Adventures with Boomba

Stepping Up

2011-11-10T09:32:00.011-07:00

When people come to my house, I generally tell them to "ignore the ghetto parts". Pretty much referring to all of the excessive eyesores I've got reminding me that I'm no where close to being done with my house. The stairs going up to the bedrooms/bathroom area were definitely one of those eyesores....

As you can easily note... these stairs are ugly. They have remained ugly for over a year and a half because, despite their lack of aesthetics, they still functioned perfectly as stairs. Well, that was until I did this...

I'll have you know I cleaned what was underneath the stairs before I took this picture. It was GROSS! I bought new oak risers for the stairs ($26ish a piece) and that meant that I got to rip the old ones out. I do enjoy the demolition part of every project! Then I was going to paint the back of the stairs to match the wall and give it a "floating step" kind of feel.

Painting... so many projects require painting. Using one of the old risers, I cut it to fit on the face of the very bottom stair. Now there is no gaping hole!

Risers are back on. Don't mind the wall damage from the demolition phase... I'll patch that.

Walls patched, steps sanded, last coat of verathane... All finished! In total, the project ran just under $200. Most of that was the cost of the risers and verathane. Oh and the new handrail I had made was $100. I could have done a wooden one for cheaper, but I like the look/feel of the metal handrail. (Yeah I know... let the inappropriate comments begin)

Special thanks to Chad and Ryan on this project for their help!

To removing the eyesores in life,

Boomba

Thanksgiving

2011-10-18T21:51:00.010-06:00

Thanksgiving is my FAVORITE holiday! When I was a kid it always seemed like a 'lame' holiday. I mean I got out of school, but there were no costumes, gifts, or fireworks. As I have grown older, I have learned to LOVE that about it though. I don't have to worry about crowds of people, impossible parking at events, going to parades, buying people gifts, or finding parties to go to. We cook a bang of delicious food (cause we have some talented cooks in the family), and just get to *be* together. We get to eat and talk to each other. I just find it to be some of the best quality time that I get with my family.

This year my family is coming to my house. Not because my house is that awesome, but because my house was really the best available one this year. So... in preparation for people coming over, I've been working around the house like a mad woman! (Yes, that means more blogs to come, at least in the month of November). I had been doing stuff throughout the house since my last blog, but just not blogging about it.

Note the following video:

This may not be exciting for some, but I was SO excited to be able to have ice in my fridge WITHOUT having to use ice trays :) My dear good friend Sam helped me with this project, but mostly because I was unsure of myself. It really ended up being super easy. I got this working back in August... better late than never right?

Other things I've gotten done in the house:
-finished putting up baseboards in all the finished rooms
-finally finished the last piece on the bathroom vanity
-new kitchen light
-put up beadboard on kitchen cabinets
-refinished stairs and got a hand rail
-applied verathane in the hall (which has been on my to do list forever)
-put in transition pieces from the wood floor to the tiled rooms
-caulked the kitchen backsplash (thanks mom!)
-closed up the second door from the house into the garage
-much, much more

Some of these items will have their own blogs for you to see, other didn't really have that stimulating of a visual. Lots of progress is being made though and I'm proud of all that I've accomplished this month. Mostly I'm grateful for all the time and help that I have received from all the wonderful people in my life. The guys in my ward have been very helpful and it has been so awesome to have them to rely on. My family remains so supportive and my new roommate wonderful AND handy.

Needless to say, I'm excited for Thanksgiving to get here.

To things that light a fire under you booty,

Boomba

Baseboards!!!!

2011-08-15T23:10:00.005-06:00

So.... my house has been baseboard-less ever since I have moved in. I got a little demo happy when we started tearing stuff apart June 2010. I've been working my way to the baseboards for quite some time. Now that the doors and casings were up, it was time to start working on the trim!
Before: Hallway without any trim or a return air vent.
After: Baseboards up and the return air vent is in. Looks SOOOO much better.
Rather than cutting the corners at 45 degrees and putting them together, I opted to use my coping saw. While I was originally rather intimidated by this process, it ended up being really easy! If you use your saw to taper the end at a 45 degree angle, then the white primed MDF boards will have he exact line that you will need to cope. This saved me from having to draw on every piece. My corners look amazing in case you were wondering!
Baseboards really just finish the look of a room. I'm excited to have another part of the living room taken care of.
Kitchen before the baseboards were up
Another before shot
After! PS, the corners that point out like this are a royal pain. I wish I could figure out a way to use my coping saw for those too!
After :) Looks way better!

For me, I preferred to paint my trim, then cut it with the miter saw and immediately hang it with Reba. Once the painting is taken care of, then it is really easy to get the trim up and looking fantastic! I had been cutting then painting with the casings, but this was a way easier order of operations.

To some finishing touches,

Boomba

A Shade Cooler

2011-08-13T13:52:00.004-06:00

Back in April I decided to start getting window shades for the rest of the house. I had finally gotten curtains in the living room, but really needed them in the bedrooms upstairs. I still have broken central air and needed to start blocking out the light to help keep things cool as it would begin to get warm in the summer. Lucky for me, this summer hasn't been terrible.

Around this time, I had gone to Jack and Stef's condo and they had some really nice panel curtains from IKEA. I just really liked the look that they had. So, I went down to IKEA to get the panel system. After two trips and spending $345, I had everything I needed to block some sunlight from my bedrooms. While it seems expensive... I got six windows out of it.

Putting together the panel system from IKEA was time consuming, but once I realized the best order of operations, it made things go by much quicker! One thing that I enjoy about buying IKEA products is that all of the packaging is recyclable. So I was able to recycle most of the stuff :)

Office window panel

Both windows in the office

Windows in the master bedroom

I also did the window in the second bedroom and the bathroom. I really enjoy the look of them and have the fabric to do more window panels for the addition when I get that far in the house. The project did take a full weekend, but really I was glad to cover up my ugly windows :)

To beating the heat,

Boomba

Casing Out My Place

2011-08-05T09:43:00.010-06:00

So I mentioned in my last post that I had gotten a lot of things done at my house. One of the reasons that I hadn't been posting about them is because I'd already written about the start of the projects. In my post I'm Not Dead! and A Little Privacy Please... I showed everyone my progress on getting my door casings up and getting the first three bedroom doors up.

Well, I'm pleased to announce that I finished the remainder of the interior doors. My bathroom has new door (YAY!) as well as my coat closet and pantry. My turn around on these doors was much quicker. Mostly because showering with a sheet for a door was quite chilly. I've also got most of the casings up around the doors. The only four I have left are the inside of the bedrooms/bathrooms. It really has made such a big difference in starting the "finished look" that I want to have.

Front door and closet before the casings.

After the casings and new closet door are up.

Pantry with the casings, but before the door.

Pantry with casings and door. Got to admit, it's really nice not having all my food on display all the time.

This was sort of a finishing up of some other posts. I still have a few more casings left, but all the interior doors should now be taken care of. Reba was super helpful in this project. I also quit using paintable caulk for my nail holes and opted for white nail filler. Works MUCH better.

To showers without the draft,

Boomba

Meet Reba....

2011-08-04T18:08:00.007-06:00

Be nice everyone! Say hello to one of my BFF's :)

Reba is my Porter Cable pancake compressor with three (yes 3!) attachments. I have a stapler, nail gun, and finishing nail gun. I got her as a Christmas present from my Dad, which meant that I finally returned the compressor I had borrowed for over a year. (Thanks Jack!)

Over the past six months I HAVE been working on the house. I just haven't been blogging about it because I'm a failure. Here I am, starting my process of catching everyone up. During my recent projects, Reba has played an integral roll in their completions. Don't know where I'd be without her!

So.... the question I'm sure some of you are curious to know.... Why do I call her Reba? It was a rather easy name to come up with:

1-She's really red
2-When she "sings" I wear earplugs

:)

Sorry to all the Reba fans out there... I don't mind her songs really, but she's one of my least favorite country artists. I'm no expert on the genre and I'll be the first to admit it. However, I do love MY Reba.

To red heads that pack some heat,

Boomba

A little privacy please....

2011-02-04T10:16:00.007-07:00

Once upon a time (April 10th, 2010), I wrote a post about the door slabs I snagged at the ReStore for $10 a piece. Not sure if anyone recalls, but I took all the doors down during the demolition, then moved in half way through June.

There have been no bedroom doors this entire time! Bless my sweet roommates soul for her patience. I didn't have the money to do them. After I had the money, I didn't have a truck to take the slabs and the old doors to Wheelwright Lumber for the mill to match. After I got that done, then I had to paint them. Two coats... EACH SIDE! Needless to say... It's taken quite some time.

HOWEVER!

The days of no bedroom doors are officially over! My roommate (and her bf) can finally utilize the privacy that bedrooms are supposed to afford an individual (or couple). Thanks for the motivation Brit, I would have NEVER gotten around to it without you pushing me the whole way through! It only took me around ten months to get it done... no big deal...

Doors lined up for painting

First coat. I'm putting this on here to show that the doors were no where near white. Everyone thought I was crazy for painting them, but it make a huge difference.

One coat done! Only three more to go :(

Attaching the hinges to the wall

Hinges on the door

First door up! Yay!!!!

Knobs in too ;) Sorry this picture is a little blurry. Now the door are up and the knobs are in. Privacy can not be enjoyed!

While I did put the first door up all by myself, the others I did have help. I still need to get the bathroom door done, but I'll have to have a much quicker turn around than ten months on that one...

To the glories of shutting things out (when appropriate),

Boomba

Yay for Tax Returns!!!

2011-02-01T22:48:00.002-07:00

Ok, so this post has nothing to do with renovating. It has no pictures, videos, or really anything to show my progress like I promised in my previous post.

HOWEVER!

The house has benefited me greatly this evening. I filed my 2010 taxes and am getting a great return. Before I put in my house information, my return was minimal at best. With all of the write-offs that I have because of home loan interest, mortgage premiums, and property tax my return ended up increasing by around 300%.

THANK YOU HOUSE!

Since I was able to write so much off, I actually qualified for itemized deductions. I generally have too few and take the standard deduction. This year I was able to claim a lot of little things that I usually can't (like tithing) and it made such a difference.

What am I going to do with the money?

I'm actually going to put it in savings. There is a potential for a some expenses this year (central air, getting my car passable for emissions and inspections) that I want to be prepared for. I've got a lot of work that needs to be done around the house that I have *most* of the supplies for. So I'll continue on that for a little before I get too excited about spending all the money on new exterior doors or tile for the fireplace.

... But I would like to buy those things soon :)

To Uncle Sam,

Boomba

Utilizing Wall Space

2011-01-30T20:29:00.005-07:00

As I have alluded to in other posts, I really like being organized. :) There is something about seeing a group of items neatly organized that warms my soul. Plus, being organized makes it a lot easier for me to be clean. How is this not a win-win?

Recently I organized some stuff around the house that gave me more space and a cleaner home. I was particularly thrilled that I was able to get these done because I've noticed them for a long time and have been putting them off. They were really easy to do, I just was too busy and full of excuses to get them done.

The first organization project was in my closet. I have accumulated a collection of purses and needed to me able to find a way to more beautifully store them in my closet. What? Women and purses? That's never and issue is it? I hate it when I'm so stereotypical...

