Category: Home Improvements

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A corkboard wall

After realizing that the large cork board that is hanging next to my desk isn’t big enough for any kind of organization near my computer and telephone. I think I might want to cover this wall in cork board. I’m unsure just yet though.

When my oldest daughter was a teenager, I hung the self adhesive kind and discovered that the only problem with her cork board that I put up, was that it was totally impossible to take it off the wall easily. Okay, I’ll admit to being “kind” about saying easily. I had to use a chisel and even then, bits and pieces were left. I ended up sanding the part of the wall that I had covered. It only was a 3’x3′ patch of wall, but it seemed a whole lot bigger than that while trying to get all the cork off the wall.

I can’t remember where I saw it recently, but there is a new kind of cork board that won’t hurt the walls once it is time to remove it. If I can figure out where I saw it, I’m gong to by it for this 3ft. wall beside my desk. It will make my life much easier.

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For stainless steel lovers

Since I love fireplaces, I’ve decided I want one. I’m not sure what kind of fireplace I want yet though, since this is just at the whim stage. I went online and came across a place that sells blomus stainless steel. While looking for a fireplace, I never thought such beautiful items could be made of this material.

I decided that I’d look at the fire places anyway, not knowing what I’d find. The Blomus fireplace search gave me photos of some really unique fireplace accessories but there was a lack of fireplaces, at least that I could find. I did see one little stainless steel item that had an oval opening and there was a small blaze in it,so it must be a fireplace. I didn’t see any others, but the one I did see, looked more for ambiance than function. I might be wrong.

After trying to find the fireplaces, I decided to just browse, as my sister loves stainless steel items, and shes been remodeling her house.  She want to go stainless all over the house. I’ll have to tell her about blomus stainless. The prices are good, and she’ll love the selections. Maybe I can get her a gift card if they have them. If not, they should think about it.

 

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Home improvement with young adults

Deciding what colors to paint the living room, has been a challenge for me. The room is only 13’x13″ and I want to make it look bigger using paint color and mirrors and lighting from the windows. My son is trying to help me decide on the colors and other planning, but he is color blind. Yes, he was tested and indeed he is color blind. Some people call it colored blind, so this is the same thing. However, despite of his troubles with certain colors and shades, he is one excellent-judge of them, and then mixing various colors together, that one wouldn’t think would work for wall.

We’re both leaning to a deep terracotta. I call it, baked pumpkin pie…the top, before it is cut into. White trim and ceiling. and a deep blue. The only way I can describe it, is in the old big boxes of crayons that Crayola made. After they changed the original colors and shades, I stopped buying the big pack. The color blue was the original Midnight Blue. Forest Green was another awesome shade.

So tomorrow we’ll be paint or at least some sample cans if there are any available. I love home improving, especially when one of my kids have a creative streak. I welcome their input. I also like the fact that they help me find bargains and who doesn’t like to save money?

 

 

 

 

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The cost of solar panels

My daughter and her family are moving into a very large home this coming week. Because of the size, she and her husband will be looking into solar panel costs. I believe with this house, in our climate, this would be totally ideal for them, if they decided to use solar panels in their home. I’m hoping that they will eventually be putting them in.

Because of the fact that this home is so big, and my daughter’s husband bites off more than he can chew, I’m sure he has not given the price of heating and cooling a thought. He is out for looks and size, since he is that kind of a guy…what one owns and the more of it, to him is what counts. My daughter on the other hand has been raised with solar energy in our homes that we had while she was growing up. She is the one that makes sure the bills get paid and is also the one in that family that worries.

The home has five bedrooms with attached baths, not to name the other numerous rooms in the house, that have to be heated or air cooled. I’m going to tell her to continue showing her husband the pros and of course some of the cons, ( but there aren’t that many cons) to using solar panels. It’s would help with money matters and also be some piece of mind for my daughter. I believe in solar energy, and it might be a solution to a major heating and cooling problem that I know my daughter and her family are going to have in the future.

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Savings with home energy efficiency tips

When our heating and lighting meters were read by some man that went meter to to meter, we got our bill and knew it was way to high. I decided to find home energy efficiency tips to employ in order to save money. I knew that my family would not stick with these tips, but I wanted to at least try to make a good example by using the tips myself, so that perhaps the kids and my husband would learn by example, so to speak. I was wrong in thinking such a thing.

Months went by and there was only a slight change, and it was especially noticeable even during this winter, which was the most mild winter we have had in nearly 20 years. Global warming is getting pretty scary if you ask my opinion. Since I am concerned about how hot the summer may get and the fact that my family want air conditioning when it is hot, something because of the bills, I decided to talk to my husband about a home energy audit. I figure if someone who is a professional on this subject told him what was what, he’d indeed be more willing to use the tips I have been trying to use.

Also, since the weather has been so weird, and it’s hard telling what is going to happen in months or even a few years on down the line, I would like to check in to some home insulation contractors. We need more insulation in this house, and I’m sure it would help tremendously during both winter and summer.

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Considering personalized address plaques

My friend Amy is about to buy a very nice home, for the first time, and I’ve looked at a whole lot of personalized address plaques to consider as a housewarming gift. I really believe she would like that, considering after a really rough divorce, in which she changed back to her maiden name. Buying the house wasn’t from any proceeds from the divorce because there wasn’t any. Amy bought this house with all of her own money that she really worked hard and for a long time, to buy it out right. I’m proud of her.

