Category: Home Improvement

Affordable ways to update your home.

A Productive Weekend

Published on by Our Humble Abode8 Comments

As you know, we’ve finally decided to finish our laundry room.  Well, part of it.  We can’t finish all of it due to the nature of utility rooms.  Last weekend Ben hung sheet rock and we ordered a new washer and dryer set.  During the week, Ben taped and applied two coats of mud to cover the sheet rock seams and holes.  We took a few steps toward completion this weekend, too. 

On Saturday, Ben laid the tile.  The pattern is a continuation of the pin wheel pattern throughout the rest of the basement. 

Vincent made sure the tiles were evenly spaced, too.

Talk about OCD…  We have a drain in the back right corner, so Ben tiled around it.  It will be hidden under his desk anyway.

Our washer and dryer were set to be delivered on Thursday, March 3, but we got a call on Friday from the fine folks at Home Depot informing us they were in the local store.  With the tile in place, Ben got a bug up his butt to pick the washer and dryer up, rather than wait for the delivery.  So, around 10:30 yesterday morning, Ben and Vincent went to Home Depot, with a spring in their step.  While Ben was away, I listed our old Kenmore (non matching) washer and dryer set on Craigslist. 

When Ben came home, he had our brand spankin’ new washer and dryer in the truck as well as two adjustable closet rods and a 9 foot by 12 foot drop cloth.  We’ll share the deets on those later.  Ben lugged the old machines up from the basement and out to our driveway.  We figured if no one bought the old set, we’d donate them.  As Ben was hauling the new washer in, his phone rang.  Someone was interested in the old set!  They said they would come over later in the day to look at them. 

Then, Ben filled the basement landing with loving loaded the new washer and dryer to the basement, after some measuring and careful maneuvering. 

The potential buyers looked at the old set around 3:00 in the afternoon.  Oddly enough, they saw the listing on Craigslist, but lived three doors down from us.  Not like the band, either.  So, they bought the mis-matched set and Ben pushed them down the sidewalk to help the new owners move them in. 

After moving the old washer and dryer out, the new set in and selling the old set, Ben also grouted the tile. 

 Once that dries, we’ll move stack the new washer and dryer to put in place.  That’s one small step for Ben, one giant leap for the laundry room.  Tomorrow, we’ll give a price breakdown and the smokin’ deal on the new set.

P.S.  Here are a few shots of the area that will stay unfinished. 

Our geothermal unit is at the far left and the bright blue monstrosity is a pressure tank.

The tankless water heater is in the back corner as well as our electrical panel.  Do you see that white machine with tile against it?  That is the steam generator that will live in here once the steam shower is started finished.

There you have it.  An update on our laundry room.  Did you check anything off your to do list?  We have some laundry to do.

Picture This!

Published on by Our Humble Abode13 Comments

An observant reader noticed our art gallery wall in our hallway in this Simple Solution post and asked for more info.

We don’t have tons of personal photos throughout our house, but our hall has photos of every immediate family member.

The hall frames were black before I decided to attack them with white spray paint this summer to lighten the group.

Before I saw a tip from Martha Stewart, our wall looked balanced, but cluttered.   I don’t seem to have a picture of the entire layout before I implemented Martha’s tip, but this is how this wall looked for quite a while.

The layout isn’t drastically different, but pay attention to the bottom row of frames.  What was Martha’s tip?  Keep everything above and below a line of painters tape.

The tops of the frames in the bottom row are {roughly} in a line, while to bottoms of the middle row are in a line, too.  To keep the arrangement looking uniform and uncluttered, I spaced the frames as evenly as possible while keeping columns of frames.

To further prevent  an arrangemt from looking messy, keep the frames and mats the same throughout.  We accentuated the center photo by painting the frame a contrasting color.

Obviously, there are endless ways to arrange a gallery wall, but this works for us.  Do you prefer a balanced, symmetrical or completely asymmetrical layout?  What’s your favorite picture hanging trick?  Do you cut paper templates marked with hooks for easy, perfect hanging?  Anyone use velcro or another adhesive?  I’ve been known to keep pesky frames level with sticky tack behind the corners.

Basement Progress: Small Bedroom

Published on by Our Humble Abode33 Comments

The last you saw of this bedroom, we had installed most of the trim, but nothing else had been done.

After filling and sanding millions of nail holes, caulking miles of seams, 20 gallons of white paint (for the entire basement) and hours of spraying later, we were ready to put real color on the walls.

After painting and installing carpet, we put a king bed on the floor before my family came to visit.

And now, here’s what you see as you enter the bedroom.