Before they were just sort of crammed up in the top of the closet and as I took some out and put them back it just steadily became more and more of a disaster. Britney, my fabulous roomie, had a purse organizer that she was no longer utilizing. I traded some pj's I never wore for her organizer and now my purses hang beautifully in my closet. I'm mostly pleased that this little "nook" in my closet is being better utilized.

Cute little bags, all in a row.

The next little project was one in the garage. Since buying a home I have accumulated some things that all needed a place. The garage already had an organization strip attached to the brick, but I hadn't put all my odds and ends up on it yet. So one day after work, I didn't pull in the garage so that I could have the space to organize it. I was satisfied to get all of my useful tools up where I can easily see them, but to be able to have them out of the way.

My parents stopped by and were jealous of how clean and organized my garage was :)

For the record, I have been making A LOT of progress at the house! This project wasn't really part of the renovation, but I have gotten my butt in gear and completed some projects that I have really needed to get taken care of. So hopefully the posts to follow will be enjoyable as well.

To the peace that a clean house can give a soul,

Boomba

Just a spoon full of sugar...

2011-01-25T16:35:00.002-07:00

Sometimes I don't feel like doing things around the house at all. Then a person comes in and asks if I need help and it can make all the difference in the world. Not too long ago Justin was over and saw my curtain rod out, unpacked, but also collecting dust. He asked if I wanted to put it up right now. Right now?! Don't worry, I bought it back in July. Sometimes that is just the push that I need in order to get things done.

We were able to get the curtain rod up that I got at Bed, Bath, & Beyond up with relative ease. I got the curtains at Tuesday Morning for $20, a good deal in my eyes!

After we got the curtains up, he also helped me put up the beautiful clock that my mother gave me for Christmas. Sorry the pictures are blurry! They are from my phone and I was apparently rather shaky.

Sometimes a little help is just what I need to help move things along.

To helping the medicine go down,

Boomba

Not so simple after all

2011-01-24T19:54:00.005-07:00

I have like a bazillion little projects around the house that I've been needing to get to. So my next few posts will likely be of these "small victories". So while they aren't terribly exciting... Just be proud of me anyway ;)

One small project I've been needing to get to is finishing the vanity. The middle section still needed the drawer and the door attached to it. No... I didn't finish it, but I took a step in the right direction! I got the faceplate of the drawer back in. I didn't just want a to put the faceplate back on though; I wanted a tip out drawer. You know the ones that are kind of like a secret organization spot? Yeah, we know how I feel about organization :)

So I got this tip out kit from Lowe's and proceeded to install it back onto the faceplate for the vanity. What should have been a twenty minute project took me like two hours. It was ridiculous! The faceplate actually was the front of a drawer so the grooves that it had were of course in the exact spot that needed to have the screws. So then the screws weren't long enough and I had to find more... Luckily I have a bunch of odds and ends on hand. After I finished installing it the first time, it wasn't tall enough, so then I had to do the whole thing over.

But I prevailed!

Now it's closed, but then it...

OPENS!

Now it is a little hidden location that I store my make-up. So I just sit in front of the vanity, tip out my secret drawer, and get going in the morning! It's pretty nice.

To not sweating the small stuff,

Boomba

Better Late than Never

2011-01-23T08:19:00.006-07:00

I know that Christmas was almost a month ago, but I never got around to uploading these pictures from my phone. While these aren't really "home improvement" items. I still found them to be an adventure at my first Christmas in the house.

For all my neighbors/coworkers, I decided to make a little Christmas treat. As strange as it sounds, I have a very strong connection to jelly. Not just any jelly, my grandma's apple raspberry jelly.

Whenever I would stay at my grandma's house the breakfast of choice was toast with jelly. So in the morning she would toast me up a slice of bread and cut it into fourths. Now it is important to note that she did not cut it from corner to corner, yielding triangles. She cut it down the middle, yielding me four delicious squares of jelly slathered toast.

I have never had anyone cut my toast that way. It left such a strong impact on my memory, that I can stil close my eyes and see her handing me a plate of toast cut that specific way. You also better believe I have every intention of cutting toast that way for my kids. Just a little way of remembering her and keeping the legacy she left for me alive.

I'm not particularly domestic, but I had the recipe and had my mom come over for the first batch to make sure I did everything right and that the bottles sealed correctly. It really wasn't as difficult as I thought it was going to be. Here are some of the pictures of my adventure :)

The cute little jelly bottles, cooling and sealing.

For packaging I got little Christmas decorated Chinese take-out boxes.

Christmas gifts and thoughts of Grandma, all in a row.

The gift was slightly selfish in that I made it so that I could have some. To my credit though, I really did enjoy giving something thoughtful and different to people for Christmas this year.

One of my favorite sights this year was when the Christmas tree started getting surrounded by gifts. My roommate and I would wrap them and put them under the tree throughout the month and it was so fun seeing all the interesting shapes appear to give to those that we loved.

Isn't it cute!?

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!

To creating new traditions with old memories,

Boomba

A Christmas First

2010-11-30T20:49:00.003-07:00

I've lived on my own for over 5 years of my life. Yet, in all this time, I've never bought and decorated a Christmas tree. This year I decided that as my first Christmas in my house, that I would finally make the investment of having some Christmas spirit on display.

My roommate Britney was very excited. On the Friday after Thanksgiving (during the middle of the day, none of the midnight black friday shopping ridiculousness) we went to Walmart and picked out the tree, ornaments, and the topper for the tree. Here are the pictures of our tree!

Out of the box and in some dire need of "fluffing"

It's starting to look like a real tree :)

Pre-lit trees = WIN!

Gold ribbon on with the lights

Ornaments on without the lights. I swear there are a lot of ornaments on there, it just doesn't look like it in this picture.

Decorations up, lights on, DONE!

I'm very proud of my cute little tree. I can't wait to start wrapping presents so the base of the tree doesn't look so lonely.

To starting your own traditions,

Boomba

The Joys of Homeownership....

2010-11-08T16:40:00.006-07:00

Don't get me wrong, I love my house. I've worked very hard on it and wish it would finish itself, but I think it was an investment and a learning experience that money could not buy. That being said:

MY HOUSE IS MISBEHAVING!

The beginning misbehavior was this summer when we discovered the furnace was no good. That was a $2800 expenditure. Not only that, some of the people that kept staying at the house would play with the AC which resulted in it causing the freon to freeze and the freon drain. So then the air wasn't even cold after it was fixed, however, it is working very nicely for winter.

This last week my I noticed that my drain in the laundry room was acting up. We'd run a load of laundry and it would back up. After a while it would slowly drained, but then it would leave terribly gross stuff on the floor. This happened once and then didn't happen again, but then it got worse and worse. Every time we tried to do laundry, then the dishes, then showering. After a while it started backing up through the bathroom in the basement as well. The house smelled all mildewy and it was no good at all.

I tried Drano and a Brandt plug, but neither remedied the situation. I had to call in a plumber from Roto-Rooter. Ended up being the roots from my yard had grown into the main line going out to the sewer. So they had to snake all of those out and then informed me that the main line was in rough shape and that I'd need to look into replacing it in a few years. Joy....

While he was cleaning up all of his tools, then he noticed this gem of a find.

Yeah, the toilet upstairs had a leak and had been leaking for quite some time. Since no one uses that bathroom, no one noticed the tumor growing from the ceiling. So he had to reinstall the toilet correctly and then there was a leaking fitting in the ceiling that he had to tear into and replace. As I sit here now he is out there tallying up my bill. We are at a minimum of $355, plus parts and tax.

I guess I should just consider myself lucky that I have the money for this and that I'm lucky not to have to touch my savings to cover it. I have a job that takes very good care of me and enables me to live a good life. Without these frustrating times in life I would not understand or appreciate the peace.

To biting the bullet,

Boomba

I'm not dead!!!

2010-11-06T21:03:00.003-06:00

After moving in and getting settled I definitely needed a break from home renovation projects. It was a good thing too, because then I started traveling for work for about 3 straight months. A lot has changed in the last little bit and I'll just say that I have some more time to focus on stuff around the house.

I picked up trim for the doors a long time ago and my parent help me cut it. I borrowed Jack's paint sprayer to paint it all, but the sprayer ended up being broken. :( Frustrated I set the project aside for a while. this last week I got up some motivation and decided to paint the trim.

My painting station I build with my new saw horses :)

Trimless door

First piece up! I can do this...

The finished product! Man I need to paint the door now.

Got the pantry done too!

I used the compressor that I still have borrowed from Jack. Don't worry, I borrowed it about this time last year for the couch re-upholstery project. Luckily he hasn't really needed it, so it's been able to stay in my possession.

I used the finish nailer to get all the trim up and then went back over the nails with white, paintable caulk. Then I used some liquid nails on the corner blocks. I don't even have all the doors done... but I did get 3/15 done. I'll get there. Slowly but surely!

To getting back on the saddle,

Boomba

Now I can live in my Living Room

2010-07-24T10:06:00.000-06:00

This blog is rather late, because I got this furniture on the weekend of my birthday. Two weeks later I am finally getting around to blogging about it. It is kind of sad because I had the refinished futon and almost refinished couch in the living room. It just sort of looked sad and ghetto.

What will I do with the couch I worked so hard on? I haven't decided. The futon is going to my little brother (if he still wants it) and I'm rather enjoying the opportunities to give some of my old things to my newly moved out brothers.

Here are the pictures...

When you first walk in, this is what you see. I'll eventually change the layout of the room once the fireplace is done.

On your way to the kitchen, this is the view from the pocket door/stairs area.

This is the view from the kitchen.

The end tables match the coffee table as far as style goes. Don't get too distracted by the rug. I love these tables!

These couches are really comfortable and were a steal of a deal. Picked them up at Knight Furniture in Riverdale. I love being in this room now! It still needs trim, curtains, and some pictures, but one step at a time!

To good naps on soft couches,

Boomba

I have this thing about beds...

2010-07-18T21:06:00.000-06:00

A lot of people say home is where the heart is, but technically you never leave your heart anywhere. I've always been rather attached to my bed and whenever I travel I always miss my bed the most. I just don't sleep the same on other beds. When I was remodeling the bedroom, I got a new bed frame, but kept my mattress/box springs.

So now that the house has a new bed it has sort of made things more official for me. Maybe I am weird and beds are just beds, but for me it's the cornerstone of my home. So here are some pictures of the bedroom now.

Here is the new rug I got a Lowe's for the bedroom. It was only $25 and I love it! The rug kind of has all the colors I want to focus on in the room. Right now there are a lot of neutrals in the room with the espress/black, grey, tan, and whites. I'm usually quite colorful, so this is a definite departure.

The new bed has a leather headboard and footboard and sits rather low to the ground. After getting the new bed I had to update my bedding. I found a down comforter set at Ross that included the comforter, two down pillows, and a duvet cover/shams. I didn't want to use the duvet cover because I thought the bed would be too dark. I like contrast, so I left the duvet as a blanket by itself to use since the house is so hot.

