Momma Can Fix It

Homework Area

2012-01-20T10:59:00.000-07:00

Well, it took several months but the kids and I each have our own clearly defined area in which we can do our homework.

Nevaeh's desk has been painted. Once again we used Rust-o-leum's 2x spray paint but unlike brother's gray she chose eggplant. A girl after my own heart. I didn't use a spray primer this time but some sort of a white primer I found left over from painting the upstairs. The desk is a fairly cheap particle board covered in laminate so we sanded it down and put on 3, yes 3, coats of primer. That particle board just sucked it right up. It was worth it though because I only had to do 2 coats of the purple spray. She has hung up her very important Justin Bieber calendar, some karate study aids and a koala poster. Apparently these will help her to concentrate while she does her homework. :)

Sorry for the crappy phone pics. I used my iPhone 3 & it was nighttime.

The little plastic organizer to the right of her desk was organized as well. The pink box on top holds miscellaneous crayons, colored pencils and markers. Top drawer has glue sticks, rulers etc. Middle drawer holds scrap paper (I save EVERYTHING that has a clean side and no sensitive info for the kids) and the bottom drawer has all of the kids extra school work books. I love to buy grammar books, spanish help, math fact helpers etc... for the kids to do when they tell me they don't have any homework. :)

Same desk now moved under the window.

Kelen has removed all of the toys from his desk although I did agree he could keep his comic books there. If they prove to be too distracting from his studying I can always remove them.

Momma's desk is cleared off (we can ignore the boxes of papers needing sorting & filing for now). The wireless router works well enough (despite the cats knocking it down and breaking the antenna) that I can use my laptop in the basement.

We went through the bookshelves and got rid of quite a few books that the kids no longer wanted and I have made the very difficult decision to sell my record collection. My record player broke and replacing it is simply not high on my list of priorities. I already have too much clutter in my chaotic little life so I am taking control. The records go. Except for Michael Jackson's Thriller because I bought that when I was 8 years old with my own money. :)

My thrifty little kiddos noticed that our next door neighbor was unloading some furniture and a tv from his house and they asked if he was getting rid of it. Turns out he was about to take it to the Good Will so they asked if they could have it. Its a much nicer tv than the one we currently have and now instead of using a bedroom nightstand for his video game area Kel has a new to him t.v. stand. :) Eventually we will get it painted but for now it is good to go. The t.v. is HD and I confiscated that for our family room (lifting a 100 lb. television from the floor up to the top of my buffet was not the easiest task). I took my 10 year old tv down for his video game area.

The room still needs wallpaper removed and a new floor and paint on the walls but those kind of projects require time and money, something I am short of these days.

Stay tuned.

Kelen's Desk

2011-07-25T21:49:00.000-06:00

It took about a week but we managed to get the desk to look pretty darn good. It isn't a bad desk for one that we have had so long. It was just sort of blah.

Before

We took it apart, sanded it and painted it. Two coats of Rustoleum 2x Gloss in Dark Grey covered with a clear protective coat. Why did it take so long you may wonder?

Because I am tired and lazy and that gets much worse when its hot outside. Its been between 93 and 99 degrees outside for the past week. I would get up and paint around 7 am then lay the pieces out to dry and head out for a 2nd coat an hour later. Then we let that dry until the next day at which time I would get up and start all over.

This is what it ended up looking like.

After

It really looks pretty good. I will definitely use a better primer next time because the one I had on hand left some imperfections visible. Although that could be because I used gloss. I hear satin finish hides the smaller flaws.

Now the kiddo is busy organizing his desk. He's putting up pictures and deciding what should go where. :) Next up, Neva's desk. We are getting closer and closer to a finished basement office.

