Weekend Plans

Greetings!! I know we haven't been updating much lately and for that I apologize. It seems like we're stuck in one spot on renovations (the house keeps fighting us) so I have not been motivated to take pictures and continue to update on our final trimming process. But, I need to move past this mental block so here we go!

This weekend we are going to:

1. Sand and repaint (again...) the infernal east wall of our bedroom. If paint peels again I might just tear the whole thing down...



Micheal is already working on this as I type. He likes to vacuum and sand at the same time as to avoid excess dust in the bedroom.

2. Go to home depot and buy a ceiling fan brace to be able to safely mount the ceiling fan here:


3. Mount said ceiling fan.

4. Re-sand the drawers to my desk because I don't like the white design I put on them...


5. Stain these two pieces of beautiful vintage white oak and turn them into floating shelves!


...and since it's doing this out:

We won't be outside playing so should have plenty of time to get stuff done!

Oh yeah - and the Jayhawks play tonight!! ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK!!

What we learned this weekend (late Tuesday edition)

We had a pretty busy weekend and learned a lot!

1. Parking in Adams Morgan on a Saturday night SUCKS!

2. The east wall of our bedroom is cold and doesn't like paint. The paint won't stick, it peels, it sweats, it's annoying.

3. If you take the trim off in your bathroom the steam will get into the door frame and mess up your paint on the other side of the wall.

4. When you pick jeans to be your "paint pants" you're likely going to pick ones you don't ever wear...don't pick ones you don't wear because they're just a tad too small. After climbing and painting you need comfortable jeans!

5. When it comes to paint and trimming, we're tape people. If we ever stray from this path again please PLEASE remind us to use tape.

6. Evidently the previous owners of this house didn't value their privacy. It is likely they NEVER closed their bathroom door. So says the door hinges that were installed backwards!!

7. I cannot bake and be involved in a KU game at the same time. The cookies suffer. (ROCK CHALK BABY!)

Product Review/Rave - Harmony Paint by Sherwin Williams

Micheal and I have been testing the waters in the Green Revolution that has overtaken the construction and design world. One of the major successes so far has been with Sherwin Williams Harmony Paint.


I have heard complaints about SW's interior paint not providing good coverage (of course after we already bought $300 worth of paint...ugh...) so I was a bit concerned that when we started we would be disappointed. Not at all! This is a no VOC, low odor paint. We were skeptical at first since Micheal and I both have pretty sensitive sniffers.

We started painting over the hideous yellow in our bedroom and literally 3/4 of the way through I said to Micheal "whoa...wait, I can't smell any paint!" I honestly hadn't even noticed until that point that there were or weren't paint fumes, it's really an amazing thing. The coverage is excellent too, we probably could have covered in one coat if we hadn't had roller issues, but two coats worked like a charm to have a smooth finish. We used the satin finish and I really like it.

We purchased ours during the 25% off sale and got it for about $30/gal which as the same price as their regular brand and less expensive than their "Duration" paint (which I will post on later, did not like as much as the Harmony.)

So we give it two thumbs and 3 paws up!

What we learned this weekend

This weekend was kind of a bust for home renovations, which stinks since it was a 3 day weekend. Micheal had to go into work on Saturday, I had to work the NBC4 Health Fair on Sunday and we had to grocery shop today. Oh well, it happens right? We did get a few things done - Micheal got a start on our floating shelves and we worked on some of the finishing paint touches in the bedroom.

So what we learned...

1. I hate HATE hate trying to trim in between the ceiling and the wall. This to me is an impossible task.

2. I want to submit my kitchen to a DIY show that will come fix it all for me.

3. There are NO self car washes in DC - 17 bucks later my car is clean.

4. When you are getting sick the motivation to do manual labor on your house decreases exponentially.

5. 12 grocery bags, 1 bag of fabric, and a case of Dr Pepper might be our limit for one trip from car to house. (Although it won't stop us from trying with 13 bags!)

And since I'm the one getting sick this is all I've got for today. I almost forgot about it since it doesn't feel like a Monday!

Upcoming:

-We got our ceiling fan!! Hoping to put that up soon.
-Micheal got our 3 panel doors!! We will be sanding, painting and installing them soon.
-How to make your own floating shelves!

Weekend Plans

Micheal and I will be venturing an hour north to Westminster, MD tomorrow to pick up two solid cherry pre-hung door that we found on Craigslist for $100 (for both)! We have decided to do 3-panel doors throughout the house. When considering replacing doors it is very important to install matching doors throughout your house. This gives a look of continuity and flow and will be pleasing to buyers when you go to sell your house.


I'm very excited to get these doors because one will be going on the bathroom! Woo hoo! This is what the bathroom doorway used to look like...


The yellow and blue are now gone (thank goodness) and the trim has been sanded and refinished. I'm excited to add our new door!

The ETA on the ceiling fan is January 18th - HURRY UP UPS!!

Greens and Blues!

