"A designer knows when he has reached perfection not when there is nothing left to add but when there is nothing left to take away."

Rather than a costly, labor-intensive formal course, save Cash and time with those casual garden paths. They will mix in better and will seem like they have been on your backyard forever.

Required Tools with this Job

Have the required tools with this DIY job lined up Before beginning--you will save yourself time and frustration.

You will also Require a garden trowel and gloves, and a dolly for thick flagstones Along with a tamper.

Informal Paths

This winding gravel trail reflects the informality and simplicity Of upkeep of the backyard. Mulch and gravel would be the cheapest route materials you'll be able to purchase, plus they make building easy also. All you've got to do is eliminate the sod, roll out landscape cloth and spread the dirt or mulch.

Mulch and dirt paths could be dispersed, wood processor--coated trails or Carefully planned layouts, and they vary from casual to formal based on the plan and trimming material. You may select from a vast array of loose materials such as rough bark, decorative mulch, washed rocks and crushed gravel or cubes.

Mulch

Three common Kinds of compost Acceptable for garden paths are Wood chips, cocoa bean along with cypress bark. Mulch can also be a bit less costly than stone or gravel pebbles. Bear in mind, however, that organic avenues decompose over the years, which means you are going to need to rejuvenate them each two to five years using fresh material. In addition, don't use wood, bark chips or compost for avenues that run through areas with inadequate drainage or which are wet. It is going to result in some soggy path.

You'll find bags of compost at home centres, however for the best Collection of Organic substances for a course, check the regional nursery or landscape provider. Based on how large your course is, it might be more economical to have bulk substance delivered than to purchase luggage. -heavy layer of compost around 3 ft. wide instead to grass. Telephone the public works department in your town hall or see local tree trimming services.

Gravel

Several sorts of inexpensive gravel are all offered for avenues. Typical kinds include: crushed gravel, crushed cherry and pea stone. These substances continue forever and just require occasional weeding to look their very best. If you would like to conduct a wheelbarrow or lawn mower across the road, select crushed stone instead of smooth pebbles.

Gravel for avenues is sold by size and type. Larger rocks, averaging under 1/2 in., are perfect for avenues since they provide more comfort underfoot and package together better. Stop by your neighborhood nursery or Mulch Columbus, Ohio experts to understand what's offered in your town. Gravel is generally sold by the lot. Assess the width and length of this path. Take these measurements to the provider and request help to work out the number of gravel you want. Unless your course is quite brief, it normally makes sense to get the content sent. Gravel to get a route 3 in.

Gravel paths have a few limits, however. The stones could get monitored To the home, and thus don't rely on them close to entrances. And dirt paths are a lousy option in locations where you need to shovel them off. The gravel may wind up on your yard or flower beds.

Use a spacer pole cut into the width of the garden route as a guide once you place the edging or edge. You won't need to keep pulling the tape measure to guarantee that the edges operate parallel. Do not use vinyl. It is going to catch water and generate a fresh path.

If you would like a route that is firm enough to roll up a wheelbarrow on, then use crushed stone and tamp it afterwards leveling it. (Pea stone or alternative curved stone will not compact.)

Gravel or compost paths need pruning to maintain the substance A border for a design component. Here are some common Kinds of trimming you can utilize:

Vinyl Landscape trimming is cheap. And it is quick and simple to install. Should you Thing into the expression of the curved top border, conceal it with a boundary of plants. Aluminum edging forms a sharp border that provides the route a fantastic look. It costs over vinyl, though, and can be not as forgiving on sloped terrain.

Brick And rock boundaries are versatile and attractive, but they are more expensive And also much more work to set up.

Concrete Edging is less costly than stone or brick but has the very same benefits. Newer types that seem like arbitrary pieces of tumbled gems are an excellent Lower-cost alternate to a true rock boundary.

Landscape Timbers are an economical option to brick or stone boundaries. They are Particularly helpful for building shallow measures on slowly sloping terrain.

Taking on the job of home renovation may lead to divorce, according to child custody lawyers columbus ohio.

When you're taking on the job of home renovation, then there is a certain number of tasks needing to be achieved ahead. You want to be certain you've got each the financing to be able to achieve this objective. You want to be certain you get a very clear and comprehensive plan for each area, with budget and feasibility taken into consideration. You have to have time and labour scheduled and detailed.

The split generated while shifting a shared living room so radically can ignite a downward spiral into a connection.

With as much as 98 Americans reporting some amount of anxiety in their own lives, it's no surprise that the external stresses of earth wouldn't combine well with the pressures of renovating a house, developing a powder keg in a union. This powder keg may spell long term difficulties and conflict in any relationship that's abandoned, after the job is finished.

