Friday, October 7, 2016
Boxspring turned baby gate!
I spent about a month staring at this queen size boxspring sitting on our front porch before I finally decided to use it another way. We didn't have a need for it anymore, but what we did have a need for was a really wide baby gate to go between our dining room and living room. Because our steps are set up weird and need railings added, I couldn't figure out how to put a baby gate at the steps so I just decided to put it in the doorway. Baby gates cost a small fortune considering they aren't used for that long, so this was an (almost) free one.
The first thing I did was take off all the fabric from the boxspring and all the extra pieces of wood to get it down to this point.
Next, I cut it in half with a circular saw.
As you can see there is pretty much space between the slats. I saved the other half of it and pried the slats off to add in between each one to be sure no heads or other body parts would get stuck in there.
After I filled everything in I had to do some other work to it. It needed sanded really bad and also there were extra nails and tacks in there from the fabric and other parts. I was unable to get the nails out so I ended up just cutting them off with our trusty sawzall. I didn't get any photos of this step but I used a small hand sander over it to make everything smooth and round the edges.
The last thing I did was paint it. Of course, like all my recent projects, I distressed it. I put a light blue paint underneath and then antique white on top. When it was dry, I lightly sanded it to let the blue come through.
To attach the baby gate, I used two small hinges on one end at the top and bottom and then a hook and eye latch on the other side so it can be easily opened by an adult.
It also works great to keep the dog out of the living room while we are away so he doesn't get up on the furniture!
Tuesday, September 20, 2016
DIY wall mount for your TV!
Years ago we bought a wall mount for our TV at Ikea for $7. Unfortunately in one of our moves we lost a part or two and it became unusable. I was really bummed because to get that kind of deal on a wall mount for your TV is unheard of! Luckily, Damien found this link to a DIY wall mount. This works out awesome & is really easy to do. You can check out the link here.I still need to get something to hide the cords and eventually the chest will be moved into Amelia's room, but for now, it's working out great.
I don't think I've showed any photos of our living room. It's definitely not done because we don't have any trim up and some of the light switch covers are still missing, but it's comfy and we're getting there. It's hard to get a photo of the whole thing at once.
Our lazy dog would not move for the picture.
Another project I'd like to do some day is do something with this door. I took it down from our house next door because it was about to fall out, and I thought it was neat and could be used for something. I thought about photos, but now I'm thinking about maybe having Abigail and my nieces and nephews create some type of artwork to put behind the glass. I think it would be sweet to have some artwork from each of them.
What do you think I should do with it?
Thursday, September 15, 2016
"Determined people working together can do anything"
I haven't posted in a little over 2 weeks because things have been kind of hectic these past few weeks. We are unable to get a lot of the cosmetic stuff done around the house because we keep having other issues that need addressed. Most recently we found our sewer line was clogged. We found this out because there was toilet paper all over our yard one morning and our basement was full of .... you know what.Thankfully I have a husband who isn't afraid to work hard and figure things out and he was able to get the clog with some help from the internet and some advice from my brother Adam. It took 2 days, an auger rental, several trips to the hardware store, and most likely longer than it would have taken a professional, but our clog is fixed and our basement has been pumped out. Next we will need to thoroughly clean it out, which will probably happen this weekend.
Now that we live here it's hard at times to get things done. We both thought it would be easier but every day life gets in your way. Abigail going to school, the baby, work, and just the regular chores tend to tire you out in a day. By the end of the day, it's hard to work on projects around the house. But we try to make it a point to spend a little time each day on something.
I've been grouting the kitchen floor a little at a time, in the evenings or while Amelia is napping. It's finally down to being about 3/4 of the way done.
The next project will be our stairs. They are currently pretty nasty looking and we always have to wear slippers or shoes when going up and down them. I haven't figured out what to do with them yet, but I've seen some options of using fabric which look kinda neat.
As you can see our dining room is basically non-existent at this point. We don't have any furniture for it so it is just being used basically as a storage area for tools and other miscellaneous stuff around the house. The floors still aren't done either.
Remodeling a house while living in it with 2 kids certainly has its challenges. I hung these two pictures up in our kitchen. I know it might not seem like much, but it's a constant reminder to me to keep a positive attitude. Sometimes I want to be miserable, yell at Damien, and just cry because our life feels like a huge mess right now. But I have to remember that all this will one day pass and everything we are doing is to benefit our family. We have shelter, we're safe, and we're together. That's all that matters. We will soon have a nice, organized, pretty house and not be in debt.
