The $#a!%& Extension

Painted Furniture

noreply@blogger.com (Claudine M. Jalajas) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 01:43:00 +0000

I love painting furniture. I particularly like taking things from the trash and putting new life into it. Sometimes a little wood putty and a coat of paint can really make a difference.

I have some wood chairs that I wanted to bring into my kitchen. My kitchen/dining furniture is done in a distressed/antique style. I like the way it looks and it’s also effective since my kids are pretty rough on furniture. The additional scrapes and nicks won’t even be noticed.

Here’s the chair (solid wood). All I did was wash it—no primer, no sanding.

I put several coats of white semi gloss on this chair. It’s quite dark wood and hard to coat. I used semi gloss because I had it around and was planning on scuffing it up and adding antique finish to it. Normally when I do furniture I don’t use a paint with any shine to it. After painting, I sanded it down on all the spots that would normally get worn. I used a regular sander and just blasted over all the edges to highlight them.

To antique the piece you can use stain (which works well but is very smelly and takes longer to dry). I found this antique polish in Michaels by FolkArt. Works great. I apply it with a handiwipe towel. Use a glove on your hand, it’s pretty tough to come off. Just put dabs on the towel and start wiping it on the furniture. Work quickly because it dries lightening fast. The antique polish comes in many colors. I had dark brown on hand (I tend to work with whatever I have laying around—and there’s usually tons laying around).

Finished chair.

I recently needed a bookcase in my kitchen for cookbooks. I had one in the shed. It was green and just kind of boring. I found these little wood details (guess where?) and glued them on. Then painted the bookcase a beige brown (a paint store “woops” color. An entire quart of Benjamin Moore paint for 1.50! Excellent deal—I always check the woops paints.)

Right now the books are not stacked the way they normally would be and I have fabric placemats on each shelf. Paint takes a solid 2 weeks to cure. If you’re not careful, the paint will peel off, stick to whatever you put on it, be a general mess. So use fabric barriers until at least 2 weeks have gone by and you’ll be in good shape.

Painted Furniture

noreply@blogger.com (Claudine M. Jalajas) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 01:33:00 +0000

I love painting furniture. I particularly like taking things from the trash and putting new life into it. Sometimes a little wood putty and a coat of paint can really make a difference.

Here’s the chair (solid wood). All I did was wash it—no primer, no sanding.

Finished chair.

Addicted

noreply@blogger.com (Claudine M. Jalajas) — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 02:37:00 +0000

I have an addiction. That’s the first step, right? Admitting you have a problem? I wonder if it’s actually a problem per se. I mean, my addiction is fun and it’s not like I’m hurting myself or anyone else. I’m making everyone’s life better—mostly. It’s just that—I need about 80 thousand dollars. It will probably be closer to 70k, but lets just say 80k so that we have it in the budget and there are no surprises.

Now, I know 80k sounds like a lot of money and in some ways it is—but this is an investment. Money in the bank baby. Trust me. And once you see what I do—you’re gonna wanna do it too.

I was watching Spice Up My Kitchen. I never even heard of the show until my friend Christine (a closet case—she needs to come to terms as well… I‘m working on her) told me to check it out. All I wanted to do was pick a new paint color for my kitchen. Now I’ve got another HGTV show on the TIVO list. After the third episode I watched on my TIVO I went from rolling my eyes at kitchen budgets to telling my husband (beads of sweat building on his forehead), “You know, that’s not bad at all.”

I’ve decided we need to knock down a few walls. Not a lot—just a couple. I could use a wine refrigerator too—over by the new bar/entertainment area. We never have more than one bottle in the house, and it never lasts longer than the time it takes to get it from the car to the kitchen table. But I’ll bet that’s because we don’t have a proper cooling area. I’m sure we’d buy more wine and have better parties. Or, parties even.

Now, one thing I’ve always hated is filling up the pasta pots with water from the kitchen sink and lugging it the whole three feet to the stove. Enter the pot filler. I NEED one of those (in oil rubbed bronze would be fab). While we’re talking about sinks… a prep sink is integral to my design.

And of course, Granite. And something equally expensive and glam on the backsplash and vent hood. I don’t know what style I want—it changes each week as I watch the next episode. Do I want transitional, traditional, cottage, country? Actually, I know I don’t want country. Other than that.. I don’t care as long as Candice Olsen is the one doing the design. That woman will stick a crystal chandelier anywhere—and I love it.

I’ll stick with my wood floors too—I find it so much easier on the feet than tile. But lets rip up all this nice wood and replace it with wide planks—maybe even some reclaimed wood? Tres chic!

Sadness looms in. There’s another episode of Divine Design on tonight. She’s doing a kitchen—it’s going to be awesome, they always are. I can already hear her saying, “Quartz tile for the backsplash” now. I shouldn’t watch but I cannot help myself so I cue up the TIVO. Deciding to get a drink I walk by the area that would hold our wine fridge and my heart aches.

I stop and imagine the new task lighting, gorgeous granite covered island, with plenty of storage, making my meal preps so much easier. Imagine my children sitting on the bar stools in their matching PJs on the other side of the island enjoying their freshly made waffles, “Oh mommy, these are delicious! You’re the best mom and the best cook ever!”

I know I thought that the extension on the house would fix this hunger I have inside. But, this would do it. This would make the house perfect. So all I need is 80k… give or take. What do you think?

The Shed ::ahem:: Guest House

noreply@blogger.com (Claudine M. Jalajas) — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 15:00:00 +0000

In the last two weeks I've had 3 people tell me that they were "admiring" my "property." I can't tell you how nice it is to hear that. Considering that the patio looked like this only a few short years ago. Click here to see more on the patio transformation.

We also have a little building on our property that is called a shed. The story, from residents that have lived here long enough to know the owner that built it, is that he built the miniature house for his kids as a playhouse. He really must have been into his kids because it's way more elaborate than the cardboard boxes I give my kids. He also built a killer tree house. Enough about him though--he's really making me feel inadequate.

The shed, affectionately called, the guest house, is going to be winterized soon. You see, you may recall I wanted to "finish" our garage. But, to do it right, it's gonna run ya. So, I started thinking about what I really wanted this winter. I wanted to be able to use that very expensive treadmill I bought in a warm, and safe (for my daughter) place. The guest house is small, about the size of a standard bedroom. Heating it will be no problem. So, little by little we have thrown money at it.