I've added some new colors to our house today! I ordered these sheets from Dillards to go with the blue/green/brown color scheme I'm planning for the bedroom.



I love the pattern! Here is a closeup:



With the solid brown bedspread I wanted a patterned sheet to add a pop of excitement and style to the bedding ensemble. I will be looking for some green and blue throw pillows to bring in the color off walls next.

The next exciting pop of color that arrived today is for the kitchen! Kali and I were both excited when it arrived...

What color does that sticker say?


GREEN!!

And here she is in all her glory...


A big thank you to Micheal's parents for their contribution to my new KitchenAid!! I love it so much! AND I just found a 30 dollar rebate online! SCORE! (Available for 5 & 6 qt KA mixers purchased between 1/1/10 & 3/27/10.)

I'm excited to be getting to the point that I start thinking about color and decor and not grime and mold. :P

What we learned this weekend (Tuesday edition...)

I know I keep saying this...but we are SO SO close to being done with the MBR it's silly! I don't want to post pics yet because I want the full effect of the before and after shots. All that's left off the weekend list is to do final paint touchups with the green paint. Not too shabby!

What we learned:

1. If you're not good at pouring from a super full jug of milk (me) you're probably not going to be good at pouring from a full can of paint (me). Yay for the initiation of new paint pants! ;)

2. Painting ceilings is a pain in the neck...literally...

3. When painting a ceiling, paint the shortest length of the ceiling and go in full lengths back and forth rather than short stretches longways. That makes sense to me...not sure if it'll make sense to anyone else.

4. That when you add "vintage" to the description of an item it increases the price by at least 200%.

5. I might be willing to pay $1100 for a toilet...

How to Install a Programmable Thermostat

The first time I have to say is - this is SO easy! You can DO it and it will be a big help with your heating and cooling usage/bills. Now that we have the pep-talk out of the way, here are the details:

1. Determine what type of heating/cooling system you have. This matters in purchasing your thermostat. We have central A/C and central gas heat. It's important to know if you have oil heat or a heat pump.

2. Select a programmable thermostat. There are lots of options:

• 7 day = One program for all 7 days
• 5:2 = One program for weekdays, one program for weekends
• 5:1:1 = One program for weekdays, one program for Sat and one for Sun

We went with the 5:2, it's less expensive than the 5:1:1 and we have no need to program Sat and Sun separately.

3. Open the package and get out your specific instructions! Each thermostat is different so make sure to have these on hand if possible.

4. Turn off the power to your furnace/AC at the breaker. Your thermostat display won't turn off because it is either powered by batteries or a different power source. Test to make sure your heating/cooling system is off by adjusting the temperature and ensuring that they system does not come on.

5. Remove the thermostat unit from the wallplate.

6. Each wire is inserted in a plug and is associated by color. White goes it "W", Yellow goes in "Y", etc. Using a small screw loosen the small screws associated with each wire and remove the wallplate from the wall.

7. Get the wallplate for the new thermostat out and insert the cable through the hole in the back. Match the appropriate wires so the appropriate letters and insert the wires into the plugins. Tighten the screws.

There are two red plugins with a red "jumper" in between them. If you have two red wires then remove the jumper. If there is only one red wire insert the wire into the indicated plugin and the jumper will supply power to both.

Our new thermostat is powered by batteries only so the C wire (ours was blueish) is not needed. If there are wires that are not needed wrap them in electrical tape.

8. Screw the wallplate into the wall using the provided screws and sheetrock anchors. (We reused the existing ones from our old thermostat.) Place the thermostat into the wallplate.

Program away!

Plans for the weekend

Alright, I'm getting serious...I want my bedroom done! So this weekend we will dig in and do the final touches so we are ready to install our new ceiling fan!! Thanks to some Christmas generosity from my dad and Diana and my grandparents we are able to order it WAY sooner than expected!! What's left:

1. Prime and paint ceiling
2. Fix caulk and paint trim
3. Finish paint around north wall window
4. Touch up any green paint

I'm very excited! Almost time to start decorating!

What we learned this weekend

Welcome to the New Year! Micheal and I have declared this the year of Team S. We've had our share of ups and downs over the past 3 years - and while the ups were pretty high the downs were often pretty low. But we've managed to come out on top each time and I feel like this is our year to start balancing out and take a much calmer ride.

So our first "what we learned" of the year...

1. That it is REALLY cold in Philadelphia right now! But so worth the pain to see my Jayhawks play.

2. That if you find a home decor item you REALLY like and it's broken it takes a trip to at least 2 other Marshalls to find another one - but with persistence you're house can have a beautiful green lamp like mine!

3. It's sad to take down Christmas lights.

4. That $40 for an extension hose for the shopvac was a waste of money - always keep your receipts!

5. Sanding the ceiling sucks (Micheal learned this, not me.)

6. That we'll be able to buy our fabulous ceiling fan even sooner than we thought!!

7. We need another pair of needle-nose pliers.