Continued Progress

Okay, I know I've been quiet of late, but a lot of that's been because I've been working, putting all of my housewarming gifts to good use. As I mentioned in the last painful blog, my electric bill was through the roof last month and most of that was probably due to the awesome cold weather and the major lack of insulation in my house. So off to Lowe's I went. (They have the best price on insulation in Brenham...) I purchased 8 rolls of R-13. Apparently the R factor (R-13) relates to how well the material insulates. The higher the number, the better the R factor and the cheaper your electric bill. Attics are supposed to have an R-49 for the best insulation. The walls, because they are studded with 2x4's can only accomodate R-13 fiberglass insulation. If I was unlimitedly wealthy, then I could blow in foam insulation which has a higher R-value, but let's face it, it I was unlimitedly wealthy, I wouldn't be redoing a house in the first place!!


One of the pictures features the new look in the kitchen with fresh insulation. Looks cheaper in there already! Actually, it's much nicer to look at clean insulation backing than it is to check out poop-ridden (sorry, but my 4th graders say show it not tell it) shoddy old stuff when working in a kitchen or any room for that matter. The other room I've been trucking away on is the living room. Slowly but surely I've been stripping all of the paint off of my built-ins in there, preparing them for new fresh paint that's free of nicotine stains! You can see signs of my slow progress in one of the pics.



You should also notice a new feature in the same picture. Working TV! I priced around and DirectTV was able to given me a killer deal on 250+ channels, including all of my guilty pleasures like G4, Sleuth, and then some others for visitors like Sprout and Disney. I must say I love having some connection to the rest of the world again.



The last picture (for me to describe, not necessarily in order) is of new electrical accomplishments in my house. Granted, I technically had NOTHING to do with them, but I'll brag on them all the same. Over a couple of days, Marc and Sara worked to rewire the entire living room, removing old fixtures and replacing them with new holes and doing some specialty rewiring on the outlets. On two outlets, I now have them split so that the top outlet works off a wall switch and the bottom outlet is always hot. This means I can plug lamps into the wall and use them to light the way, during them on and off at doorways, instead of the harsh overhead lights. This is huge for me. (Not a big fan of overheads in case you can't tell. That and the fact that the room had two separate overheads with different switches on opposite sides of the room!!) The other big electrical addition will be great next Christmas. I have an outlet outside in my eave specifically for plugging in Christmas lights. The best feature about that is that it connects to a switch behind my interior door on the inside of my house. Yup, that's right. I can stay warm and toasty on the ground inside my house while turning my Christmas lights on and off outside!

Now, there is one picture that might seem a little odd looking. That was pulled out of my attic, from what I understand, laying on the insulation. While fiberglass insulation may not burn, the paper backing on it will and I'm pretty certain there are a few other things in my attic that would be more than happy to light up! For those of you not in the know, someone (not this owner) apparently took a something-something wire and spliced to to a something-something else wire to send electricity somewhere else in the house. While electricians splice wires often, (I think - else why give it a special name?), I also pretty sure that you're supposed to use wire nuts and follow code and make sure that no bare electrical wires are left exposed!! The joys of home-ownership...

Party People

For those of you who know me, you’ll know that I love to plan, re-plan and look forward to parties. Now that it’s over, I have that wonderful post party let down. Please understand that I think the party was a great success. I loved seeing everyone and hanging out in my house without having to do paint anything, strip anything or feel guilty about not doing the previously mentioned. Anyway, due to the ppld (post-party let-down) this e-mail may have a more serious slant to it than previous ones. Now that I’ve taken care of the disclaimer insisted upon by my legal firm, we can continue with a report of the party.

The first thing I want to say is a HUGE thank you to everyone who came by. It meant a great deal to me that you took time to come out. Those of you who had other plans, such as being in another state or iced in, I appreciate the good thoughts, phone calls and awesome gifts that you sent. I am blown away by all of the wonderful gifts that I received; gallons of paint, living room blinds, air conditioning filters and more. Granted they were in the form of small pieces of re-loadable plastic, but hey, that’s a lot easier to fit in an envelope!