Heavy MoFo

2011-05-30T20:15:00.000-06:00

Remember how proud I was of my new set up for the laundry area? Well I discovered a downside. The pipe that the washing machine drains into got backed up and water was pouring out everywhere. I got the dryer down pretty easily (it's not that heavy). But the washer was a whole different ball game. First I had to use a bucket to drain the darn thing. One bucket full at a time. That was pretty slow going. Then I pulled out the sopping wet laundry and put it in a plastic tub outside. The smell is AWFUL!!

The next thing to do was snake the drain which my amazing neighbor did. :) Getting this dang washing machine down was not easy. Not easy at all.

Stuck.

This is what happens when you can't lift the washing machine by yourself...but you are in fact, by yourself. There was cussing. A lot of cussing. And I sent a couple curse filled texts to my sisters along with this picture. Then I stepped away and played Zuma Blitz until I ran out of lives. :)

While staring at the computer monitor (after my lives were all gone) it came to me. I just had to tip the machine onto its side and there would be less weight on me as I tried to lift it down the 14" from the shelves to the floor. That's not saying the machine suddenly weighs less when tipped over but I would be able to get my arm inside the tub and also use my legs to slowly lower it. When it's standing I couldn't even get my arms around it and there is just no way for me to get a good, solid grip on it.

Step 1.

I took several deep breaths before I attempted to lift it down. With a little groaning and just one more well-timed F-bomb (when I almost set it on my foot) I got that S.O.B. down on the ground.

Tadaaaaa!!!!

Now I need a crowbar to get those shelves free. They got so water logged that they are a bit swollen. Or maybe I could use a saw? Well, I'll worry about that tomorrow. :)

Laundry Storage

2011-01-16T18:18:00.001-07:00

This is the most amazing fix EVER. Seriously. I am in love with it.

My little laundry closet had absolutely no place to store the dirty laundry. I know that most people would then keep the dirty clothes in their rooms in hampers until laundry day but this just does NOT work with my kids. They would hoard the dirty clothes, shove them in drawers, under the beds, in the closets etc...and I would have to deal with that. I am such an impatient person that my "dealing" generally involves a lot of yelling. Too much yelling. So instead we just tossed the dirty clothes on the floor in front of the washer and dryer. Yuck.

Gross. Who wants to keep stepping over this?

I had an idea several months ago to make my own version of those super expensive under-washer storage bins. I just didn't know how to implement the idea. Well, my super sis Linda said that her work was throwing away (THROWING AWAY!!) perfectly good particle board and did I need any for something? She knows I am constantly trying to "fix" things around here.

LIGHTBULB MOMENT

She came over, did some measuring and showed up today with three perfectly cut pieces.

A quick trip to Home Depot for a few cinder blocks and we got to work.

12 16x8x4" cinder blocks waiting to be used.

Linda the super sister unhooking water hoses.

Ewww. This got swept out thoroughly.

Once we got the sweeping done we got to work. Well, mostly she got to work. She measured, re-measured, placed the blocks in the correct place etc...I was a very willing helper but mostly just stayed out of her way and handed her things. :)

She was smart enough to remember to pull up the dryer vent BEFORE we put it up there.

It supports her

Lifting the washing machine up the 16" was the biggest pain in the butt but with only a little spilled water we managed to get it up there.

Heavy son of a gun.

Hooking up the water hoses.

The dryer was simple to get up there.

I had these two containers that fit good enough for now. The dirty laundry is no longer in the hallway and that is a wonderful, wonderful, thing. Next up, replace the shelves that we took down in order to accomplish this. A small price to pay and one that is SO worth it.

Total cost for all of this was only about $50.00 and that is because we bought a bunch of tools that I didn't have but would come in handy. The cinder blocks were only $1.92 a piece so technically this project cost less than $25.00 with tax. Those under washer storage things are several hundred dollars.

Now for the downside. I am short and need a stool to do the wash. However, if I think of that as exercise its all good. :) Plus, now I have a reason to start saving for a front loading washer.

