Three Dogs At Home

What is going on at the Dog House?

2012-02-02T10:04:00.001-08:00

Hello everyone. Since my posts have been far and few between this month I thought I would let you in on what is keeping me off of the internet.

I am stripping this cute little table for my daughter. I am trying out a new stripper and hopefully I will be posting about that next week.

Since I am working on improving my photography skills I am taking lots of pictures of the cat. She is a much better model that the dogs. They just want to like the camera which makes taking even bad pictures difficult.

My house turning into a toxic waste site and the EPA demanded that I started a clean up so I am doing some deep cleaning.

While I was at it I cleaned out my spice cabinet.

I have been trying to take pictures of myself a few times a week so that I can link up to The Pleated Poppy’s What I Wore Wednesday. So far I have been unsuccessful at this. All my pics come out blurry and even I can’t tell what I was wearing. Any and all hints on how to do this would be greatly appreciated.

And my most time consuming project is upgrading this site. Joining Pinterest, starting a Facebook page, creating a new banner and graphics for this blog. Between technical problems and not really knowing what I want it to look like.

So there it is in a nut shell. I am hoping to get back to a regular posting schedule next week.

But today I want to leave you with one last picture.

While cleaning out the frig I dropped a whole carton of blue berries. But never fear Zoey rushed into help. What would I do without my three dogs.

Thanks for reading,

Traci

The Pants Project

2012-01-30T15:27:00.001-08:00

It all started a few weeks ago when I spied a very nice pair of Liz Claiborne jeans. They have beautiful embroidery that I just fell in love with.

I bought them for $3 at my favorite Goodwill store and took them home.

Now I have a “thing “ about wearing thrift shore clothes before they are washed, which is not going to happen so I buy anything I like and bring them home to try on. Then I rush to the shower and wash off anything that might have been using the pants as transportation to it’s next home.

Our Goodwill locations gives you 7 days to return any purchase. If the item fits I run to the laundry room to immediately sanitize my new find. If the item doesn’t work it goes directly back into the bag. While I am not totally freaked out by purchasing thrift clothes, I do it all the time, I take precautions against any unseen critters invading my closet.

So now you know how much I paid for the pants, how nice they are, and that they have been completely sanitized, I bet you are asking your self, “What is she prattling on about?”

Well the pants didn’t fit and in that moment when I realized they were not going to slide over my ample hips I felt defeated. And so the Pants Project was born.

Each Sunday I will try on this pair of Liz Claiborne jeans and see how they fit.

WHY? you ask. Well I have lost 11 lbs. thanks to Weight Watchers and I am ready to shed 11 more so I have decided to up my game and give myself a little extra motivation.

No, I have not lost my mind.

Yes, I am actually going to post pictures of myself trying on a pair to jeans that are too small for me.

And Yes, you can join me in this project if you want. Just let me know how you are doing by posting a comment.

Here goes nothing.

Thanks for reading,

Traci

I will be linking up at these parties.

Met Monday at Between Naps on the Porch
What I wore Weds at The Pleated Poppy

New Resolutions for the New Year

2012-01-07T10:46:00.000-08:00

It is only the 7th day of the new year and I am already behind. But I would not have it any other way since the reason I am tardy with resolutions was a visit from my daughter and in-laws. My daughter had to work and was not able to come home until the 2nd and so we had an extended holiday.

Everyone has gone home so I am playing catch up.
And the first thing I need to catch up on is putting my resolutions in writing. I don’t usually think of them as things I have to do but as goals I want to accomplish.
Goals for 2012
1. Continue to improve my photography by reading articles and experimenting.
2. Take solitaire off of my computer, what a time sucker.
3. Add two new features to my blog (more on that to come).
4. Get my dogs to go out to do their business at 10 pm instead of 10:30. Hopefully that will result in my getting to bed earlier.
5. Try to get myself on a schedule for writing posts.
6. Try a new recipe once a week. This will be a real challenge since I hate cooking.
I know it is a crazy eclectic list of goals but they are all do able small changes that will improve my life.
Thanks for reading,
Traci

A Unique Link Party

2012-01-05T21:55:00.000-08:00

I just ran across a blog with a very unique linky party idea. And while I love it when blogger take an idea and make it their own it is great to see an original idea. Or what is at least one I have not seen before.