Know the job

Before partners enter into this commitment, they ought to know about each the disadvantages they face.

These couples let the frustration of building a brand new living room to Construct until they couldn't imagine the life they were producing for themselves, and according to the information, frustration is a significant portion of the experience. The information found that 46% watched that the general experience as irritating.

Couple can find Themselves talking two distinct languages and translating each others' responses in distinct and unintended ways. Having the ability to comprehend what the other partner is believing might often be a struggle with all the other pressures involved with a renovation job.

1 spouse becoming overwhelmed and annoyed by a scenario involved from the Emotions may add fuel to the flames, which makes both partners vulnerable to saying things they don't automatically mean.

Money no longer

Sometimes, the situation arises in which a married couple might be functioning On this job isn't where a few is presently living, placing them the proverbial fiscal hook for just two pieces of property. This can impact the total amount of money placed into the renovation job, thus affecting the evaluation and reunite in the eventual purchase of their house.

Determining the viability of someone's marriage. The mundane details in producing the ideal home aren't frequently planned upon, however, the aim of the partner resulting in the charge in this job is taking their union seriously and averting the divorce experience. Regrettably, it is not necessarily up to them.

Family and all its financing. Following a renovation is finished, a lot of the Finances are dried up in producing the new living area, so incorporating a Divorce from the combination, divides funds further to the stage where most people Can no longer manage the house they have just completed renovating.

Waking up to a basement filled with Water, a burst pipe on your kitchen or an overflow of water on your bathroom can ruin your whole day. Before you phone a water damage restoration professional, here are a few actions to consider to reduce the total amount of water damage for your house and possessions.

Find out where the water is coming from. This may seem obvious, but if you've just come home and discovered that a gigantic mess and do not know where it originated, the first thing you have to do is to FIND IT. If you are not able to discover the true source of the water, you may have a pipe that has burst. You would like to stop additional water from penetrating your home when possible. If you've got a bust pipe, then turn off the water supply to your house, if your roof is leaking, halt the flow as best possible.

Learn how much harm was done. Some things could be repaired on your own, but when it involves damage to your gutters, floors, or ceilings, then it's ideal to call in a professional.

If it is something you're able to handle by yourself, then first things first: flow!! Open the windows, turn on the fans, let the room breathe! This won't only help out dry, but it will also help reduce the smell. Get out a spoonful and running -- it takes the moisture out of the atmosphere and surrounding items, and helps prevent mold and mildew from growing -- a great tool to have at hand.

Professional water damage restoration services

Water damage cleveland, oh is a Great resource for water damage and flooding cleanup Services in your area. Just visit the website, choose your state from The menu and then click on the featured service provider closest to your property. These highly trained technicians are ready to handle emergencies Around-the-clock, or schedule appointment times at your own convenience!

Remove the bedding and refresh your bed mattress by combining 5 tablespoons of baking powder with 5 drops of lavender essential oil and sifting the combination over the mattress. Keep for one hour then vacuum cleaner up once you have done everything else.

Windows

Supply the windows a clean down with the window-cleaning fluid and the microfibre fabric. No window cleaner? See how to clean your home windows with vinegar.

Sofas and carpets

Use the vacuum cleaner to pick up all of the dust and dust buried in the sofa's crevices. Scrapes on your own leather sofa? Dab a cloth in a few petroleum jelly and rub the scratch out gently. For a material settee, sprinkle a generous dusting of bicarbonate of soda and vacuum cleaner it up after quarter-hour. You may also sprinkle bicarbonate of soda on the carpet to refresh the help and material remove stains; just leave to sit down and vacuum cleaner up before your visitors arrive.

Kitchen

Go back in to the kitchen area to wipe aside the antibacterial spray in the fridge and wash the fridge shelves which have been soaking. Return all of the shelves and meals to the fridge and change the fridge back again on. Wipe the oven clear with a brand new sponge. Kitchen area cupboard staples like tin foil are excellent for eliminating stubborn grit on the oven shelves - just scrunch it up right into a ball and scrub aside the dirt.

Final steps

You’re nearly done! Return back through the areas and vacuum cleaner up the scattered baking soda from the carpets and rugs, vacuum make the mattress with fresh linen after that, rehang the curtains and nets and near the windows. Right now sit down and read more interesting cleaning tips suggested by home cleaning services worcester ma!

This Simple DIY manual to presenting is Designed to Supply People that need To-do paving but have no idea how to get started with several recommendations and guidelines from paving company columbus ohio.

It's also likely to offer guidance on how you can incorporate paving into a Residence Employing inexpensive paving cubes you could grab in the regional Builders Warehouse and construction supply store which are not precisely the ideal paving bricks it is possible to purchase, but they're cheap and will be completed to put in curb appeal to your house or install a backyard place. Pop in to a community building supply retailer and you're able to grab paving bricks which cost in the order of r 2.00 each, insert in the expense of rough and mud at approximately R80 percent metre and you'll understand that paving isn't that costly if you dwelling.