Cheery yellow-walled great room

2010-08-21T18:09:00.001-06:00

The great room makeover continues. The purple wall is done and now we have yellow walls as well. Sounds like a crazy combo but it really does work. The room is so cheery now, I just love to sit and stare at the walls. To see what it looked like a month ago, click here.

That makes me sound kinda sad huh? :)

Here are a few quick pictures.

This is the hutch & the one thing I have hung on the walls. Grandmas bowl from Mexico.

The purple wall is also in the great room.

The couch is facing the purple wall and as you can see I have some green lace curtains in the room.

So if you are counting the great room has
--1 deep purple accent wall
--3 cheery yellow walls
--1 red striped couch
--light green lace curtains.

We are clearly not afraid of using different colors in this house. :)

Paint on the floors?

2010-08-05T12:53:00.001-06:00

Yeah, paint on my floors. Purple paint + white primer equals lavender floors. I can't really say anything about this without risking an aneurysm so I'll let the pictures speak for me.

The first couple are blurry because I was literally shaking with anger.

Kel wanted to know why was I taking pictures? My answer: it's better than me screaming isn't it? And yes I did help with the clean up but I needed to get the pictures too. Otherwise who would actually believe me?

Paint on the walls

2010-08-02T12:41:00.001-06:00

I FINALLY HAVE MY PURPLE WALL! I have always wanted a purple wall. I mean, ever since I was just a kid. Purple is, and always has been, my absolutely favorite color. This reminded me of how Dad tried to be a sweetie and he painted my room purple for me. He chose lavender. I was never a pastel kind of girl but it's the thought that counts right? I really wish I had that attitude as a punk teenager. I don't remember but I am sure I was a completely unappreciative snotball to him about the wrong color choice. Just one more on my very long list of things to apologize to Dad for from my adolescence when I get to see him again. (Dad's been dead 3 years now and I still miss him every single day and its the little things like that that sneak up on me.)

I owe a huge thank you to my mom & little sister for painting my great room yesterday. I did all the plastering and priming about a month ago but then had the incident with my darn ankle (you can read about that here). Basically I was unable to finish the job because I could barely stand and there was just no way I was going to be able to climb up and down a ladder.

So, I swallowed my pride (it almost got stuck in my throat) and sent out a text asking for some painting party help. Both mom and Kesh were available on this particular Sunday so I said let's go for it! :) I bought the paint the day before and they came over and got straight to work. Four hours later and my room is painted and it is gorgeous!

I chose deep amethyst for my purple accent wall and natural straw for the rest of the room. I will be posting pictures next week after we get all the furniture set up and you will be able to see the completed look. I ended up using paint by Glidden rather than the Fresh Aire that I wanted to use. Unfortunately Fresh Aire no longer had the purple color I wanted and that was an absolute must for me. On the plus side, the Glidden didn't leave too bad of a lingering paint odor in the house. It helped that we locked up the cats and were able to keep the back door open to let in some real fresh air (pun intended).

Next project: Switch the living room from the basement to the main room and put the office (currently in the main room) in the basement.

Here is the finished project. :)

I uploaded this pic after moving the living room stuff upstairs. yeah I know my tv is filthy but after lugging that 100+ lb. sucker up the stairs on only one good foot I just didn't care enough to get up and clean it. ;)

To mud or not to mud?

2010-05-27T12:59:00.000-06:00

That was the question. I am super lazy so the answer is not to mud. I did fix the edges where the plaster was cracking. I filled in all the holes that were hidden or caused by the wainscoting as well as the holes and cracked plaster from those horrible vertical blinds that I removed.

The good news: the primer seems to cover up the lines left behind by the wallpaper glue. Everywhere there was a seam there was a line from floor to ceiling. Now there are no more lines. :)

The bad news: I can still see the horizontal line that marks where the wallpaper ended and the wainscoting began. And now that the wall is primed bright white I noticed just how dingy the ceiling looks in comparison. I have now added removing the dingy popcorn ceiling to my list of what needs to be done in this place. :)

After much debate I just decided that I didn't want to have to re-mud the entire room. That is so much work and I just want to get my house back together. Right now the hutch is in two pieces. All the furniture is pulled away from the walls and towards the center of the room. Once we brought in the book shelves that mom gave me I am left with a very small pathway in which we can walk through the room. It's like a freaking obstacle course in here.