And this party is one I couldn't wait to link up to. I really would like to have a critique of my blog and my writing but I am afraid all of my wonderful followers (yes, that means you) are too nice to leave anything but positive comments. Don't get me wrong, I have no desire to read snarky comments I just want some objective critism so that I can improve my blog. If you are looking for some feedback check it out.

Thanks for reading,

Sale Anxieties

2011-12-31T17:29:00.000-08:00

I am far to familiar with the anxiety that comes with putting up a “For Sale” in my yard. Even though it has been more than 6 years since I have had to sell a home the memories are or should I say, the trauma is still with me.

All the questions that come to you in the middle of the night. Have we set the price right? Did we pick the right real estate agent? Will anyone want to buy our house? Do we need to replace the mail box before the open house?
But who knew I would be so riddled with anxiety upon hearing that our neighbors were moving and they are selling their house. Not just any neighbors, our next door neighbors. The neighbors we share a fence with. The house that is less than 40 feet from my kitchen. Just typing this is causing my anxiety to increase.

But at least we are not faced with this sign, our former neighbors are being transferred. Thank goodness the house is not in foreclosure. Still we are worried. And now we are faced with a whole new set of questions in the middle of the night. How long will the house be on the market, how long will it be empty? Will the yard and pool be maintained after they move out? Who will be our new neighbors in the house 40 feet from my kitchen? Will they like us? Will they like our dogs?

Hopefully it will not be too long before we are looking at a SOLD sign next door and our questions are answered. So until the next post about the sale of the home neighboring ours I will leave you with this sign to lighten your day.

And the question, what is a used cow?
Thanks for reading and Happy New Year,
Traci

My Favorite Project of 2011

2011-12-27T23:53:00.000-08:00

Hands down my favorite project of this year was our powder room makeover. It was so old and outdated that it would have been hard to not to improve on the look of this room.

Fortunately, it came out MUCH better and I am thrilled with it.

Except for the long hunt for a decent light fixture, working on this room was just so much fun. That may have something to do with the small size of the room, gratification was almost instant with all the small steps.

I painted the room an amzzing green color I wanted to use in the dining room but I didn't have the guts to step out of my comfort zone in such a large room. Now I wish I would have painted both rooms with this fresh shade of green.

The biggest change was removing the 1970's wall tile and replacing it with timeless and classic beadboard. Now I want to use beadboard on the kitchen island makeover that I am planning for next year.

No one loves a bargain more than I do so it should be no big surprise that I was thrilled with the deal I got on the fabric for the window valance in this room. How does $2 a yard sound? It sounded great to me so I bought the last 8 yards they had. Originally I had planned on using this fabric only in the dining room but I decided to coordinate the two rooms by using the same fabric in each room. (The dining room panels will have to wait until the new year.)

You can see why I am thrilled with this makeover.

If you want to see how the room evolved check out these posts: Installing the beadboard, Getting a Handle on Your Toilet, The Hunt For Lighting, Demo Surprises, The Finished Powder Room, The Reveal.

I will be sharing over at Home Stories A to Z - My Favorite Project of 2011
Southern Hospitality - Top Projects of 2011

Thanks for reading,

When Dog Meets Decor

2011-12-20T13:45:00.001-08:00

One of the challenges of having pets is teaching them about things that they are not allowed to do. Unlike “most” humans it takes pets a while to understand the things that we do not want them to do.

For instance, my dogs are not allowed in the dining room. It took some time to train them that the dining room is off limits but once they learned they don’t enter the room.   One of things that makes it easy for the dogs is that the dining room is always there. Unlike our holiday decorations we don’t bring out the dining room two or three times a year and expect the pets to remember the rules.

From http://ipkitten.blogspot.com
So think about reminding your pets about the rules concerning your holiday decorations.   And if your pet is having trouble not hiding under the tree or playing with the garland don’t place your favorite ornaments near these tempting places until they know it is off limits.

From veterinarianpalmharbor.com
If you are a regular reader of "Three Dogs At Home" you may notice that these misbehaving pets don't belong to me.  My girls understand the Christmas Decor Rules very well and I was not going to confuse them by trying to get them to misbehave so I could get a picture. It may seem cute when our pets do something like play with the tree lights but consistancy is key to teaching your pets how to behave during the holidays.

