor Demo - No more white carpet!
Sunday I sent DB off for his business trip and did some birthday family stuff with my parents. Around 4 p.m. I was on my own to attack the floor. As I stood staring at the floor, fear rushed over me followed by an overwhelming feeling of hatred for this floor. It was time for it to go.
Unfortunately with these types of projects the prep work and later clean up takes WAY more time than the actual work does. There was quite a lot of large furniture in the room that all needed to come out, and all of that furniture had stuff in or on it which all had to be moved first. I had forgotten how difficult it can be to move this furniture especially when you are a one-woman show. The other difficulty is in trying to figure out where to put everything. Right now, I have the table and a tall shelf (all full of kitchen stuff) in the living room, a corner hutch in the hallway blocking part of my bedroom door, and miscellaneous other items cluttering up the guestroom. I hope I don't have to live with it this way for too long. My OCD will drive me crazy until it is all back to normal again.
Now...on with the demo....
Dining room side: I started with the bane of my existence...the white carpet. I guess because it was so old, it came up really easy. The hardest part was cutting the tape where it joined the carpet in the hallway (to be removed in a later project), and rolling it up. I actually kept it all in one piece rather than chop it up. I hate making multiple trips, so I guess it was better in my mind to wrestle with it all at once than make several trips. Next was the padding which also came up super easy. There were staples in that, but not the nightmare of stories that I had read about. There also was no carpet glue. YAY!! Underneath all of that was the vinyl and that too came up very easy. All it took was a cut with my fancy razorblade knife and up it came with no problem. AND JACKPOT!! Under the layer of vinyl was beautiful hardwood floor. It isn't all perfect though. There are a few minor black spots, old adhesive that clearly did no good, self-leveling concrete where the old dividing wall was and there is this horribly shoddy patch where an old duct vent had been located. This hole is the most distressing to me because it was clearly cut larger with a circular saw and then several pieces of old scrap lumber was screwed in. Not only is it hideous, but it isn't level and all of the pieces are crooked. It just makes me want to cry. Getting the carpet tacking strips up was frustrating too because they had used all different types of nails. There were "regular" nails, finishing nails and even roofing nails. Some nails were only about an inch long and others were 3 inches long. It was sheer craziness. It's like they had this big bucket of nails and just used whatever they grabbed. Anyhow, I finished most of the dining room side on Sunday night before I went to bed, and was pretty happy with the progress and even happier with the wood floor discovery.
Kitchen side: This is the part that had the most uncertainty for me, so I waited until the next day to start. There were so many layers, I had no idea what I was going to encounter. I removed the metal "S" shaped carpet stripping and then the rest of the vinyl leading up to it. The kitchen side of the floor was raised about a quarter of an inch, so I was trying to figure out how I was going to remove the wood with the least amount of mess and hassle as possible. As I removed the vinyl leading up to the kitchen side I noticed that the flooring on the bottom level was looking very different than the pretty wood on the dining room side. This was now dark and had some dark green stuff over it. I couldn't even see the wood grain. For an instant, I considered not removing the vinyl and just squaring off the "S" curve and putting a new floor over the existing part there. Then I decided that since I'm doing this, I want to do it right. I really hated having two different floors in the kitchen anyway. It makes it look too choppy, and I want one continuous floor in that room. I am SO glad I decided on that because I was shocked at what I found next.
Angry meltdown #1 - I used by pry bar to try to loosen up the wood under the vinyl. To my surprise, it popped up really easy. I used my handy dandy rotozip to cut a piece away and to my shock and amazement I discovered that under the top layer of vinyl was not 1/4 inch plywood as I assumed (since that is what you are SUPPOSED to use). It was....PANELING!! Yes, the cheap crappy stuff that people put on the walls was what was on my floor. It wasn't even screwed down. It was stapled down; every 4 square inches or less had a staple. I was so mad, but also extremely happy that I decided to not take the lazy way out and leave it there. Since it was so thin and shoddy, it came of fairly easily too. I didn't even have to cut it. All I had to do was to cut the vinyl off of the top (only glued on the edges, Hallelujah!) and then use the pry bar to pop it up and it usually broke in half from there. The tedious part came in removing all of those staples. That took longer than anything. The vinyl underneath the "wood" came up easily too once the staples were removed because apparently the staples were the only thing holding it on to the floor below.