If I focus on the positive at least you can no longer see that horrible pink color that we found behind one wallpapered section. I swear, the former owners were color blind or had extremely bad taste. Maybe both.

4 walls and a roof

2010-01-12T15:50:00.000-07:00

Yep. Every single "wall" in our home now actually has a wall. Case in point. This is what it looked like for the past 4 months in the basement.

Well, minus that 4x4 slab of drywall in the picture. Ok. So technically "Momma" didn't build this wall. Monkymama (my little sister) has a very awesome father-in-love. He built me a wall. I basically watched, and washed some tools, and held up the drywall. But when we he was done this is what it looked like.

Isn't it beautiful? This is with one full coat of mud, which I did help with. Sadly, I was so slow at it that MFIL (monky's father-in-love) did 3/4 of the wall. But if you look at the lower left corner I did the bottom half of that wall almost all the way over to the outlet. Pathetic huh? I don't care. It is beautiful and it is done. :)

I did get all of the supplies. I went to Home Depot (my new favorite store) and bought two 8x4 pieces of drywall, which Nick, the awesome Home-Depot guy, cut in half for me. MFIL thought it would fit in my car that way but he was wrong. I called Monky to come and save me with her Expedition aka The Fish. I also bought a tub of joint compound and some drywall screws (the red box which is for metal studs as opposed to the orange box which is for wooden studs). You learn something new everyday right? The wall was so beautiful I immediately started taking pictures and texting EVERYBODY to let them know it was finished.

The next morning I woke up early (8am) and sanded that wall ALL BY MYSELF! I then called MFIL and he came over and put another coat of mud on it, this time using a finishing joint compound. For some reason he said he didn't need my help. I was ok with that. He did a much better job than I could've.

That night, when the mud was fully dry I let the kids christen the wall.

Tadaaa! They had a blast drawing on the wall. Nevaeh just kept saying "momma isn't mad at us. This is so cool!" She kept asking me if I remembered how mad I was the last time she colored on the walls (in her bedroom with crayons). But what the heck. The wall is going to be primered and painted so this was a great day for everybody!

And after all...

it is just a wall.

Baby It's Cold Inside

2009-12-27T12:28:00.000-07:00

October 28, 2009: The furnace died. We woke up to very cold air being blown through the vents.

I did absolutely nothing to "fix" the furnace. I do NOT have those kinds of skills.

After checking to make sure it was really not fixable---meaning I turned it off & restarted it a couple times---I started calling heating companies in the phone book. I didn't have time to call more than a couple. They were all giving me quotes within $100 of each other and they could all get somebody to me the next morning.

I chose a company, ran to Lowe's bought 2 space heaters for the night and the kids and I bundled up. Those tiny space heaters actually do a really good job. The kids slept in Nevaeh's room in their mummy sleeping bags so they were fine. I put a heater downstairs where I was watching tv, one on the main level in the center of the room and I borrowed a little one from my neighbor to put in the kitchen. I opened the cupboard doors under the sink (it is on an outside wall) and aimed the heater at those pipes. The last thing I needed was burst water pipes. I stayed up til about 2 am and turned the heaters off when I went to bed. I also took the tiny one from the downstairs to my room. I was chilly but comfortable until my hero aka the furnace guy showed up at 7am.

As you can tell from the picture it was a bit cold outside as well. We had a high of 20 that day. One very amazing HVAC guy came and he pulled out the old furnace in less than an hour. A helper showed up to load it into the truck and take it away to old furnace heaven. They carried in my shiny new $2100 furnace and he began installing immediately. By 2:30pm I had heat again.