While looking at all the plaques, I also saw some really nice bronze address plaques. I’m thinking that the bronze would match the bronze numbers on her mail box, since it is out by the road and where she lives, one must have address numbers on their mailbox and even the paper box. To me, this is a bit of over kill, but it is a must do, so perhaps I’ll go with the bronze.

I’ve decide to perhaps go with the whitehall products. I was checking out the whitehall address plaques, and I really like them. I believe the ones I was looking at were made of nickle, but I could be wrong. Still, no matter, I love the class of them and how the look. It’ll all come together, but in the mean time, I have a feeling Amy would love this kind of house warming and congratulations gift.

 

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Bathroom ventilation and decisions

We’ve recently put in a high powered vent in the bathroom. Before we had it, the walls and ceiling gathered black mold, so I had to consult an expert, since I needed help immediately. I’m happy to say my bathroom is now mold free, which is a great feeling. This house is so old that no one had thought about what would happen with no window, and no ventilation. One vent didn’t get it, so when we got rid of the mold, then repaired the damage, we put a second one vent in and the problem, was solved.

Now comes the rest of the remodeling, and it’s about time. Now though, since we have the vents, I can hang wallpaper without it bubbling up, or drooping because of the dampness that was always in the room before. I am either going to wallpaper, or wait until all the kids are out on their own, if that ever happens, and paint for now.

I’m debating now as to laying bathroom carpet, or just getting new tile. The tile that is on the floor now, isn’t very old at all, but it was laid before the vents and so it’s pulled up in places. I’ve heard bathroom carpet in such a small carries a whole lot of bacteria. Maybe I’ll just get new tile and new bath rugs that I can wash once a week. I’m leaning toward that. I plan on taking one day to go shopping and looking around for what I can find that I really want in the bathroom. I figure when I see it, I’ll know!

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Siding problems

Today all my kids and my grandson were outside, shooting of fire rockets and such that my brother had given them last summer. My youngest daughter gave the guys all of hers and they had a LOT of various bangs, booms, fizzles and zips going. I was sitting outside watching and also looking over the garage and back of the house, to see if the snow, hail, wind and basically nasty weather over last year had hurt any of the siding, roof and window trims. Indeed it had taken it’s toll in a lot of places in the siding.

I had told my husband that I did not like the guys work, while they were putting up the siding and he ignored me, saying that he hired them because they were grandsons on a acquaintance, bla…bla…bla. In other words, he had never seen their work. I come from a very long line of construction men. Roofers, siding guys, masons, and concrete guys. Remodel men and even plumbers and electricians. I took one look at the job they were doing and I raised holy hell. Unfortunately, my husband hushed me up before I could flat out fire them.  To this day he is regretting that I didn’t…but of course, he won’t admit it.

While assessing the siding on the house, I came across loose panels, holes, gaps and even some of the corner ( I believe they are called, but don’t quote me ) facets missing. I have a feeling that isn’t the correct word, but I’ll ask a friend later. Anyway, long story short sort of, a lot of the siding is going to have to be replaced. To say the least, I am bummed out that I didn’t go on my first instinct and fire those guys. They didn’t charge as much as the men I had talked to, to do the whole job, but at least had I gone with them, they had a warranty and also were reputable. I say I and me, because my husband ought me this house when we got married. So…it is MY house to make the decisions with. Now, I need new siding and am for sure going with who I wanted in the first place. In the long run, it will help with money matters and I won’t have to worry.

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Home security is like insurance

This guest post from Lenny Mcknight

I think it is about time I got security systems for home. I told my husband that we really should start considering getting something done at our house. It is an older house so all of the locks and windows are a bit odd and hard to keep closed and locked. We thought about going through and getting all the windows and locks replaced. My husband did not really want to since he felt that it would take from the character of the house. For me, it was always about saving money. The old windows were so bad, it seemed like we just wasted so much energy and money. I am not sure if we will replace the windows, but I have definitely made a good case about it to my husband. When it comes to home security systems though, I just keep telling him that it is like an insurance policy on your house, except better probably. I do not understand why we have all the insurance policies we do, but we cannot get something simple like a home security system set up. It is more practical in my mind since it’s protecting the things you use and the place you live every day!

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Wanting a wood stove and mantle

My passion for fire places and beautiful wood burning stoves,  stems from my great grandma, my Nana and my Mom. My kids are the same way in which they love the warmth and ambiance of the fire. Each has been taught to know their wood and how each kind burns. To chop and stack, then take care of the wood they cut and to also know the value of each kind of wood. While I was “Look Shopping” for a mantle, I came cross some really great links one of which is:  fireplace inserts bay area. Even though I wasn’t from that state, I checked them out. That is when the “look shopping ” turned into  looking in earnest for a stove.

Growing up around wood stoves and fireplaces all of my life means of course, I have my favorite styles and I don’t really believe in electric stoves that don’t have logs that burn. Much to fancy for me, but I know a lot of people who really like them a great a lot. A person doesn’t have to deal with chopping, hauling and then stacking wood. I did see some awesome fireplace mantles that I am taking into consideration.

When looking for wood stoves for sale, I have to figure out how much I want to utilize it into a room. I’m looking forward to some remodeling, decorating and making a homey cozy room.