Now comes angry meltdown #2 - apparently at some point the dishwasher or sink had leaked. Because paneling was used and not the proper stuff and no moisture barrier either, the cheap crappy paneling soaked up all of the water like a sponge. When I cut away the top vinyl to see the paneling near there it was all rotten and covered in MOLD. It was so disgusting!!! The whole bottom of the vinyl was all moldy too. I removed it as carefully as possible and took it immediately outside. The stench was awful. The paneling on the floor basically fell apart as I removed it and the staples were so rusted that they either broke or disintegrated. I was so mad that we had been living with this mold for so long with no idea, but happy that I now have it removed and gone from the house.
So, the demo is complete. Unfortunately, the hardwood flooring needs a lot of work, and I don't know if the hardwood on the kitchen side is even salvageable. My dad said just to rent a sander to see if it will clean up, but the floor needs to be repaired and not just refinished. At this point, I think it is time to call in the big guns...and hire a professional. I had actually anticipated needing a professional to complete the work, so that is no big deal. At least I saved some money by doing the demo myself, and it only took me about a good day total to get it done.
Here's a pic of what I'm left with. It isn't pretty, but honestly it is better than what I had before. At least it is all one level, flat and even. I just need to remember to wear my shoes in there because there might be a piece of staple that I missed. The white rectangle on the left is the patch I mentioned.
Unfortunately with these types of projects the prep work and later clean up takes WAY more time than the actual work does. There was quite a lot of large furniture in the room that all needed to come out, and all of that furniture had stuff in or on it which all had to be moved first. I had forgotten how difficult it can be to move this furniture especially when you are a one-woman show. The other difficulty is in trying to figure out where to put everything. Right now, I have the table and a tall shelf (all full of kitchen stuff) in the living room, a corner hutch in the hallway blocking part of my bedroom door, and miscellaneous other items cluttering up the guestroom. I hope I don't have to live with it this way for too long. My OCD will drive me crazy until it is all back to normal again.
Now...on with the demo....
Dining room side: I started with the bane of my existence...the white carpet. I guess because it was so old, it came up really easy. The hardest part was cutting the tape where it joined the carpet in the hallway (to be removed in a later project), and rolling it up. I actually kept it all in one piece rather than chop it up. I hate making multiple trips, so I guess it was better in my mind to wrestle with it all at once than make several trips. Next was the padding which also came up super easy. There were staples in that, but not the nightmare of stories that I had read about. There also was no carpet glue. YAY!! Underneath all of that was the vinyl and that too came up very easy. All it took was a cut with my fancy razorblade knife and up it came with no problem. AND JACKPOT!! Under the layer of vinyl was beautiful hardwood floor. It isn't all perfect though. There are a few minor black spots, old adhesive that clearly did no good, self-leveling concrete where the old dividing wall was and there is this horribly shoddy patch where an old duct vent had been located. This hole is the most distressing to me because it was clearly cut larger with a circular saw and then several pieces of old scrap lumber was screwed in. Not only is it hideous, but it isn't level and all of the pieces are crooked. It just makes me want to cry. Getting the carpet tacking strips up was frustrating too because they had used all different types of nails. There were "regular" nails, finishing nails and even roofing nails. Some nails were only about an inch long and others were 3 inches long. It was sheer craziness. It's like they had this big bucket of nails and just used whatever they grabbed. Anyhow, I finished most of the dining room side on Sunday night before I went to bed, and was pretty happy with the progress and even happier with the wood floor discovery.
Kitchen side: This is the part that had the most uncertainty for me, so I waited until the next day to start. There were so many layers, I had no idea what I was going to encounter. I removed the metal "S" shaped carpet stripping and then the rest of the vinyl leading up to it. The kitchen side of the floor was raised about a quarter of an inch, so I was trying to figure out how I was going to remove the wood with the least amount of mess and hassle as possible. As I removed the vinyl leading up to the kitchen side I noticed that the flooring on the bottom level was looking very different than the pretty wood on the dining room side. This was now dark and had some dark green stuff over it. I couldn't even see the wood grain. For an instant, I considered not removing the vinyl and just squaring off the "S" curve and putting a new floor over the existing part there. Then I decided that since I'm doing this, I want to do it right. I really hated having two different floors in the kitchen anyway. It makes it look too choppy, and I want one continuous floor in that room. I am SO glad I decided on that because I was shocked at what I found next.