Don't mind the fans... the furnace doesn't work, which means the AC doesn't really work either. Since I remodeled the living room (pics to come), I was able to use the old end tables and lamps in the bedroom, which match the bed really well. You can also see the floors in this shot. In my entry What Lies Beneath, the floor in the picture is this bedroom floor.

To having a place to put your head,

Boomba

Functioning Kitchens = Happiness

2010-07-17T18:15:00.001-06:00

It's been over a month since I have blogged and I do apologize. Finally getting back into a semi-regular life style kept me from blogging. There still is quite a bit to do, but things are really coming along. Here is the kitchen in it's remodeled state:

This cook top was actually a freaking nightmare. The concrete counters were done before I got the cook top, but then whole ended up not being big enough. So Jake spend like 8-10 hours using a circular saw, sawzall, and a grinder trying to get the hole big enough. After that was all said and done, then there was a TON of dust to clean up. Now that it is in and functioning I can completely repress that experience from my mind... cause it sucked!

Here is the new hood with the new Jenn Air electric stove top. I got them both through KSL. The hood was $60 and the stove top was $100.

Here is the new sink and I absolutely love it! I got the sink at Lowe's and the faucet on Overstock.com. Needless to say, it looks tons better than the old stainless steel sink that was in there before.

View from the kitchen into the dining room. I used part of my tax credit that I got back to buy it. Thank you Uncle Sam! I got the dining set at Bed Heaven in Layton. Now I just need to decide if I want to put a rug underneath it... Also, in this picture you can see the new wall color.

If you don't remember what the old kitchen looked like, click here. Here is the view from the dining room into the kitchen. The concrete counters are waxed and the wine glass racks are installed. My mom and Wes go the dishwasher running. I'm really thrilled with how the kitchen is looking (and functioning)! There are a few projects left like putting the trim up, getting pantry door back on, and getting the bead board on some of the cupboards.

To finally being able to use my kitchen all the way,

Boomba

Appliance Update

2010-06-13T08:57:00.001-06:00

First and foremost can I just say I AM MOVED IN!!! This weekend was it, I HAD to be out. Thankfully, I had a lot of help. My parents, my sister came up from Provo, Leah, Jake, the Relief Society, and one guy from the Priesthood (way to rep Nate).

So from here on out, I'll be catching up on blogs and finishing a lot of unfinished work around the house. Currently I don't have my dryer, dishwasher, or cooktop hooked up. There are still lights that need to go up and a plethora of things to get done. *sigh* It'll get there...

When I first moved in there was a terrible wall oven that we took out. I found my new double oven at the ReStore for $125. Lets skip to the goods; here are the pics!
Old oven taken out. It was set up to be a wall oven with a built in microwave over it. So we had to modify it a little bit in order for it to work.

We (meaning Wes and Jake), cut out the shelf and got it to fit the oven size. Don't be fooled, it's not as easy as I make it sound. It took them around four attempts to get it in there. All sorts of things went wrong and there was wall cutting and duct tape and sweaty boys and ....... Lets just say that it took about four hours.

Personally, I think their effort was entirely worth it. Now I can make enchiladas and cookies at the same time. Oh, and top oven is a convection oven. Anyone know how to adjust the time for convection ovens?

To new kitchens to cook in,

Boomba

I'm thankful for running water

2010-06-11T09:12:00.001-06:00

So this post is going to have a ton of pictures. It's really like three posts in one: the bathroom floor, the shower/tub, and the vanity projects. I'll keep my captioning short so this isn't a novel.

Britney removing the trim after the old vanity and privacy wall have been removed

All the linoleum stripped off the floor

Hardy Backer going down

Tile down

Tile, paint, and new vanity in. Sorry, my bathroom is long and skinny so these pictures aren't super interesting.

Nasty old tub

Sheet rock taken out of the shower surround

Tile up!

New faucets

Not much of a picture, but this was the old vanity and you can kind of see the privacy wall. Wes was super gung ho and started taking it all apart. My camera and I couldn't keep up.

I found a vanity I liked at Lowe's, but it was $400. This old, ugly dresser was $50 on KSL Classifieds. The ugly dresser was more in the budget, but I'll make is sexy... don't worry!

The drawers

Dresser painted and new sink installed!

My running water in my b-e-a-utiful sink!

I still need the drawers put back in the vanity. Sadly, the dresser is so old that the handles are a weird size. So I'll need to get some custom, but I'm not sure where I can do that. If anyone has any contacts for that, let me know! I also need a new light for the bathroom. The problem is, the light box is center to the OLD vanity size. To be center for the new vanity it needs to be about two to three inches over. *sigh* So I'm working on the light situation still. It's starting to look really great though!!! It's move in weekend, so it's crunch time to get everything functional. More blogs to come, when I get some time!

To being able to wash my hands after I ... I'll stop there,

Boomba

What Lies Beneath

2010-06-06T22:31:00.001-06:00

This is me sitting on the current master bedroom floor. See all that white? Yeah the prior owners decided to paint everything and get carpet. So all of these wood floors were covered in it. This is me going around and pulling up all the staples I could find.

When you strip off the paint, here is what was hiding! Removing the paint was seriously a daunting process. I got two rooms completely stripped, but it took three people each and about 5-10 hours a room. I didn't really have that sort of time, so I ended up sanding the paint off the other two. Much easier! However I did still have to go around the edges to get the paint off. I went through lots of different methods to remove the paint: various paint strippers, Goof Off, and mineral spirits. What I recommend? Sanding, then getting what is left with Goof Off and steel wool. I read some things that said not to use steel wool, but it was all that worked. I guess we'll see if my floors rust.

Meet the buff sander! Ridiculously easy to use and fairly cheap to rent at Home Depot. For $50 a day you can have this for 24 hours. I had about 1200 square feet to do and this was plenty of time. The sand paper is the biggest expense, but get what you have to. Don't skimp!

Putting varathane on the floor... also super easy. I bought a water based, satin varathane that is about $50 a can. I've used one and half, but still need to do the hall. It says it only covers 400 square feet a can, but mine went way farther than that. I HIGHLY recommend using this product to finish your floors. Way easy to use!

I bought three types of applicators: a deck stain applicator and two different kinds of lamb's wool applicators. Consensus? The all work the same. The two lamb's wool applicators had longer handles which was convenient. Deck stain applicator was a hands and knees tool. Other than convenience, they were all equally easy to use.

The finished product!!! They look a million times better :) Special thanks to Jake, Britney, Leah, Braden, Shellee, Travis, and Gary for all of their help throughout the floor process. Couldn't have done it without you all!

Are they perfect? No, but let's be realistic... the house is 38 years old and they were trashed. I would have had to pay serious money for them to be perfect. Just in case you didn't know, "serious money" is not what I'd call my budget. Things are coming together and I'm a million blog posts behind. I have to move in this weekend, wish me luck!

To seeing past the surface,

Boomba

It's starting to come together!

2010-05-29T01:37:00.000-06:00

I've been fairly discouraged lately because it has seemed like I have been doing a lot of work, but when I looked in the house I couldn't see it. I saw the individual projects that were complete, but nothing was really "coming together". The kitchen, however, has hit that phase where I can actually see the difference now that I have the back splash complete.

This project had me rather nervous because I usually have my parents take the wheel on tiling projects. They are super lucky and are vacationing in Michigan, so I HAD to do this one without them. I was terrified. Luckily, Jack and Ang came to my aid. He picked up some Bondera and they spent two evenings helping me. It was a frustrating project at times, but I learned a lot. Here are some shots:

Me on the tile saw. (Thanks coworker Brandon for letting me borrow that!) There were some awkward cuts due to the outlets. I only messed up on one piece. So I bought one more box of tile for the job, and used every single piece. I later went back and bought a few extra tiles in case any need to get replace in the future.

You can do it put your back into it! Basically with Bondera you stick it to the wall, then stick the tile right on it, grout immediately. Some of the pieces were good and didn't move. This was a more difficult piece and Jack really had to put some pressure on it to keep it from slipping.

Talk about teamwork! This was another difficult piece and yes I am in the sink area.

Tiles up and ungrouted

Tiles grouted

This is the finished product! Everything is up and grouted! When I took this picture I really thought, "Wow, I'm starting to see it!" Once I get the counters stained, the walls painted, and the appliances in... it'll look good! The end is in sight, well... at least for the kitchen.

The project wasn't terribly difficult and took about ten hours. You can do it with two people, but it was way more convenient to have a third. Once person to hold the tile up, one person to do the spacers and level, then a third person to do the flashlight and help peel the Bondura back. It can be done with two people, Britney helped me yesterday to finish. I'm very satisfied with the project and it's definitely made me MORE motivated to dig in and get things done!

To great friends and all of their help!

Boomba

Like a Rock

2010-05-21T21:54:00.000-06:00

I can't remember where I originally saw concrete counter tops. I just always knew that is what I wanted to do in my house. Then when I found out that a family friend did hers and that they looked awesome... well, I could hardly wait.

Concrete? Really? Yeah, it's about a billion times cheaper than granite and can be stained to look just like it. Last weekend the concrete was poured and finished, but they still need to be stained and sealed. Here are some pictures:

Old kitchen counter tops

Framed in with 2 1/2 inch melamine on bottom and 3 1/2 inch melamine on the side. Then the counter tops have to have chicken wire secured to them. This keeps the concrete from cracking.

Everything framed in!

Concrete getting poured in. When you do concrete counter tops, it's best to have it as dry a mix as you can get.

All poured!

Rounding out the edges

This is Matt doing the finishing work. After a few hours when the concrete it set up, then it has to be finished. I don't know much about this since I hired Matt to take care of it.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Mason and his parents, Kelly & Kelly, for letting me borrow their cement mixer. It saved mucho time and dinero! I desperately need to pick a stain, but it has to cure a while before I would actually be able to use it. However, there are lots of things around the house I desperately need to do. Has anyone found me appliances yet? ;)

To desperation at its finest,

Boomba

A Steal of a Deal

2010-05-17T18:31:00.000-06:00

All new appliances for under $1,000; that is my goal for the house. So far I am doing pretty well. I got the black double oven from the ReStore for $125 and this last week on KSL Classifieds I got a side by side, water/ice dispenser, black and stainless fridge for $475.

So I've spent $600 on my appliances so far, but still need a microwave (back and stainless preferred), dishwasher (can be just black), stove top (stainless gas preferred) and a hood (stainless). Hopefully with some KSL Classified I can scrounge up the rest of what I need within my $400 budget remaining. I can go a little over, but how cool would it be to say I got all the appliances in my house for under $1000?

Here is the latest purchase:

Isn't she pretty? Yeah, I thought so too! Keep your eyes out for some good deals for me :)

To deals that are steals,

Boomba

I was in a coma for two weeks....

2010-05-17T17:11:00.000-06:00

Ok, that isn't true. I'm sorry that I lied. Seriously though, I looked at the calendar today at work and almost passed out when I realized that it was May 17th. For reals? What on earth happened to the last two weeks? I seriously misplaced FIFTEEN days. I know I was active and working on the house the entire time, but I must have been in a zombie-like-active-coma. I turned in my thirty day notice on May 13th, so that means that I now have less than a month to be in the house. YIKES!

