Carnival of Home Improvement

Carnival of Home Improvement is hosted by Mortgage Low Down

I checked out #1 & there are some great submissions! I'll be back to check out 2 & see if I have anything worthy of submitting :D!

No new photos

We are still moving into the upstairs. Of course with hubby breaking a foot we aren't going to moving any more heavy stuff up soon. We have the desk set up & my sewing machines are up, but we are still missing the file cabinets, my old sewing desk, a table for the kids to play at & all my sewing stuff! Plus we still have the fridge & stove in here, we are going to get rid of them (maybe look for a mini fridge at yard sales)



I have been thinking of putting in a couple Solatubes. My sister has one in her bathroom & it is fantastic. The light it lets in to the tub is great, no electricity needed! Since both bathrooms are either under the attic or downstairs has it's own roof, this should be fairly simple. I gather that the first floor bath would be easier, since it is a roof hubby will go on... But we have to have the main roof sealed & worked on anyways, maybe I'll get this sooner than I thought I would!

I am going to be looking for Closet storage ideas, thought I'd check Elfa Closet Solutions that Work at Organize.com
. The bedroom upstairs is going to be used for storage of my fabrics (it's unheated, so it'll be fine as long as we remember to keep the door closed!) I am looking for hangning & shelving. I have a great Rubbermaid system downstiars, but it is over kill for my needs. I may just go with plastic ventilated shelving instead.

Couple of links I don't want to lose...

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Master Bedroom Work

We are still working in the Master Bedroom.

The walls are no longer wallpaper, I painted over it with Kilz Casual Colors. I think the color we chose was Cappuccino Spice, I couldn't find it on the website, but it looks exactly like it sounds!!! I like the Kilz One Coat. It covered the peach wallpaper well. It took more than one coat, but the second was really only to touch up brush strokes, it wasn't an overall 2nd coat. We used the same paint in my kitchen (red over wallpaper) it didn't cover as well, but I was in the hospital (had the Princess & dh had friends help him) when it got painted so I don't know why it didn't cover. The kitchen was a Satin & we used Semi gloss in the bedroom (wanted Satin, but think the semi reflects more light so the flaws aren't as obvious!) could be the difference.

We still need to wire for an overhead light fixture so the ceiling is still incomplete. DH is in the process of changing jobs & our time has become tight. I am happy that I finished the walls, so I could hang my clothes back in the closet. We also need to beef up the crown molding, it is quite wimpy!

This picture also shows one of the 2 leaded glass windows we have in the room. What's missing is the ugly blue roller shade hung just below the leaded window.
Shop at Wal-Mart for Kilz Casual Colors.

Not sure if I posted a picture of the surprises we found in the apartment when we took down the ugly 70s paneling so here:

We found 2 of these "holes" from old windows & lines where old walls must have been. The air leakage around these old windows was terrible, so we filled in with insulation everywhere we could feel a draft & even where we couldn't. Then we put the paneling back up (on this wall only) & painted it. It is so much warmer in the space.

That said our house is celebrating it's 140th birthday this year! So I guess we shouldn't be too surprised by what's behind the walls!!!

Shopping for new blinds

I was checking out Guaranteed Blinds. I am looking to replace the 4 roller shades in my bedroom. They came with the house & are blue. There is NO blue in my room anymore. The blue carpet, GONE, the peach & blue wallpaper, now Cappuccino Spice.

I am not sure which direction I am leaning. Dh is getting a day job, so no one will be sleeping until noon in there (at least not regularly!) I don't want to do mini blinds, even the Faux Wood blinds don't seem to fit, plus that is an awful lot of "wood". The window trim is about 4" wide, the base molding is about 6" & the floor is hardwood.

I think I am leaning towards Roller Shades in either a copper or tan color. Similar to what we already have, but maybe a more neutral color. The blue ones really stand out. Of course one of the windows is HUGE (over 4' wide) so to replace all 4 with completely new blinds is going to cost at least $200 and that is for the cheapest styles...

I have considered just replacing the material on the rollers I have. If I can find the right one I might co that direction, but I am bad in the fabric store...oh gee darn another excuse to go!!!