I did upgrade the furnace a bit. Unfortunately these townhomes are so old I could not install a new high-efficiency model; those require pvc piping which I have no room for in this place. That would've required tearing into walls, the crawl space and the attic and it would've cost around $10,000. I love the environment but I DO NOT have that kind of money. So I settled for an energy efficiency increase of about 10% over what was installed (it was a 16 year old furnace). I used up my emergency fund and still had to finance a very large portion of the cost. I hate financing. :( But it is now my new goal to bust my butt, take some extra hours and 1. rebuild my emergency fund 2. pay off that damn financing.

I have a goal for 2010. And that is a good thing to have.

Dreaded Shelves

2009-08-24T20:10:00.000-06:00

In the first picture you can see the bottom of Kelen's bedroom shelves. The screws have been painted over (as well as the cable cord) more than once. My mission; to remove the shelves so that I could properly paint the walls around them.

First step was to use a hacksaw to turn the holes the cable is in into slots. This was Kelen's idea and it was pretty simple.

Second step was to buy the natural multi-purpose solvent by Klean-Strip rather than regular mineral spirits in order to clean off the screws.

The negatives:

Costs about $12/32 oz can vs. $5 for mineral spirits
The smallest size available is 32 oz

The positives:

The can is steel and therefore very easily recyclable vs mineral spirits in plastic containers
Made from 100% natural & renewable resources
Biodegradable-any leftovers can be washed down a sink...although I have no plans for this.
Recognized by the EPA as environmentally preferred chemistry

The 2nd picture shows that the blue paint has indeed been cleaned off the screw. You can actually see that these are phillips-head screws. Well, maybe you can't see it because it's a really crappy picture but well, you get the idea right?

Third step was the most difficult. Once I was able to remove the screws, getting the shelves out of the space proved to be a nightmare. They were so wedged in that I could not simply slide them out. I ended up pulling on them with my entire (not so insignificant) body weight while Kelen whacked at them with a mallet. Soundtrack to this little escapade? Me cursing in two different languages while yelling that I would not pay a quarter to the cuss jar for each curse word.

Last shot shows the damage done by removing these freaking shelves. That's going to take some work to replace.

Painting with kids

2009-08-20T12:20:00.000-06:00

Is this a joke?!? I tried. I really did. They wanted to help so I decided to let them. I know what you are thinking and the answer is no. I had not been drinking. Their "help" lasted about 20 minutes; right up until they were putting paint on their hands and seeing who could make the best handprint on the others' arm. They were ok with not helping actually. Turns out they wanted to watch X-men anyway.

First thing to do was to remove the dreadful vertical blinds. Then I needed to patch the hole which meant a quick trip to my sister's house to grab that mesh/sticky/patchy stuff. Obviously I have no idea what it is actually called, but when I describe it as "that mesh/sticky/patchy stuff" my sister immediately said that it was in her trunk. She knew just what I was talking about. How great is that?

Once I actually began the work it took me about 3 1/2 hours to tape and prime the room. I had to stop when I came to the built-in shelves. I need to get some mineral spirits in order to clean the screws so that I can remove the darn things.

Stay tuned.

Removing Carpet

2009-08-09T22:12:00.001-06:00

So I have begun the work of removing the ugly blue carpet. Considering that I have never done anything like this before it really is pretty simple.

Here are the tools I am using.

A hammer. I use it to pull up staples from the padding as well as to gently tap the crowbar under the tack strips.

A crowbar. This has several uses. I can pry up the tack strips and I use it to pull up the nails that my hammer isn't quite strong enough to remove.

Utility knife. This little baby is very handy for cutting the carpet into smaller, and therefore more manageable pieces. I did a little internet research into uses for carpet remnants. So far, I have cut a few strips and placed them outside on my patio in the hopes of smothering and killing some pesky weeds. I have pulled and pulled at the weeds but can't get the roots. Hopefully this will work.