One of the daily email that I receive is The Daily Dog Tip from Dogster.com and I thought that you might enjoy these dog tips as well. Today’s tip is about how to protect your tree from a new dog and since it fit into todays post I thought I would pass it along.
Thanks for reading,
Traci

TODAY´S TIP: DOGS AROUND THE HOUSE | December 20, 2011
Protect Your Christmas Tree from Your Pup
by Helen Fazio, Travel Dog Blogger, www.traveldogbooks.com

If this is your dog's first Christmas in your home, consider how tempting a holiday tree is. To your furry friend, it looks as if you got an indoor potty just for him. What a great gift!
We're sure that letting your new pup lift his leg on the tree isn't part of your plan, so protect this lovely symbol of the season with a ring of large decorative boxes, a mini picket fence, or other aesthetic barricade so nobody gets the wrong idea and nobody else gets mad.
Helen Fazio and her dog, Raja, are world travelers. Visit their blog and follow them on Twitter.

Silver and Green Holiday Table Vignette

2011-12-20T13:10:00.000-08:00

When I posted this year’s mantle (check it out here) I also included this picture of the beautiful stuff I was hoping to turn into a new vignette for my dining room table. I find it very challenging to create a new vignette from the ground up or should I say table up.

But I was inspired by all the vintage ornaments that I have been collecting over that past two years. I am fairly sure that clerk at the Goodwill thought I was nuts. I was so thrilled to find these ornaments that were faded silver and had rusted hangers.

My first idea was to hang some of these well aged ornaments from my dining room chandler.

I picked some translucent brown ribbon and went to town hanging these beauties. This picture reminded me that my little shades need to go back on this bulbs.

Then I added two of my favorite thrifted silver items. I was thinking of placing a small cedar tree in the wine cooler but when I discovered a bottle of champagne in the bar frig I decided to go with the expected.
I used some artificial greenery and filled in with silver berries and crystal covered twigs.

After a really fun trip to Michael’s for ribbon, I started to pull my design together. I loved the look of this antique silver sparkling ribbon but it was horrid to work with. By the time I was done making a single bow I have glitter everywhere. On the table, the chairs, the floor, my clothes, in my hair and on my nose. Even Bella had a few sparkles on her fur.

I added this little bird that my husband bought me while we were at the coast a few weeks ago. Isn’t she cute!

I used more of my small silver ornaments as “ice cubes” in the wine cooler. And a few or my larger ornaments in a silver edged bowl that was a wedding present.

After I got the ribbon and greenery in place I decided to change out the silver goblets for two of my crystal champagne flutes. I was thrilled with the additional sparkle and for a little extra sparkle I placed a bit of crystal beaded garland into each glass.

Here is the final product. It took me forever to clean up the glitter but I love my new vignette.

It was fun to make something totally new. Thank you to all of you who featured you beautiful vignettes that inspired me.

I hope all of you are enjoying the holiday season.
Thanks for reading,
Traci

I am linking up at:

Mod Vintage Life

My Christmas Present

2011-12-12T21:26:00.000-08:00

I am so thrilled to already have my Christmas gift. It was ready a week ago and I just did not see any reason to put it in a box when I could be wearing it.

This ring has been in my family for since the 1920's and it has a fairly interesting story behind it that I thought you might enjoy reading.

In the early 1920's my father's favorite uncle, Joe had loaned his brother some money, there is some disagreement amoung family members on exactly how much money was involved but I heard the story straight from my Grandmother and she thought it was $100.

Now my father's favorite uncle was married to his favorite aunt, my great aunt Sophie. By all accounts Sophie was a woman far ahead of the times. Unfortunately I never met either Uncle Joe or Aunt Sophie. Sophie was my grandmother's oldest sister and she was old enough to be her mother. Unfortunately she died before I was born but apparently she was a confident, well spoken woman who was not afraid to take matters into her own hands while still maintaining the respect and love of her family. When I need strength I try to channel my inner Aunti Sophie.

But back to the story of the ring. Some time had passed sine Uncle Joe had made the loan to his brother and there had been no attempt to repay the debt. This didn't set well with Aunt Sophie and it was at a party given by Uncle Joe's brother and sister-in-law where she decided to make sure loan was repaid.

According to the story the party was quite lavish and this upset Aunt Sophie, since there had been no effort to repay the loan between the brothers.. Now it is at this point where the story becomes fuzzy but in my version I imagine Aunt Sophie passing through her sister-in-law's bedroom after using the powder room when her gaze happened upon a beautiful ring on the dressing table. And when she exited the room the ring was in her pocket. After all the loan should have had collateral all a long.