I keep feeling like I can't make a post until a project is done. I'm sorry, that is the type A in me that wants a perfect entry, start to finish. Most of the projects can't be completely done in a weekend though. So I'm going to start updating the work that has been completed. Here are the pictures of the first main project: tiling the kitchen.

Tearing up the old linoleum floor

The Hardy Backer down and taped

Glue mixed to start officially tiling

The first piece down *Que Hallelujah chorus*

Dining room tile done, no grouting

Don't let anyone fool you... grouting is the worst part about tiling

Kitchen tile down with grouting

The floor is completely done. The linoleum and sub-floor was ripped out. Any suspicious wet spots were sprayed with mold killer. Hardy Backer, 1/4 inch, was screwed down into the sub-floor and the seams were taped. Mud was mixed, porcelain tile was laid, and grouting was complete. I unfortunately don't have a great picture of the finished product because you cannot mop for at least ten days.

To having 178 square feet complete,

Boomba

Magic Touch

2010-05-02T21:39:00.001-06:00

In one of my previous entries I mentioned picking up some outdoor lights to redo. Can I just say that I could be in Harry Potter's gang with the DIY magic I've got going on right now :) Here was my latest work:

BEFORE

AFTER

All the instructions are in the Brass = TACKY entry. So these lights cost me $10 each. Some similar at Lowe's/Home Depot would be around $60. Faux sho!

To the magic we create in our lives,

Boomba

How Hamsters Feel...

2010-04-30T19:28:00.000-06:00

In my last blog entry I mentioned that some water was found in the ceiling. While removing the lights for their makeover, one of the bedrooms had wet sheet rock around the light and the back of the light was really wet. This spelled out trouble and made me very nervous.

One of my friends came to look at it, but couldn't get into the attic to find out what was wrong. Why? BECAUSE IT'S TOO SMALL! My attic is about two feet tall at it's highest point. After looking into the access to the attic, it was decided that I was the only person that was likely to fit. It was already late that night and I decided to investigate another time.

I came back to the house the next day with long pants, a turtle neck, beanie, safety glasses, and my super trusty gloves on. I was ready to go explore the attic to find the source of the leak. It was suspected that an old swamp cooler line was still up there potentially causing the problem.

Welcome to my attic! There is fiber glass insulation EVERYWHERE! I had to push all the insulation back and then try to start maneuvering. There was no crawling on my hands and knees, this was basically an army crawl on my stomach. I was trying to be very careful, moving from truss to truss so that I wouldn't fall through the ceiling. I was surrounded by all of this insulation, having to burrow through it as I went. I could not help but think of all the hamsters we had as kids. They live in that "bedding" crap that smells real bad after it gets peed on. Yeah, I felt like a hamster burrowing through insulation bedding.

I was kind of having fun at first, like I was an adventurer. Knocking the insulation out of my way with ease! Carefully, but stealthy moving to each truss. Eventually I reached a location that I thought was the approximate location of the light and started digging through the insulation. I was being very careful to close my mouth so that I wouldn't get that itchy crap in my throat. Eventually I found the light box and there was minor signs of water damage with a small amount of mold. Nothing major. The area was no longer wet.

Flashing the light around the attic I couldn't find any tubes that would lead to the old swamp cooler. I decided to follow the beam that the light was next to. After going down about another foot, I found the sheet rock right next to the beam was darker. It was still damp from water. The strip was about a half an inch wide and went all the way to the edge of the roof it seemed. It eventually got so far that I couldn't fit to follow it.

I had gotten so excited from my lead that I hadn't noticed something... I couldn't breathe! I had been breathing through my nose, but I also have ridiculous allergies. The fiber glass had been causing a severe irritation, but I hadn't noticed at first. My entire nasal cavity was blocked off and felt like it had swelled to the size of a baseball.

Not being able to breathe through my nose forced me to have to breathe through my mouth. However, that did not promote breathing either. With each breath I took, my lungs started to get very angry! So I'd take a breath, then have a hacking cough. While coughing I would gasp for air, which would only cause more coughing! I had to get out of the attic FAST!

I immediately got to the center of the attic and started back to the opened. The entire time I was coughing and gasping for air! When I made it back to the opening, I was facing the wrong direction. I couldn't drop out of the attic head first! It the tiny space I had to try and flip around do that I could drop out feet first. Ever seen a hamster start going up those silly colored tubes, but then about half way decide to flip around and go back. Well they make it look easy, but it's NOT that easy. I was basically stuck by the opening to the attic and I still don't know how I managed to flip around.

Once out of the closet I immediately ran into the bathroom. My body had begun producing mucus to capture all of the fiber glass and prevent it from getting into my body. So once again I couldn't breath because there was too much schmuck in my nose and throat. So I'm in the bathroom trying to get it out (I'm purposefully eliminating details here) so that I can breathe. Meanwhile, my body has started to itch furiously from the fiber glass that made contact with my skin. I ripped my shirt off and knew that I had to get home ASAP and shower. So I started running through the house, getting what I need...with no shirt on.

Lucky for me, my mom has left a jacket there on accident and I was able to wear that on my drive home. Mind you, I was still battling for consistent breathing. I was coughing so hard that it made water come out of my eyes. Don't be fooled, I wasn't CRYING. I wasn't that upset about the situation, just trying to stay calm.

Once home I stripped down and took a hot shower until the water ran out. All was well, though it did take me about 36 hours to be able to breathe through my nose. Hopefully we can investigate the leak some other way. I'd prefer not to, but if I have to then I have to. Oh the joys of home ownership! Next time I'll make sure I wear a mask so that I can breathe without getting masses of insulation in my respiratory system.

To the moments that take our breath away,

Boomba

Brass = TACKY

2010-04-28T17:38:00.000-06:00

While at Lowe's the other day with my parents, I was looking at all the things I wanted for the house. Really, I was coveting all the things I couldn't afford for the house. My mom made a very astute observation that will probably ring true for at least the next year of my life:

I have champagne taste with a Shasta cola budget.

Raised sinks, cracked glass counter tops, oil-rubbed bronze fixtures... I was looking at a lot of stuff that I just couldn't afford. I, however, am a resourceful person. Looking at things I want inspires me to find a way to get it for cheap, hence my passion for the ReStore.

One thing I want to do, but can't afford is to have oil-rubbed bronze fixtures for everything in the house. Door knob, hinges, lights, faucets, etc. I want them to match! However, I do not have the money for oil-rubbed bronze light fixtures. If there is a will, there is a way. Here is how you all can get beautiful fixtures for way cheap.

Disconnect ugly brass light. Make sure to wash and dry thoroughly, then sand the surface with 220 grit sand paper, wipe clean.

Mist layer of indoor/outdoor flat black primer. MIST, don't spray one heavy coat and cause it to pool and run down the fixture. Then you will have to let it dry, sand it again, and then re-prime it.

Let dry 10 minutes.

Mist with copper paint, let dry ten minutes.

Mist with brushed metallic oil-rubbed bronze paint. Let dry one hour before reinstalling light.

I had a hard time finding all the right colors, Walmart ended up having them all. For more detailed instructions, check out Krylon's DIY project page. Total cost ended up being $20 and I've done three lights so far and have plenty of paint for more.

So here are the official before and after shots:

BEFORE

AFTER

I think it turned out really great! Jake was so great and took down all the fixtures for me because I had no idea how to do it. Unfortunately, one fixture was wet when he removed it. I'll have to investigate. Then he put one back up in the dark so I could take my "after" picture for the blog. However, he did tell me the rest were going up in the day light :) What do you think of how it turned out?

To living the high life with a regular budget,

Boomba

Demolition Time!

2010-04-28T17:12:00.000-06:00

Friday I finally closed on the house! Wahoo!!! So after signing, I ran back up to Sunset as quickly as possibly to get the water turned on. I paid $30 to have someone come out and turn it on, but when they got there it was already on! Grr... If only I had known! Oh well, how was I suppose to know. I was told it wasn't on.

Anyway, the weekend was spent tearing things apart. A MILLION thanks to my parents for helping so much. We ripped up the linoleum and subfloor of the kitchen, tore up the floor in the bathroom, removed the weird wall, took out the counter and sink, removed the sheetrock around the shower, took out all the trim, and pulled out the staples/nails from the wood floor. I felt great about all the progress we made. Here are some pictures!

Kitchen

Bathroom

The Living Room/Dump

Pulling staples out of the floor

Brit showing the trim who's boss!

Jake also mowed the lawn with a new lawn mower from his great parents! This is a massive amount of pictures, but it is only a fraction of what we accomplished over the weekend.

To building things back up again,

Boomba

CLOSED

2010-04-23T22:28:00.000-06:00

Official Home Owner!

Don't worry, my mom took pictures of me signing my paperwork. I'll get them on here unless they look too ridiculous.

I almost can't believe it's finally finished!

Life's little blossoms

2010-04-21T16:37:00.000-06:00

A small shot of one of the flower beds in the back yard. I really should thank the previous owners for the hundreds of dollars in flowers that they spent on the yard that will now show up every spring for me.

To the good that people leave behind,

Boomba

Treasure Hunting

2010-04-19T16:31:00.000-06:00

Can I just start by saying how relieving it is to have people help? I really struggle asking people for help, but that doesn't mean I don't appreciate it. This weekend my parents and my wonderful friend Britney helped me at the house. Part of it was raking up the back yard so that I could put some Weed and Feed on there. In the process of raking up two years of acorns, dead grass, and leaves some interesting things were found. Here's the list:

-Pottery shards
-Scissors
-Rope
-3 socks
-CD
-Lid to a soup can
-Ear plugs
-Grocery bags
-Yarn
-Hostess wrapper
-Sprinkler heads
-Metal tent stake
-Plastic tent stake
-Bouncy ball
-Gardening gloves
-A dead bird
-Squirt gun

Everything is raked up and has been properly fertilized. For the record, we've hit a total of 9 garbage bags full of yard garbage! Once I close on Friday I can get the water turned on to start seeing if the sprinklers work. The yard does have a number of beautiful flowers that are growing all on their own. Talk about easy on me. I'll just have to weed! Pictures soon, I promise!

To life's little discoveries,

Boomba

Hallelujah!

2010-04-17T08:59:00.000-06:00

I finally have a closing date! I'll officially be the owner of my own home on April 23rd.

My offer on the house was accepted on February 26th. It's only taken 2 months to close, no big deal.

The end is near!!!

Welcome to the Neighborhood!

2010-04-14T21:39:00.000-06:00

I can now say that I have a small taste of the hard work I'm going to be putting into the house. I still have NOT closed, but it was a beautiful day outside and decided to go rake the yard at the house.

The front yard has a bunch of Oak trees, so there were acorns EVERYWHERE! The house has been vacant for almost a year, so when the leaves fell in the fall no one raked them. So the grass is patchy, there are leaves/dirt all over, and the acorns were all mixed in. Needless to say, it was in some need of attention.

I suited up for yard work in some holey jeans, a t-shirt, and some old tennis shoes. Then I grabbed my recently purchased rake, shovel, and gardening gloves and went to work! I am now beginning to realize how big my yard it. Not that it's bigger than the standard yard, but I've NEVER had a hard that I've had to maintain. I've lived in apartments since I've been from home. Plus, when I lived at home I never had to work in the yard. I'm very familiar with work, just not yard work.

