Category: Our First House

Our first house, a 1960 ranch home.

Etsy Me: March

Published on by Our Humble Abode16 Comments

We finished our basement nearly a year ago, but we’re finally adding art to make it look lived in.  Second to Target, Etsy is my go-to place for art and home accessories.  Why?  Because there are so many options, from around the world, right at your fingertips.  That and, I love when I can get something custom-made to my specifications.  A few weeks ago, I started a new series highlighting my recent Etsy purchases. 

Since that post, I’ve also purchased a few small prints from Cat N Photography.  I fell in love with the sweet sentiment of the Heart print, while the Float print will fit nicely into a gallery wall I have planned for the basement, but more on that when I get around to it.  Both prints are 5 inches square.  Fortunately, Cat had a BOGO sale, so I got both!  For now, I have the Heart print on the guest room nightstand.

Cat was so friendly and accommodating; just a pleasure to work with.  And, the quality of prints is fantastic.  It looks great in an 8 inch square frame I swiped from the boys’ bedroom.

Now I have to find a few more cheap square frames.  IKEA is in order.

I believe the art you have in your home should reflect your personality and as a bonus, it should have meaning.  When I saw the Great Lakes in teal paper cut out art by Crafterall, it struck a chord with this Minnesota girl living in Montana. 

I was thrilled to tear open that package.  I got so giddy once I saw the cut out.  The attention to detail is amazing.

Then, I saw Lake Superior in teal.  I decided to pick one up as a gift.  I’ve had great luck dealing with Etsy sellers, and Marnie is no exception.  Seriously, she was friendly, thoughtful and super quick to respond to my messages.  The art pieces were packaged nicely and arrived completely unscathed.  Definitely impressed with Marnie, her products and service.   

While browsing nature prints, I found another fantastic shop, Ara133 Photography.  This shop specializes in surreal, abstract photography.  Now, I usually don’t gravitate toward surreal art, but this isn’t too out there.  Again, I made my purchases during a BOGO sale, so I got two prints.  Both are 5 inches square, too.  The Willow print has beautiful coloring and a nice balance of sky and leaves.  Yep, still need to find a frame for this one, too.  If You Listen has beautiful contrast of a bare tree against a bold blue sky. 

Unknowingly, I got three pieces of art.  What was the third piece?  Ara133 Photography’s business card. 

Seriously, it was too beautiful not to frame, so I dug out a 5 by 7 frame, cut a mat, popped it in and placed it in the small basement bedroom.  

The blue statue and hazy purple-ish pink background coördinate perfectly with the blue and fuchsia color scheme I’m planning, but for some reason, the pinks don’t seem as bright in photos. 

Please note:  We were not compensated for this post, we simply love the items we’ve purchased from these shops and want to share with you!

All  images found via the featured Etsy seller’s listing as linked above.

Life’s Good

Published on by Our Humble Abode20 Comments

LG definitely has the right slogan.  Life is good with a new washer and dryer.  Are you ready to hear the smokin’ deal Ben scored?  Well, you’ll have to wait until I give you the back story.

Everyone knows Black Friday has great deals, right?  Well, we saw Home Depot had an appliance deal for Black Friday weekend.  A new, front loading LG washer and dryer was now only $1, 000.  Sweet right?  Yeah, I guess we weren’t the only people with that thought process.  When we went to place an order that Sunday, we were told they had sold their LG quota, so we couldn’t get in on the action.  We I sulked home, wishing we had ordered sooner, thinking we wouldn’t see another deal that good until the next Black Friday sale. 

Then, when Ben sprang this finish-the-laundry-room-thing on me, we picked up our search.  We knew we wanted LG.  Sears and Home Depot are the only places in town to carry the LG line.  Ben saw that Sears had a sale on the LG 4.0 cubic foot washer and 7.1 cubic foot dryer.  The price?  Originally $599.99 on sale for $509.99 each.  (Unfortunately, this seems to have been a week-long sale).

What did Ben do?  He called Home Depot to ask if they match the price of their competitors.  The nice man on the phone said, “Yep, as long as it’s the exact same thing.”  He proudly added, “AND, we beat the competitors prices by 10%.”  So, Ben filled the salesman in on Sears’ sale price and said Home Depot had the same set 10% off currently, but their price wasn’t lower than Sears.  So, Home Depot matched the $509.99 each price, and took another 10% ($102.00) off, bringing the total to $899.98!  Because we’re stacking ours, we had to spend another $48.00 on the staking kit for a grand total of $947.98.  seriously, it’s amazing what Ben can get stores down to.  If Ben didn’t get that bug up his butt, delivery was included as well as hauling away the old machines, if we didn’t sell ours.  The moral of the story: if you find a good deal, check to see if anyone can beat it.