According to tale the brothers called the loan paid and the incident was never mentioned again. At her death Aunt Sophie passed the ring on to my grandmother. My grandma missed her sister and wore the ring for the rest of her life. Just before her death my grandmother gave me the ring and told me to keep it always..

The ring was very worn, damaged and not really my style at that time, so I had the center stone removed and reset about 15 years ago. It was at that time that I learned that the diamond dated back to the turn of the century and was cut in a style called a "miner's cut" which is no longer used giving it a very intense sparkle.

Due to the pain in my hands I have not been able to wear my wedding set with Aunt Sophie's diamond for a few years now. So this year I decided to have the diamond reset and I dug around in my jewery box for the setting to take to the jewerlers. I thought I would have all the little diamonds removed and reset along with the center stone. I slipped the setting on and of course I fell in love with it.but I had been told years ago that it could not be repaired. Sadly I figured I might as well sell the gold to help pay for the new setting and I set out for the jewlers.

So imagine my surprise when the jewler told me the ring was made of platinum and could be repaired using a lazer. My 20th century ring met up with a 21st century technology and this is the result.

As for me I couldn't be happier.

I will be linking up at

Mod Vintage Life - Mod Mix Monday

Thanks for reading,

I Know Someone on Santa's Naughty List

2011-12-12T08:46:00.000-08:00

Did you notice that I have not been a very active blog participant this weekend?

That is because I have caught another of these viscious computer viruses. Who are these mean spirited hackers that create inocent looking warnings that are only meant to scare you into buying a program that will fix all the problems and most likely steal your credit card number.

I got rid of the virus by my self with the help of a very savy blogger.
I had the Win 7 virus which leaves you in a no man's land. No internet. No email. Only the "warning" that my computer was under attack.

Parts of my computer are up and running (walking slowly is more like it) but I still have no access to mt email.

I hope these hackers get something special in their Christmas Stockings, like maybe a visit from the police, a lump of coal is not bad enough for these naught guys.

Thanks for reading,

A More Simple Christmas Mantle

2011-12-06T13:24:00.001-08:00

This Christmas I wanted a more simple mantle for the holiday.
So I skipped the ribbon and ornaments that usually grace my mantle and instead I used really greenery to fill out my artificial garland.

Here is the greenery I picked up for free, more on that later.

First I cut down my greenery into small manageable pieces.
And then I tucked them into the garland filling it out.

I just love decorating the hearth on my rather large brick fireplace. This year a large Santa keeps watch over the decorations.

See how plump the garland looks after the clippings were added. And now I have the added bonus of the real pine smell in all my rooms.

So now that the mantle is done I have to figure out how to turn all of this into a table vignette for my dining room. Please wish me luck.

Thanks for reading,
Traci

I will be linking up to these wonderful parties:
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
From My Front Porch To Yours
Home Stories A to Z - Christmas Mantle Link Up

Help! I Need Your Advice

2011-11-26T22:30:00.001-08:00

It was one of my goals for this year to redo and sell a few pieces of furniture. I have no more room in my own house but I want to continue to enjoy rehabilitating furniture and accessories.

And now that the opportunity has presented itself I have no idea about how to charge for my time or my finished projects.

So I thought I would ask all of you here in the bloggosphere.

A few months ago I ended up bringing a little dining table home from my daughter’s in San Diego. I gave it a little face lift by painting the base a bright white and I continued the makeover by painting the top with black chalkboard paint.

After way too much thought I listed the table on Craig’s List. That lead to a request for me to paint a child’s desk top in chalkboard paint. I am thrilled, after all this is what I wanted but I have really tough time putting a value on my work.

So I am hoping those of you who sell your work and those of you who buy the work of others could give me some much needed advice right away. Specifically, 1) what price do you think I should set for the table and 2) how do you set a price on your work. I can only put this lady off for so long so please hurry. I can’t wait to read your comments.

Thanks,

Traci

2011-11-20T23:28:00.000-08:00

I want to thank all of you who left comments or sent me messages after the death of my father. All of your kind words were much needed and very appreciated.

I accidentally published a post I was working on but other than that I have not felt like posting until now. It is time to get back to my routines so hopefully I will be posting on Monday.

Thank you again for all your kind words,

Thinking Outside the Box or In this Case the Floorplan

2011-11-12T23:14:00.001-08:00

Quite awhile ago I shared a picture of my then 20 year old son’s bedroom before I went in to clean it out. He has sooo much packed into the smallest room in the house and that got me to thinking recently. And that thinking lead to rearranging a third of the house, all while we were working on the wood flooring. But once I got the idea I wanted it done yesterday.

