Sustainable Upgrade – Part 2

su_2This home improvement thing is contagious. Out of 3,685 attempts (who’s counting), I can count my successful home improvement projects on two fingers. After two consecutive days of successful project steps, I’m gaining confidence. Today I finished the demolition and finished the surface preparation – arguably the two most important steps in the entire project. If a project doesn’t start well, it’s tough to get on track, but this one started perfectly. Continue reading

Sustainable Upgrade – From Shorty to Sporty (Part 1)

su_1I’ve heard when someone moves into a new home, it’s a matter of time before they insist on upgrades. We designed our own home including built-ins and the throw rugs for our exact lifestyle, so I couldn’t imagine us falling victim to the “change-it” disease, but everyone’s doing it and I was unsatisfied with my kitchen backsplash. So we planned, we purchased and today we pounced on a project to replace our short quartz band backsplash with a sporty glass mosaic tile backsplash. Continue reading

Sir Caulks-Alot — One Beer Project

caulk_gunYou may remember the wall, the closet organizer, the garage storage shelves and the towel bar trauma 1 through 3. Well, I’m at it again. Despite multiple home-improvement debacles, I still believe I can repair home ills. I think it’s my dad’s fault because he can repair anything and I believed I inherited that talent. Not so. I know exactly what I want and I have an idea for repairing it, but plans and result rarely align. Regardless the perpetual and frequent setbacks, I pursue an idea and invent a project. This time it was a caulk job – the garage door. Continue reading

Towel Bar Trauma 3 – The three-quel

towelbar_3I predicted IT would happen. I never doubted that once it happened it would happen again and maybe again after that. I knew with equal certainty that the sun would rise in the East and I’d retell the towel bar tale. I didn’t predict when, but I knew beyond doubt it would happen. But how did I know? Am I clairvoyant? brilliant? insightful? Nostradamus? lucky? No, none of the above, but I knew it would happen because I remember what it’s like to be a kid.

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