There is a chance we will be eating baked stuff this Thanksgiving. Mr and I took the old double oven out of its slot. That required some clever thinking. Because we could not carry it (too heavy!) we had to devise an alternative plan. We took the steel pedestal that is supposed to go under our Speed Queen dryer, put moving men under it, and lined the top with thick blankets. Put the contraption right under the oven, pulled it out of the wall, dropped the oven onto the blankets, and pushed the whole thing out of the house! Yay. Now all that is left is new oven install. That will be a piece of cake. We had a tiny bit of an issue with the warming drawer - where to get 120V circuit if we were to install it under the ovens as we planned. I hate drywall business with a passion, so I came up with another plan. The warming drawer will replace one of the dish drawers in the island, closer to the cooktop. There is a gazillion of empty circuits in the island (we ripped out an instahot and a garbage disposal)! And the drawer will be within my easy reach for those times when I need to keep something warm while I make the rest of the breakfast. Another yay!
And the laundry cabinet is finished! We took out one tall cabinet because we wanted our washer and dryer side by side instead of stacked. Then we discovered that the contractors that handled the prior remodel did a really shoddy job. The drywall behind the laundry cabinet was old and not finished like the rest of the walls. So I practiced âlevel 5â finishing skills in that patch of the wall. Mr. said that if I ever lose my job, I can always find work as a drywall finisher. Over my dead body!!!
@BunsenBurner and here i am telling my husband he will not be allowed to attempt to fix the two dents in the new walls the movers made He insist it doesnât look hard according to the You Tube video he watch!
Coming, @snowball! With my handy-dandy plastic crate full of drywall tools!
Folks, Speed Queen dryers rock. The pedestal was not the right size for the dryer, apparently. But Mr. got tired of living without a laundry room, so instead of exchanging it, he just drilled a coupe of holes into it.
Our construction has been done a couple months. We got a lot of new furniture, which was kind of exhausting because I am not really good at that sort of thing. We got a sectional and chair at Living Spaces and it was amazing how fast they were done. I got coffee tables, and a bookcase at a Pottery Barn Outlet. I got two chairs reupholstered. Two benches(entry and outside), artwork, accents and some throw pillows from TJ Max Home Goods. We just need an area rug for the living room and I think we are done. Our old furniture got donated. We still have stuff to go through in the garage but at least we can park a car in there now. Since we are now all floors (hardwood and tile) we bought a Roomba to try and keep up with the dog hair. But since the floors and dog are the same color it isnât so bad. We did everything except the guest bath. So I asked the contractor to give me an estimate because I would like to do it after the holidays before we lose our momentum.
I canât see the dog hair on my floors until vacuum light shines on them. Hair is everywhere. My vacuum has a swiffer like attachment and thatâs the only thing that really works. Just having it on bare floor setting doesnât pick it up as hair is just to fine.
I need to get some estimate for a stone/slate patio I want to put in off of the deck next summer. H wants a new garage door so need to look into that too. And we are painting master and getting new furniture but Iâm having hard time picking paint color. So far I havenât liked anything Iâve tried out with samples.
Mine is moving along slowly. The cabinet designer STILL hasnât sent in the order! I was hoping to have received the cabinets and install them right after Thanksgiving. Nope! And they take 6-8 weeks to make.
My other, smaller, jobs are getting done. We have a window preservation specialist coming Monday to fix up the large old windows and french doors in the kitchen. Apparently they can remove the bottom sashes and install weatherstripping right into the frame and put them back in. Both those windows are missing their âslip headsâ too and will get new ones and new ropes along the sides. Iâm gasping for air at the cost but itâs still far cheaper than modern replacements and we have several of these windows that the HDLC wouldnât let us replace anyway. At least they will work better now.
OTOH, I needed a new transom window to match the ones in the kitchen and the local architectural salvage place didnât have one wide enough. âBut we can make one for you in a couple of daysâ. Really? They made one for $100 out of reclaimed old cypress and Iâm still pinching myself at how satisfying that whole encounter was.
*slip heads are little flaps of wood at the top of the window frames that are hinged so that they move out of the way if you raise your bottom sash so far that it goes into the wall space above the top sash. Typical old school âwindow as a doorâ technique.
The fake fireplace in the kitchen eating area is almost done too. The previous owner had put in fireplace trim, a stone hearth, and bumped out the wall and it sure fooled me that it was a fireplace but there was no masonry anywhere. He had a sketchy gas heater attached there. We removed the gas pipe and had the inside of the area framed out and drywalled.
The tricky part was covering the floor where it was just floor joists and some wood over them (just behind the hearth). We needed something less than 1/8" thick that could handle water if there was a spill and be cut to size and nailed in. Why arenât there stiff plastic sheets you can buy if you want to make a poster or sign that is going to be outside in the weather? In the end we sacrificed some cork backed placemats that I didnât like anyway. I had bought a large fabric cutting matt with a coupon at JoAnnâs and we were going to sacrifice that but the placemats worked out. It just needs paint now and we have our cute little electric heater in there with itâs lovely little remote! I love remotes!
The washer and dryer are fully functional! And we made some progress towards the ovens⊠some. At least we bought all boxes and other electrical junk. Mr. B spent an hour in the electrical isle of HD. He knew precisely what he needed⊠but that isle to him is like a candy store to a kid.
I donât know if I am lucky⊠some stuff he does scares me big time!
