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Home Improvement

When It Rains in the Basement, It Pours (Literally)

Did you ever have one of those days where everything intersects perfectly to create the Perfect Storm? It is like a mean example of Murphy’s Law where everything that could go wrong… does.

That happened last week, and while I would like to be sad about it all (and our wallets are definitely lighter) but, I have to say we are lucky the way everything turned out
Last Thursday, I had plans to meet two of my gal pals for dinner. When Brian walked in the door, he was greeted with hugs and kisses hello from the kids and myself. Then, on nights where I have to go out, Brian and I go over dinner for the kids, bedtime, and he usually asks me if laundry needs to be switched up before I leave (I’m one lucky lady). I was finishing up getting ready, and Brian went to finish switching up the laundry when I hear, “Erin, could you come down here for a minute?”
I walk downstairs to our unfinished basement and there is a line of water running along the drywall. UGH!!! We immediately go into panic mode, and begin the investigation of where it is coming from. After a few minutes of poking around with flashlights, and following water, we saw that it was definitely coming from the water heater.
We were actually both a little relieved that our basement wasn’t flooding and that getting a new water heater is one of those things that just happens with home ownership. We knew ours was getting up there in age, and it was probably time. Also, when you know (several) people who have had major flooding in their basement in the last year due to rain, you are thankful that you just a little dripping from an old water heater.
Despite the need for a new water heater we were grateful.
Brian insists that I go out to dinner, and that he will call around and figure out how to get a water heater here soon. I headed out for some much needed girly conversation. While I am out, and with the help of 21st century modern technology, Brian texts me that everything is taken care of and after reading reviews online, and calling around he was able to have Lowes deliver and install our new water heater sometime tomorrow. HOORAY!!!
I had a playdate scheduled for the next day, but we didn’t need hot water for that. Also, Brian said he would be home in time to meet the installers. There was no need to cancel our playdate. So, my friend, Colleen, and her three children came over for the day just as planned.
The next day, Brian got home from work early to over see the installation just as myself, my friend, Colleen, and our six kids sat down to lunch.
All was right with the world. Brian was coming home early from work to help with water heater installation. My three children were happily playing with three of their best friends. Colleen and I were enjoying spinach salad with berries and goat cheese (recipe coming soon). It was a great summer afternoon. I even had a craft planned. Sounds like fun, right? Sounds organized, right? Sounds… almost too perfect, right?
It was. The clouds were starting to roll in.
Brian lets the the Lowes installer in the house, and he leads the installer downstairs to our sub-basement. A few minutes later, Brian is standing in the dining room while we are finishing up lunch. I just assumed that the installer is down in the basement doing his thing. Well, you know what they say about assuming things, right?
That is when Brian says, “The installer is gone.”
There was a crack of thunder. “WHAT?!,” I reply.
“He said this is definitely a two person job, and they only sent him. He said he couldn’t do it all today, and that we should call Lowes to figure it out.”
Figure it out? Ok, minor setback. No worries. Brian calls Lowes, and Colleen and I start cleaning up lunch and trying to get the kids to take naps.
This is when the lightening started up. Needless to say, the kids didn’t nap. They were too wound up and excited to be together.
Then, more thunder. Also, after Brian talked to Lowes, they said, “Sure, we can send a two man crew out, as early as Monday.” Just to get you up to speed that is THREE days away. Three days without hot water, with kids in the house who need baths.
While, we probably could have waited it out, our real problem was with how Lowes handled the installation problem. Instead of the installer calling from our house and working with his supervisor to get a time later in the day or even tomorrow. He basically told us we were out of luck, and then left.
But, the clouds had started to clear up a bit. Brian calls Home Depot. He is on the phone for a few minutes, and our problem was solved. Home Depot said they can have a GE water heater out to us tomorrow. Brian calls back Lowes and cancels the previous order. Also, while the kids hadn’t gotten much rest, they were playing wonderfully, snacking on Goldfish crackers and taking turns with a craft I had planned for them.
Things are looking up, and it looks like a the sun may come out again. Colleen and I get the kids settled with a movie, and start cleaning up paint. Brian is in the sub-basement. I invite everyone to stay for dinner, so Colleen calls to order pizzas. Everyone was happy and content.
I take all the paint brushes upstairs to rinse them off. I am happily rinsing, thinking, “What a lovely day. Sure, the water heater is a bummer, but in the grand scheme of things it will be alright.” That is when I hear yelling. I can hear Brian from the basement yelling something, and Colleen starts shouting, “Erin, Brian says shut the water off!”
“Why, is everything ok?”
No, it wasn’t.
I run downstairs and it is pouring in our basement. This is not a metaphor this time. Literally, a full on storm in our sub basement. Brian is standing with a bucket directly under where our kitchen sink is on the the upper level. He is wet, and everything underneath the leak is wet. EVERYTHING! Boxes, bags of baby clothes, old toys, everything.
I start getting garbage bags, and dumping wet things into them. Brian has towels and starts wiping up the moisture.
We do our best to clean up, while Colleen helps with the kids who are starting to get a little unruly because of lack of sleep.
Brian does a little investigation under the kitchen sink, and finds that the sprayer on the faucet is completely shot and the kitchen faucet needs to be replaced. Basically, any time we would turn on the water it would rain in the basement.
So at this point in the day, we have 6 hungry and tired children, no hot water, and zero ability to use the kitchen sink. Needless to say, we cracked open some beers with our pizza that night!
After a long weekend of repairs, and cleaning up everything is alright. The hot water heater came the next day. Brian and I picked out a new faucet, and he installed it and so far everything is working fine.
We decided it was lucky that our hot water heater was broken and then the installer cancelled because then Brian might not have been in the basement when the kitchen faucet started to leak into the basement, and we might not have noticed for hours or even the next day that it was raining in our basement.(that is what we keep telling ourselves anyway).
However, sometimes when it rains in the basement, it pours… literally.
If you would like to read more about the insanity that happens here, or any gardening, DIY, Cooking, Baking or all other things domestic you can check me out on Facebook or become a follower of Home Everyday here