So here is what we did. We took the living room furniture and moved it to the office.

Then we moved my son’s furniture and belongings to the living room. While most living rooms would not work as a bedroom ours is separated from the rest of the house by pocket doors leaving only an opening from the bar area into the living room open. More on that later.

The final move involved putting all my sewing, painting, and craft supplies into my son’s old room. Please believe when I write that it no longer looks this bad.

This gives my son more room and privacy, moves him to the other side of the house giving us more privacy, and I ended up with a room all to myself. Everybody is happy!

So I have been working on a few elements of the room that I wanted to share. I have been very inspired by Susan’s new office over at BNOTP. But I have a slightly smaller budget. Actually it is so small that there is no budget and I always find that challenge exciting.

This is definately a room that calls out to be functional. But I want it to look as uncluttered as possible so first up was a way to hide unfinished projects. Luckily for me my daughter no longer had a use for three bifold door panels that I had replaced when we moved in so I put those babies to work. Right after I painted them

There is no need to adjust your monitor they really were that bright. And since this is a no budget job I used all of these partial cans of spray paint to cover up all that green.

I did end up buying a new trigger for spray paint cans and two cans of vanilla colored spray paint but that is more like a weekly expense for me so I am not counting. If you don’t have a trigger for spray paint you need to drop everything and rush out to get one right now. The trigger makes it soooo much easier.

Up next is repurposing a $30 table to give me some work space for all my crafts and supplies.

Thanks so much for reading,

Traci

Farewell To My Father

2011-11-03T00:21:00.000-07:00

I featured my dad in a few posts last summer and so somehow it seems appropriate to write a post his passing.
My dad collapsed while getting ready for bed last week my stepmother called 911 and they were able to revive my dad but not before irreversable damage was done to his heart and brain. My husband and I arrived on Friday and I spent almost every moment of the next two days with my dad. On the second day he was able to open his eyes periodically and look at us but he did not seem to know who we were. He was not even able to follow the most simple request to blink his eyes. His heart was so damaged it was not capable of pumping enough blood to keep his organs going. He probably did not understand this and that may have been for the best because not being able to take care of himself was his worst fear, and he never wanted to be bed bound.
He had requested many times during the last ten years that if he could not be himself he wished not live.
So the doctors ran tests and used drugs to try to minimize the damage to his heart and brain but unfortuntaley they were unsuccessful. My stepmother and I decided that in order to follow my father's wishes we had the all of the 13 drugs and the ventilator and breathing tube removed. He was started on morphine for comfort.
I had no idea if my dad was able to understand me but I had told him when I arrived that I would make sure that his wishes were followed. After I had informed the rest of our family of our decision I had a few moments alone with my dad. And as I explained what was going to happen I started crying. My dad looked at me and his eyes filled with tears. Some part of his brain was upset that I was crying.
We all said your goodbyes most of the family left the hospital. My step mother did not want to stay but my step sister and niece stayed and kept vigil with me,
I was there with my father to wipe his brow and put moisturizer on his lips. I wanted his passing to be as quick and painless as possible. Without the support from the drugs his damaged kidneys stopped making urine and his blood pressure dropped downed to dangerous levels. It took about 4 hours for before his body could no longer survive and he sliped quietly away.
.

Here he is seated in his favorite patio chair looking like he is barely tollorating the attendion of having his picture taken.

It is unbelievable to me how sad I am and how much needs to be done. While I have been home for a few days I am returning to see my dad's ashs interred.

Thanks for reading,

Best of the Web on Be@Home

2011-10-19T20:33:00.001-07:00

Today I am being featured on “Best of the Web” at a wonderful site called Be @ Home. A few weeks ago I was approached one of the bloggers from Be @ Home who wanted to feature my little blog. Of course I was thrilled, who doesn’t love it when someone likes and appreciate our work?

So I was off to check out this site. It is one of a collection of sites focusing on home décor, beauty, pets, green living and style just to mention a few. And I loved it. I have been back more than a few times to check out their sites.

I would love it if you would pop over to see my feature and check out all the wonderful info available on this site.

Here is the link:

http://pocketchange.become.com/2011/10/best-of-the-web-be-home-45.html

Thanks for reading,

Traci

From Bla to Aah! My Powder Room is Finally Done!