Angry meltdown #1 - I used by pry bar to try to loosen up the wood under the vinyl. To my surprise, it popped up really easy. I used my handy dandy rotozip to cut a piece away and to my shock and amazement I discovered that under the top layer of vinyl was not 1/4 inch plywood as I assumed (since that is what you are SUPPOSED to use). It was....PANELING!! Yes, the cheap crappy stuff that people put on the walls was what was on my floor. It wasn't even screwed down. It was stapled down; every 4 square inches or less had a staple. I was so mad, but also extremely happy that I decided to not take the lazy way out and leave it there. Since it was so thin and shoddy, it came of fairly easily too. I didn't even have to cut it. All I had to do was to cut the vinyl off of the top (only glued on the edges, Hallelujah!) and then use the pry bar to pop it up and it usually broke in half from there. The tedious part came in removing all of those staples. That took longer than anything. The vinyl underneath the "wood" came up easily too once the staples were removed because apparently the staples were the only thing holding it on to the floor below.
Now comes angry meltdown #2 - apparently at some point the dishwasher or sink had leaked. Because paneling was used and not the proper stuff and no moisture barrier either, the cheap crappy paneling soaked up all of the water like a sponge. When I cut away the top vinyl to see the paneling near there it was all rotten and covered in MOLD. It was so disgusting!!! The whole bottom of the vinyl was all moldy too. I removed it as carefully as possible and took it immediately outside. The stench was awful. The paneling on the floor basically fell apart as I removed it and the staples were so rusted that they either broke or disintegrated. I was so mad that we had been living with this mold for so long with no idea, but happy that I now have it removed and gone from the house.
So, the demo is complete. Unfortunately, the hardwood flooring needs a lot of work, and I don't know if the hardwood on the kitchen side is even salvageable. My dad said just to rent a sander to see if it will clean up, but the floor needs to be repaired and not just refinished. At this point, I think it is time to call in the big guns...and hire a professional. I had actually anticipated needing a professional to complete the work, so that is no big deal. At least I saved some money by doing the demo myself, and it only took me about a good day total to get it done.
Here's a pic of what I'm left with. It isn't pretty, but honestly it is better than what I had before. At least it is all one level, flat and even. I just need to remember to wear my shoes in there because there might be a piece of staple that I missed. The white rectangle on the left is the patch I mentioned.
I figure if the floor can't be salvaged or if it will cost too much to repair then I can always put a laminate down and save some more for the redo. Because of all of the layers, I couldn't have a professional give me an estimate because there was no way to know what we would encounter until all of the crap was removed. That wouldn't be ideal and clearly increase the cost, but it could last several years while I save, so it won't be too bad.
Friday, September 20, 2013
Fall Decor
Patience is a virtue that I do NOT possess. So, to distract myself from the anticipation of the upcoming floor demo I've decided to decorate the outside of my house a little bit this week. The weather is turning colder now and it is PERFECT to get into fall decorations mode. Plus the fact that it isn't so hot outside makes it so much easier and more pleasant to do yard work.
I bought these flowers the other day. I had wandered into Walmart and ended up in the garden section looking for end of season deals. I saw the flowers and fell in love. I am just crazy about mums, but they also had these gorgeous blue/purple asters that I just couldn't resist. I'm a sucker for blue flowers because they are so rare...and blue matches the shutters on my house. I've never had asters before, so I'm not quite sure of the upkeep other than to keep them watered well. If they are like mums, they should do well. Also, they are perennials, so I don't feel like I'm wasting money by buying annuals. I just hope I can keep them alive. LOL! The mums I found at Kroger (local grocery store), and they had them on clearance for $1.50 each. They were in such great shape, I don't quite understand why they were marked down, but I wasn't going to argue.
I don't know if this would be considered as part of an "autumn" color scheme, but I think the blue/purple looks fabulous with the yellow contrast. They really look a bit more blue in person than how they look in the photo though. I like the orange of the pumpkin and the flag too. My DB is a HUGE Michigan fan so for a housewarming gift I ordered him a garden gnome dressed in Michigan gear. You can see it on the step in front of the pumpkin. Regardless of your preferred sports team, the gnome is very cute. I mentioned that he needed a name, so DB named him Lloyd.
After this pic was taken, I have added my fall scarecrow, and a few other decorations too. Last night I also moved two potted red geraniums to sit at the corners of the staircase. I wasn't sure if/how it would match the colors, but I love the addition of even more color. I think I have added or changed something on the front entry every day this week. My poor DB probably wonders what he will come home to each night. I must admit that I do LOVE pulling up to the house and seeing all of this. It just looks so cheery and welcoming to come home to each day. It stands out even more since no one else in the neighborhood has done any fall decorating yet.