Much to my dismay, I was only able to finish half of the front yard. So... a few hours and I'm maybe 25% done. Maybe. My wonderful friend Britney came to visit me while I worked. She then helped me by holding open the giant trash bag for me to shovel everything into. We had such a good time!

I found yard work quite refreshing! I haven't had time to get to the gym and it was nice to push my body a little. Some of you may laugh at this, but the bent over shoveling, vigorous raking, and constant sneezing from allergies takes muscle work that I had not expected.

Anyways... after shoveling all of the piles I ended up with three garbage bags full! That made not feel as bad about only getting 1/4 of the yard done. While working in the front yard, I was greeted by four of the neighbors on the street. It was nice to meet them and I felt so welcome. I've never had that happen before. Although everyone on the street has five kids, that seems to be the magic number. Gross.

To getting your gardening gloves dirty,

Boomba

Light or Dark?

2010-04-11T08:12:00.000-06:00

When originally picking colors for the house I wanted to do grey walls with white trim. I wanted to do a neutral that wasn't beige, but would still look good with either blacks or browns.

Here are some pictures of what I was sort of planning on doing:

Lately, I have been to some newly remodeled homes that have had a lighter wall color and darker trim. Now, I know dark trim immediately seems to give people the willies. I know white trim is classic and probably will always be in style. Decorating with a darker trim would probably be quite difficult, because trim should be consistent throughout the entire house. I know, I know... but in these houses I went to it looked very good. I'm sad I didn't take pictures, because I had a hard time finding any examples on the Internet similar to the ones I saw in these houses.

Here are some pictures of a light wall, dark trim that I did find:

I'm very curious as to what everyone thinks about this? Which one are you more partial too? I was thinking of maybe doing a light grey, with a dark grey trim for the color scheme. Do you think I will regret this entirely? Is it too contemporary? Has anyone else done this and loved it? Do you have picture examples? I don't know... just give me your thoughts. I'm trying to figure out what to do here!

To having contrast in our life,

Boomba

Breaking and Entering

2010-04-10T13:01:00.000-06:00

Got these new door slabs down at the ReStore for $10 a piece. I'm going to take the old doors with the new ones to Wheelwright Lumber to have them drill the hinges/knob holes that I need. Door slabs are usually around $30, so I was able to save some money there.

As we usually do, Jake and I went to Chipotle after our visit to the ReStore and then came home. Upon arriving back at the apartment we ran into a small problem: we were locked out! I dropped my car off this morning at the shop to get some work done and borrow my brother's truck. Well his key ring doesn't have the key to the apartment on it. Ooops!

Lucky for me, Jake was able to get in through the window above the sink. I just wish that I hadn't had a sink full of dirty dishes for him to try and climb over. Looks like today will be a cleaning day :)

To life's little surprises,

Boomba

Yep, I got cheap new knobs!

2010-04-10T00:12:00.000-06:00

I have to take a moment to give a vast amount of credit to my mother. I had been throwing the idea around for a while about buying a house, but didn't want to until I had like $20,000 saved up for it. So it would have been a while! It was her that called me up and put the bug in my ear about looking at some houses before I renewed my lease. She also came to every house my wonderful real estate agent, Lewis, took me to see.

Needless to say her involvement has been quite critical! She has been very supportive and I cannot express my gratitude clearly enough on this blog for all that she has done to help. The list does not end here though, just this Tuesday she out did herself helping me again.

Last Saturday when Jake and I were at the ReStore, they said they were going to have some oil-rubbed bronze door handles out on Tuesday. My mom was so concerned that they were going to go fast that she offered to go down that morning and buy them for me. She went down there and they still didn't have them out. She was able to talk them into letting her into the back to search through a pallet of door knobs. She was literally there for HOURS. The boxes did not specify the color, so she had to look through every one to find the style and color she needed. Plus then she had to make sure she could get enough of one style for all of my doors to match.

Not only did she find some for me, she also find some for her too! Here's some shots:

Since I wasn't there to see them when she picked them out I was kind of nervous. I thought they were going to be too bronze, but they are more black, which is just what I wanted. These fit with my color scheme and I'm pretty excited! Silly me, I should just trust my mother.

The best part about these are the price. I looked up the brand and model online and the cheapest I could find them in this same finish was $22 a piece. ReStore was selling them for $15. She got me six door knobs, however; my mom also picked me up two dead bolts for $30 a piece and two outside door knobs, for $50 a piece. She got 9 door knobs for herself too. So for the discounted prices of $15, $30, and $50 my mom should have spent $385 on those door knobs. She got up to the register and the guy helping her (one of the owners) told the cashier to charge her $125 for everything!

So my amazing door knobs only cost me $65!

To having a wonderful mom that I love,

Boomba

First Big Purchase

2010-04-03T15:07:00.000-06:00

This is the tile that I bought for the main bathroom and the kitchen. For 278 square feet of porcelain tile it cost me $460.00. That is my biggest purchase for the house so far! I'm a big fan of grey and plan on using that throughout the house as my neutral, beige is played out for me right now.

Saturday Tradition

2010-04-03T13:01:00.000-06:00

In preparation for working on the house, Jake and I have recently started a new tradition on Saturdays. This tradition was started when a friend of mine, Jed, did some service at ReStore down in Salt Lake City.

ReStore is a place where you can donate construction items, kind of like a DI for construction goods. ReStore takes these donations and sells them to raise money for building homes for Habitat for Humanity. Sometimes things are close to what you would regularly pay, other times they are way cheap. Some things are brand new, some are used. My friend Jed called because there had been a construction trade show in Salt Lake, but instead of shipping a lot of the displays back, they donated them instead.

Inventory is kind of unpredictable, so you really have to check it out every week. Plus, on Saturday they always have specials. The last time I went all the lighting was 50% off and I got some cute sidewalk lights for the yard. So we go Saturdays because of the specials.

Today we went and got a lot of odds and ends of things we would need. Painting supplies, some more stuff for the yard, door hinges, and some lights for the outside of the house.

They are dirty and need to be cleaned, but for $5 each I'm not complaining. Plus the best thing about the store is that there is NO TAX. That's right, there is no sales tax on anything in the store. I got my double oven here for $125 and that's what I paid, not $133.50. Hopefully by spending some Saturday's getting supplies and some good deals on stuff I will be able to save a decent amount of money for the house.

After a morning looking at the stuff in the ReStore, then Jake and I hit up Chipotle on our way back. I think their burritos are about the size of a new born infant. I can only eat about half of one. They are super tasty and a very environmentally conscious company. Everyone should support businesses that have good ethics like Chipotle! Plus you get a ridiculous amount of food for a pretty cheap price tag.

To adventurous traditions,

Boomba

Home Is Where the Hearth Is....

2010-04-02T13:59:00.000-06:00

Right now I'm not allowed to work on the house. It's kind of driving me crazy because I have SO much to do, but I just have to sit here and wait. Now is a good time to kind of start getting the vision for things that I want to get done in the house.

The house has two fireplaces, one is the living room and another in the second family room (future master bedroom). I really like the look of mosaic glass tile being used on fire places. Here are a few pictures of styles that have caught my eye.

Fireplace #1

I don't really care for the color scheme here, but I like the "floor to ceiling" look. I also like that it's kind of narrow. This picture is also a good shot of the fireplace/mosaic tile in a room with wood floors.

Fireplace #2

This fireplace fits more of the color scheme that I'm looking for. Most of all, I love how the mantel and decorations on this fireplace really pull it together. This fireplace if a focal point of the room and I want my fireplace to kind of hold the spotlight in my living room.

Fireplace #3

I like the modern twist on this fireplace. The fireplaces in the house both need new inserts. They are both wood burning and I'd like them to be gas, however, inserts can be around $2,000 new. So it might have to wait. The candles might be a good (con)temporary decoration to let me save up money for new inserts.

Of the three, which do you like best? Better yet, what do you like/dislike about each one?

I'm terrible with decision making and might use this page as a forum for discussion the upcoming decisions that I have coming. I guess this means I need to get more people to come here!

To finding your inspirations everywhere you can,

Boomba

Shower of my DREAMS

2010-03-31T22:17:00.000-06:00

So... there is a lot I want to do in the house. The basement I'll probably be overhauling entirely to change the second family room into an awesome master suite with an incredible master bathroom.

I'm a big fan of glass mosaic tiles. So I spend a lot of time on www.modwalls.com. Whilst perusing their glorious gallery I stumbled on the shower of my dreams...

I'm very mod in style and this just looks so incredible to me! Hopefully I'll be able to incorporate something like this in the master eventually.

Just out of curiosity... Does any one else find this as fabulous as I do? Or do I have weird taste?

To hopes and dreams and hard work,

Boomba

A Much Needed Udate

2010-03-31T18:26:00.000-06:00

So this year I have super failed on this blog. I'm not sure what happened to the month of March, but it FLEW by. Tomorrow is April 1st (anyone with some exciting pranks to play?) and I cannot believe that this year is already 1/4 over. The craziest thing is that I've been so busy, but nothing super eventful has happened.

In my last blog, which was more than a month ago, my offer had been accepted on a house in Sunset. I had no idea all the "stuff" that goes into this! My offer was accepted, so I had to get the paper work to HUD within the next 48 hours. .... However, I could not reserve my loan rate until they had signed the contract that I sent them. It took them two weeks! Then I had to get the house inspected and then tested for meth. Yes, I said meth. Since the house had been vacant for six months, I definitely needed the test done for my peace of mind. For those that don't know, meth in a house usually means it has to be bulldozed.

All the inspections are done and I've faxed in all the forms to my loan officer. Hopefully I will be able to close next week! Here is a photo of the house:

While I'm not crazy about the color of the brick, the house really has so much potential. Sweat equity will definitely be required, but expect posts along the way! I've already bought a new oven, tile for the bathroom and kitchen, and a few things for the yard.

To being brave enough to take big steps,

Boomba

Endless Possibilities

2010-02-26T16:54:00.000-07:00

I know, I know.... I SUCK!

It's been weeks since my last blog! While I doubt you are hanging on your last breath to see what has happened to the couch, I do hope some people were following along. It's down to cushions... more sewing... more complicated sewing. I've been insanely busy with work and then my mom needed her sewing machine back.

I regret to inform you that the couch is still unfinished. No pictures in this post, please don't be angry. I kind of hit a wall. I made a few mistakes and my excessive perfectionist tendencies got the better of me. Instead of looking at the couch and seeing the awesome work I've done so far, I'm seeing the mistakes I made. I need a DIY attitude adjustment!

I need to get the couch done, however, I'm going to be pretty busy. I know, excuses are for sissies! I need to buck up and get 'er done! I feel like this is a pretty good reason though. You ready for it?

I. BOUGHT. A. HOUSE!!!

Guess what else?!?!

IT'S. A. FIXER-UPPER!!!

Oh the posts to come!

It had to be difficult at some point...

2010-01-23T10:44:00.001-07:00

I actually got this work finished last Sunday, but have been so distracted that I haven't been able to get the post up all week. I steadily feel this project coming to a close. In my last blog I had done most of the work on the couch without mistake. The main piece of fabric that went on the couch didn't really want to cooperate though. So it was definitely the most frustrating piece of I had to put on. I even got so mad I had to quit, do something else for a bit, and then return.