2011-10-17T22:31:00.000-07:00

The before pictures of my guest bathroom show how bla this room really was. It got a mini makeover about a year ago and you can see that here but it needed so much more.

My photography skills have come a long way since this pictures were taken, but the bathroom has come even farther.

Here is the view from the hallway. We went from classic 1980’s yuck to a timeless and traditional beauty. I am so happy with this room remodel I smile each time I pass by it. It was absolutely worth the six months that we spent working on it.

While this space is fairly big for a powder room it is still very difficult to take pictures in here. So let’s take a closer look shall we. This is the view from just inside the door, which happens to be about the only thing we did not replace.

And on to the view to the left of the toilet. This shade of green is exactly the wall color that I had in my mind and it is fabulous to see how it sets off the red in here. And yes that is my toilet tissue you see folded neatly into a triangle. I do it for every party we have.

My husband and I had a bit of a disagreement on the style of the mirror for this room. I was leaning toward a more curvy mirror but I had to admit that he was right about choosing this dark wood framed mirror.
Since comments on the post picking out a toilet agreed with him he is all up in my business about decorating choices. Don’t tell him but I am loving it.

I love this silly pig with wings and hopefully he will give our guests a giggle.

And just in case you have blocked out how sad my bathroom looked at the beginning of this project here are the before and after photos side by side.

We have come a long way baby!
Thanks for reading,
Traci

I will be linking up to the following parties:
Metamorphosis Monday
Power of Paint at Domestically Speaking

Fall Is Finally Here!

2011-10-12T05:00:00.000-07:00

I can’t tell you all how happy I am that Fall is finally here.
I love everything about the Fall season. The colors, the smells, the cool crisp air and even the weather. So why am I not posting fall themed posts like crazy? Because life has been a bit crazy here at the dog house.
If you are a regular reader you might remember that Zoey has injured herself. She has managed to rupture her ACL and that has made her luxating Patella much worse. We have had a second opinion and are now trying to schedule the surgery. So I am spending a lot of my time carrying her around and helping her up and down from the bed and couch.

Last year I created a table scape for Thanksgiving and I was very proud of it but I never got the chance to share it.
I started out with a table cloth that I shrunk the year before. Since it no longer fit my table I cut it down to the size of a table runner.

Iron on seam tape was the next step finishing all the raw edges.

Here it is on my dining room table the night before Thanksgiving.

Then came the gathering of all things autumn. Since I love fall there was no shortage of items to choose from.

I started with my white spray painted chickens. If you want to check out how I painted my chickens just click here.
Then came a large candle in a glass holder. The candle was followed by a few of my ceramic pumpkins, I buy one each year and I am still looking for this years pumpkin.
Small candles, a few real mini pumpkins and some autumn colored beaded garland rounded out the arrangement and I was ready for dinner.
Thanks for reading,
Traci

Parties I am linking up to:

Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage
http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/

Is there ever a good time to be sick

2011-09-29T14:49:00.000-07:00

There is never a good time for virus whether it is you or your computer. But this time its my laptop that is under the weather.

So I will be MIA until my computer is better.

Thanks for reading,

Our Weekly trip to Lowe’s

2011-09-24T13:04:00.001-07:00

My husband and I can’t seem to get through the weekend with out going to Lowe’s or Home Depot and this weekend was no different.
But when we pulled up to Lowe’s these amazing boys were selling popcorn for their Wolf Cubs pack. Their fund raiser started today and I got their last box of low butter popcorn. Since I am working on losing weight I passed on the Triple Chocolate Chunk popcorn but it sure did look good.

I just love buying things from kids and helping the organizations that provide activities for them.
So if you see your local Wolf Pack out selling popcorn think about throwing a little business their way. And if you try the chocolate popcorn let me know how it is.
Thanks for reading,
Traci

Get A Handle On Your Toilet

2011-09-23T22:14:00.001-07:00

If you are a regular reader you know that we bought this new and rather expensive toilet for the redo in our half bath.

You would think that a $330 toilet would come with a decent handle. Instead it came with an ugly plastic feeling handle. Yuck! So I have to change it right now.

This should be easy but the directions read like they were translated from an other language by a computer, they made no sense what so ever.

The inside of our new toilet is a bit different but it is basically the same idea that toilets have used for years. I don’t actually know how many years, I think I looked inside my first toilet when I was in my teens.