I also cut small pieces of carpet and hot glued them onto the bottom of my old steamer trunk. Now, when the kids drag it around the living room it won't scratch my floor.

I also read about cutting a piece of carpet the size and shape of your car window. The idea being to place it on the window at night and supposedly you can remove it and won't have to scrape the windshield. I really do hate taking an extra 10-15 minutes in the busy mornings for this chore so I can't wait to see if this will work.

Sad but true

2009-07-23T17:16:00.000-06:00

I have not posted since April 6. It is now July 22. Have I just been so freaking busy that I have not had time to post about all of the wonderful work I have accomplished here at home?

Sadly, no. May was finals and I did not work

June was busy with Cub Scouts, week long camps etc...and then we left for 2 weeks of vacation.

July, I came home to a flooded basement. Everything that was downstairs in my spare bedroom is now upstairs in my dining area. On the plus side I discovered that there is linoleum underneath the ugly blue carpet downstairs. We are now going to remove the carpeting & have ugly ass linoleum floors downstairs. I prefer this to carpet. Why?

1. I am allergic to dust mites & they love, love, love nasty, old, dusty carpet.

2. It is ugly ass blue shag carpet.

Vertical Blinds

2009-04-06T14:45:00.001-06:00

These things have not worked since I moved in. The darn string that is supposed to pull the blinds open and closed was only attached to the first 2 blinds. Basically this means that everybody can look in and see my great room whenever they want. The sun beats in during the afternoon making my computer area more like a sauna. Well, the plan for Spring Break was to paint the walls and that meant pulling these darn blinds down. HA!

HA!

What a royal pain in the arse. First of all I only have a little stepstool which so far has worked out just fine. Unfortunately seeing as how I am only 5'2" tall this stepstool wasn't enough for me to see the screws at the top of the hardware.

So we are having our spring '09 blizzard and I am balancing on my tippy toes on my little stool trying desperately to align my screwdriver with the screw that I cannot see on the top of these stinking blinds. Wanna see how I finally managed to get them aligned?

What you see in this picture is my hand holding an itty bitty mirror above the hardware. The mirror came from my little Cub Scout's survival kit (the mirror is attached to a compass and he wears it around his neck. So yet again the Scouts have proven helpful). Anyway. Once I lined up the mirror with the screw I realized that it was not a freaking screw at all but a nut. So for 10 minutes I had been cursing and cursing and cursing and cursing because I could not line up the dam screw with my screwdriver and it turns out I needed a freaking wrench. And guess what?

I don't have a wrench. My kids have lost them all. So I made do with a pair of pliers while holding the mirror. It took about another 10 minutes but I got them sunsabeaches down!

Oh. And that sun glare is from the very next afternoon when our 18 inches began to melt away in the 50 degree heat. You gotta love Colorado weather. :)

What I actually did during Spring Break

2009-04-06T14:40:00.000-06:00

Some people go to a beautiful sunny beach during their Spring Break. Here is what we did. :)

Neva stripping wallpaper. She is standing on top of the buffet. Is it any wonder she falls down and gets concussions? I did make her get down right after snapping this picture.

I removed lots of wainscotting. In the interest of environmentalism I am planning on making something out of this...I just don't know exactly what yet. I am thinking of perhaps a little raised bed for some potatoes this summer.

More wallpaper removal.

Kelen stripping wallpaper. There is not actually any kind of solvent in that spray bottle. It is water mixed with fabric softener. Worked great.

Still at it.

This is the spot you can see Kelen in all of the pictures above before I spackled the holes from the wainscotting. But the wallpaper is gone. :)

Hoss scraping wallpaper remnants from near the ceiling. He didn't want me or Monk getting back up on the step stool. He also went back home and brought me one of his ladders. :) See my holes above his head from where I removed the vertical blinds?

We have discovered some serious plaster problems. Lovely.

Spring Break Plans

2009-03-18T14:07:00.000-06:00

It is pretty much self-explanatory. I have very ugly wallpaper that needs to come off of my walls.