I also got the fire pit in the backyard in good working order. I don't use it in the summer because it just doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me to sit around a fire when it is already 80 degrees and humid. But, I fire it up (pun intended) the first cool fall-like evening we have. I bought the fire pit from a friend of mine when she moved. I love it, but it didn't come with a drain hole, so every time it rained it filled up with water. This has made it start to rust. I dug through my tools and found the largest drill bit I had and proceeded to drill about 5 holes in the bottom. I had done just one hole before, but either it was too small or one just wasn't enough because the hole would get clogged and I'd have the same problem. With the 5 slightly bigger holes there is no more problem. Then I bought some high temperature spray paint and after cleaning the loose rust off, I gave it a good cover of paint. It is great now and DB and I tried it out the other night.
I pulled out some old plastic Adirondack chairs that I had. One of the footstools has a broken leg, so please forgive that I had to prop it up with a landscaping brick. It worked in a pinch though. I've got to tell ya that it was incredibly relaxing to sit out there in front of the fire on a cool night. DB had his beer and cigar and I had my Sprite with my cell phone streaming some relaxing music on Pandora. Sitting in front of a warm crackling fire, with soft music and looking up at the stars...life doesn't get much better than that!
I bought these flowers the other day. I had wandered into Walmart and ended up in the garden section looking for end of season deals. I saw the flowers and fell in love. I am just crazy about mums, but they also had these gorgeous blue/purple asters that I just couldn't resist. I'm a sucker for blue flowers because they are so rare...and blue matches the shutters on my house. I've never had asters before, so I'm not quite sure of the upkeep other than to keep them watered well. If they are like mums, they should do well. Also, they are perennials, so I don't feel like I'm wasting money by buying annuals. I just hope I can keep them alive. LOL! The mums I found at Kroger (local grocery store), and they had them on clearance for $1.50 each. They were in such great shape, I don't quite understand why they were marked down, but I wasn't going to argue.
I don't know if this would be considered as part of an "autumn" color scheme, but I think the blue/purple looks fabulous with the yellow contrast. They really look a bit more blue in person than how they look in the photo though. I like the orange of the pumpkin and the flag too. My DB is a HUGE Michigan fan so for a housewarming gift I ordered him a garden gnome dressed in Michigan gear. You can see it on the step in front of the pumpkin. Regardless of your preferred sports team, the gnome is very cute. I mentioned that he needed a name, so DB named him Lloyd.
After this pic was taken, I have added my fall scarecrow, and a few other decorations too. Last night I also moved two potted red geraniums to sit at the corners of the staircase. I wasn't sure if/how it would match the colors, but I love the addition of even more color. I think I have added or changed something on the front entry every day this week. My poor DB probably wonders what he will come home to each night. I must admit that I do LOVE pulling up to the house and seeing all of this. It just looks so cheery and welcoming to come home to each day. It stands out even more since no one else in the neighborhood has done any fall decorating yet.
I also got the fire pit in the backyard in good working order. I don't use it in the summer because it just doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me to sit around a fire when it is already 80 degrees and humid. But, I fire it up (pun intended) the first cool fall-like evening we have. I bought the fire pit from a friend of mine when she moved. I love it, but it didn't come with a drain hole, so every time it rained it filled up with water. This has made it start to rust. I dug through my tools and found the largest drill bit I had and proceeded to drill about 5 holes in the bottom. I had done just one hole before, but either it was too small or one just wasn't enough because the hole would get clogged and I'd have the same problem. With the 5 slightly bigger holes there is no more problem. Then I bought some high temperature spray paint and after cleaning the loose rust off, I gave it a good cover of paint. It is great now and DB and I tried it out the other night.
I pulled out some old plastic Adirondack chairs that I had. One of the footstools has a broken leg, so please forgive that I had to prop it up with a landscaping brick. It worked in a pinch though. I've got to tell ya that it was incredibly relaxing to sit out there in front of the fire on a cool night. DB had his beer and cigar and I had my Sprite with my cell phone streaming some relaxing music on Pandora. Sitting in front of a warm crackling fire, with soft music and looking up at the stars...life doesn't get much better than that!
Countdown to kitchen floor demo
My DB is leaving for a business trip this Sunday, and that means it is a perfect time to get some major home improvement project done. DIY stuff is just not his thing. Unfortunately for him, it is TOTALLY my thing. It is my creative outlet and my stress reliever (well...when things go well), but to be polite I generally wait until I have some time to myself before I tackle anything major. He'll be gone for 2 1/2 weeks, so it is the perfect time to be brave and attack the thing that bothers me the most in my house...the kitchen floor.