So far the shed is framed out (it's a shell basically). Dave strung electric throughout with plugs and overhead switches. The licensed electrician tied that to our electric box (don't like those pesky light shows so we left that job for the pro). It's tempting to start insulating and sheet rock but the guest house must have windows. It's just a big dark box right now. So, I have a few different people coming to give me an estimate on window installation. Just as a side note, why can't they say something like, "Oh.. put in a window? That's $75." Instead they come here, look at the shell and then say they'll call me later. Don't you know your business? How hard is it to give me a number? Ballpark? Something? There's not a lot involved--cut hole, stick window in it, charge customer.

I'm hopeful that it will be ready to use this winter. My daughter will only deal with the jogger for so long. The trips on the jogger are shorter now (she gets bored) and once the weather turns it just feels mean to bundle her up and bring her along. So, hopefully once this is complete I can run on the treadmill and she can play with some toys, and we'll both be happy and content in our new little guest house.

Technorati Tags: garage conversion,running,winterizing

Storage Space

noreply@blogger.com (Claudine M. Jalajas) — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 01:18:00 +0000

If you have a small house (like me) efficient use of space is an issue. In addition, good storage is critical.

I have three kids and they're like most: spoiled. So, having the space to put things away is a big deal. Also, if it's not easy to put things away, or take things out, eventually you'll all get tired and just pile the clean clothes on top of the dresser or dump the toys in a nearby open bin and call it a day.

I like my small house--there are many benefits to small houses. Particularly this winter if you use oil to heat your home. My heating costs will go up, but not anywhere near what it will be for my friends with the McMansions. (And even though you can't see me right now I am SO NOT GIGGLING!)

Another benefit is the INability to collect too much. Eventually there's no more place to put things and you're more strategic with what you keep.

The downside of a small house is that it doesn't take too much to make the place look sloppy. The upside is that it doesn't take that much to keep it looking nice and clean too.

The key to keeping your house looking tidy?

Don't stack dirty dishes in the sink.
Make the beds.
Keep the floors free of debris.
Put the clutter away.

By the way, I know this because I saw it in some magazine somewhere--not because I actually subscribe to these rules. It's just what I heard.

Anyway.. storage.

My daughter went from a tiny room with zero closet space (grounds for a call to social services I'm sure) to a pretty large room (psst.. a bit larger than the room her brothers now share) with a nice sized closet. The problem was that the closet wasn't really being used. Not properly anyway. So, I told dear ole Dave that he had a couple more projects to complete before he went back to work. The biggest? Closet storage.

I went on the ClosetMaid website. They have a few tools where you can design your closet based on the dimensions you have. It's nice because you can plan your closet while in your house looking at it rather than in the middle of home depot looking at massive the racks of accessories while your children run and scream through the store, "Mommy! Mommy! Jimmy just knocked over the light bulb display!" In fact, leave the kids home--even without kids this is kind of a pain. My husband, a very educated and former math-camp attendee, had to make more than 5 trips to HD to get all the right parts for our closets.

But now... they're GORE-JUS DAHLING! My daughter and I got some kick-butt closets now. I'm still not even using half of the functionality--I keep forgetting I have all these shelves and hooks. Her closet is great though and has helped me keep her room looking even more magically princessified than usual.

Installing Hardwood Flooring

noreply@blogger.com (Claudine M. Jalajas) — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 03:19:00 +0000

When you have an addition/extension or home built, you will get quoted an average price per square foot. In our area it ranges from 150/square foot and up. So, take the 400 square feet we put on and multiply that by $150. Now, that did not include a bathroom, so a bathroom would (and did) bump up the price. Most general bathroom installs start at about 10k and move up RAPIDLY once you start changing what tile and fixtures you're using.

For example, our proposal had an allowance of $2/square foot for bathroom tile. I signed the contract and then eventually went tile shopping. Guess what? The tile in the dumpsters behind Home Depot costs more than $2/square foot.

Anyway, the price you're quoted often does NOT include floors, paint, or light fixtures. The added room off of my living room is a home office (for me) and occasional guest room for our out-of-town relatives. Dave did the floors in the two added bedrooms, but the office is different. Our living room has laminate flooring. On it's own, it's not the worst thing in the world. (How's that for laminate advertising??)

What I Hate About This Floor

It was installed next to our lovely hardwood floors (pictured right). It's not the same color and it's no going in the same direction. In addition, the idiots that put it in didn't fix the height of the floor so there's a slight gap between the hall and living room which is perfect for collecting debris like smooshed goldfish crackers.

Room Without a Floor

The room in the far back of this photo is the office. That large opening is fitted for french doors. This will give me (and our guests when they are using it) privacy. Of course, my kids will likely be in college by the time we do all this, so I may not need them. However, we can't put those in until the floor is put in. In case you missed it:

Can't install french doors until office floor is installed.
Can't install office floor until the floor in living room is installed.
Can't install any floors until they are all same level.
Can't do any layering to the office floors until they have busted through the old basement through to the new basement. For now, that's the only way down in there.

The office does not have a floor. It's subflooring (plywood). I have put an area rug over it to cover it for now. However, it's not the same level as the living room (we've had lots of stubbed toes). It's off by a solid 1 1/2 inches. It's probably too hard to see in this photo below, but the floor in the office needs to be built up, the living room floor needs to also be built up to meet up with the floor. (It's done with layering sheets of plywood--which honestly isn't cheap).

What I Want

I'd like the floor specialists to come in, level out all the floors and install oak hardwood to match up with the rest of the house. I don't want want any thresholds going from room to room--all one smooth surface. It can all be done--by the pros anyway. THEN, I'll be done. Oh wait.. I forgot about.... ;)

Furniture Makeover

noreply@blogger.com (Claudine M. Jalajas) — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 03:09:00 +0000

I was given a large hutch from a friend. She knew that I liked to paint just about anything with a surface and redoing furniture is up there at the top of my list. With company coming in just a couple days I had some rearranging to do and suddenly, the bottom portion of the hutch would make a great TV stand. But first; a face lift.

The hutch (shown below with drawers removed) had a lot of surface damage--like a cat had clawed at it. In addition, the top of the hutch had a shiny surface (like a veneer). So, first I filled in the deepest scratches with wood putty. I sanded the surface to smooth it, and then applied a good primer to the entire piece. (Bin makes a great primer and you can get it at any hardware store).

After applying the primer to the entire piece, I painted the piece with regular latex paint. I used paint that I already had from the house. Benjamin Moore Eggshell finish. Normally when you paint furniture you should use a semi-gloss finish. But, this wasn't going to be the last step (and I LOVE reusing paint that I already have around in my very large collection!!)