The handle causes the valve between the tank and the bowl to open and the toilet flushes. When the tank is empty a float goes down and releases water into the tank. As the water fills the tank it moves the float up and the water is shut off. The handle is attached to the arm which is attached to the valve by a chain.
Now that you know more than you probably ever wanted to know about how a toilet works lets change the handle.
Start by unattaching (is that a word?) the chain from the valve. It is small clip.
Next unscrew the large nut on the inside of the tank. It is the white round piece in this pic.

Then simply maneuver the handle and arm out of the tank.

Now put the new handle in the same way and tighten the new nut on the inside of the tank and attach the chain to the arm. The handle should be in the position you want it when it is not flushing and the valve should be closed and the chain should have no slack in it.
If your toilet is constantly running it most likely is because the valve is open. The chain may be too tight not letting the valve seal, something is not letting the valve sit in the seal or your valve has gone bad. Toilet bowl cleaners are notorious for dissolving the plastic valves.
You may have to adjust the arm so that it doesn’t rub against the tank wall or the valve. If your handle has an adjustment for this it is on the arm where it connects to the handle. Just loosen the wing nut and move the arm and then re-tighten it.

If there is no adjustment nut just bend the arm a bit until it is not touching,

Flush it to make sure it works and put the lid on and admire your new found talent. Then go directly to the mall and buy yourself something stunning with that arm and a leg the plumber would have charged.

Thanks for reading,
Traci

Spray paint Guest Post

2011-09-22T23:05:00.001-07:00

I was thrilled to be asked to guest post by Tiffany at Living Savvy. Every Wednesday she has a post for all of us spray paint addicts.

I hope I am not breaking any unwritten blogging rule but I wanted to share the post for any of you who did not make it over to Living Savvy.

So here is my guest post as it was published.

Hello, my name is Traci, and I am a spray paint addict! Admitting you have a problem is the first step toward a beautiful home.

When we moved into our current home 6 years ago we had a ton of updating to do and the first thing on my hit list were all the brass fixtures. They were everywhere. So what is a girl to do? Break out the spray paint of course.

After moving into the house we changed all the exterior door hardware. We choose an Oil Rubbed Bronze finish. Now I don’t know about all of you but I have a thing about all my metal finishes matching. I had 15 interior doors. It would have cost me a fortune to replace them all.

But I didn’t have to because I knew I could paint them. Six years ago the paint companies had not jumped on the ORB band wagon yet so I had to create my own from a can of black, a can of brown and a can of copper spray paint. It was fun but time consuming, so now I usually use the one can method now.

The question I get most frequently is “do your painted door knobs last?”

And the answer is that they wear very well if you paint them correctly. The are not indestructible but they hold up very well.

This is one of the few knobs I have not painted and is still sporting its original finish. The brass coating is scratched in a few places and it simply looks worn.

Here is one of the first knobs that I painted and it has no scratches or any other flaws in its finish after 5 years of frequent use.

If you pay for brand new door hardware you expect the finish will last at least 5 years. So let me show you one of the ORB lock sets that we purchased. It started out looking like this.

And after 6 years this is what they look like. Disappointing isn’t it. And just one more reason to paint your own because now I have to paint this one too.

Here is the one of the door knobs in my laundry room. I use this knob to hang up laundry as it comes out of the drier and in the last 5 years all those hangers, some of them are wire, have only caused one scratch. And I can touch it up.

So what is my secret you ask? It is my six steps to long wearing painted knobs.

1. Proper prep-First wash the knob really well to remove any grease, oils and dirt left from all the hands that touch it. Let it dry well, water will ruin your paint job.

2. Sand lightly. You are just dulling the shiny surface. I use a fine sanding pad that is less than a 1/2 inch thick.

3. Prime-Use a primer for clean metal. I like Kyrlon. Let the primer dry thoroughly. Because it is so hot here I usually leave primed metals in the sun for a few hours. You just have to remember to let it cool off before painting.

4. It is finally time for the paint of your choice. Use several really light coats. Because the knob is round you can’t get all of the knob in one pass. It may take up to 10 different coats because each coat will not cover the entire knob. May sure you have covered all of the primer. I poke my knobs into a piece of Styrofoam so I can get all the angles.

5. Finish with a clear coat, either satin or gloss. This is like the clear polish over your colored nail polish, the clear coat gets the wear leaving the color looking great.