The party started early, which was fine by me, as we rushed around doing all of those last minute things. Dav and Jon took the time to install a new mailbox for me, one that hopefully won’t leak massive amounts of water. After proclaiming my clearance find mailbox box cheap looking, (granted it was, so can’t fault him there) Dav and Jon set off to find an new one. While they were gone, I mowed my lawn for the second time since I’ve owned my house. (I bought it in August.) Now, in case you were thinking that my lawn was a horrible over-grown jungle, it wasn’t, that’s just how poor the “lawn” I have is. Granted, since I have so much time to take care of it, insert deep guffaw here, I don’t really mind having a horrible lawn. Thanks Cans for the use of your lawn mower by the way. One of these days I’m going to get mine to my house and fixed, but it hasn’t been a huge priority, yet…

Just after 2, while Jon was on a diaper run, Dav installed my new knobs in the bathroom. I’ve gotten pretty used to using the sides and bottoms of the cabinets and drawers to open them, but I wanted it to look more finished for the party. The cabinets all have a very dark oil rubbed bronze plain knob that lends itself to the black accents, but I went all out with the drawers. Anthropologie, a cool clothing store, also happens to sell cabinet hardware. I know, who knew? Anyway, they have unique pieces that really make a statement. So when Mom and I were down in Houston last, we hit Highland Village and I picked out 2 light green clear acrylic oblong knobs. Confused yet by the description? Check out the link and then look at the pictures for clarity. or better yet, come visit! (http://www.anthropologie.com/anthro/catalog/productdetail.jsp?subCategoryId=&id=47089&catId=HOME-HARDWARE-KNOBS&pushId=HOME-HARDWARE-KNOBS&popId=HOME-HARDWARE&sortProperties=&navCount=35&navAction=middle&fromCategoryPage=true&selectedProductSize=&selectedProductSize1=&color=min&colorName=MINT&isSubcategory=&isProduct=true&isBigImage=&templateType=)

Once the knobs were on and my makeup was finally installed or wait is that the other way round, no matter, I was officially ready!

From there it was a whirlwind of coming and going, laughter and friends. The guestroom has been officially broken in, including the train set, the Fisher Price airport and all of the dollies. What I was most happy about is that everyone said they would come back and play again. It was one of those fun times that you just really enjoy while it’s happening and then are sad when you realize it’s all over.

I guess the only downer to the party was when I opened my electric bill. Yeah okay, if you’re going to visit, dress warm and feel free to grab a blanket out of the linen closet because heat is going to be a thing of GREAT luxury. With a $300 bill, it’s either go cold or go hungry and I’ve never been the type of person who “forgets to eat.” So, pull out the wool sweaters or just ask and I’ll be happy to get one for you!

The bill has reinforced the need to get onto the next big project, which is a new roof. However, in order to pay for the new roof, I have to file my taxes and get my new homeowner’s rebate back. I’m sure that’s going to be a blast and a half even with the help of Turbo Tax! So, if you hear screams of frustration coming from room 405 (need the internet access) just ignore them, it’s only me attempting math higher than 4^th grade and remember where in the world I put form ??????.

Have a great week and enjoy the pictures and postings!

The unknown perils of house remodeling

Okay, I know that everyone knows about the big well known perils of remodeling a house, the accidental slice of a skin, the slamming of a finger by a hammer, the falling off a ladder and breaking a nose, but today I would like to point out those things that no one mentions…

My face!! My skin to be more exact broke out in August with the purchase of the house and STILL is a great game of connect-the-dots! In case you’re wondering, yes, I’m washing my face daily and using clean products! The point of this rant is that I’ve never seen a Lowe’s workshop or a This Old House newsletter detailing how to ensure that you face doesn’t break out after installing your new insulation. (Which I heard President Obama said was sexy?!?) I guess the next question is, Does Bob Vila also have this problem or is it just me?

You know the other thing that Home Depot is missing? Heavy duty cream for dry skin! Between the primer, paint stripper, cleaning products and concrete, my skin is dry and cracking. OUCH! I have found several things that help, one of which was a free sample of Chapped Hand relief from Bath and Body Works, and no, I’m not getting any kickbacks, I just thought someone else might like to know…

Now, on a completely practical note, a friend of a family member has graciously agreed to look at my plans for my kitchen. Now, other than timeless, a lots of storage, I have yet to have super specific ideas. What I’m looking for are things that you wish you had or had done with your kitchen? Which storage do you never use, which do you use all the time? Are there any large tools that you can’t live without? Is there any wasted space that you have a great idea for? Any parts of your kitchen that do double duty for you and work wonderfully? PLEASE send me your ideas and thoughts.