The bedding has changed and we’ve added some art recently, but we have tons of decorating to do.

That is the prettiest view, so in the interest of keeping it real, here are some other, not-so-pretty angles.

Here’s our still doorless closet.

I really like the idea of a pink and blue color scheme for this room, but we’ll see.  So, what are your favorite colors to pair with blue?  Any other color schemes you’ve recently fallen in love with?

Basement Progress: Large Bedroom

Published on by Our Humble Abode8 Comments

I have meant to post about the progress of our basement for months now.  I’m a bad friend and haven’t shown you, until now.  We’ll start with the first room we finished down there.  This room is sort of the ugly step-child of our house.  We were given loads of free solid oak trim, so we used it in here.  Now we want to change it, but don’t really care to get around to it.

Anyway, here’s what this room looked like in 2006. 

When we learned we were expecting a baby in 2007, we kick started this project.  This is the view from the entrance.

All the furniture were hand-me-downs from Ben’s boss.  This room is really long, like 18 feet by 12 feet wide.  This is the other side of the room.  The door to the left is the walk-in closet and the door on the right is the entrance.  The window is egress, too.

Last February, while scrambling (I was 8 months pregnant with Ev) to finish the rest of the basement, this room became a storage room for everything that was downstairs. 

Yes, those little legs belong to Vincent.  And yes, our sectional was a pain to get into this room and up on the bed frame.

The next shot is from June 2010, after we cleared the room of most everything.  You will notice a gradual accumulation of stuff from this point on.  Everything that is in this room is left over and unwanted junk from the main level.

We haven’t done much to this room but turn it into an exercise/storage/dumping ground and occasionally, we banish our guests here. 

Yep, not much progress, just junk.  (This is exactly how the room looked before I decided to take pictures.  In the interest of keeping it real, I left the stack of pillows and sleeping blanket on the chair.)  I have decided on a color scheme for this room.  We’re keeping the wall color until we get the energy to replace the trim and paint, but I want to add yellow and grey for a cheery, modern feel. 

Moving the exercise equipment should help, too.  Those boxes are the filled with hardwood flooring for our kitchen, by the way.  See what I mean about a storage/dumping ground?!?

Oh, and our Target rug has found a temporary home until our laundry room is finished.  Who knows when it will make it there.  Also, would anyone be interested in a messy house tour?  Is your basement a warehouse, too?  What do you do with your exercise equipment?

The Crowning Jewel

Published on by Our Humble Abode12 Comments

When we asked our readers to take a brief survey at the beginning of the year, we asked if you’ve seen something in our house that you would like to know more about.  One reader was wondering how the lighting in our master bedroom worked.  Let’s start at the beginning, the trim.

We decided to install crown moulding over the doors and windows of our master bedroom and adjoining bathroom.  Ben had a great idea, why not install rope lighting on a dimmer switch above each?  I said, “Sure.  You’re the one doing the wiring, so if it’s a pain, you have yourself to blame.”

You see, I have a tendency to come up with tedious projects that Ben has to complete, so this was all him.  Guess what?  It was a pain.  But I already said that.  Why was it a pain you ask?  Well, dear friends, because each window and door has a header above, made of 2 by 4s, to give the structure strength.  So, Ben had to drill through finished sheetrock, through each header, then fish his wiring through his holes.

Once he ran the wiring, it was easy.  Ben wired outlets, all set on a dimmer switch, inside each crown piece.

(Please disregard the dust, its there for moral support, though I did vacuüm inside for you.  Oh yeah, you see the traces of red, that’s not blood, it’s paint.  Yeah, Ben wanted our bedroom burgundy.  So, we painted it, then quickly painted it again).

Then, we bought basic rope lighting from Home Depot.  Home Depot has tons of rope light options, but we chose five 6 foot lengths.  Why 6 feet?  Rope lighting isn’t especially bright, so we decided to double up anything that was shorter than 6 feet.  Next, plug the lights in.  Luckily, the windows and doors don’t look any brighter than the closet.  After tucking the lights down in the crown moulding, Ben used plastic fasteners to keep everything tucked neatly in its place.

Here, you can catch a glimpse of the crown construction.  Ben cut the crown pieces to size, then applied glue to the joints and nailed in place.  Ben always goes a little overboard to make sure things he builds are super strong, so he cut scraps of wood to match the angle of the inside corners.  Then, he nailed the crown into the blocks and they’re like a rock.

The room glows with the lights on at night.

Please note:  If you are not an electrician or comfortable working with electrical systems, please do not attempt this your self.  This post is not a step-by-step tutorial, just a guide on how Ben created our lighting.  We are not liable for any damages or injury.