Speaking of selling our old set, we listed those on Craigslist for $100.00 for the set.  They were sold and outta our sight within hours of listing.  So, it feels like we paid $847.98 for our new, front loading, Energy Star rated, squeaky clean, stackable washer and dryer.

Last night, Ben’s brother came over and helped Ben lift the dryer on top of the washer.  We did our first load of laundry, too!  Love them! 

We now have a ton of free space in the laundry room to add cabinets for tool and paint storage as well as Ben’s reloading system and supplies.

We also have poor lighting right now thanks to the stacked dryer.  We have wiring ready, just need to install the new light centered over the door.  You’ll also notice we have a pipe that hangs about one foot from the ceiling, so this will stay unfinished.

P.S.  Our washer door opened to the left while our dryer door opened to the right.  Not ideal for stacking.  It turns out, you can remove six screws, rotate the door 180°,  and reinstall the screws to change the door swing.  Just so you know.

What deals have you scored?  Anyone in the family a sweet talking, deal getter like Ben?

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.

Basement Progress: Laundry Room

Published on by Our Humble Abode7 Comments

Guess what we Ben did this weekend?  I’ll give you a hint.  It involved a little of this:

Yep, that’s sheet rock.  Ben wants to get into reloading (for bullets and other gun stuff) and he needs workspace.  We decided the laundry room was perfect for him, so we’re finally starting to work on it, which sort of came out of left field.  As of a few weeks ago, we had no intentions to work on the laundry room.

Remember the ugly truth in this post?  That’s what we started with.  After clearing out some of the paint and random junk, things were looking a little better.

After clearing everything out, Ben vacuumed the space, with a little help.

With the laundry room cleaned, Ben got down to business while I played with the boys. 

Before Ben could hang any sheet rock, he had to run wiring for outlets and a new light and switch the dryer duct work.  Then, he started with the longest wall, behind the washer and dryer.

We debated where we could sheet rock to on the back wall.  You see, our electric panel and tankless water heater (which is hanging on the studs) are on the back wall, and we still need access to the left wall to plumb our shower under the stairwell.  And, our geothermal system and pressure tank are a pain to work around.

So, Ben did some more wiring and we were able to sheet rock almost to the corner. 

The left wall and ceiling will be exposed.  Afterall, this is a utility room and if anything happens to leak, we’ll know about it as both bathrooms are directly above this room.  Also, some plumbing hangs about 1 foot down from the ceiling, so it would still be ugly.  We plan to remedy this with a wall of curtains along the entire left side, to conceal everything, but keep it accessible. 

Taping, mudding and sanding still to come, but it’s progress.

Already lighter and brighter, no?  On the laundry list: Get new, front loading, stacking washer and dryer set (to be delivered by or on March 3!  Ben got us a screaming good deal, too.  Stay tuned for more details), build storage drawer and cabinet system, configure Ben’s workshop area, buy/sew curtains, prime, paint, tile the floors.  Yeah, lots to do still, but at least we’re starting! 

What’s on your to do list?  Anything you love about your laundry room?  Tons of storage?  A place to iron and fold clothes?  Natural light streaming in?  What is essential to your laundry room function, other than a washer and dryer?

Cool, DIY-able Lighting

Published on by Our Humble Abode3 Comments

There are so many lighting options, many of which are expensive.  I decided to make a coffee filter light for our guest bedroom and that got my wheels turning.  Here are a few other affordable, DIY options I threw around.

1.  Spray paint an outdated chandelier.

2.  Using Mod Podge to cover an ugly fixture with book pages, maps or another pretty paper to achieve an Anthropologie-esque feel.

via Centsational Girl

3.  Use string, glue and an inflatable ball to make a Moooi Random Pendant look-alike.

Here’s Jen from Made By Girls version:

via Made By Girl

4.  Using wood veneer strips or iron on tape to create a Sarah Foote style light.

via Sarah Foote

Here’s a great tutorial I think I’m going to try to replace the fan in the boys bedroom.

Of course, there are many other great DIY friendly lighting designs.  What are your favorites?  I’ve seen some cage pendants, but those don’t really fit my style, though I think they are cool.  I’m open to any ideas, so share links, too!