One thing I do have to say is the compressor, while awesome, does have a downside... When you staple with a compressor and it's heavy duty staples, they aren't coming back out. So it really doesn't lend itself to mistakes very well. For a first time upholsterer, that proved unwise on one piece. I was doing so well! But when I tackled the middle piece I stapled prematurely and it resulted in a giant problem for me to try and work around. I kept at it and definitely prevailed.

After the middle piece was on, then I just had to put the back of the couch on, followed by the cover along the bottom of the couch. Both of those pieces were giant and square, so I didn't feel they would be too difficult (and was right). Here are some pictures of my latest and greatest steps!

A few bits of advice from these few pieces:

1-Get complicated fabric placed before you staple
I can't tell you how much I really wish I would have done this!

2-Staple low on the wood
What does this even mean? Well, when I would be putting on a piece of fabric, I'd pull it around and staple it pretty close to the edge of the wood as soon as I reached it. This isn't wise because if you pull the fabric farther across the wood and then staple, it makes it easier to cover the staples with whatever piece will be serving at the "finished edge".

On the back of the couch, I had to pull the fabric as far as I possibly could to get it to the very, very edge of the wood so that it covered the stapling from previous pieces. Had I been more generous earlier with these parts, it would have been less complicated. I'm not sure if this makes sense to the general reader... but if you start upholstering, I think you will see exactly what I mean.

Basically its like wrapping a present. Have you ever cut the sides a little too short and when you went to fold them, part of the present showed through the side? That same concept, except you don't necessarily see the couch frame, but all of your staples that should be underneath.

3-Clean tools are a good idea
One of my favorite parts of the couch was using the tack strips to create the finished edge on the back of the couch. You poke it through the fabric and roll it to create a nice edge and use a rubble mallet to hammer it in. Quite easy, quite fun. The rubber mallet I was using was a touch dirty. I didn't even stop to think about that! So after a few hits, I noticed the fabric was getting dirty. :( So then I tied some scrap fabric around it and continued, this time with no dirty rub off.

Just a few things left and I'll be through! I need to sew the cushions and pillows, then figure out what I'm doing with the front of the arm rests... The light is at the end of the tunnel and I'm definitely excited to be done with this project and move onto some other creative ideas I have.

To learning from your mistakes,

Boomba

Steady, As She Goes...

2010-01-11T18:17:00.000-07:00

This was a rather productive weekend in the world of reupholstering. After I got the arm rests on, the next few pieces proved to be quite easy. I did make my first mistake... but hopefully when I'm finished it won't be that noticeable. Here are some pictures of the progress...

Bottom center piece in

View of one side piece (I do have both of them complete)

After I finished getting those three pieces on, then I painted the legs of the couch. Before they were covered by the skirt and couldn't be seen, but I think they will be visible now. Of course I painted them black... it's the only color of paint I have. (which is why it will match everything else)

To making it over the hill and enjoying the decline,

Boomba

Power Tools = Dangerous + FUN

2010-01-09T14:21:00.000-07:00

Whenever I hear someone talk about "adult toys", I'll always think of power tools! Today I have successfully made small progress on the couch. Sorry if you were expecting a completed product in this blog!

My last blog was exactly a month ago when I sewed all the fabric together for the couch. A lovely friend of mine, Jack, loaned me his Porter Cable compressor staple gun so that I could do my upholstery. I had it right around the time of my last blog and actually did try to start on the couch. Unfortunately, the air relief valve had rusted and I couldn't turn it. So to avoid from blowing up, I waited to start the couch.

Jack has two jobs, so he is insanely busy! On a free night he came to check out the compressor and figured out which part he would need. I returned it to him and he had it fixed that night. Today I tested her out for the first time... and she works like a charm!

Great shot of her, but it isn't even my favorite part...

Say hello to my little friend!

I recommend to anyone starting an upholstery project to see if they can get their hands on one of these set ups. It makes everything soooo.... easy! I did have to go buy staples at Lowe's. The compressor came with staples that were 1 inch in length, but the staples I removed from the couch were closer to 1/2 inch. I got a pack of 5000 5/8 inch staples. Hopefully I don't have to go buy another box!

On a more serious note, do take the safety precautions needed with "toys" like this. I for sure got safety glasses and earplugs for this project. You'll also want to make sure you read through all instruction manuals for the tool you are using. I was really intimidated to use it at first, but once I got going I realized how easy it was. Then it just got to be more and more fun!

The first thing on the agenda was to make the proper repairs to the couch. I had three things to do. Each side needed a wooden piece along the bottom so that I could get a nice straight line when I folded the fabric under. This was necessary because I'm not putting the skirt back on.

Before

After

The next repair I needed to make was to the splitting frame on the back of the couch. I bought a piece of wood to staple to the top in order to help reinforce the beam and hopefully prevent it from splitting further.

Before

After

The staple gun made it so easy to attach these to the frame of the couch. I tried nailing the pieces when I first got them and... well... I'm a terrible aim with a hammer so that didn't turn out very well!

After the repairs were made I moved on to attach the arm rests to the couch. When I cut all the fabric out, I cut it in square dimensions. That way if I ripped anything I'd still be ok and have enough fabric. So as I started to attach the arm rests, I had to keep my scissors handy so I could cut the pieces to fit around the frame. This was only necessary on two parts of the arm rest, which was nice because it's kind of a hassle! As a note, none of this was actually hard. The hardest part was just making sure everything looked straight and that I was pulling all of the ripples out of the fabric.

Make sure you pull the fabric taut, but not too tight. You don't want anything to rip if people sit on it. Also, make sure you iron your fabric before you put it on in order to eliminate any wrinkles. You also want to iron each piece right before you are going to be putting it on. I ironed everything at once to start with. Needless to say, I'm ironing each piece before I put it on again.

There you have it! I'm feeling really good about my ability to get this couch together again. The longer I saw it sit there uncovered, the more I wondered if I could even put it back together.

To adult toys that make you smile,
(power tools)

Boomba

Say it ain't sew...

2009-12-09T22:04:00.000-07:00

This post is long overdue. I actually finished this work like on Tuesday... I was trying to decide what steps I wanted to include, but this morning decided that there is nothing wrong with having a few smaller blogs covering things I have to do before the couch is actually finished.

In my last blog, I had completely taken apart the couch. So the next step was cutting out the fabric and sewing all the pieces together. I was pretty scared because I haven't sewn in ages. Still, even when I did sew in home economics in the 7th grade (twelve years ago) I wasn't any good. We learned how to make "Cat in the Hat" hats. You know... the striped ones? Terrible idea, no one should wear those. NO ONE.

After all the fabric was off, I laid it out on my living room floor to review all of the instructions and begin pinning the fabric to be cut.

If you lay the fabric out in a common walkway, but sure to remove all upholstery tack strips. Jake accidentally stepped on one and we had to go get him a tetanus shot. It was also rather painful and he did bleed. He has since recovered, but gave me a pretty hard time about leaving sharp objects on the floor for a while.

My lovely mother taught me how to use her sewing machine for this exciting event. She came over and showed me how to load a bobbin and thread the sewing machine. Then we even took a few scraps of fabric and practiced for a bit. I can see now why women would own a sewing machine, even if they aren't particularly interested in knowing how to sew well. Knowing how to do a little with a sewing machine actually goes a long way.

So after I pinned each piece of fabric, I went to town sewing them together. Much to my relief, it wasn't hard at all. In fact, I didn't make any errors for the most part until the very end and I was trying to rush things. Still, sewing is NOT scary. I found it to be rather easy. One thing I would suggest, it always buying the pins with the plastic cushion things at the end. My poor thumb was raw after pinning all the old pieces to the new fabric and cutting them out.

This is the very first shot of the first pieces I put together. This will actually be the first piece to go on the couch. It's the front part of the base of the couch and the middle piece that covers the springs. I'm not sure if anyone can actually visualize what I'm talking about... I only know because I took it apart.

After all the regular pieces of fabric were sewn together, I had to go to an upholstery place to get some of the really strong black fabric that was attached here and there on pieces to be pulled through one way and stapled. There is a little upholstery shop not more than ten minutes from my place. I went there with a list of things that I needed. What did the guy charge me? $3 ! I actually paid $5 but only because I didn't have ones and he didn't have change. I'm not worried. That fits in the budget quite nicely.

The only thing I have left to sew is the cushions and pillows. Those will require more skills than I currently have. I'm sure I'll figure it out. Really, any other sewing that is required for upholstery is super simple. Mostly just straight lines over and over again. So maybe I have a false sense that sewing is easy, but I'm ok with that for now.

To enjoying your small successes,

Boomba

Thomas Edison said it best...

2009-12-02T22:06:00.000-07:00

"Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up."

It's been well over a month since my last post. I got bogged down with work and visitors and parties and the holidays and... and... and... I started taking the couch apart about a week before Halloween. After many tedious hours pulling out staples and only getting the skirt off, I realized that I would not be able to get the couch done before a weekend filled with wonderful people coming to see the house. So I stopped at the skirt, leaving the couch functional, swearing to press on once the holiday was through.

After Halloween I did start tearing apart the couch again. I do have high hopes that taking the couch apart is much harder than putting it back together. The process of pulling out all of the staples is rather difficult! I severely underestimated the time and effort that it would take. On more than one occasion my hands were cramped and scratched from all of the tugging and pulling.

In fact... as more time was spent taking the couch apart, the more I thought about taking it to a reupholster to have it finished. I had made it most the way through the couch but couldn't figure out how to get the base removed without destroying everything. Surely it would be significantly cheaper with all the work I had done and the fabric already purchased... Right?

I'm happy to tell you that I don't know the answer to that question. Tonight I had no plans but to attack the couch. Much to my surprise, once I figured out how to take the bottom off it was actually really easy. My couch had been sitting mostly unfinished for weeks. Had I realized that all I had left was about two hours of work, then I would have cracked down much earlier and gotten through it.

I'm glad I didn't quit when I was so close to finishing. Granted, I still have a lot more to do, I'm quite happy that I made it over the first major hump of this project. Here is a slide show of the process of taking the couch apart. Each time I removed a piece of fabric I would take a picture and put it in the slide show. Here is my little demolition show:

Now some reflection for taking apart a couch...

#1 You won't know, but you will learn as you go.

Before I started this project I did as much reading online as I could. One thing that really hated hearing was that each piece of furniture will tell you how it's put together. I wanted to know and be prepared going into it, but I wasn't and anyone else that is contemplating doing their own upholstery, you won't either. As you take each piece of fabric off, you see how your individual piece of furniture is put together. There really is no "way" to do it. You just sort of have to take the plunge to see what you are getting into.

#2 Use leverage to work smarter instead of harder.

Removing staples is a total pain! All I can say is that leverage is your best friend. Don't try and pull a staple straight out. Don't try and put a flathead screwdriver straight under it to pry it up. Remember to use your angles. Use a corner of the screwdriver to get underneath the staple and shimmy it until it lifts. Use some needle nose pliers to pull it the rest of the way out. Instead of pulling it straight out, twist one side out and then the other. It will save you a ton of energy... promise.