It takes more time but it's easier in the long run if you remove all the drawers and door fronts, handles, and hardware. I also really like using cardboard for drop cloths. It's thick, doesn't stick to whatever you're painting, and can be stored easily. I hate drop cloths, too easy to trip over or to miss paint drips (and then you step in it, and drag it all over you house).

After painting the tan color you see above and letting it dry, I applied a stain finish to give the piece an antique effect.

Use gloves (dishwashing ones work best. The other gloves tend to break down with stain or lacquer) to protect your hands from being stained too. It's a bear to get off your skin. When applying the stain, go for a dark one that will show up well on the paint. I used walnut for this piece. I also used a handiwipe to apply the stain--it's great for staying wet and not absorbing the stain and you can easily flip it over and over to wipe the stain back off.

Put the stain on heavy and then start wiping it off in a somewhat haphazard manner. You don't want streaks and you want some areas to be heavier than others to show dimension.

Below is the finished piece. I need to find some hardware, but for now it works and it's ready in time for company!

Technorati Tags: refinish furniture,antique furniture,primer,painting,paint furniture

We Have a Door!

noreply@blogger.com (Claudine M. Jalajas) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 03:58:00 +0000

This past week we bought a door at Home Depot. It's a Fiberglass door which is fancier than a steel door (like we have now) but looks like wood. Wood is gorgeous but not as efficient, insulation-wise. We bought a Feather River door that was already in stock. After six months of looking online at doors, having three kids in the store with us, I was quick to pick a door. We cruised down the next aisle and got the door handle. (Before shot below)

The new door has a glass window with wrought iron throughout. I picked a antique bronze (dark) handle and matching numbers.

A friend had a contact person that could install the door. He arrived to give me an estimate. I showed him a picture of what I wanted. Showed him the current state of the door. He said "no problem" and call me when we had the door. We called him and he said, "Sunday morning, 8:30."

9:30am, No Carlos.

By 10:30am, I tried to call him. No Answer.

I said to Dave, "how hard can it be?"

Dave pulled out his various home improvement books and I said, "Joe's home."

In case you haven't been following my blogs, Joe is the unsuspecting EMT neighbor whose life has gone from carefree weekend mornings to visits from my kids, "Hey Joe, what are you doing? Hey Joe, watch this. Hey Joe, look at my shoes. Hey Joe, wanna play baseball? Hey Joe, where's Margie? Hey Joe, your car is blue. I like blue. Do you like the Mets or the Yankees? Duke likes the Yankees but I think they stink like smelly cheese."

In addition to my kids swarming his house whenever they see he or his wife Margie outside, he's frequently called on for injuries. Today, Dave saw his garage door go up and pounced. Great news, Joe was home for the day!

As it turned out there was a lot more rot and damage than we thought. A bonus was finding an ant nest in the rot. (Ants LOVE wet wood).

The guys worked for several hours together. It was a tremendous amount of detail-oriented work.

Look closely above Joe's shoulder. That his finger wrapped in gauze. Yeah, our own personal on-call EMT was injured while at our house. Thankfully he was able to work through the blood and pain.

The outside trim (casing) needs to be painted, the indoor trim needs to be installed, we need to put the new numbers up, and the porch needs to be addressed. But the door is in, the handle locks, and the wood rot is replaced with nice, treated dry wood.

I asked Joe, "are you still considering putting a new door on your house?" His response was like the crack of a whip, "Nope!"

Is Anyone Else Scared?

noreply@blogger.com (Claudine M. Jalajas) — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 01:45:00 +0000

We have a boiler which means that we heat our home and water with oil. Yeah, that stuff that keeps going up at a ridiculous rate.

Each year we burn about 1,100 gallons of oil. We burn oil in the summer as well since that is what heats the water. I looked into having a hot water heater installed but was told it wasn't a good idea for two reasons:

It's against code. The boiler is downstairs and the water heater would have to be upstairs and you can't have one higher than another. Or, the heater would have to be downstairs and then it would be too close to the boiler. Or, something I can't remember but sounded dangerous enough that I let the whole thing go.
Although it's running in the summer to heat water, it doesn't really burn that much oil and it's bad to shut a boiler off completely anyway.

We don't have natural gas lines out this way so even if we wanted to consider replacing our heating system (KaCHING) it isn't available anyway.

Last winter was a mild winter and yet we still froze our butts off here. Part of that was because half of the house was literally exposed most of the time. Kind of like heating the house with all the windows opened. Actually, it wasn't kind of like that--it was actually that. I couldn't wait to be roasting in my non-air conditioned house this summer after spending months wearing 3 sweaters at a time and still freezing.

So now I'm sitting here wondering if we should consider installing some other type of heating system because to be honest, I'm kinda freaking out. Should we have a fireplace installed?

My oil tank is a 250 gallon tank. I usually have it filled when it gets nearly empty(there are greater discounts for larger quantities). Two winters ago I would get it filled and the price per gallon was well under $2. Still, pretty rough writing that check every couple of months--but it was doable. Towards the end of last winter the prices were up over $3/gallon. So, I started biting the small discount and getting just 100 gallons at a time. I figured this was a good way to stretch out our cash flow.

A friend of mine said, "Yeah, but I heard it might go up to $6/gallon." I got out my trusty calculator. Hmm... 1100 gallons times $6/gallon.

I'd better stock up on some wool sweaters.

Technorati Tags: fireplace,oil,oil boiler,boiler,oil prices,alternative heating options

A New Fence

noreply@blogger.com (Claudine M. Jalajas) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 01:43:00 +0000

About a week ago I told you about my psycho neighbors that kept moving the bricks we used to block raccoons from living under our shed. Anyway, we pulled down the chain link fence over the weekend and moved some shrubs we had put in last year along the chain link. I favor a "green" fence--lots of shrubs and evergreens, but it's outrageously expensive to do that for 100 feet and you have to wait several years before you get the payoff.

On Monday they were going to arrive "first thing." Here is a picture of Monday around 11:30am. Notice anything?

I called them and they said that they were getting they're things together and would be by this afternoon if the storm held off.

1. Why are you getting things together midday when you were already supposed to be here 2 hours ago?

2. You don't work in rain? Really? What a bunch of delicate doilies I hired.

Tuesday morning around 9:30 (it was beautiful out) no guys. I get a little worried and call. Their truck broke down but they'll be there very soon. (Groan--starting to sound like a scam.)