Brand New Door

A few months ago, Brian and I made the decision that we needed a new front door. Even though, I had painted the door to “help” it cosmetically, it never seemed to work right. It would stick, the deadbolt never seemed to work exactly right, and few weeks ago, the frame of the door pretty much started falling apart.

When it comes to holding a door together like this, it is time to get a new door.

We shopped around at a few different places in our area for front doors. We had an idea of what we liked and about what we would like to spend. We ended up getting a craftsman style door by a brand sold at Home Depot called Feather River.

The biggest decision for us was color. While we liked the idea of a bright colored door, our house faces directly west. In the afternoon we get tons of sunlight, and we new a painted door would fade fast, where a wood stained door would need much less maintenance over time.

We also opted for a new storm door, which is much quieter and looks a lot better than our old one.

Since Brian and I are newbies to DIY, we figured that having the door installed by professionals was the way to go. It added to the final cost of the door, but our theory was that a door is only as good as is installation. We are glad we did.

Here are some before photos:

 

Bye bye, Old Door!

Why, hello there!

 

 

There is a slight flaw in the door, but the Home Depot installers noticed immediately and have will be bringing us a new door sans flaw as soon as possible. Since our old door situation was horrible, we are keeping the new door with the flaw until the new one arrives. This should only take a few weeks.

So far, we are loving the new door. It is adding a lot to the curb appeal of our home.

Anyone else out there working on their curb appeal?

Finally: Upstairs Bathroom

A few weeks ago, after painting stripes in the downstairs bathroom, I thought since everything is already out I would paint the upstairs bathroom as well. We had lots of paint leftover from the downstairs bathroom (Behr Barnished Clay in Satin and Behr Perfect Taupe in Satin) we thought it would be nice to give the upstairs bathroom a little spruce up.

Let’s get to the pictures shall we?
The Before:
The After:
I painted most of the walls Barnished Clay. Here is a picture against something white for you to see the actual color.

 

Here is the artwork I created.

 

I painted the walls surrounding the sink Behr’s Perfect Taupe for a bit of contrast.

Goodbye Green: Another Bathroom Update

When I start a painting project, I typically like to paint a bunch of other things in the house too since all of the stuff is out. Since I just painted some stripes in the downstairs bathroom, I decided I could do a little facelift in the upstairs bathroom too.

The upstairs bathroom had a floral border and faux finish when we moved in along with a bunch of other dated things. We did a small upgrade back then with a new toilet, some new tile, painting the vanity, and removing the faux finish and floral border. You can read about the updates we have made so far here.