Paving bricks

River sand

Okay sand

Cement

Quantify up the Region until you Begin to calculate just how many paver Bricks you'll require, and also just how much sand has to be delivered.

The location to be paved should be emptied outside. That can be a significant measure and There are many factors you want to take under account when preparing the region.

- Inside my instance the amount required to be less in relation to the usual sitting gate, to permit for closing and opening, and also you may even have to consider this under account if you're paving a place which has access and exit points.

- The paving Has to Be at a very small angle should butting Facing an Existing property wall. As my brand new ecosystem butts up against the leading part of the home, the paving is tilted at a small incline away from the land, in order that any rain will probably run off and perhaps not amass against the land walls. If you're paving an outdoor terrace or entertainment area beyond your home, be certain that rainwater flows out from the construction to a acceptable point - rather a drain or perhaps a reduce point that'll direct rain using the pure flow of this property.

- The place has been paved Should be Free from lumps and bumps, as these can Affect the degree of these pavers once placed. After digging out the region and removing loose dirt, use a rake to eliminate any loose stones.

Compact the soil until you place down sand, particularly when you needed to perform A serious little digging to find the degree right. You are able to seek the services of a plate compactor to your afternoon by a grocery store shop, also this will guarantee that the earth is compacted securely. If you really don't compact the dirt precisely you may possibly discover that you'll have a issue with dips at which the paving sinks to tender stains throughout the rainy season. Compact the earth once or twice to be certain it's done precisely.

Lay rough sand across the compacted location. If you are not sure what sand to Purchase For the foundation, allow the inventors at the construction center know which you're deploying it to paving base plus so they are going to be certain to receive the perfect sand. Coarse sand is nice sand which does not clump or hold together whenever you streamlined on your own hand.

With the floor already flat you can shovel little piles of sand over the Top with the. Make use of a straight edge (a part of steel or span of directly hardwood) to even the sand out. The sand base has to be approximately 4 to 5 centimetres in depth.

Today you're all set to get started placing the stairs. It is not always possible to Put the paving bricks directly up against a wall socket, specially where walls aren't Right, therefore make a tiny gap at the border. You can always fill big openings with Cut pavers or mix up a heap of cement to fill out those are as after you own Finished.

When installing new cabinets, you plan to do the job after the completion of the Rough wiring and plumbing but before the end floor has been installed. By installing the floors following cupboard installation, you won't utilize more floors than necessary and the new floors won't run the danger of building damage.

If you are replacing obsolete cabinets, then remove the old cabinets attentively so You don't damage the walls and so you can use them for taking crucial dimensions (or, in some instances, as patterns to the brand new cabinets). The ideal way for removal is to take off all of the doors, pull out the drawers, and lift out any detachable shelves.

Most cabinets are fastened to wall framing members through their backs with Screws or nails, which you will need to pull. Be sure to have a helper when you eliminate upper cabinets-as you extract the fasteners, you are going to need help holding the cabinets up. If cupboards are screwed together by using their negative panels, also remove these screws so you can eliminate the cabinets one by one.

The walls which back new cabinets need to be flat, smooth, and clean. To Assess them for flatness, put a long straightedge against them. Mark any lumps or voids so that, during installation, you can correct for them.

Unpack your cabinets and make sure all the elements are included. Wait till after cupboard installation to include doors, drawers, and shelves. Should you remove any parts, make certain to tag them so you can return them for their proper places.

The primary wall and base cabinets are all key-if you get them installed flat From rear to front and side to side, the other cabinets should follow suit. It's easiest to start with the wall- mounted cupboards so that the base cabinets won't obstruct your job.

Installing Wall Cabinets

When installing kitchen cabinets arlington heights, il, it is easiest to install the upper wall Cabinets first; this way, the base cabinets are not in your way during the essential lifting and fastening.

Heavy--just imagine their weight when they are loaded with dinnerware or foodstuffs. The wall cabinets have to be installed with the correct sort of screw. It's crucial to fix cabinets securely into the wall stud framing supporting the wall's surface stuff.

Some screws Need separate end washers, and some do not. Do not use drywall screws--they are not strong enough. The screws you utilize Must go through a solid part of the cabinet, like a support rail that runs Along the cupboard back. Every cupboard Ought to Be secured by at least three inches.

These expert recommendations may have you shooting on the bbq grills columbus ohio just like an expert.