I have HATED this kitchen floor since I bought the house nine years ago, but I have postponed doing anything to it simply out of fear. It helped that I had other projects to tackle first. However, the floor really is quite a mess. First, the kitchen used to be two separate rooms when the house was built. The wall between the rooms was taken down and now the entire kitchen is about 256 sq feet which is really nice. About 3/4 of the room is covered with what was originally white carpet (now dirty beyond what anyone can steam clean away). Yes, you read that correctly....WHITE CARPET!!! What kind of crazy person puts white carpet in the kitchen??? Anyhow, on the side of the room where the sink is there is about a 4x12 piece of vinyl flooring that is raised above the rest of the floor by plywood. The carpet and vinyl are "joined" by some weird "S" shaped metal stripping that everyone trips over because it extends across the entire width of the room.
To add to the mess, the carpet is unraveling at the stripping so if you step the wrong way you get a carpet tack in your foot. OUCH!!! And...it gets worse! Under the top layer of vinyl is 1/4" plywood which sits over even uglier vinyl flooring. Fortunately (or not), it appears that the uglier vinyl flooring extends throughout the entire room and not pieced together like the rest of the flooring. From my "core samples" there is hardwood floor under at least part of the room. I'm hoping that it is on the entire floor, but until I pull all of the layers of ugliness up I have no way to know. I have already removed the carpet and vinyl that was in the pantry and it all came up fairly easily with only a little glue residue.
It looks like the prior owners used some really cheap adhesive that didn't stick well to the finish of the wood floor. I'm hoping that is a premonition of good things for removing the rest. Keep fingers crossed!
Ideally, I'd absolutely love to refinish the hardwood flooring. I don't know if that is really possible since I don't know if it extends throughout the entire room AND I don't know what condition it is in. It could be rotten under all of the vinyl layers by the sink. Plus, there is the challenge of where the former walls used to be. From what I've seen with my "core samples" I think the holes were just filled with some sort of leveling compound. If the hardwood is salvageable, I'll have to call in a professional to at least patch it. I'd like to try to refinish it myself, but I don't know if my DIY skills are quite up to that challenge.
So, that is my challenge. I can't even call a contractor at this point to get a decent estimate on a total redo of the floor because there is no way to know what is underneath all of this mess. My goal for now is to just rip up what is there now so I can evaluate what I have. I have finally gotten to the point that having ugly wood floors or even a subfloor will be better than what I have now. I don't think I could possibly hate the floor anymore than I do right now.
I have HATED this kitchen floor since I bought the house nine years ago, but I have postponed doing anything to it simply out of fear. It helped that I had other projects to tackle first. However, the floor really is quite a mess. First, the kitchen used to be two separate rooms when the house was built. The wall between the rooms was taken down and now the entire kitchen is about 256 sq feet which is really nice. About 3/4 of the room is covered with what was originally white carpet (now dirty beyond what anyone can steam clean away). Yes, you read that correctly....WHITE CARPET!!! What kind of crazy person puts white carpet in the kitchen??? Anyhow, on the side of the room where the sink is there is about a 4x12 piece of vinyl flooring that is raised above the rest of the floor by plywood. The carpet and vinyl are "joined" by some weird "S" shaped metal stripping that everyone trips over because it extends across the entire width of the room.
To add to the mess, the carpet is unraveling at the stripping so if you step the wrong way you get a carpet tack in your foot. OUCH!!! And...it gets worse! Under the top layer of vinyl is 1/4" plywood which sits over even uglier vinyl flooring. Fortunately (or not), it appears that the uglier vinyl flooring extends throughout the entire room and not pieced together like the rest of the flooring. From my "core samples" there is hardwood floor under at least part of the room. I'm hoping that it is on the entire floor, but until I pull all of the layers of ugliness up I have no way to know. I have already removed the carpet and vinyl that was in the pantry and it all came up fairly easily with only a little glue residue.
Ideally, I'd absolutely love to refinish the hardwood flooring. I don't know if that is really possible since I don't know if it extends throughout the entire room AND I don't know what condition it is in. It could be rotten under all of the vinyl layers by the sink. Plus, there is the challenge of where the former walls used to be. From what I've seen with my "core samples" I think the holes were just filled with some sort of leveling compound. If the hardwood is salvageable, I'll have to call in a professional to at least patch it. I'd like to try to refinish it myself, but I don't know if my DIY skills are quite up to that challenge.
So, that is my challenge. I can't even call a contractor at this point to get a decent estimate on a total redo of the floor because there is no way to know what is underneath all of this mess. My goal for now is to just rip up what is there now so I can evaluate what I have. I have finally gotten to the point that having ugly wood floors or even a subfloor will be better than what I have now. I don't think I could possibly hate the floor anymore than I do right now.
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