 

However, I never really liked the color we painted it. I love green, but this was too saturated, and seemed to suck out a lot of the natural light we had in the bathroom. Also, it was too olivey, and made the bathroom seem a little dingy. I would have repainted it sooner, but there was so much else going on in the house at the time (furnace replacement, painting kitchen cabinets, painting every room in the house, new flooring, new trim, new doors, tearing down sub basement, mold removal, tuck pointing, etc.) that I finished painting and moved on. There was just too much else to do, and we really wanted to move into our first house.

After painting the downstairs bath, I could not believe the change it made and decided to paint the upstairs bath too. Since everything was out, Brian agreed it was the way to go. He too liked the change downstairs, and thought upstairs could use a little sprucing.  Also, I could sand a little more and try and remove any remnants of faux finish that were still a little visible.

In the coming days, I will have a reveal for you. So far, the bathroom is so much brighter. Stay tuned!

Anyone else out there have paint on their favorite yoga pants and in their hair? No? Just me?

Don’t forget to vote for Home Everyday in this year’s Homie Awards 🙂 Click here and show your support! Also, my good friend Jocelyn and her blog Grandbaby Cakes was nominated in the Best Recipe category.

Privacy Please: Frosted Windows

Here is the deal. Sometimes, I don’t want to answer the door for solicitors. I know, its mean. However, hear me out. Sometimes, they just catch me at a bad time. As in, I’m still in my PJ’s, the kids are still in their PJ’s, I’m trying to make lunch, someone spills apple juice, the phone is ringing… oh and did I mention I’m still in my PJ’s? There are just times when it isn’t possible.

Even though all this is happening, and I cannot get to the door, there is still a straight shot visual to the kitchen from the front door because of these windows.
Basically, even if I want to hide or take a peek in the peep hole the solicitor sees me (still in my PJ’s) and I feel obligated to answer the door, engage in the few minute conversation, and lie about my political affiliation as to not disappoint and send this person on his/her merry way.Brian really wants me to put up a no soliciting sign, but I don’t want to miss out on Girl Scout cookies.

That’s when I decided to “frost” the windows. I did this in the upstairs bathroom for privacy and I still had some of the materials left over to do these windows. I used Gila Privacy Control Frosted Paper with the Gila application kit. The whole job took about twenty five minutes and another thirty minutes of dry time. (apologies for the photos the lighting was weird shooting right into the window and I took pictures with one hand while doing this with the other).
First, I cleaned the windows and dried them thoroughly.
Next, I cut the window film to size (actually a little bigger for a perfect fit). This way I could trim off excess. 

 

Then I removed the backing to the window film. 

I thoroughly sprayed both the window and the sticky side of the film with the solution that comes in the application kit.

 

I, then, applied the film, and used the squeegee like tool to work out any air bubbles. In the corners, there seemed to be a build up of the solution so I would gently pull back a corner, dab the with some paper towel to remove excess solution and then smooth out again with the squeegee tool.

 

 

I did this to all three window panes, and then let them sit for about 30 minutes before trimming the excess film with the cutting tool provided. 

 

Hooray! Now, I can stay in my jammies forever! 

 

Flashback Friday: Family Room

Welcome to another installment of Flashback Friday. If you would like to read more about all the sprucing up we did upon purchasing this home you can check out our kitchen progress, the bathroom spruce up, the living room/dining room updates, and the upstairs bedrooms.

The family room needed very little work when we moved in. The floors, crown molding, paint, and fire place mantel had all just been replaced right before we purchased this house. The bathroom on this level was also recently remodeled. The only change that was made is the wall behind the bar was painted from blood red, to the same sage green that we used in the upstairs bathroom.

Here are a few before pictures.

 

 

 

This room is where we spend most of our time. The kids toys are here, the TV is here, and the comfier couches are here. Because this room is usually a mess of toys and Brian and I’s projects stacked up on the bar, we are just happy that it happens to be sort of clean right now (just keeping it real). Here is what our family room looks like now.

 

Remember I said sort of clean. This is the toy area, the kids got to it right before I took photos (oh well, just keeping it real).

 

 

 

Getting Down to Business: Front Hall Closet Organization

This project has been a long time coming. With three little kids who are pretty active, and who are now about to start pre-school, I was starting to stress about an area for them to put backpacks, lunch pails, shoes, coats, not to mention soccer cleats, shin guards, swim goggles, and all the other crap stuff that kids come home with. This is what our dumping ground looked like last week.

 

Martha Stewart would be appalled. I’m appalled, and honestly cannot believe I’m sharing this photo.