Gas vs. Charcoal

The Ageold argument over which grilling procedure will be "much better" entails multiple While no studies reveal that either is fitter, gas will burn cleaner. Charcoal grills emit more carbon dioxide, particulate matter and soot into the air, leading to greater pollution and high concentrations of groundlevel o-zone. In a preference perspective, on the flip side, a lot of men and women like the smokier, wealthier taste of food cooked in a skillet.

Obtain It alluring! Reaches the ideal temperature (also to kill any bacteria). Your barbecue ought to be 400 450°F to get top, 350400°F for medium-high, 300350°F for moderate along with 250300°F to get non heat. While searing does not "seal in" the juices (unlike popular belief ), it can create flavors that are improved through caramelization.

Additive-Free

Should You select charcoal grilling, then we still advocate additive-free bulge charcoal, then Which is simply charred timber. Traditional briquettes could comprise wood scraps and sawdust in addition to coal dust, gas nitrate, borax and additives such as jojoba or lighter fluid. In terms of lighter fluid, then we recommend quitting it altogether. Lighter fluid may release volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) to the atmosphere, make a embarrassing residue on food and also present a severe threat if used improperly.

Brush It Away

It is simpler to eliminate debris Once the grill is warm, therefore after preheating, utilize A longhandled cable grill brush onto your own grill stand to wash off charred debris away from prior meals. Scrape again just after usage.

Oil This up

On a grill that is clean, lean Meals can stick when put right on the Stand alone. Reduce adhering by oiling your sexy grill rack having a vegetable oil-soaked paper-towel: grip it together with tongs and rub it within the stand alone.

Safety-first

Food security is a high priority, therefore maintain these simple rules out of the USDA in Mind: prevent cross-contamination by using different cutting boards, utensils and platters for cooked and raw foods; Scrub foods while marinating; rather than baste using the marinating liquid. (Create additional marinade only for basting or boil your own marinating liquid first.)

Marinate Your Disposition

Marinating does greater than simply decorate food with taste; additionally, it suppresses the Formation of possibly carcinogenic HCAs (heterocyclic amines), that shape once grilling "muscle meats" such as poultry, red fish and meat.

The racket Evaluation

To Assess the warmth of a barbecue with no thermometer, put your receptive Your hands in two minutes, moderate in case it's necessary to go your hands in 5 minutes and Low in case you must move your hands at 10 minutes.

Washing windows is usually never fun, but it’s especially miserable when it’s cold outside. Regrettably, sometimes it’s essential to clean off the wintertime grime prior to the temperature rises. You’ll like to take some extra tips from cleaning services akron ohio during the winter season to ensure a successful and safe experience.

Assemble Your Tools

First, assemble the required tools to remove ice and snowfall from round the window. You may use a backyard spade to shovel snowfall off the sill, and warm (not very hot!) drinking water to melt any ice from the windows pain.

A ocean sponge is a wonderful choice for cleaning home windows. It holds a lot of cleaning answer and is porous plenty of to remove stubborn places on the glass. You’ll want a squeegee to clean away excess water furthermore.

If a ladder is needed by you to wash your outside windows, ensure that it’s secure and clear of ice. You need to ask someone to contain the ladder for you personally while you’re onto it, since the motion of washing windows makes it very unsteady.

Use Cold Water

Unfortunately, you’re likely to be very chilly once you wash your home windows this winter season and not just due to the temperatures. You should employ drinking water no warmer than lukewarm when cleaning home windows, since a severe and sudden temperature change can cause the glass to crack.

Make YOUR PERSONAL Solution

Don’t be worried about using store-bought windows cleaner for the outside windows. It shall be much faster, cheaper, and more efficient to make your personal cleaner. Simply fill up a bucket with an assortment of vinegar and water, and use your squeegee and sponge to create your window shine. Another great windows cleaning solution is a combination of water and rubbing alcoholic beverages or salt.

For Below-Freezing Weather

If possible, make an effort to wash your windows once the temperature is above freezing. However, we realize that uninviting your boss to supper because the windows are usually embarrassingly grimy will be much more hard than washing your home windows in below-freezing weather. If the elements is cold really, contemplate using antifreeze windshield washer liquid, as if you use in your vehicle. Your home windows will be clean plenty of to impress actually the pickiest of bosses.

Additional Tips

·Dress warmly in shoes with great grips to assist you stand safely on the latter, and put on a hat, and solid coat to remain warm.

·Put on waterproof rubber gloves to safeguard the hands from the chilly and the chemical substances. Tuck your coating sleeves in to the openings of the gloves which means that your coating doesn’t get wet.

·If you encounter difficult places, allow them soak for some moments while you focus on other areas of the window. Usually do not wait too lengthy to completely clean the soaking places, or the drinking water might freeze.