Outlets for the ovens (30 amps and 20 amps) are wired and live. Now the last piece of cake is left - setting the ovens into their spots. The worst case scenario - I will just plug the big oven in and bake Mr. a pie.
I have enjoyed reading through this thread. We moved this summer and moved into a temporary rental. It was a really hard move for me bc our entire family (with the exception of our college student) lived within 10 mins of each other. I am now hrs and hrs away from my precious grandkids and my youngest Dd (who is only 7) really struggled bc she missed her best friend horribly (her 6 yr old niece whom I homeschooled right alongside her. It was almost like leaving a sister behind.) Thankfully the kids have made new friends and are starting to settle in.
Last month we found a wonderful craftsman house that I love and will be closing on in 2 weeks. The wrap around porch is beautiful. The house has so much character and the trimwork is absolute gorgeous. ButâŠbutâŠit needs a lot of work and updating. I am completely overwhelmed by thinking through the entire house and trying to pull it all together.
Some of the house has painted trim. Some of it is oak trim. The cabinets in the kitchen are oak (I absolutely do not like the oak look of the cabinets.) The fireplace is brick flanked by oak cabinets/bookshelves. I know I want to either stain the kitchen cabinets darker or use Annie Sloan paint and paint them lighter. (The countertops are a mix of dark and light. The island is dark and the main counter is light.) I want to remove the old, ugly backsplash and install a backsplash that complements the new color scheme.
I have no idea what to do with the fireplace and cabinets. The kitchen is open to the family room so it is one big space. I am trying to picture the brick painted and then something done to the cabinets/bookshelves.
Our budget is me doing the work.
And, oh my, the house is in the woods and doesnât have a single window treatment. But, there is a house the hill behind the house and now that there are no leaves on the trees, I drove down around to that cul-de-sac and I know they can see up into the house. There are something like 15 windows in the sunroom alone. Ahuge chunk of my budget looks like it will be going to window treatments bc I am a very private person. No way at night I want lights on with no closed blinds.
Any suggestions for a place to by window treatments on a budget? (Definitely cannot afford a $100/window!) Dealing with a brick fireplace?
Most boring home improvement ever, but we did it anyway. Or had it done, this is not my skill set. There is a vaulted ceiling in the family room addition, and the joints where the angled planes come together werenât taped and mudded properly, so the tape was pulling loose. Not coming completely loose and hanging from the ceiling, but you could clearly see the edges of the tape pulling away from the drywall. Not a moisture or settling problem, just poor workmanship. Weâve lived with it about 15 years, not really getting worse but still looking shabby. (The contractor that did the finish work in this room vanished before the work was 100% complete, so we couldnât call him back to fix it.)
We finally hired someone to fix it, and theyâll probably double their estimate for the next time they take on a job like this, because it was a bear to complete - working over your head taping and mudding and sanding long seams. But it looks great. So now I can invite everyone over to see our lovely smooth white ceiling. Oh, joy. Still, I feel better.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek, canât help you with inexpensive window treatments because only my bedroom has any. My nearest neighbors who can look into my family room - where I have big windows are only a few hundred feet away. You can also see right into my living room from the street through ginormous bay window.
I might leave fp alone and just paint or stain in lighter color the surrounding cabinets/bookshelves. I would use the same stain/paint color as kitchen cabinets for continuity. In any case I would do the cabinets first so if you do decide to paint the brick you can find a nice complementary color. JMO
@Mom2aphysicsgeek - do you have a Blinds to go or other place like that in your area? They usually have deals and may have very good deals for the holiday sales. If you are purchasing a lot, please haggle for a lower price!
Of course, curtains and rods are probably the cheapest. There will be deals at department store online shops, bed bath and beyond, overstock, etc. I got several long curtains, rods and tie backs from overstock. If you just need a couple of pairs for a room, you can pick them up at Target or TjMaxx or some other discount place. Some stores only have all their sizes online. For example, World Market only sells their really long curtains online.
Iâve gotten Bali custom shades through Costco. They said they would take 4+ weeks to deliver, but they came in less than 2. If you do that, the first thing you should do is replace the screws. The shades are high quality, the screws are crap. All screws that you get with stuff you buy (like curtain rods too) tend to be crap. I guess thatâs for the pet peeve thread!
@Mom2aphysicsgeek , JCP.com has top down/bottom up cellular shades on clearance / Black Friday sale for less than $50 per window. They have other good deals on shades, blinds and curtain, too. Iâve had a little trouble with some of their curtain panels when Iâve bought 6+ that were supposed to be the same length and instead varied by 2". After some discussion, JCP paid return shipping and shipped replacements which were fine. Their shades have been fine and weâve used them in multiple houses over the years. I like the top down feature to allow in more light while still retaining privacy at eye level.
Lowes and Home Depot have curtain hardware and custom blinds and shades too. They probably also have the shades and blinds that you can get cut to size. Lowes has a lot more than HD when it comes to curtains and curtain hardware.
^^We did the cut-to-measure blinds for a couple rooms in our house. Price was reasonable, and a friendâs DH who does handyman jobs installed them. Was under $100/window all-in.
We did cellular blackout top down/bottom up shades in our MBR, which were a bit more, but they save us $$ because they are energy efficient.
If you can run a sewing machine, valances are easy. Iâve made them from sheets that match the comforter and linens in the bedroom.
He insist it doesnât look hard according to the You Tube video he watch!
