In no particular order:
Re-caulk the farm sink - Since the sink was installed in the summer, the caulking started to contract and separate a little in the cold weather this winter. I didn't even notice it until recently when I bent down to get something out of one of the cabinets and was MORTIFIED that it looked so yucky. Unfortunately I didn't take a picture of it before we fixed it, but it only took my dad 5 minutes to squeeze a new bead of DAP Kitchen & Bath Silicone Sealant across the gap. Easy peasy!!! And since we already had some of the caulking lying around from other DIY projects, it was a $0 fix! What is better than that?
Re-caulk the beadboard seams in the half bath - Similar to the situation with the farm sink, the beadboard was installed in the summer and over the course of this winter the boards (which come in 4' sections) started to contract and separate a bit. It wasn't the end of the world, and again, I wish I had taken a picture before we fixed it, but it was definitely something that bothered me. So, with a little more caulking, DAP Alex's Plus Paintable kind, to be exact, we filled in the gaps and made her look brand new again!
Install knobs on the master bedroom closet doors - If you recall from my DIY Dirty Little Secrets post a while back, I had painted but kept putting off installing the closet doors in our master bedroom. No one ever went in there, and I was so used to the open concept look that I just didn't bother to finish off the project. Well....FINALLY, I bought some new satin nickel knobs at Home Depot ($2.39 each, so it was about $14 total) to match the knobs on our bedroom furniture. The best part is that it only took 5 minutes to install them!! I feel silly for having waited 6 months to do it now. If you are reading this and are living with a half-done project, just suck it up and tackle it. I didn't realize how much it had been bothering me to have the mess of my closet exposed until I had the doors up and it looked all neat and clean. I INSTANTLY felt more calm. It's amazing what a few minutes can do. So, if you are hesitating, just DO IT!! I promise you won't regret it!
Hem and hang master bedroom curtains - I bought the white Ritva curtains from IKEA back in the fall (maybe even summer) in hopes of hemming and putting them up when I did the dining room makeover, but no such luck. Months and months and months went by and we lived our lives in a giant fishbowl. Finally, and thanks to my amazing mom who did all of the ironing, we installed the curtains in the bedroom. It looks so much more home-y and cozy in there. Curtains make such a huge difference in a room. And at $14.99/pair, it was a STEAL!!! I used these curtains in my living room as well, and I plan to use them in the guest bedroom and nursery as well (although I would like to sew an accent piece of fabric down the sides of the curtains in the nursery to make it a little more colorful and playful). These curtains are online now for $19.99/pair but they seem to go on sale quite often at the store, so next time you are browsing and see them on sale, grab them....you won't regret it! I definitely looked at curtains from West Elm and Pottery Barn, but at the end of the day, I honestly feel that the quality of these IKEA curtains is comparable to either of those options and at more than half the price. I TOTALLY recommend these!!! They come in a few other colors as well, so you aren't limited to white curtains throughout your entire house either. I believe they have a burnt orange color, a black one (which is a little bold, but if you pair it with light colored walls it could be a really nice contrast), chocolate brown and beige (which I might actually get for the guest bedroom). So, bottom line.....go get these if you are not sure of what to buy for curtains. Even if you only use them for a year or two until you save up for your "real" drapes, it is worth the price. They are a heavy linen-feeling fabric (although I'm not 100% sure of the actual fabric it's made of). Best deal out there!
 |
| Before we moved in... |
 |
| Painted & decorated...but sans curtains... |
 |
| All complete...sorry for the bad photos though....the light was really strong yesterday morning |
Organize the basement: As crazy as it sounds with a baby on the way, we are still thinking of finishing our basement in the next few months. So, in anticipation of that big project, I thought it would be a good idea to go through some of the boxes downstairs (since I had my dad there to lift them for me) and see what we should keep and what we could afford to part with. It still looks pretty messy down there but I got rid of a lot of boxes of misc. things that could just be thrown away or donated. And a few of those boxes are also marked for a future yard sale. The only thing left to do is move the couches and other furniture out of there and have the two refrigerators removed. I have heard about a few different recycling programs for refrigerators, but most of them require you to have a participating enery provider (e.g., NStar). Our provider doesn't participate so I'm looking into other options. I have tried craigslist but no bites as of yet. Maybe I will repost it again this spring and try one more time before we give up the fight. If you know anyone in the Boston, MA area that needs a fridge, either a second one for a garage or a replacement one for their older model, I have a good working condition Amana one in that yellow-y color for sale!!
 |
| Before we moved in....it was probably more organized at that point than it is now. I forot to take a picture of the room this morning, but it looks pretty similar to this except for a few additional pieces of furniture laying around here and there |
So that's it for the weekend project update. Hopefully I will finish up cleaning out the basement in the next couple of weeks and can show you some before and afters before the REAL before and afters of the renovation! Ok, my brain hurts from that sentence. Happy Wednesday everyone!!
I love finishing up remaining projects. Feels good doesn't it? Hope you are feeling good Heather.
ReplyDelete