Y’all, the studio half bathroom is finally FINISHED!! Trudging through all of the finishing details took way longer than I thought it would, and I’m just so relieved that it’s finished. It’s finished. Can I just say that a few (hundred) more times? 😀 I love those words. Okay, I’ll stop so that we can just get on with the pictures. Here’s how the studio half bathroom turned out… But of course, before I show you more, I want to back up and take a look at just how far this area has come. When we bought the house, this area was just a storage room at the back of the garage. This is what the garage looked like before it was a studio. The door on the left leads into the breakfast room, and the doorway on the right was the storage room at the back of the garage. Here’s what the actual storage room looked like. The roof sloped to the back of the house (i.e., the wall on the right), and the wall on that side was only about seven feet high. And at one point, it housed this monstrosity of a furnace… We actually used that […]

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I took a break from working on the studio bathroom yesterday to put the living room rug in place and situate the furniture with a temporary ottoman that’s kind of the size of the coffee table I want. Side note: Yes, I’m still working on the bathroom. EVERY.FREAKING.DAY. Y’all, if I don’t finish that bathroom today, I just might go crazy. I’m so unbelievably tired of working on that room, and I desperately want to move on to other things. But I won’t let myself move on until it’s finished. I’m down to finishing up painting the trim and walls, painting the door, installing the toilet, and installing the towel ring and toilet paper holder. Throw in a few accessories, and it’ll be done. I promise that you’ll see the finished room as soon as it’s done and I can get pictures. Anyway, I needed a break yesterday, so I decided to play in the living room. This room is such a mishmash of things right now — a new sofa with sticky pads all over to keep my cats from scratching, two chairs that have been in non-climate-controlled storage for ten years now and look like they came from […]

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After I finished up the studio bathroom, I was trying to update my house tour page, and I realized that I don’t have any full, wide angle pictures of the studio as it stands now. I have full view pictures from back when I was installing the floor, but nothing since. I’ve been working on getting my studio completely cleaned up so that I can build the second work table, so after finishing up with the cleaning yesterday, I decided to take all new pictures of the studio/back entry/bathroom progress so far. Of course, the back entry and the bathroom are finished, and you can see more details of those areas here… Simple DIY Curtains & A Finished Studio Back Entry And here… The Finished Studio Bathroom – Before & After The studio, on the other hand, is far from finished. I have one big project — building the second work table — and one MAJOR project — building the cabinets. Then I have all of the finishing details, like installing baseboards and the rest of the trim. But I still wanted to get some full view photos of where the room stands right now, before the cabinets go in. […]

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Y’all know me so well. 🙂 Some of the comments on yesterday’s post about our upcoming master bathroom remodel made me chuckle, because while y’all were suggesting that I try to make the perfect teal resin tile, I had already been busy at work in my studio trying out a few tile ideas. I haven’t yet hit on the perfect idea, or the perfect teal color. But I did test out five different ideas, and I found one idea (quite by accident) that I absolutely love. If you want to see all of my resin tile tests on video, you can check that out here… Having trouble viewing that video? You can check see it on YouTube here. So I tested five different ideas. The first three were very similar to the ideas I tried (and ended up going with) for the pantry remodel. I made my own tiles for that room, and this is how they turned out… If you missed my pantry before and after, you can see it here… My Finished Butler’s Pantry Remodel – Before & After For those tiles, I used blues, greens, purples, and white. They turned out crazy and colorful and bold, which […]

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Y’all, after much discussion and budget review, Matt and I have made a big decision. We’ve decided to go ahead and combine the Phase 1 remodel, which is scheduled to start around the middle of November, and Phase 2 remodel, which was originally planned for Spring 2020, and do them at the same time! I’m so unbelievably excited about this! So in case you’re new around here and have no idea what I’m talking about, the Phase 1 that I’m referring to is a remodel of the two guest bedrooms in our house. and the moving of a wall in the hallway all in preparation for Phase 2, which is to turn the current master bedroom into our new master bathroom. So the rooms labeled “Matt’s Game Room” and “Guest Bedroom” and “Master Bedroom,” along with the hallway they all connect to on this floor plan… …would look like this after Phase 1… At the end of Phase 1, the plan was to leave the room labeled “Master Bathroom” as basically an empty room that would then be turned into an actual, usable bathroom during Phase 2. And then everything in pink would be added during Phase 3. I share […]

The post The Bedroom-To-Bathroom Conversion Is On! appeared first on Addicted 2...

