Category: Home Improvement

Affordable ways to update your home.

Green = Green: Window Shopping…Literally

Published on by Our Humble Abode7 Comments

Right now, replacing windows at the back of the house is the focus for a few reasons.  It’s small, not highly visible, and one of the windows by the sliding door had only the inner pane of glass.  Somehow, the previous owner shattered the outside pane, leaving us with this:

Then we went on a hunt for the perfect windows.  In a Utopian world, we could have black windows.  Unfortunately for us, black windows would fade easily on the south-facing front of our house.  So, we’re stuck with white.  Cohesion is the name of the game, so we want the windows to match.  Ideally, Ben wants windows that allow high solar heat gain on the front of the house.  It seems US companies don’t often make these windows.

After checking tons of companies (Anderson and Pella to name a few) we landed right where we did six years ago.  Alside white vinyl sliding and double hung windows; same brand and same line (UltraMaxx) we used at our first house.  Alside makes custom sizes and the prices are about half of the other brands.  We had six years to live with these at the other house and no complaints.  Vinyl is low maintenance, not needing paint or stain.

So what makes these windows green?  Well, they’re Energy Star rated, for starters.

These windows also seal tightly, preventing air infiltration.  Which means your heater or air conditioner doesn’t have to work as hard to keep up temperature.

For sunny climates, the solar heat gain coefficient is great.

Aside from the eco standpoint, the windows function well.  Sliding windows open smoothly and quietly.  And the double hung windows allow us to open the top and/or bottom for maximum air flow.

Our slider picture slider windows also have a fun feature.  The picture window also slides and all panels are completely removable.  Cleaning the windows is super easy because of this.  And, if you’ve got a large piece of furniture that won’t fit through the door, pull out all panels and you’ve got a large opening.

The hardware isn’t ugly, either.

We’ll use the same windows throughout the rest of the house, too.  Maybe not the front windows, but we’ll have to see what we can find for those.

Do you have a favorite window brand?  I know some people swear by Anderson.  Are you looking for the perfect window?

P.S.  We were not compensated or perked for this post, we simply love the windows we’ve purchased and want to share with you.

Side-Splitting Skinny Dipping

Published on by Our Humble Abode10 Comments

Sometimes, projects we tackle are big.  Others are little and not worthy of an individual blog post.  Today, you get a two for one.  One part side-splitting, one part skinny dipping.  One of our map cut out frames took a spill while I was in Minnesota.  Somehow (Ben still isn’t giving full details) the frame fell, but he caught it before the glass shattered.

But he didn’t catch the frame before the right corner hit the floor, splitting and denting the joint.

After living with the broken frame on my desktop for a month and a half, I finally got annoyed enough to fix it.  I dug around in the garage to find the staple gun and staples.  That’s all it took to fix the frame.  So, I took out the metal pieces that held the frame together before.

And put five staples in the corner.  Sure, it looks like Frankenstein’s monster, but it works.

Then I sprayed the dented corner with a little white paint.

Good as new(ish) back up on the wall, thus concluding today’s side-splitting segment.

Now to the skinny dipping segment.  I’ve wanted to dip furniture legs for a while now.  I love the look and the bit of fun dipped legs add.  While making our bed one morning, I realized the boring white Ikea Lindved tables we’re using as night stands could use some fun.

Using a ruler, I measured five inches on each leg, made a mark with a pencil, and taped off each leg.

Outside, I gave each leg a coat of gold spray paint.

Ten minutes later, I gave the legs another coat and left the tables to dry.  Outside, I loved how the legs looked.  But when I brought them inside, not so much.

The gold paint blended in with the wood floors.  Boo.  But, I had a can of silver spray paint left over from another project.  Why not try it?  After taping off the legs and spraying the legs a few time, I’m much happier with the results.

More fun than the boring white tables, but still simple.  Who knows, when we decide on a color scheme for the room, I might change it up again.  Perhaps a fun teal?  Or kelly green?  I don’t know, but the possibilities are endless.

How do you fix picture frames?  Does it take you a month and a half to get around to a simple fix?  Maybe you’ve dip painted furniture legs?

Laboring on Labor Day

Published on by Our Humble Abode20 Comments

Nope, not pregnant.  No new baby here.  I’m talking about windows.  Now that all most of the windows are in, let’s go inside to take a look at the difference the new windows have made.  First, check out the kitchen in all it’s 70’s wallpapered, oak, bay window goodness.

And now with the sliding white window.

Making this window flat lets in so much more light, and the window seems bigger without dividing it into three sections.  Oh, and the fact this window actually opens.  Go figure.  The same can be said for the breakfast nook window.  Before, V and E used the bay window as their personal dance floor/kitchen/play room.

Despite shortening the window, I think it feels more open.  Perhaps not having a mass of dark oak helped?  Whatever it is, I’m liking it.

Just a breath of fresh air to see a lighter, brighter kitchen.  Removing the ugly wallpaper definitely helped.

In the family room, we replaced the two stationary side lights with shorter double hung windows.  Hooray for air flow.  For some reason, I always feel guilty putting furniture in front of windows.  So this arrangement works better for us.

Also, I think the shorter windows feel more intentional and less like “this is a door, but let’s just take off the handles and no one will know.”   The window height actually matches, instead of looking like someone scored a lot of assorted windows on Craigslist and made it work.

Oh, and these windows and doors are so quiet to open and close.  The old door squeaked and squealed.  Ben is a ninja leaving in the mornings now, sneaking out the quiet door.

While window shopping, we discovered most energy-efficient windows have a low visible transmittance thanks to the UV blocking coatings.  This concerned us, because about 50 or 60 percent of light makes it into the house.  Luckily, we don’t see a drastic difference.