Anyway, the first step was to find a place for mail, keys, and papers. I painted an old dresser for all of those things, which you can read about here.

Then, I decided we should have a place for everything else that comes in the door. Since my kids are too little to do the hanger thing, I decided on hooks for coats and backpacks, and plenty of baskets for shoes, hats, and other gear. I also thought it would be nice to have a place to sit and put on shoes or set things down. So, I made our closet into a mini mudroom.

I bought three Ikea Lack tables for $8 each, and put them in the closet to create a bench with a place for baskets and boots. Then, I added some shelving which I turned sideways to create cubbies for more storage. Next, I removed the hanger bar, and added lots of hooks.

 

 

Now, the kids are ready for school. We all have places for our things, and we have extra hooks and space for guests.

 

 

 

 

I think I would like to make some cushions for the top of the bench, but I am just happy we are organized.

I am so happy to be linking up with Honey We’re Home. There is a home organization link up party going on there now. This is one of my favorite places for ideas!


I am also linking up with I Heart Organzing. Today is a link party sharing everyone’s back to school organizing ideas. I think I’m going to be on a Pin frenzy today!

 

Flashback Friday: Upstairs

When we purchased this house, we knew that the upstairs would need a huge overhaul. The reason for this being, the previous owners had 3 dogs, and carpet. For people with allergies, this is a HORRIBLE combination. We all suffer from allergies, so Brian and I asked my Mom if we could bunk up with her a little longer, and do some projects to get the house livable for the kids.

So, in all three bedrooms, we removed carpeting, baseboards, and doors. We also painted all the trim around the doors and windows as well as painted all the bedrooms, ceilings, closets, and hallway. We also switched out all the light fixtures as well as all the HVAC registers and returns (we had replaced the HVAC system, and had the ducts cleaned so we decided to replace all the registers and returns because they were all gunked up with dust and fur…ew). We had help with all of these jobs. Friends and family pitched in, and since this was before Brian was handy with a miter saw, we asked a contractor to install the flooring for us.

Keep in mind, I didn’t know we would have a blog about our home, so I don’t have too many before shots. The upstairs had different color bur bur carpeting in every room, dark walnut trim and doors (except for my daughter’s room) and muddy colored walls.

Without further ado.

 

Here are what the bedrooms look like now. There are still some things we would like to do, like hang some art.
Check out our other updates: kitchen, upstairs bathroom, living room/dining room
P.S. Today I am linking up at Serenity Now. You can check out all the amazing projects people are up to, and even get some Ideas for your own home.

Flashback Friday: Living Room/Dining Room

This week’s installment of Flashback Friday covers the Living Room and Dining Room. These rooms required a coat of paint for move in purposes, but there are some plans that we have for the future of these rooms.

I think our eventual goal would be to make the Living Room more family friendly. One of the projects that is coming soon is a desk that Brian will be building (we already have the lumber).

I have one before picture, but this level consisted of more mustard yellow. You cannot tell from this picture but we are talking French’s Mustard. Also, all the walls and some of the trim had marks and dings from the previous owners.

Then with a little help, I chose the perfect shade of blue and started painting. These rooms flow into each other so I knew I would have to choose a color that I really liked as it would be everywhere. I didn’t want to go the neutral route as a lot of the furniture we had planned for the room, was pretty neutral. Also, I wanted to play off all the light these rooms get. I wanted something clean and bright so we chose Behr Aqua Breeze (I apologize for the iPhone photos. I didn’t know I’d be writing a blog when I took these).

 

 

So here is our entrance, living room, and dining room after our personal touches. We added a picture gallery, a dining room table that Brian built and I stained, and lots of  other furniture that we already had on hand. Here is our progress thus far.

 

 

 

 

 

New Kitchen Light Fixture: Bye Bye UFO

Ugh, I could not stand this light fixture above our kitchen table.

 

It always seemed too small for the space, and to me it resembled a UFO. I was starting to wonder when E.T. was going to come back for it.
Brian and I did a little shopping last week, and saw something that I immediately liked. It was classic and a little vintage, and even better it was on sale for $30! They only had the floor model left, but that was ok with us. No scratches no dents.
Brian has updated a lot of light fixtures in the past (mostly because I we have always switched light fixtures in every place we live), so he is an old pro.
This is what it looks like now.

 

 

So much better. I think it goes with our old church pew.