#3 Ripping isn't illegal.

The next thing I had read in blogs was not to rip the fabric off the furniture. This seemed pretty self-explanatory, so I took great care in removing every staple in the beginning. One thing that I learned is that you don't want to rip the fabric, but once you get a good amount of staples out, you can pull the fabric and it won't rip. In fact, there were many staples I couldn't get out with the tools, but when I gave the fabric a nice tug they came right out. Once I figured out how many staples I could take out and then rip the rest, then I really started saving time! Just be careful, because this fabric is the pattern for your new couch and you want it to remain as intact as possible.

Some other things...

Another thing that I did was keep a vacuum close by. There is a lot of nasty crap that falls in couches and I was often ripping into something and having a mess fall out. Keep a vacuum close by and clean up as you go. I wouldn't make a rule out of this or anything, but I'm OCD and think it's kind of gross not to...

This part is going to take time, so just remember to be patient and not give up on yourself. I probably put in around 15 hours to take this couch apart. Plus I got a lot of slivers and scrapes in the process. It's not always pretty, but it is completely doable by anyone with some will power.

I do have a couple challenges ahead of me:

(1) There is one board in the back of the couch that has some damage that will need to be fixed. I'm not sure how I will fix it, but it is something that I will have to address before I recover the couch. I may or may not have to actually seek out an upholster for some professional suggestions.

(2) I absolutely do not want to put a skirt back on the couch. Not only are skirts kind of dated, but they really make taking a couch apart super difficult. It was one of the most time consuming things I had to do and it was a decoration. However, there was black fabric on the bottom that was covered by the skirt. So basically I will have to reinvent a new pattern for some pieces of the couch so that I don't have to do a skirt.

(3) Sewing... I am going to have to sew for the next part of this project and the last time I sewed was in 7th grade. That was half my life ago so that is kind of scary right now. I have faith and youtube videos, so I'm hoping I will make it :)

To conquering my first baby step,

Boomba

A Futon Fit for a Guest

2009-10-25T20:11:00.000-06:00

I've finally got all of the furniture items completed for the office! I still have decorating that needs to be done, but that can wait until I finish the reupholstering in the living room. I'm very pleased with how the office has turned out and will be very excited to finish it. One thing that I have learned is that the details really do make a big difference in a room. The office now has all the furniture, but is yearning for it's details to complete it. I'll get there... I have to pace myself. Mostly because of money, but we all have our constraints!

I can now welcome guests to come stay at my place, because I have a futon that is actually pretty comfortable (plus I have extra padding to throw on it). I inherited the futon from my mother. My youngest brother had been using it for a bed, but then it was decided a real bed with a real mattress would be best for everyday sleeping. I agree! So I went down to Salt Lake with her to pick up his new bed and took the futon of their hands!

Now, this futon has been around for a while and was in the need of some rehabilitation. The support bars were struggling and the futon cover was quite dated. Free, however, was the right price and I was pretty sure it could be rehabilitated. I don't have a before picture because I received it taken apart. Here are a few shots that I took.

Terrible green plaid pattern

Wood ends that I sanded down and painted black.

All I can say is that I'm terribly sick of painting. One thing I would recommend to DIYer's is to plan projects with variety in mind. If you have a few painting projects, try and space other projects between them. I found myself caring a lot less about this paint job than when I did the coffee table and entertainment center. I had ran out of paint and did have to buy a new bucket, so now I'm set on paint for future projects if I need it.

One of the support bars needed to be welded again, but the other was sort of beyond repair. So I (really it was mostly my parents, but we all did it together) replaced the second support bar with a 2x4 cut to the right length. Once we got everything back together, then I had to buy a new futon cover. I'm not a big Wal-mart shopper, but their futon covers are great. I love the color and it was super easy to put on.

So here is the view from the door before the futon...

...and after!

The pillows I already owned and picked the color scheme so that I would be able to reuse them. I'm really pleased with how the project turned out and am glad to have the extra bed for visitors.

Financial Breakdown:

Futon: $FREE
Paint: $11
Cover: $30

Total Cost: $41

Cumulative Office Cost: $131

I do still have some details to attend to, but won't exceed $200 for the entire room. Hopefully that frames some pictures for me, gets a rug, and an office chair. We'll see how awesome I am at being frugal.

To finishing what you start,

Boomba

Going HON Wild!

2009-10-25T10:37:00.000-06:00

I'm not sure why this post has taken me so long to get up. I had this done when I had the book case done, but just never got around to taking the pictures and posting it. Anyway, I was successfully able to replace my old desk for a much more modern HON desk. HON is a manufacturer of desks and they are really high in quality. On their website, no desk is under $300.

What happened to the budget McKell?
Budget.... oh yeah! That thing... Hmmm...

Once again, because of the glory that is KSL Classifieds, I was able to find a HON desk in the Layton area for only $60! Plus I was able to sell my old desk for $20, making my net expense on my desk $40. I think that is in the budget :)

When looking for desks, I wanted one that had actual legs. Writers desks were really attractive to me because they were kind of elegant with the legs and it would also help make the room seem bigger with the increased floor visibility. I'm not certain how much room the futon will take up in this room, so I wanted to help make it look at visually large as I could. I did actually find a beautiful writers desk and chair on KSL, but after I drove all the way down to Holladay to pick it up, the old man had sold it out from underneath me! Needless to say, I was rather angry, but that is one of the dangers of shopping on KSL. I highly recommend you always call, give your name, get their name, and get a commitment that you are going to buy it and they are going to sell it to you. That way there is no confusion.

In the end, it worked out for the best because even though it's not the exact style I wanted, it turned out being the better choice. The desk is more modern and sturdy, it's massive, but it doesn't appear to take up much space in the room. I'm really glad that I ended up getting this desk, plus the resell on it will be easy if I decide to redecorate in the future.

Enough talk, on to the pictures!

The old desk

The new desk

Old view of desk and book case

New view of desk and book case

One thing I didn't realize is that if you have open legs on the desk, then all of the random cords and wires can be seen. Right now it looks like a jumbled mess, but I'll be using twist ties to organize them as soon as I steal the ones I have at work (I never use them there).

Financial Breakdown:

Cost of new desk: $60
Less old desk revenue: $20

Total expense: $40

Special thanks Justin for taking my old desk off my hands AND paying me for it. He sent me a picture of the new desk and he could start his own before/after blog :)

To keeping to your budget,

Boomba

... And everything in it's place

2009-10-17T08:44:00.000-06:00

Redoing the office has been like fixing a car: it only ever looks worse before it is actually gets better. The office was a disaster to begin with, but as I started going through boxes, files, and paper it became a <insert work here that is much worse than a disaster>! I literally had to take three or four days to go through all of it and throw it out and organize it. The end result is much peace and satisfaction that occurs after a good cleanse :)

I had to start with the bookshelf because it was actually the key to cleaning up the entire room. The vast majority of junk I had on the desk (see previous blog) just needed a place to be. The previous bookshelf I actually am quite fond of. It folds up really nice and has always looked really good. The bookshelf is made of rubberwood and I don't know if that will paint well. Rubberwood has a tendency to warp when it dries. I may have to sell it or I may try to repaint it eventually, it would still be quite functional in either the office or the living room.

The before picture of the bookcase is in my previous blog, but I'll just put another one up because it's easy to do.

Not a bad piece, but (1) it was too small to fit all of my books and (2) I needed to change the color. If the size was right and the color was wrong, I would have just repainted it, but I really did need something larger. The bookcase I replaced it with was a purchase off of KSL classified. I do love that website and usually check it daily. Bookcases are quite common, but they were either particle board and the wrong color (I refuse to repaint particle board if at all possible) or real wood and the wrong size and really quite expensive. Eventually I stumbled on a bookcase that wasn't real wood, but it was already black. Plus that price tag was just right, it was only $20 and had five shelves. Had it been real wood, it would have been EXACTLY what I was looking for. Here is the after shot!

An organized piece of art in my eyes! Now all of my books fit on here perfectly and all the random junk I had is organized in these great IKEA boxes which are also super cheap. I got twelve boxes for $30 and even though you have to assemble them, it's really easy. These are probably the best investment I have made towards home organization ever. I'm very pleased not to have shenanigans everywhere now!

Financial Breakdown
Bookcase: $20
Boxes: $30

Total Project Cost: $50

Now this may be half of what I spent doing multiple projects in the living room, but this project alone cleaned up the entire office. So it's impact on the overall room was HUGE. I can actually see the floor again :)

To having a place for everything...

Boomba

Distractions, lovely distractions!

2009-10-15T21:29:00.000-06:00

So I'm doing what I swore I wouldn't do... pausing one project to start another! This is how you end up with a million projects in process and none of the complete. I originally wanted to do one room at a time because then if I failed to complete one project, it would only show in one room... not scattered throughout my entire house.

Here is the story, I was cruising right along with the living room and got down to buying a new rug and reupholstering the furniture. Granted I was probably looking to find a reason to procrastinate, but my next room to attach was the office/guest bedroom. So I've been looking for a new bookcase, desk, and some sort of sofa/day bed for company. Well since I do all of my shopping via KSL, all of the things I needed sort of fell into my lap sooner than I expected. So I had to pause on the living room and move on to the office so that I could pick up the new furniture and move it in.

All I can say right now is that everything is a mess! I have old furniture and new furniture all over the house and really, the mess is driving me insane. Things are coming together in the office, but it's not quite like I envisioned and I'm having a hard time with that. Hopefully when it all comes together, it'll be more satisfying.

To start, I need to get some pictures up of the office before. Then as each piece of the office is completed, then I will have an individual post on that item. The office won't be near as much DIY work as the living room since most of it is new furniture, but some of it does need some work.

Warning: for those of you that know me, the state of this office may shock and appall you. I have found that when you are dissatisfied with the function of anything (a room, system, etc) you are more likely to let it get messy. Since I have started the redecorating of the living room, it doesn't hardly ever get messy. So, to put things succinctly, the office was a disaster! See for yourselves:

View from the door into the office...

The opposite wall...

The small bookshelf...

The desk and filing cabinet...

As you can see, this room is an absolute disaster area. The action plan for the office is as follows:

-Replace desk with a modern black one with no hutch
-Get a larger book case, also black
-Procure storage containers for the book case
-Find a decent futon/guest bed
-Frame photos from Michelle to go above desk
-New filing cabinet?

Just so everyone knows, I do not have an obsession with black. However, in many places I have lived, my living room and office area have been in an open layout and visible to one another. If this happens, I want to furniture in both rooms to match. That way I don't have to redo things later. Besides, black is just a really good neutral that you can use to create a variety of modern color schemes. Not a black lover (my favorite color is grass green), but I'm still a practical girl at heart.

The majority of furniture is purchased, but the conversion process still needs to be finished. More posts *hopefully in the near future*, when things are complete.

To bumps in the road that keep us on our toes...

Boomba

Mirror mirror on the wall...

2009-10-05T19:14:00.000-06:00

I've really outdone myself and completed most my projects in two weekends. This is good and bad at the same time because now my living room is starting to come together, but then I'll have to start reupholstering soon. I'm still pretty terrified of that conquest, but have gleaned much bravery in completing so many other tasks before hand.