To gain egress in the bedrooms, our city requires 5.7 square feet with a minimum opening of 24 inches tall by 20 inches wide within 44 inches of the floor.  The original height of the bedroom windows was fine, but our casement windows only opened about 18 inches by 4 feet.

To use the same brand and line of windows throughout, our only option was a large (4 foot wide by 66 inch tall) double hung window.

Luckily, our windows sit about 19 inches off the floor, so we didn’t have to use tempered glass.  Wahoo for saving a little money.

These are my favorite windows.  I love the cute courtyard feel of the back yard.

And from outside, the windows are almost the same size.

No more awkward bay windows bumping out, either.

Ben used three layers of 2 by 4s to get the windows out.  When he wraps the house in insulation, the siding will sit flush with the edge of the window.  Using the 2 by 4s is a simple and strong way to support the windows while extending for the future insulation layers.

Now to get the insulation on the outside and frame the windows on the inside.  Of course we’ll keep you updated on our progress.

What do you think of the new windows?  Have you gotten new windows recently?  Did it make a world of difference?  Both in looks and monthly savings?

Climbing a Dusty Mountain

Published on by Our Humble Abode17 Comments

Not long ago, we had a ketchup and mustard look on our unfinished entertainment center.

After my bathroom painting marathon, I decided to knock out the entertainment center so we didn’t think of hot dogs.  While I painted, Ben added the face trim, side detail, and crown molding.

Of course painting isn’t that easy.  Oh no, first I had to fill every nail hole, wait for the filler to dry, then sand it smooth.  And then the priming phase.

Man was I ready to start painting.  Originally Ben and I had agreed on a white entertainment center with a colorful backing.  So I tested out my options inside the cabinets he built and liked Ben Moore’s Yosemite yellow.  But then we started talking it over and decided white wasn’t the direction we wanted to take.  Why the sudden change of heart?  Well, Ben pointed out how much light the front window lets in, which also means a lot of glare.  Bright white might cause a lot of eye strain when we’re relaxing in front of the tv at night.  White is a safe choice, and maybe too safe.  Let’s try a darker color, like gray.  But I didn’t want a sea of gray, so it had to be different enough from the wall color.  I picked out two Ben Moore colors, Kendall Charcoal and Amherst Gray.

Kendall Charcoal was a great deep gray, but too blue for our liking.  Amherst Gray was too light.  While at Home Depot shopping for some other supplies, we walked to the paint department and looked at more swatches.  I pulled out a Behr color that I’ve liked for years, Squirrel.  About six years ago, I painted our master bedroom this color, but Ben said it felt like a battleship.  Since then, he has come around to more modern designs, and doesn’t hate all gray paint.  But we quickly agreed Squirrel was too light.  That’s an easy fix, we just chose the color below, Dusty Mountain.  Without hesitation, we bought a gallon of eggshell paint and headed home.

In the pictures above, you can see we bought the paint before I was ready to paint.  After finishing the prep and priming, I started with the color.

Love at first sight.  Especially paired with the reddish Bubinga top.  Yum.

Ben came home, saw this and proclaimed his love, too.

I think the green undertones are lovely and reminiscent of an expensive library.  Just picture this color on crazy tall shelves with a brass bar for the sliding wooden ladder.

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But I couldn’t let go of wanting a splash of color.  Using the yellow left over from the cabinets, I tested it on the backs.

I love the idea, but the contrast was too much for tv watching.

Ben suggested I paint the back Wood Smoke like the walls.  Instead, I took the easy way out and painted it Dusty Mountain.

Ahh, that’s better.  Ugly speakers blend in with this more.  We’ll build doors for the side cabinets, but the yellow will be a fun surprise inside.

If we had cabinet grade plywood, we could have built the drawers.  Sadly, Home Depot doesn’t have any in stock because it’s seasonal.  Ummm, what?  Hopefully they get it in, because we can’t make the fronts until the drawers are installed.  I’m telling you, our plans are always contingent on something else.

Progress is progress, and I’m happy.

So, what do you think of the color?  Are you into darker, saturated colors, too?  Or are you more of a light and airy person?  Do you and your significant other agree on colors easily?

It Started With a Four Year Old

Published on by Our Humble Abode35 Comments

Last night, V and I had an impromptu wallpaper removal party.  And he sent me the invite.  Over the past few days, V had been slowly working on peeling wallpaper from the small area under my desk.  Once he got that off the wall, he turned his attention to the small area by the breakfast nook window.  Because I’m a good mom hate the wallpaper, I joined him.

Ben thought we were crazy, but didn’t object.  Fortunately, it peeled off easily.  Well, the design part peeled off easily.  The paper split, leaving the glued paper on the walls.  In many places, full sheets of the patterned parts came off quickly.  And in about an hour, we had all the ugly blue paper off the walls in the kitchen and office.

 

I’m happy to see the kitchen lighter and brighter, but I know it’ll be a complete pain to tear off the glued paper parts.

Lucky for me, I can work on this when I’m in the mood.  Hmmm, how often is one in the mood to remove wallpaper?  I guess we’ll find out.

For now, we’ve got a mock Tuscan look going on.

But I guess the crazy blue wallpaper wasn’t all bad.  Now the crazy things the previous owner did are completely obvious.  Like these five(!) nails randomly above the kitchen window.

And three more above the breakfast nook window, because, you know, everything is better in odd numbers.

My office has a few issues, too.

Like a wall full of pin holes.  Seriously, a little cork would have been better than this:

Gah, I love wallpaper…NOT!  Well, at least I’ve got time to work on it.  Anyone know an easy way to get the paper off without further damaging the walls?  Raise your hand if you want to come over and help.  Ah ha, I see you in the back.  Come on, I’ll feed you and provide the booze after.