I had a busy weekend and wasn’t able to get anything done on house projects. And today, I need to get busy cleaning my studio to make room for my next project, which will be building the second studio work table so that I can make my living room draperies. So in the meantime, I thought I’d give y’all a video tour of the finished studio half bathroom to show some details that I can’t exactly capture on still photos. I mainly wanted to demonstrate how the toilet and faucet work with the pump that sits behind the wall where the toilet is. Every time I flush the toilet or run water in the sink, I hear a motor start running behind the wall. It was strange at first, but now I’m used to it. But I went ahead and included all of the bathroom details in the video for a complete tour. (That’s such a grand word for such a tiny room. 😀 ) Anyway, you can see the video here… Having trouble with that video? Click here to see it on YouTube. If you missed the main before and after post with all of the pictures, you can […]

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Do you have that one room on your house that has given you nothing but headaches? No matter what you’ve tried, nothing seems to work. You add something, take something away, tweak here, rearrange there, add new curtains, take those curtains away, add lamps, move the lamps. All of that and more, and it just doesn’t seem to come together? If you’ve been around here long, you know that for me, my living room is that thorn-in-my-side room that I just haven’t managed to get right. I shared my most recent plans for that room in yesterday’s post. If you missed that, you can see it here… New Sofa, New Living Room Layout Never in the history of ever has a room given me so much trouble. That’s not to say that I haven’t redone things in other rooms, because obviously I have. But I have other areas of my house that I got right on the first try. My pantry is one room that I got right on my first try… You can see more of that room here… My Finished Butler’s Pantry — Before & After I also got my breakfast room finished the first go ’round. Although […]

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I bought a new living room sofa yesterday! And within an hour, it was delivered to my house. Y’all, I LOVE immediate gratification!! 😀 Okay, let me back up a bit. Y’all know how much I’ve struggled with my living room, right? In the six years that we’ve lived in this house, I’ve never once gotten that room right. And by “right,” I mean that it has never felt right to me. One of the biggest issues I’ve had is furniture arrangement. There’s a wall with a doorway into the kitchen, another wall with two windows and a fireplace in between, and another wall with three windows side-by-side. And then there’s the end with the front door, which is all still in the same room, but I’ve wanted to create a separation between that end of the room as an “entryway” and the other end as a living room. I’ve tried several different furniture arrangements in there. At one point, I tried placing the sofa so that when you walk into the front door, the back of the sofa is on the right, which created a faux “entryway” feeling. Here’s an old picture that shows that arrangement… I tried that […]

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Have you ever been startled awake at night with a thought — a sudden realization that comes rushing out of the recesses to the forefront of your mind with such force that in an instant, you go from sound alseep to wide awake? I hate it when that happens, especially because during the night, anxiety and worry are magnified. Things that seem easily manageable during the daylight hours seem overwhelming during the night. Anyway, that happened to me in the wee early hours of this morning, and I couldn’t go back to sleep. The thought that brought me out of my restful sleep? We have about one month before our bedroom and hallway remodel starts! ONE MONTH! And I haven’t done one single thing to prepare for it. If you’re wondering what the heck I’m talking about, we’re about to embark on Phase 1 of a remodel that will be done in three phases. During this Phase 1 remodel, the two extra bedrooms will be rewired, insulated, redrywalled, and will get new windows. We’ll also be moving around some walls that will affect the hallway, so we’ll also take that opportunity to fix the damage done to the hallway floor […]

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I’ve been thinking a lot lately about my studio cabinets, and exactly how I want those to look. I’ve got a lot of decisions to make before I can start building them. Do I want the upper part to be open shelves? Enclosed with cabinet doors? Do I want the two floor-to-ceiling cabinets on the ends to be one solid unit? Or do I want a countertop extending all the way to the side walls with the upper cabinet sections sitting on top of the countertop? But the main thing I’m trying to decide on is color. No, I’m not changing my mind on the color. I’m sticking with my decision to use the same Benjamin Moore Bird Of Paradise color that I have on my front door, as well as the side studio door. But I’m just not quite sure how I want to use that color. And the more I think about it, the more I think that using that color on ALL of the cabinets in the room might be overkill. In this case, too much of a good thing might, in fact, be way too much. The studio, when finished, will have a whole lot of […]

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I finally made myself mix new paint colors for the section of my bathroom wall that I had left unpainted for some unknown reason. I’m guessing that I ran out of one of the colors, thought to myself, “I’ll finish up tomorrow,” and then forgot and convinced myself that the walls were finished since that section of wall isn’t visible from the back entry. And now, it’s five months later, and I’m just now getting around to finishing up that small section of wall. I’ve already written a post with with the step-by-step instructions for creating this walls design, which you can find here… DIY Geometric Ombre Square Spiral Wall Design – Finished! But since I had to mix all new paints to finish the wall, I wanted to test out the colors on a scrap piece of drywall before putting them directly on the bathroom wall. Since I was doing this test design anyway, I thought I’d do a video and show y’all how I created the design from beginning to end. You can check it out here… Having trouble? You can click here to watch on YouTube. As it turns out, all of my colors were spot on […]