Tuesday, August 30, 2016
Fill a house with love and it becomes a home.
When we sold the trailer we agreed to be out within three weeks. Three weeks was up this past Thursday. We weren't at all ready. The girls and I had to stay with my parents, while Damien stayed at the house trying to get things in order. We ended up having major plumbing problems that took forever to fix because my husband isn't a plumber nor did he know a whole lot about plumbing before he took this project on. However, with a lot of hard work he figured it out and fixed our issues and thankfully at this time, we don't have any leaks.
We originally thought the tiles that were damaged in the kitchen was an old leak. It wasn't. Luckily this ended up being the easiest part. The toilet tank cracked and when the water was turned on, it all leaked out. So all we had to do was replace the toilet and problem solved. The worst part was the basement - where every single pipe was leaking. Now everything in the basement is brand new and so far, no problems.
When Damien finally finished all that, we ended up having a valve in the kitchen blow off (he hadn't replaced those yet) while we were away for the night and flooded our kitchen and basement. That was a huge drag, but after a few days, everything dried out and we pressed on. It just ended up holding everything else up and we were unable to get the house as put-together as we thought.
Our tile floor is completely laid and is just waiting to have grout added to it. I am hoping that happens sometime this week.
Abigail started 1st grade yesterday so we moved the girls in Sunday night. It's not easy at all, but we're making it. We don't have a fridge yet (just a cooler we borrowed from my parents), our kitchen cabinets are currently in the dining room, and the rest of our stuff is all over the place. But little by little things get accomplished and as that happens, things get just a little bit easier. I'm hopeful that in the next week or two we'll have a fully functioning house. I don't think it will ever be "done" - but I hope to have it put back together soon.
Monday, August 8, 2016
Let there be light.... and paint!
Once in awhile, the universe decides it's time to throw us a bone. This past weekend was a great one at the house. Lots of fun things are happening! First, Joe & I got the living room and dining room painted this weekend! Damien ended up picking the final color, and I was nervous at first but I LOVE IT! It's the perfect mix of blue and gray and it really looks awesome.
We got our electrical work done on Saturday and passed our inspection too! Over the weekend we did have electric though because Damien made a makeshift plug that plugged into the generator and then into an outlet which powered about half the house.
Our water should be on within the next ten days or so. Unfortunately we have to wait until the foreman gets back from vacation which won't be until next Monday. We are crossing our fingers they can get their end handled some time next week so we can have all the utilities worked out by the end of next week.
Thursday, August 4, 2016
"It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are"
We sold the mobile home today! We don't even own it anymore. The countdown is on to finish things at the house. We have 21 more days to be out of here (August 25th) and are only 10 days until our goal of being out by August 15. The ship has sailed for being out by August 15th because of the water issues, but we will definitely have the house in order enough to be out by August 25th. We don't have a choice anymore.Yesterday we went to the house. I finished up painting Abigail's walls that needed a little touch up, and Damien measured and figured out how many boards we need for our dining room floor and also planned out getting the electric fixed. That should be fixed on Saturday, which means we should have electric by early next week.
This weekend I plan on painting the downstairs while Damien fixes the electric and hopefully gets started on repairing the floor in the dining room. In case you forget what it looks like, this is what we are dealing with.
We have about 11 boards that we need to replace including the grate. Here's to hoping we can get this all worked out in the next 21 days!
Monday, July 25, 2016
Team work makes the dream work.
I'm trying *really* hard not to get my hopes up but we showed our mobile home lastnight to a couple who really seems interested in purchasing it. Fingers crossed that they were serious.This past weekend the heat was horrible! We did manage to get a couple things worked on at the house. Damien is working on a plumbing issue and got supplies needed to fix our electrical problems too. Luckily neither of these problems is (so far) ending up being a huge deal and should be things that he can do himself.
While Damien worked on the plumbing, our friend Joe and I worked on painting Abigail's room. I wasn't sure about the color when she picked it, but it really looks nice!
We got all the walls painted and it was looking like one coat was going to do the trick. I'll have to check back in on it this week because we left before it was completely dry. I was really impressed because the color we covered up was really dark.
That is the before picture of Abigail's room when we first got the house. I definitely recommend Glidden paint & primer in one. It works great!