Peeing with privacy

2009-03-08T16:56:00.001-06:00

We have been living with a doorless bathroom for about 5 months. That should give you some idea of a couple things about me:

1. I am a big time procrastinator

2. I am a momma that is used to kids barging into the bathroom.

3. There is no such thing as modesty in my home.

However, my son is going to be having a birthday party soon. In one week to be exact and I don't figure his guests would appreciate having to pee with an audience. Thankfully the doorway was in good shape. I didn't have to drill any holes or anything fancy like that. Good thing cuz I don't own a drill. So here it is...

How to hang a door Momma style in six easy steps

1. Take the door off of the downstairs bathroom. The bathroom that doesn't get used because there is no light fixture and the sink leaks. I used a regular screwdriver (although they are phillips screws) and took them out by hand.

2. Push the cats away while thanking them for their help.

3. Take the door upstairs, wearing gloves to keep from getting splinters. Curse after dropping the freaking door on your bare foot.

4. Hold the door up with your left hand (and balance it on your throbbing big toe) while aligning the hinges and inserting screws. I put the middle screw in for each of the 3 hinges just to keep the door from falling on me. Again.

5. Insert and tighten the remaining six screws. I had heard or read that you should only partially tighten each screw, meticulously working your way through each hinge until all are completely tightened so as to maintain correct alignment. I didn't do this. I just insert the screws and tighten.

6. Stand back and admire your handiwork. Then shut the door and pee with privacy. Enjoy!

No more peeping

2009-01-14T14:23:00.000-07:00

Hooray! I got a wild hair up my bum and finally put up the curtain rod in my kitchen. :) I was finishing this up about 7pm as the kids were eating their dinner.

"CHICKS CAN FIX! CHICKS CAN FIX!"

This was the cheer bouncing off my bare walls as I took the final picture. My kids...while not politically correct...were so proud of me. Yay Momma!

It was quite easy really. I had a spare curtain rod so I removed the holders from the windows in my bedroom and screwed those into the wall. No measuring required because the holes were still visible from the previous curtain rods. The curtain rods that apparently the previous owners removed. BOOGERS! My curtain rods weren't long enough. Quick kids! In the car we gotta run to Home Depot. I spent 25 minutes searching for a) an employee b) curtain rods. We found them...finally near the rugs & floor materials!?! No employees in sight but whatevuh.

Back at home...I remove the holders that I had installed (they are too big) and put in the ones that come with my brand new rods. :) Hang up the curtains y voila! 10 minutes. No sweat. No more peeping in my window.

Now I know they aren't pretty as I used the cheapo, white very basic rods & my curtains need to be hemmed but that is ok. They are up.

Momma can too fix that...

2009-01-08T17:17:00.000-07:00

These are my 1st & 2nd "momma can fix it" projects. I replaced the showerhead and spigot and caulked around them. :) I was so proud of myself that I sent out pictures via my cell phone.

I have decided to blog about my adventures in home repairs. I very recently bought a 3 bdrm 2 bath tri-level townhome. It is ugly as sin. Peach paint in the hall. And I am talking bright peach...perhaps crossed with the guts of a salmon. It is terrible. I think the previous owners were colorblind. The dining area has a country looking off white wallpaper that is covered in awful pink flowers. There is wood paneling on the bottom 1/4 of the walls. Brown shag carpeting.

In the downstairs family room is blue shag carpeting with trailer-looking gray wood floor to ceiling paneling on my walls. The wallpaper in that room is a tannish color in a pattern that I think is supposed to be reminiscent of ragging on a wall. It is hideous.

They took the door to the upstairs bathroom. Bedroom doors have no doorknobs. Downstairs bathroom has no light fixture, bright BRIGHT yellow paint on the walls & a leaking sink.

Join me on my adventure to fix my home in a cost-effective (read cheap) eco-friendly way. :)