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I finally had time this weekend to make some headway on the trim on the lower walls of the half bathroom. While I didn’t get it all installed (thanks to blog technical issues that devoured hours of my time…ugh!), I still managed to get most of the picture frame molding, baseboards, and base cap installed. I still need shoe molding on these walls before I can move on to wood filling, sanding and caulking. I know some of you were concerned about how underwhelming the lower walls were compared to the vibrant upper walls, and suggested that the lower walls might need color. This is how it looked before… But I think that the addition of the trim helped to add some visual weight to the lower walls to balance what’s happening above the chair rail. And again, it still needs shoe molding, so that’ll add one more final detail at the floor. I wasn’t quite sure how to handle the wall under the window, but I ended up going with one large picture frame rather than breaking it up into two or three. I think multiple frames on that wall would have looked too busy. I really like how […]

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I ended up taking the whole day off on Wednesday, so I didn’t have a half bathroom update to share yesterday. But yesterday, I got busy and finished up the tile. I thought that I could get the tile finished and the rest of the trim installed, but I was so wrong! I have no idea why the tile took so long. It’s just a small border in a tiny room, and part of it was already installed. And yet, it’s the only thing I got done yesterday, and it took me a ridiculous amount of time to finish. Oh, well. Some projects are just like that. 🙂 But I’m so glad to have it finished. I always love seeing the big difference that grout makes on tile. If you’ll remember, this is what it looked like before… And here it is now, all grouted and bright. It seems like every time I install tile, there’s a pretty long lag between the install and the grout, and I get used to seeing the tile with the dark shadows between them that look like black or dark gray grout lines. And I always think, “Ugh, that’s not how that tile was […]

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Can you believe it’s already September…and this month is almost halfway gone?! This year has flown by so quickly! And somewhere along the way, I seem to have lost sight of my overall master list of 2019 home goals. I’ve been focused on the studio for so long now (most of this year!) that other areas have been completely neglected. As much as I’d love to have the studio finished, I also need to work around our central Texas weather. Cabinet building (which is the one last huge project that needs to be done in the studio) can be done inside and during the winter. So with cooler weather on the way, I want to be prepared to get some outdoor projects done! Our temps generally stay in the 80s and 90s through September, but in October, we typically see some 70-degree weather at least on some days. And that’s the perfect time to get stuff done outside! I was looking over my 2019 home goals list to see what outdoor projects I had planned for this year. Here’s what I had on that list… Build and install five window boxes Add a watering system on a timer for the […]

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Thank you so much for all of your input on my post about solutions for creatives’ aging eyes. Your comments were very insightful, and I think what surprised me the most was how many of you love the monovision option! I hadn’t expected that at all. I had my eye appointment Tuesday afternoon, and I was so excited and hopeful that I’d find a perfect solution that would have me seeing with crystal clear vision at all distances. Sadly, that did not happen, and I’ve grown increasingly frustrated, disappointed, and discouraged since then. To be clear, it’s not my eye doctor’s fault. He’s amazing, incredibly patient, very knowledgeable, and I trust him thoroughly. The problem is my eyes. My crazy, frustrating eyes. After explaining my situation and how I spend my days working on projects, the first solution he proposed was monovision contacts. And after testing to see which of my eyes was the dominant eye, he put me in a contact for distance in my right eye, and a contact for near vision in my left eye. It was awful. 🙁 I know so many of you said to give it time so that my eyes can adjust, but […]

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I had a rather productive day yesterday! I made a new framed mirror, installed crown molding, and installed the rest of the chair rail trim. You can see my progress here… Having trouble with that video? You can see it on YouTube here. So part of my day was spent redoing an item on my list that had already been done and crossed off — the mirror. But I’m much happier with version two of the mirror. That oval mirror I had installed was one that I received free for my hallway bathroom remodel back in 2015. But the scale just seemed way off to me, so I decided to make a larger mirror. I like this one so much better! To my eye, the scale seems much better with the vanity. It’s almost identical to the one I did in the hallway bathroom. You can see the details of that project here… Easy DIY Vanity Mirror With Sconces That mirror is incredibly easy to do. The nutshell version is that I purchased a 24 x 30 beveled bathroom mirror at Home Depot, attached it to the wall with double-sided mirror tape and mirror mastic, and then built the frame […]

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I didn’t get a whole lot crossed off of my to do list yesterday, because I spent quite a bit of time going over the to do list, making another list of materials and supplies I need to get everything done, and heading to Home Depot. That always takes longer than expected, but I did still manage to get some work done when I got home. You can see my progress here… Having trouble with that video? You can watch it here on YouTube. I finally have a ceiling light installed. For that light, I opted for a large, round, simple LED light that kind of looks like a solar tube. I also saw a vanity light that I really liked, so I swapped that out. I got the mirror hardware painted and installed the mirror, but I don’t think I like it. It just looks small and skimpy, and I really prefer the more substantial look of the mirror in the hallway bathroom… So I might wait a couple more days and see if this oval mirror grows on me, or you might see a post from me tomorrow showing a new mirror. 🙂 I got the vanity raised […]