6. Let the paint cure. Even when paint feels dry it still needs to cure before it is completely solid. Uncured paint is still soft and easily damaged.

I put this knob back up the day that I painted it. That might have been okay if this knob was not where I hang my purse. I tried to remember to hang my purse on a different hook but old habits are hard to break. You can see where I moved the still soft paint with my purse handle.

Painting your door knobs opens up one more place to express your creativity. While I have not seen one yet I doubt turquois door knobs are far off. Let me if you decide to go bold and paint your knobs a bright color.

Happy Spray Painting,

Traci

Beadboard In The Bath

2011-09-18T23:21:00.001-07:00

The last time we visited my half bath it looked like this:

Simply put it was a mess. But that all changed when the wood floors were laid and the walls were painted.

Now it is starting to look like the room I am envisioning. And we are over the moon happy with the wood flooring.
Now it is on to the fun stuff. Beadboard!

I was so excited about getting started on the beadboard I forgot to take a picture of the product we used and I could not find it on the Lowe’s website. In this case a picture would be worth a hundred words but I will try to keep my description short and sweet.
The beadboard product was made of MDF, it was primed, and they were tongue and grove. They came in two different sizes, three feet and eight feet. Of course we needed 4 feet lengths to cover up all that nasty sheet rock so we purchased the 8 ft lengths and cut them to fit.
I painted them in the kitchen and had them spread out every where. I think I do more painting than cooking in my kitchen but that makes sense since I like to paint much more than I like to cook.

When they were finally dry enough to install we started with the trickiest piece. And by we I mean my husband. I did help to mark the location of the pipes by covering the edges of the pipes with pink chalk and then my husband simply pressed the first board up against the pipes marking the places to drill holes for the pipes to fit through.
We used panel adhesive and then tacked the boards in place with the pneumatic brad nailer.

After that we added the base boards, quarter rounds and the chair railing. All that was left to do was to use a ton of caulking to fill in all the cracks between the moldings and the beadboard.

Caulking will cover up a multitude of imperfections. I should know because I used most of three tubes of caulking and wore off the nail on my index finger smoothing it all out. But you will never know any of those gaps were ever there.

This went so fast and it made such a difference in the look and feel of the bathroom I can’t wait to use beadboard in the kitchen.
My next post will be all about those expensive fixtures and how I should never have doubted my husband.
Thanks for reading,
Traci

Heat Stroke And A Bright Idea!

2011-09-17T10:15:00.000-07:00

As we start to put the guest bathroom back together we discovered that this cute little cabinet was not going to work in the new space. We had two new problems, or shall we say challenges.
First is that the new and somewhat costly toilet is longer than our previous toilet. Second, the new beadboard, moldings and quarter rounds pushed the cabinet toward the center of the room. As a result the cute cabinet is way too close to the toilet. Making you feel like you will bang your head on the cabinet when you stand up.
This didn’t work for us. I shopped around for a littler cabinet or table and soon discovered that if I like it I couldn’t afford it.
But I still need some storage in this bathroom. So what is a girl to do? Why she cuts apart the old cabinet and makes a newer more appropriate one of course.
Well I didn’t actually cut the cabinet apart, I just took it apart. It was put together like furniture from IKEA and wasn’t to hard to take apart.

I separated the top from the bottom section. Then I removed the piece than was once in the middle. It was a very plain piece of wood that kept the top and bottom together.
Next I removed the top of the upper cabinet portion and placed it onto the lower portion of the cabinet.
Voila! The new resized cabinet fits right between the toilet and the pedestal sink.

All I had left to do was replace the shiny chrome knobs with something that would match the other metals in this bathroom.
It didn’t matter that it was currently 103 degrees, I needed new knobs and I needed them now. Suddenly the whole bathroom project hinged on replacing these knobs. Yes, I was probably suffering from a mild case of heat stroke.
But despite the heat I found the perfect knobs that repeated all the rectangular shapes in this room and a disaster was averted for the rock bottom price of $4.82.

Hopefully I can finish showing you this bathroom makeover this week.
Thanks for reading,
Traci

I am Guest Posting Over at Living Savvy!

2011-09-14T07:34:00.000-07:00

Today I am guest posting for one of my favorite new blogs, Living Savvy.

Each Wedsneday Tiffany from Living Savvy has a "meeting" for all of us who are addicted to spray paint. So please hop on over there and take a look.

And make sure to check out her personalize subway art.

Thanks for reading,