Thankfully, they show up a couple hours later and had the entire job done in about 2 1/2 hours.

We have privacy fence from the corner of the front of the house all the way to the back. I realized at the last minute that I'd like a gate in the back and they put one of those in for me too. It definitely comes in handy to not have to go all the way to the front of the yard to get out.

Now that the chain link is gone, the boys can't hop the fence like they used to--so a gate was necessary. I used it several times today and was grateful we spent the extra few bucks to have it installed.

The picket fence connects with the picket we installed ourselves a few years ago. They are different materials; one vinyl, one wood and different styles. I don't care. The PVC is longer lasting, we don't have to paint it, it was set in concrete, and looks great. Eventually the wooden picket we put in will be replaced and we can consider the PVC picket at that time. For now, I think it's hardly noticeable. Frankly, it's a hell of a lot better look than the chain link was anyway.

Technorati Tags: PVC fence,chain link fence,fence removal,fence contractors

Dark Kitchen? Insert Sky Light!

noreply@blogger.com (Claudine M. Jalajas) — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 04:54:00 +0000

Since we didn't have enough things to blow money on, we decided to address our dark kitchen. I should tell you up front that I do like my kitchen. It's not one of those granite-everywhere double recessed stainless steel sinks and appliances type, but it's pretty nice (I think). In fact, it's what sold us on the house in the first place. I like to cook. (Actually, I used to like to cook. Now I'm sick of cooking for my ungrateful children that turn their noses and say, "what's that green stuff??" But that's a post for another day). Anyway, we didn't have to do too much to the kitchen when we bought it. We refinished the wood floors, have replaced all the appliances except for the ginormous refrigerator, and spent hours tearing down all that wallpaper and repainting. Other than that (I'm rolling my eyes) we didn't do too much. (I am aware that a kitchen reno can be a very costly venture).

We've rented a LOT of places over the years and none have had nice kitchens. Ever. So, complaining does feel wrong to me. BUT (here it comes) because of where our kitchen is (north side of the house) we don't get a lot of daylight. Most of the light comes into the living room which is on the south east corner of the house.

About a year ago, I asked my visiting stepfather to please make a window opening between the kitchen and living room. I had seen pictures of my friend Christine's gorgeous house in Florida and she had one and I thought... "hmmm... I need one."

The window definitely improved the lighting, air flow, gave a modern flair, and helped me referee who indeed "started it" in the living room when I was cooking dinner.

But the kitchen was still mostly dark. I had to have the lights on all day long. When I first talked with Bob, the builder, I had wanted the laundry area moved to another part of the house. I wanted the entire area opened up to give the kitchen more square footage and make it more of an open floor plan. I said, "well, it will help brighten it up a bit too." Bob quickly said, "if you need light, stick a sky light in here." A few months later, when construction was to a halt and I was really antsy to see SOMETHING get accomplished, I called Bob and asked him to put the skylight in.

Now, that giant hole you see is not the window size. Bob said that to avoid a tunnel effect and provide more light, he made the opening at the ceiling level double the size of the actual window, like a tray effect.

Putting in the skylight was totally worth it. I love it. It makes the kitchen SO bright that there have been times that I have to wear sunglasses in the kitchen to make lunch. (That's not a cheap joke, I'm serious)

In addition to the skylight, we added one additional high hat and reconfigured three to make more sense. (You know, we trashed the kitchen ceiling. I had to repaint the whole stinkin' thing to make it all match up properly). But, now each high hat points directly over a work area and within equal spaces from one end of the kitchen counter to another.

After doing this little project I realized that I never ever want to redo my kitchen. Ever. This project took about 3 days to complete (umm.. a kitchen would be significantly longer). Bob had to wait for a full day of perfect weather before busting through the roof. He didn't want to start to go through and then have the rain start (and this was December, anything could come down from the sky). So we had to wait a couple of extra days. But, having them set up in the kitchen on ladders all day, blocking the main areas of the home, doors and attic wide open (the attic is very cold in the winter), not allowing me to make chicken nuggets whenever it was requested, was really difficult.

Technorati Tags: sky light,skylight,kitchen tray ceiling,painting ceiling,high hat lights

Buh Bye Chain Link Fence!

noreply@blogger.com (Claudine M. Jalajas) — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 01:10:00 +0000

When we bought our house it was mostly fenced-in with chain link fence. Very old fence. Very old and rusty, nasty, fence. BUT, it did serve a purpose--keeping Max in the yard. One of our first home improvement projects was to fence the rest of the yard (front yard) with picket fence. We went with wood because for the most part I prefer it over PVC. It was much less expensive and I figured we'd paint it later. (Fast forward, painting a picket fence is one of the worst things I've ever TRIED to do. We hired a pro. Painters charge a LOT for the job (even with their high powered sprayers) and we would have wound up AHEAD had we just paid the premium for PVC and it's maintenance free. WHATEVAH!)

It didn't look that great to see the picket fence connect up with the chain link, but another 100 feet of fencing was expensive so we let it go.

About a week ago I told you about my raccoon loving neighbors behind me. There's one section of fence in our back yard that either fell down or was removed years ago. It's not much of an issue because our neighbors property and ours are two different levels. So the wall acts as a sort of fence. But, after we found out that they were coming over to free the rodents, I made a call to a fence company to get an estimate.

The fence company says an electrified fence isn't a good idea. What about the rolled barbed wire? Still no. In fact, it would be almost impossible to put a fence between us. We would have to do it on their property (because the block wall is the line, and you can't put a fence into a block wall). I am considering asking if they care, but Dave made a good point. Why waste our money on them. So, I pointed the fence dude towards the chain link fence. For a very long time I've wanted privacy fencing in the backyard where the kids swing set is. I'm tired of living in a fishbowl. I'd like the privacy fence to go along the side of the house and then dip down to picket and meet up with the front.

So, the price was good, they had a cancellation for Monday morning and we said, "deal." Dave spent all of today ripping out the old chain link fence and posts. In addition to a new fence, we're getting some more of our yard back since the previous fence was in farther than it needed to be.

I can't tell you how exposed I feel with part of our fence down though. So many times today I would suddenly panic thinking, "where is SHE" and go running. I kept forgetting that she wasn't safe, alone, on the swing set. She could (and would) easily roam into the street.

So we have one more day of exposure before they show up Monday morning. I think it's supposed to rain and I'm actually happy about it. I can keep HER indoors and not worry about the side street. It's amazing how dependent you can become on a fence!