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Y’all, enough is enough. It’s time for me to get my studio half bathroom finished, and the only way I’m going to do that is by bringing back the daily accountability posts. Remember when I did those during the last few weeks of the pantry remodel? This happens in every room remodel I do. I get to a certain point, and I lose interest because most of the big stuff is done, and it’s nothing but the tedious detail projects that I really dislike, like the wood filling and caulking. Plus, in this room, there’s molding that needs to wrap around a weird pipe for the toilet that I don’t know how to do, so I procrastinate and avoid it altogether. The fact is that I’d rather be sewing pink draperies for my living room than grouting and caulking and installing challenging molding in a bathroom. But I need to put my big girl pants on and get this done. THEN I can reward myself with a fun project. So as of today, here’s what needs to be done to finish this room. I have a video walkthrough showing what needs to be done… Having trouble with that video? Click […]

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If you’re a regular visitor here, you know that I’ve been on a ketogenic diet for a while, and this past June, I invited people to join me on a 60-day keto challenge. Well, that challenge went great! We had an amazing group of people who saw all kinds of success — both weight loss as well as non-scale victories. So I wanted to share my own progress, as well as some testimonials from a few others (although I won’t be sharing names or other identifying information), because I have a new 60-day challenge starting this Saturday, and you’re invited to join! Now I know you’re thinking, “Kristi, why share this here and not on your keto blog?” Well, the main reason is because this blog has an exponentially larger audience, and I believe that this information needs to reach as wide an audience as possible. And that fact was driven home the other day when one of my favorite keto doctors, Dr. Ken Berry, posted a series of charts on his Instagram account showing the explosion of obesity in America. Just scroll through these and really let this sink in… I scrolled through those with my mouth hanging open […]

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Y’all, I can finally get back to the studio half bathroom and get that finished up because the new quartz countertop was installed yesterday! And I absolutely love it. I had originally made my own DIY countertop out of MDF and resin. If you missed that project, you can check it out here… DIY MDF Bathroom Countertop For An Undermount Sink Here’s how that countertop looked… That countertop looked great until I decided that the resin I had used (which was perfectly fine and durable) wasn’t right for a countertop, so I ordered a different brand and did a second coat of resin. After a month of curing, that second coat had turned my beautiful bright white countertop into a horrible and yellowed antique white. You can see the original bright white color that I mixed into the resin compared to the month-old yellowed counterop here… Ugh. Horrible. Had I just left the countertop alone after the first resin pour, I think it would have been fine. But something with horribly wrong with that second coat of resin using a different brand. Anyway, as many of you encouraged me to do, I headed to a local countertop place and found […]

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My living room has been neglected for quite some time now, left in a state of limbo where it’s usable but still not quite finished. And since it is usable just like it is, I really hadn’t planned on focusing on it any time soon. But if you know anything about me, then you know that when inspiration hits me, I have to respond. So the other day, I was sitting and scrolling through Instagram, just minding my own business. I had no plans or motives other than to entertain my brain for a few minutes. But then it happened. I saw a room with gorgeous pink draperies, and the thought hit me like a ton of bricks that THAT’S what my living room needs! PINK DRAPERIES!! Okay, so let me back up. If you’ve been around here for long, you know how I’ve struggled to pull my living room together. Never in the history of ever have I had so much trouble pulling a room together than I’ve had with my living room. After struggling for so long, I finally bought this amazing rug (which is still available, and on sale right now!) But the dark gray fireplace seemed […]

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This past weekend was all about easy and fun projects for me. This is the first of three that I’ll share with y’all this week — DIY coasters made from ceramic tiles, alcohol ink and resin. I had approximately 1,000 other things that I probably should have been working on this week, but as y’all know by now, I’ve been having issues with my eyes. If you missed that saga, you can catch up here… My Aging Eyes Revisited — Frustration and Dwindling Options The short version is that after trying out monovision contacts and realizing very quickly that those absolutely wouldn’t work for me, I tried the multifocal contacts. I’ve been wearing those every day for the last few days, and I think I might be getting used to them, but they’re still bothering me just a bit. My main issue is with my near sight. Anything the distance of a computer screen or dashboard on my car is fantastic. But closer than that, and things start to get a bit blurry, and small print still requires reading glasses. So I was doubting that I’d even be able to work on projects using these contacts without the headache of […]

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