This picture wasn't hanging up, so I need to start by showing everyone so a proper before and after can take place. This picture matches my awesome couch :)

I actually don't think the picture is terrible, but it's just not my style. For the mirror transformation to take place I needed a screw driver, razor blade, drop cloth, spray paint, and mirror glass. In a previous blog I already had purchased the spray paint, but one can is usually only a few dollars. I'm also incredibly lucky and my dad provided the mirror glass since him and his wife run a windows business together. Those can cost around $50, however, you could see if trading in the picture glass would yield any discounts.

To start, unscrew the wiring from the back of the mirror. Then cut through any paper backing the picture might have (not all do, but this one had a brown paper glued to the back). After that, most pictures are held in place with a lot of little metallic fasteners. Take a flat head screwdriver and bend them up so you can get to the picture. **Note** It seems like these fasteners are set after the glass and picture are in place. Cardboard backing and picture should be easy to get out, but the glass can be difficult. I had to get one side out and literally slide the rest of it out. Be careful not to break it! Measure the glass to make sure you get the right size of mirror. The piece of glass was slightly larger than 2'X 3', so I had my dad cut a 2'X 3' exactly and it worked perfect! Thanks dad and Julie!

After all the contents have been moved from the frame, take it outside, put it on the drop cloth and spray away! Note that putting on multiple coats with spray paint can be different than regular paint. Instead of waiting at least four hours between coats, you want to wait either LESS than FOUR hours or MORE than THIRTY SIX hours. No in between.

After the coats have dried (usually within the hour), then insert the mirror glass into the frame. I haven't done this yet, but will the next time I can get over to Lowe's... but it is recommend that you secure your mirror in your frame with silicone. You have to be careful with what kind you get, some of them are "cured" and will eat the silvering off the mirror. Get an uncured silicone and put it one inch out from every corner. Make sure to rub it in to the crack of the frame. Put the cardboard backing in and push the fasteners down. Then you can reattach the wire and you are done! It's really quite an easy project.

Here are some of the final pictures. Unfortunately, none of them really capture how great the mirror looks. I was having a hard time finding a good shot. So here are a few, but you may just have to come look at it in my living room. :)

There isn't any financial info this time, because all of the supplies were already purchased. The total cost so far of all my projects is currently $105. Not bad for my budget! Thanks again for reading :)

To good reflections,

Boomba

The center of attention

2009-10-04T11:55:00.000-06:00

This weekend I finished another two projects! *crowd cheers* This post will just be about one. I didn't plan on moving though some of my projects so quickly, so I'll be putting my second completed project into another post. This weekend was focused painting my entertainment center. While this project may or may not add a huge impact to the room as a whole, it was a significant change for this individual piece of furniture! I'm very very pleased with it's outcome and hopefully so will all who happen across my humble little blog.

I had inherited this entertainment center from my mom when they purchased a big screen tv. It was a nice piece of furniture with a great solid wood structure. I liked the piece, but it didn't really "speak to me" or my personality. Here is a picture so we can all start on the same foot.

This picture makes it look like a jumbled mess... which it sort of was. I'm looking for more modern, simple look. Now since this piece was stained, but not finished, I didn't have to do any sanding. (Hallelujah!) I'm very glad because painting this turned out to be a bigger project that I originally thought! I was able to use the paint brush and the remaining paint to put on two coats. As a note, I easily could have put three coats on and it probably would have looked better. The problem was (1) I ran out of my free paint and (2) I just wanted to be done! Since there was so much surface area each coat took hours to put on.

One thing I did learn is to work from the inside out, not the other way around. If you are painting an item with cubbies and what not, start insides the cubbies on the very top, then do the sides, then do the bottom. This entertainment center has four main cubbies, the small one on the upper left hand side was particularly difficult to get into and paint. After all the inside parts are done, then move to the outsides. Maybe that is a no brainer, but for my first coat I did all the large surfaces first and the small ones second... it was much more difficult. Anyways! Enough with the blabbering, here are the pictures and cost break down:

All clean with the doors taken off, ready to be painted!

After the first coat, which didn't cover very well. Gotta love that since I don't have a garage that my kitchen gets turned into a construction zone for every DIY project that I do.

Now feast your eyes on...............

THE FINISHED PRODUCT! Seriously, scroll up to the top of this screen and look at the before shot. Now it looks a million times better! I opted not to put the doors back on because smoked glass is pretty dated and the open look is much more modern. While the actual renovating of the entertainment center was free, I did buy a few decorations to add to it. Here is the cost break down:

Nesting boxes: $9 each, purchased at Tuesday Morning
Green candles: $7 for both, purchased at Hobby Lobby
Picture board: $8 purchased at Hobby Lobby

Total cost of the project: $33 (decorating items)

The wonderful candle holders came with the end tables from Vic and Christie. I still owe them dinner for that... The reed diffuser was a birthday present from the wonderful Felicia (Fish) and it smells FANTASTIC! Thanks for listening :)

To wonderful, beautiful change...

Boomba

Not much, but it's a start!

2009-10-01T18:21:00.000-06:00

So I can officially cross two items off my recipe list for my living room. Sometimes the feeling is weird, because I felt really accomplished getting two things done, but the overall impact is minimal still. So I feel like I can conquer any DIY project, but I'm also a little bit nervous that all the work could be done and still not have the impact that I'm envisioning in my mind.

Item #1: New Lamps

Since I am on a budget, not many things will be purchased unless it is absolutely necessary. These lamps (I did get two even though only one is pictured) off of KSL for $30 total. I saw these exact same lamps at Bed, Bath, & Beyond for $40 EACH. Needless to say, I got a nice modern look for a very cheap price tag. They look really nice with the black table, but the shades to fade into the white walls.

Item #2: The Coffee Table

The one thing I have to say about this project is that sanding in cracks and crevices it totally lame! I bought three different grains of sandpaper: 80, 120, and 220. The sandpaper, drop cloth, and a can of spray paint for my next project totaled $20 at Lowe's. I took that table out on my back porch and began sanding the legs. Sanding flat surfaces = easy. Sanding those decorative legs = #$%@$#! :) When I went to go sand the sides of the table. I realized that it was particle board, which made me sad. I guess I was (skeptically) hoping that because it was old, it would be all wood. After I was done sanding I wiped it all down with a dry cloth. I didn't want to get the wooden legs wet. The paint that I used, a water-based black semi-gloss, was generously donated to me by the wonderful Michelle. Using the drop cloth, I set up my painting station in the middle of my kitchen. After another trip to Lowe's for paint brushes ($12) I was able to continue on. This was taken after the first coat. It covered evenly, despite being real and FAKE wood. One coat was good, but it definitely needed two coats.

I painted the first coat on Friday night and let the table set over night, then repainted the second coat the next morning. Getting into the tiny crevices of the decoration on the side was pretty hard, but I managed. I should have just gotten a really small brush for it, but didn't want to go back to Lowe's for a third time for more paint brushes. I also should have sprayed the top of the table with a finish, but like I said, I didn't want to go to Lowe's again. I may or may not get it and do it later. You just have to make sure the table has been dry for 24 hours before you put the finish on. Here is the finished (without finish) table!

I'm quite satisfied with the finished product and like the table much better now that it is repainted. Clean up was really easy and I only used one brush. I just folded up the drop cloth and will use it on other projects to come. Here is the shot of the entire living room with the new lamps and the new table.

Overall? The impact is definitely minimal. Chances are if I didn't point it out, no one would ever know. I'm hoping all the details will eventually come together in a unified whole. I like the new table and lamps. The lamp shades tend to blend in with the walls too much. Unfortunately I'm not allowed to paint any walls here, so I may have to get new lamp shades or add some pictures will lots of color. We shall see. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Total cost of lamps: $30
Total cost of table: $42 (with all materials left over for future projects)

To crossing items off the list,

Boomba

In the beginning there was...

2009-09-30T17:57:00.000-06:00

Since many of you have never been to my house, few of you really know what projects need to be done. To remedy that, I have taken some nice "before" shots of my living room with the changes that I would like to do in order to update the space.

To start, we will take a look my living room. This is a shot looking straight in from my front door. Most of these pieces I inherited from my mother. The couch, wing back chairs, and the lamps were from her. All of these pieces are really high in quality, but the fabric/style just doesn't match up with what I am looking for. The coffee table was given to me by my wonderful friend Michelle (aka Shelleepants). If I remember correctly, this table was her brother's that he was getting rid of. Lastly, the two end tables were given to me by Jake's cousin, Christie. The end tables (which sadly can't be seen in this picture) are what inspired/motivated me to change the rest of the room.

This next picture shows the entertainment center that I have on the opposite wall of the couch. Another quality piece that I inherited from my mother that is solid wood. The last photo is of a picture that my mother had hanging over the couch. I received a veto on hanging the picture up as it would make the room feel like a "grandma's parlor".

Never fear! I have a plan for all the pieces in this room and subsequent blogs to follow the transformation of each piece. Pictures of the overall room will be posted to gauge the overall impact each item has on the room. So here is the recipe of the redecoration:
(starting simplest to most complex)

Replace lamps
Purchase modern rug
Repaint coffee table black to match the end tables
Turn floral picture into a classy mirror
Repaint entertainment center black to match the coffee/end tables
Reupholster wing back chairs
Reupholster couch

I actually already have 1.5 projects completed, so another post should be expected shortly to show the progress there.

Well there you have it! That is my living room that I will be changing up with some DIY projects. Let me know if you have any ideas for me to throw in or to make the process any easier!

To beginnings that we often take for granted,

Boomba

Here we go....

2009-09-29T19:43:00.000-06:00

For the most part, I have been against starting my own blog. Blogspot seemed to be something that you started when you got married or started having children... like a perpetual newsletter. I found this wonderful to keep tabs on married friends and family, but didn't think I had enough going on in my life to constitute my own space on the intraweb.

At the constant prodding of a dear friend of mine, I began to consider starting a blog. She had one and she wasn't married. The biggest factor in my decision to start this blog was deciding to redecorate my townhouse. Over the years I have inherited a vast amount of free furniture. I have greatly appreciated all of these pieces during my college years, but now that I have a grown up job I decided to start living in a more personalized space. So I want to start changing things around my house to be more of a reflection on me as opposed to the people who originally bought the furniture.

Some of the projects will be as simple as painting and replacing some small decorative items. Other attempts will be much more difficult like reupholstering and reupholstering... and sewing (Yeah that's hard for me, I don't know how to do that shenanegins). Did I mention reupholstering? I'm slightly terrified of this project and will need all the advice and help this internet world can give me.

I'm on a budget for all this redecorating. So most my purchases are going to be made through the wonderful world of KSL classifieds. I'll note my efforts and expenses, so that if anyone else is considering some DIY attempts, they can glean some bravery and knowledge from my many attempts. The focus will be two rooms: family room and the office/guest bedroom.

To many adventures ahead,

Boomba

PS: For most that know me, boomba is going to be a new term. This is a nickname I have, but only from one person. Zookie is one of my closest friends and has recently left the state of Utah to serve our country in Korea for the next year or so. I won't get to talk to him much, so this blog is also to keep him informed of the latest and greatest in the life of McKell. :)