Technorati Tags: chain link fence,fence removal,PVC fence,vinyl fence,yard work

A Hole in The Wall: Kitchen Mini Face Lift

noreply@blogger.com (Claudine M. Jalajas) — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 04:32:00 +0000

About a year ago my stepfather was visiting. My stepfather is one of those guys that can pretty much do anything (except electric--he won't touch that. ;) Anyway, since he was here I wanted to see what he'd think about busting a hole through my kitchen wall.

I don't have a dining room but I have a pretty large kitchen with eat in area. There's one space that's kind of a dead area because I think the intention is for a dining table to go there but it doesn't make much sense. It blocks the flow of traffic. One wall in the kitchen that borders the living room is on an angle. I like "normal" houses but I do like that we have a few walls that are on a 45 degree angle.

What's A Normal House?

When we were house hunting we saw a LOT of houses that had obviously had several additions done to them (and apparently all the architects and designers were on strike at the time). I'm not keen on a house that has a kitchen in the back, bedrooms off of the living room, main bathroom off the kitchen (ewww), washer and dryer in a bedroom, stuff like that.

Anyway, my kitchen is dark and I wanted to allow more light from the living room. My living room gets a tremendous amount of sunlight for most of the day and it's being blocked by that cool angled wall.

Here's an old picture of the wall I'm talking about.

So I pointed at the wall and said, "what do you think about busting out a big opening for me right there?" He sat square at the kitchen table, coffee in front of him, and slightly turned his head towards the direction I was pointing. He paused and then said, "you got a sledge hammer?"

We marked out the area and he started to cut. It's helpful to have someone that knows what to look for and how to square out an opening once it's cut. We basically went from stud to stud (and he cut out one section in the center). It needed to be squared up a bit ("What a shoemaker!" said Al in reference to whomever originally built this house. By the way, "shoemaker" means bad. I don't know why.) The whole thing was finished and he ran over to the lumber yard and made me a little shelf too. Lucky for me, the colors from the kitchen and living room match really nicely. Below is the view from kitchen to living room (which is dark, sorry about my poor photography) and living room to kitchen view.

The opening has really made a difference in the kitchen as far as lighting and even ventilation. Whenever friends came over their eyes would widen and they'd say, "oh wow.. when'd you do this? It's so cool." And, it is. :) My biggest problem is that my stepfather Al lives too far away. I have SO many ideas...

Garage Conversion--Piggish About Space

noreply@blogger.com (Claudine M. Jalajas) — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 02:34:00 +0000

So, we have a detached garage on our property that is not used for cars. It's mostly used to store all of our crap that doesn't fit in the house (we don't have a full basement, just a 3 foot high crawl space and small area where the boiler is).

The garage is 16 x 20 (give or take) which is a standard size for a 1 1/2 car garage. In addition, there is a bump out on one side. You understand that since I was fined and hassled about this bump out it will forever be mentioned, pointed out, and the fees we actually paid will always be higher. I'm now saying that it cost us 1k. I'm also thinking of putting spot lights on it. And, since you're likely quite curious--here is the UNFINISHED bump out.

Extreme close-up because it's so darn pretty.

So we've been tossing around other things that we can blow what tiny bit of money we have left. Central air conditioning? Hardwood floors through the rest of the living room and extension? Or, maybe we convert the garage into a "finished" area for the treadmill and kids indoor games. DING DING DING! I think we have a winner!

Central air would be nice and come this august I'll be wanting it installed immediately. BUT, we do have air conditioning window boxes (ugly, inefficient, and loud--but they are effective and provide relief.) We get hot here but central air is used maybe 3 months out of the year here.

Hardwood floors in the living room and office would be gorgeous. It would "finish" that front part of the house. BUT, there are laminate floors in the living room now (which will mostly be covered by area rug anyway) and the only floor that is really desperate is my office. My office is still just plywood. But, I did stick a large area rug there and for now, it's fine. (The layout of the front portion of the house makes it so it would not make sense to put flooring down in the office without also putting it in the living room).

What I don't have is a place for my kids (mainly the very large boys that are continuing to grow) to play when it's lousy out like winter (which is several months here). When their friends come over it accentuates how small our house is, the volume level is brutal, and they trash the place. I would love for them to have a place they could go that was more in line with kids being kids. I'd also like to be able to use the very expensive treadmill we bought last year without it being 30 degrees in the dark garage. If we had heat and amenities in there, my daughter could play or watch some TV while I ran on the treadmill no matter the weather. I do take her on the jogger but it's kind of mean to go running in the rain or lousy weather. After all, it's my giant butt that's a problem, not hers.

So I've done a little research on converting the garage. It's not as simple as I thought--there are some things to consider (and it's gonna cost ya.) I've made some calls to try and pick contractors brains and get an idea of what it would cost if we hired the whole thing out. That's not going to happen, of course, but maybe they can do the stuff that we are clueless about and we can piecemeal the rest together on our own as money comes in.

So, you think it's a good idea to convert the garage instead of air conditioning or wood floors, right? Do me a favor and email Dave that you agree with me; he wants AC.

Even the Boys Got a Cool New Room

noreply@blogger.com (Claudine M. Jalajas) — Thu, 22 May 2008 14:50:00 +0000

One thing that was nice about this extension is that everyone got a new, bigger bedroom from the deal. (This whole thing started because we wanted--no, we NEEDED another bathroom). The boys went from sharing an 8 x 10 room (it can be done) to sharing a 12 x 13.5 foot room. Max's favorite color is green, Luc's is Orange. I wanted to make both of them happy but the room gets poor natural lighting, so I couldn't make it so dark. I made the room light blue with darker blue trim and then used their favorite colors in stripes above their beds, and randomly in their room.

Even though the room is much bigger, space still gets chewed up with two boys; one of which is a serious packrat.

In their old room, there was a built-in book case. When they demo'd the room the bookcase came out in a solid piece. It was just a large box, so I bought some trim molding and David fixed the book case to look like a nice piece of furniture. For about $3 in materials, the boys got the tall/strong book case that you see here:

Since boys don't have a lot of clothes that hang on hangers, I was able to stow both of their dressers in the closet. The two stripes together are my ridiculous attempt at symbolizing harmony between the boys. (You know, like a black and white cookie? Look to the cookie!)

Luc's favorite thing was that I painted their closet door and door in the darker blue.

He's still angling for his own room, but this will have to do. Besides, what he doesn't know is that it's not Max messing up his bulletin board....

Doing The Right Thing: Why Bother?

noreply@blogger.com (Claudine M. Jalajas) — Thu, 22 May 2008 02:02:00 +0000

For the first time in 3 years, ours is not the only house on the block undergoing some type of renovation/construction. As I took my son to preschool yesterday morning I noticed a house under major renovation. In the driveway was enough plywood and 2x4 lumber to stand at least 4 feet tall, a large dumpster, and porta potty. (I admit it, I'm jealous. I wish Bob & the gang used a porta potty instead of my house).

As I drove by I slowed down to see if I could figure out what they were doing. A large section of their roof was gone, old insulation covered the lawn, and it was clear they were adding a room over their garage. On the way back from dropping off Max, I regarded the house again and it occurred to me, "Wait a second, where are the permits?"

On Long Island, certainly our township, (not sure if this is the case across the country or not) you are required to get a permit for just about anything you want to do to your house. On the one hand, how incredibly annoying to ask for permission to do something to your own house. On the other, some people are clueless and might build an apartment building next to you--so it's there for our own protection.

Once you file for a petition, you must post large signs every 75 feet around your property listing the date/time of the hearing before the zoning board (so people can come and complain and say they don't think you deserve an extra bathroom in your house). In addition, you must mail a notice (which is HAND DELIVERED by the postman) letting everyone within 200 feet of your house about your plans.

I never saw a sign on their property. There was no notice mailed to me. There is no visible permit sign in their window. MY permit cost me a tremendous amount of money and grueling time delays. I remember our fear in INSULATING the extension before getting the inspection done for fear of jumping the gun (and subsequently having to deal with the grumpy inspector and beg him not to get too angry). Meanwhile my 2 year old has freakin' pneumonia and the house is maintaining a balmy 57 degrees.

Do I sound bitter? Do I?

Construction Debris Scavengers

noreply@blogger.com (Claudine M. Jalajas) — Sun, 18 May 2008 23:32:00 +0000

I have forgotten about construction debris scavengers, CDS, until I saw one memorable one out of my daughter's window tonight. She was out for her usual evening walk and I saw her eyeing some of my yard--knowing her style I watched her closely but she continued on her way.

A CDS trolls home renovation/construction sites looking for good scraps to take to their own home. We had an arrangement with Bob where he would leave us the good scraps of wood and other materials and the rest went into the trash. The construction trash needs to be kept separate from our regular household trash. (Trust me, I got a nice letter reminding me about of it from my town throughout the construction)

So at all times of day and night, you'll see people walk over or drive over with their trucks looking through the gold mine. When you're putting up a house, there's a lot of wood that is considered scrap but is perfectly great for other projects you have around the house. For example, I can't WAIT to see what Dave builds with the 20 foot long 2x10 pieces of lumber.

Anyway, one day I said to Dave, "that woman is taking our wood.." He went to the window and said as politely as possible, "Ma'am, that's not trash. We're keeping that." She said, "Well the guys working here told me I could take it." Dave laughed and said, "Well, they were wrong. It's mine." (Personally, I know she was lying.) She then said, "Do you want all of this? How about I just take these pieces?"

I'm not really sure why she figured we needed to negotiate on what things of OURS we wanted to keep. In the end, each day Dave would run to the scrap pile and pull out all the materials he wanted to keep and get it under lock and key. Because, apparently, even if it's in your fenced-in yard, it's fair game for the CDS.

Technorati Tags: construction scraps,scrap wood,scavengers,lumber

Pulling Furniture From the Trash and Making it Great

noreply@blogger.com (Claudine M. Jalajas) — Sun, 18 May 2008 15:04:00 +0000

I belong to a group on yahoo called "FreeCycle." The general theme of the group is to try and keep things from the landfills. It's pretty amazing how many things get posted--some really great stuff sometimes. The other night I happened to scroll through the list and saw someone was getting rid of a dresser. I needed one for my daughter's room so I emailed. As it turns out, she lived only a few blocks away from me.

I text messaged Dave and he got the dresser on his way home from work. (Actually, he came home, got my van, and went back--all at 10pm at night. He's a good guy).

The dresser had a few damaged areas that I filled with wood putty and then sanded down flat.

I wanted to paint the dresser white to match the rest of her furniture (also, all great deals). I used the color, "white dove" from Benjamin Moore--very pretty (and was featured in House Beautiful I'm told). For furniture you want to use a semi gloss finish. I also like to thin my paint (don't use water) with paint thinner. Water makes the paint dry faster--not what you're looking for with furniture. Paint thinner will allow the paint to dry slower which makes it smoother, and you'll see less brush marks. You can sometimes use a roller, but you need a great foam one. Most of the times, rollers show little dimples (think: orange peel) all over the piece.

I did prime the whole dresser first though. (it does have drawers, I just didn't have them in while painting and sanding) Now, if you have an old piece (which this one definitely is) it may have kind of a funky smell to it. It's in the wood. What you can do is use a 3parts water/ 1 part bleach combo and spray the inside of the dresser. Do it lightly. But the bleach/water combination will kill the smell.

I wasn't sure what to do with the handles so I have painted them to match the dresser. I may still do something interesting to them in the future but for now, I think the dresser looks pretty damned great. And, you cannot beat the price.

Technorati Tags: freecycle,painted furniture,refinish furniture,white dove paint,paint thinner

Installing Pre-finished Hardwood Floors

noreply@blogger.com (Claudine M. Jalajas) — Thu, 15 May 2008 14:42:00 +0000

I got the estimate from the floor guy. 4300 bucks. That adds up to around $13/square foot to install prefinished hardwood flooring in two rooms. Someone do me a favor and see if it says, "shmuck" on my forehead. That is an OUTRAGEOUS price.

I'd really like to install the prefinished hardwood because we can avoid the headaches of sanding and staining and varnish. No matter what they say; it freakin' stinks up the house, there's dust EVERYWHERE, and you can't put furniture on your floors for days. Last time we had our floors refinished we stayed in a local hotel for a few days and our kitchen floor is already showing a LOT of wear and it's only been 2 years. UGH.

I did a little web research today and found some good sites on installing wood floors. One in particular had a lot of information (but we're going to keep this from Dave. They say installing hardwood isn't easy. Pfft! Childbirth wasn't easy either and I did that 3 times!)

So I told Dave about how I wanted to go to night school and learn carpentry. Not to brag, but I DID earn an A in wood shop back in the 8th grade. (That was back when wood shop was still a class and 12 and 13 year olds handling giant saws weren't a big problem for people).

Dave likes the idea of getting one of those pneumatic nailers. He asked, "how much would we save if we did it ourselves."

"Thousands Dave."

"What?"

"Thousands. I can get the materials for about 12 to 1500 bucks." (If you do your shopping and really look, you can get the hardwood flooring sometimes as low as 2.50/square foot).

I think he's sold.

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Technorati Tags: prefinished hardwood floors,installing hardwood floors

Painting My Front Door

noreply@blogger.com (Claudine M. Jalajas) — Thu, 15 May 2008 02:33:00 +0000

Like I said, I really want a new door. This one is actually fine (I think) but I just would like a nicer one. It's a steel door by Stanley. If you have a steel or fiberglass door you can paint it anything you want. Fiberglass doors can even be painted to look like wood. (Wood is cool, but not nearly as efficient and doesn't have the life span of steel or fiberglass.) Dave thinks I want all evidence of the previous owners out of the house--there might be some truth to that. This is a picture of the front of the house last fall (hence, the scarecrow and it's not as big as it is now). It had a maroon door and shutters. I hated the shutters (they didn't serve any actual purpose) and every house in the neighborhood has gray siding and maroon doors/shutters. I HATE being like everyone else.

So when it came time for Bob to reside the house I told him to nix the shutters. I bought some paint from Benjamin Moore in town. That little paint shop is so happy they are on my walking route each day. Paint cans fit nicely in the basket of my stroller. I bought the color, dove blue. Or dove gray. Dove something.

We are definitely going to have to address the rotted out frame around the door. That's what happens when you have lousy gutters. I really never realized how important gutters were for a house. Not only do they move the water away from the foundation (well, supposed to) but they keep the water from dripping constantly down off the roof line down on to your porch and bouncing up onto the door frame. Last year we had the gutters positioned correctly. There was a big whole in one of the planks on the porch. It was from water continuously coming down and beating on the wood. As it turns out, it was also bouncing up and hitting the bottom of the door frame. Water is incredible.

My hope is that we can just replace the frame for now and save the current door. Anyway, the next few days are going to be wet so I took advantage of the warm dry weather and painted the door. I don't have a storm door on the front of my house, so that means the door needs to stay open when I'm painting it. I can't close it while it's wet either. So I hung some plastic sheeting. Three different people (USPS and then UPS were two of them) commented on my nice front door today. (Groan) Pictures below show plastic sheeting and door from the inside and one from the outside.

I did the first coat very early this morning. I sanded it down as best I could (the door is beat) and then wiped all the particles off. I put a second coat on a few hours later once it seemed to be dry to the touch and then took down my plastic sheeting so that it could get more air.

So here's the next problem. That little piece of tacky wood with the 30 on it (also previous owner's item) needs to go. I need to repaint that porch and guess what we're doing about that door handle? You guessed it, it's GOT to go! The front door makes a huge impression on your house. In fact, now that I look at this picture I'm wondering if that light fixture is all wrong. (Dave would kill me.. it took him forever to put that thing in there). Doesn't that door need some cool molding around it? I really need to hit the lottery.. a girl with this many ideas should have more spending money.

Technorati Tags: front door,steel door,fiberglass door,painting a front door,painting a steel door,front door makeover

Paint Cans

noreply@blogger.com (Claudine M. Jalajas) — Wed, 14 May 2008 13:43:00 +0000

I know you thought I was kidding about the paint cans. So here you go:

This is a corner of my office.

This is the entrance to my office.

This is a corner of my kitchen.

This is the mother-load of paint.

Why so much paint? Because every room in the house, other than our old bathroom, had to be painted. And I'm not even done yet.

Crap.

It's Not Done Yet: Annabelle's Room

noreply@blogger.com (Claudine M. Jalajas) — Tue, 13 May 2008 13:04:00 +0000

Annabelle's room isn't done but it's not bad either (and as you can see, she likes it). I made a few hasty errors that I now have to repair. I was going to put her bed in one direction and painted a letter "A" surrounded by flowers to go on top. Once I got the bed and dresser in there, I realized it wasn't going to work. So I'll need to sand that area down, paint over it with the leftover paint, and move the "A" to where her bed is now.

I would leave the "A" above the dresser but I have a large mirror that is supposed to go there--and her bed is needing some sprucing up.

The open items on her room (besides additional decorating) is finishing the ceiling paint. I had already painted the ceiling when Bob & the gang decided to do a repair near one of the light fixtures. So, that needs to be repainted.

In addition, I want to hang drapes from the archway in her room. That arch doesn't really do anything other than trick your eyes. The ceiling of the new portion of her room and the ceiling of the old portion did not line up by about 1/2 inch. (I know, I know, don't ask). So, the only solution was to either tray the ceiling (2k) or leave an arch (free). In a panic I called my girlfriend Vicky who assured me an archway would be cool (and she really does have great taste and is honest--so it's not like the time my mother said that the perm looked nice on me). So the idea is that one side of her room is sleeping, and the other side is play. Here they are making full use of the play area today.

I've had a few people ask me if the boy's have noticed that Annabelle's room is larger than theirs. I'm not sure it actually is--and I'm afraid to calculate the square footage. Right now I mostly hear how unfair it is that they share a room at all. Luc has asked several times if he can sleep in the garage. And, there are many times I'd very much like to oblige him.

Technorati Tags: painting,ceiling paint,archways,children's rooms,decorative painting

It's Not Done Yet: The Office

noreply@blogger.com (Claudine M. Jalajas) — Mon, 12 May 2008 13:31:00 +0000

When we did the extension, we were able to add a very needed office area for me to get work done and also make it a temporary guest room. Of the house, this room has the most egregious to-do list. Right now my office is a nicely painted shed with electricity.

First Things First

I need a floor and a door. There are some issues with the flooring. One, it is not level with the adjoining living room. Before you ask--I don't know why. Had I not been chasing Bob & the gang out the door with a brick, they may have had the time to explain or offer to fix it. I had a floor guy come in on Friday to give an estimate. They have to build up the office to meet up with the living room and the living room was never in line with the hall so that has to be built up too. (all I hear in my head is cha-ching, cha-ching, cha-ching). I really wish I could go to night school for carpentry. Actually, that's not a bad idea. I've always wanted one of those pneumatic nail guns...

Right now I have a very large area rug covering the plywood flooring. What you're seeing in this photo above is the laminate floor from the living room (and a few paint cans--we've decided to consider the large number of paint cans throughout our house objet d'art.)

Second, the living room floor is laminate that I want yanked out. (I'm not knocking laminate, it just doesn't match the hallway). Ideally, the oak floor will flow from the hallway, through the living room, through the office making the entire house nice and uniform. And, since we're now expecting new furniture for the living room soon, it's best to get that floor addressed before we start filling the room. The doors can't go into the opening until the floors are complete and to be honest, I'm a bit hesitant about putting french doors in for bit--my kids are a little nuts.

In an effort of humiliating myself into getting this room into shape I'm going to show you what a god-awful disaster it is.

I managed to get some frames today for the artwork I want on the walls (that's what you see leaning up against the foot of my desk). I need some shelving and found his old book case that I need to paint to make it look like something decent. What color will I paint the bookcase? I'll just pick up one of the many cans laying around and see who has the most still in it.

And there you have it! My office--the worst room in the house.

Patio, Phase 2

noreply@blogger.com (Claudine M. Jalajas) — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:22:00 +0000

Like I said, last spring after coming home from picking up my son Max at preschool, I fell down the stairs and broke my foot. It's not particularly cool to break your foot while falling down a flight of stairs. Honestly, you feel like kind of a dork. I've been walking down stairs for many years. The fall could have been worse because I was carrying my one year old daughter Annabelle at the time and she could have been hurt--but she wasn't.

Since we moved the wall back three feet from the original position, the concrete patio was now two levels. There was the dirt area that was a couple inches lower than the old concrete slab.

So, as I went to step from the last stair to the landing, I missed the old concrete portion and hit the dip in the ground. I rolled my foot and since I was holding my daughter, had no way to stop my fall. As I came down I clutched Annabelle like a football and put my other hand directly behind her head. I came down right on top of her--my finest ballerina moment.

Max had already run into the house and came back out saying, "Hey Mommy, wacha doin' down there?" I smiled and tried to remain calm (while my unhurt but very freaked out daughter screamed her head off) telling Max I fell but was fine. I actually broke it in several places and a year later, still have moments where it aches.

So, as soon as I could reach a phone I called around to find out what it was going to take to fix the patio. Here are more photos of additional patio and basketball area that needed to be repaired.

You can see the compromised retaining wall in this shot and how close it was to the Bilco doors for the basement. We also had them move this wall back a couple of feet too.

Enter the Irish Mason Billy. Billy was nuts but cheap, so he was hired. He probably would have made more money on the deal had he not done so much damage. He said he could remove all the old concrete, the old basketball court, the pile of rubble stored behind the garage from the FIRST wall that collapsed, and pour concrete (including fixing the extended retaining wall) for a VERY reasonable price. We said, "deal" and he may have lost his shirt because he hasn't return any of my phone calls since.

First Problem

Here are some photos of the guys doing the work. See how close that little backhoe is to our house? Well, as he pulled on a hot water tank they found buried in the ground with a chain, the chain snapped and came up and hit the frame by the kitchen window. I was so relieved it didn't come through the window that I let the damage slide.

Second Problem

There's something very frightening about seeing a fully loaded cement truck that close to your back door. Eleven yards of concrete is quite a load. In fact, it can shatter the sewer pipes going from your house to the cesspool. That one I was not willing to let slide. Seeing your washing machine back up into the bathtub will make you pretty angry--particularly after you've said, "you know, my cesspool is right there, are you sure he should have that truck there?"

Sparkling clean patio above, new basketball court below. Seriously, how lucky are my kids anyway? That Max better wind up being a star--do you know how much that boy of mine has cost me so far in his very short little life? The doctor says he's going to be tall (scary tall). Is it wrong to make him do drills every day and sleep with a basketball? I don't think so either.

We had our back steps changed too which I was really happy about. The previous ones were brick, there were two steps, and the top one was not wide. The kids would always come up right behind me when I would open the door and I was always worried someone would fall off the top stoop. Now it's one wide stoop. They poured concrete right over the brick and covered it with pavers. Makes for a much prettier back door, don't you think?

Third Problem

Just as Billy was getting ready to leave the job, he decided to grate the dirt a little more on our front yard with the bobcat. (Billy pretty much never left the seat of the Bobcat and barked orders at the workers he picked up on the corner who didn't speak a word of English.) Billy backed up, brought the bucket around, and chipped the brand new front stoop. At first he made light of it but there was no way to patch the concrete. We had the concrete dyed a sandy color and you can't just make a small bit of it (you'd have to dye an entire yard of cement). So, he offered to cover the front stoop with pavers to match the back door at cost. I jumped at the deal and I'm happy that I did.

Billy was fast, cheap, reckless and may have a drinking problem. But, I have to say that every time he screwed up he was quick to repair problems and didn't make me work for it.

It's Not Done Yet: Our Bedroom

noreply@blogger.com (Claudine M. Jalajas) — Sun, 11 May 2008 00:39:00 +0000

I had a friend recently ask me why I hadn't posted finished pictures of the extension work we had done this year. Well, I'll tell ya why... 'cause it ain't done yet. But, here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to show you all the things that aren't done in my room so far.

Here's our bedroom. I'm really happy with the room's colors, the layout, the private master bathroom that never smells like a boy's locker room, the fact that my children have not been able to break down the door because of the deadbolt I had installed, but mainly I'm pleased with how our bedroom floor came out. But, if it were not for the Roomba we have, I would be cursing it. The dark floors are gorgeous and make quite an impact, but they show every single infinitesimal spec on the floor. Like I said, thank god for Roomba because I pretty much have to vacuum every day.

Now, here's why my room isn't done. See those boxes of flooring attempted to be hidden in my husband's closet? They still need to be laid in the closet, TV area, and linen closet. After that, we can nail in the trim that goes around the room. In addition, the cheap bastard in me really wants to know if there is leftover flooring that I can return to Ikea. Each of those boxes (there are 3 in there) are about 50 bucks a piece. Hey, money's money and Momma wants to anchor her bed with a gorgeous area rug. (You learn these things when you constantly watch HGTV decorator shows.)

This area below was once the boys built-in closet. I don't know if you remember or not, but the original room was theirs first. We removed the built-in, (were able to save it and it's in their new room) and left it as an inset area for the TV and components. We plan to put more shelves and maybe some doors halfway down, but for now it looks like this:

Extreme close up! Notice that there is no flooring in that area too?

You would think that this kind of badgering would make my husband want to finish it, but alas, all he's thinking is "when is this woman going to leave me alone already?" I swear, this is the last floor he has to do!