Cupboard Organization

This post would be so much more effective if only I had taken a before shot of the state of my cupboards ...but my mother and a few close friends can definitely attest to that fact that they were awful... as in awfully disorganized, and awfully full of 'stuff' ... none of which went together, and all of which was jammed into these cubby holes our builder refers to as cupboards.

But... give a girl a year off with a baby at home, and 10 months in she'll get a little extra energy and decide to organize the crap out of the cupboards.  I think the 'nesting' energy that I lacked at the end of my pregnancy with H, was maybe held on reserve until now (and NO I am not pregnant again)!

So... in order to get this little project underway, I dropped forty bucks at the dollar store, got 20 little brown square baskets, add in a half day's work and Bob's your uncle!  Plus you get a lifetime of reward - as long as I don't overflow the baskets and start jamming shit on top of them. But for now... let's just sit back and admire!

I know I know... the working world is thinking, perhaps its time to get back to the office as I may just have a little too much time on my hands!  Whatever the case... I am loving getting stuff out of my cubby holes now! Let's take a dip mix out... no no, let's put it back in. Cooking is even getting more exciting as I can actually see the trillion Epicure spices I have in my cupboard instead of just the first three I could only view because they were at the front. Before it was a death trap... a small child could have been seriously harmed by a falling object when I went rooting through the cupboard... but now, no need to whip out the hard hats in the danger zone.  It's kid safe, and most importantly functional.

Yes... I'm beaming with excitement over this project! What a difference a little organization can make in your life!

It's hot, so why not paint!

It has been nothing but stifling hot for the past week and a bit... and its hard to be outside enjoying the sun when it is in fact this hot, but I thought, what better way to celebrate the heat than by painting my front door and garage door (which gets shade on it about 75% of the day)!

I had 'paint the front door' on my to-do list since last year... as it was full of scuff marks from PC and his hockey bag, and me and my winter boots kicking the door with my hands full of either A. children, or B. shopping bags! Either way, it needed to be done.

I started out just going to freshen up the white on the front door, but while at my local RONA, the sales girl said, white front doors are not meant to be used! She said its a job that has to be done every year (touching up the paint), so then I got thinking a darker front door would mean less overall maintenance... so I picked a few paint swatches, came home, primed the front door white, and then that evening returned and got a big can of Bistro brown!

Turns out... to paint outside, you need it to be above 10 degrees at night for the paint to set properly... so really this is the only time of year to do it.  And since we are busy most of August, I thought why not get it done and over with now while I have the time NOW!

So without further ado... here are the fruits of my labour (and PC's too - who I might add was reluctant about the idea of it, but did help me with the garage door... and has come to love it just as much as I do)!

BEFORE

AFTER

Once I got this little jobby done, I then decided to do the door inside the garage and then freshen up the white on the backs of the doors too. Its been a few full days of painting doors, but I am pleased with the results. And its has just inspired me to paint all the doors in the house, and touch up the scuff marks in the trim around the house (after vacation).

I didn't think this heat was bothering me at all, but now I can see it may have created a painting monster!

When is the right time to move?

We've been in our house for six years as of next week... and while I really do love it here, I am always wondering if we will move, and when?

When I first found out I was pregnant with H, I was all in a panic as to what we were going to do in a measly 3 bedroom home.  Of course, PC didn't see the problem, as we had a room for us, one for E, and one for the future baby, but for me it was borderline meltdown when I thought about having to clean out the spare room to move E into it so we would have a room for the baby.

It was right around then I had a real itch to buy and move, but when I actually found a house I was fairly interested in, we went and saw it, and I got cold feet. While it was nice, and had 4 good size bedrooms, its kitchen was less appealing than ours, the basement wasn't finished, and the top floor was all carpet, and the study/office I really want wasn't what I had pictured. Upon discovering these things, it didn't take me long to get quickly reacquainted with why I like our house so much.

When we first bought our house in 2005, I will admit, I didn't know anything about houses and what I wanted in a house. This house looked great on paper, came with a lot of upgrades, and was really well taken care of by its previous owners. But now having lived in a house for six years I can now say exactly what I want and don't want in my next house.

The thing about our house right now is that in six year's time we've done some things that have made me like it more than when we first bought it. You may recall PC's handywork in finishing the basement, and more recently the kitchen backsplash and countertop project. We've painted all of the bedrooms and decorated the entire house to our liking, and while there are still things I would totally change if I had an endless supply of money and a willing contractor, I am actually quite happy with the place... for now.

BUT, how long is 'for now' going to last? That's the real question.

It's just one of those things that is constantly on my mind... and when I think about packing up six years worth of our ever-expanding life, I cringe. Cringe at the thought of packing it up only to move it a few streets down or over, and then unpacking it again. The thing about moving is that, you know you're signing up for more painting and decorating before you consider the house a home - and I don't think I want to be in that hectic (not to mention money draining) business right now with two kids under two and half ... but then again, maybe I do?

Another problem with moving is that the grass isn't always going to be greener on the other side. What if the house we choose is a dud, or the neighbours are crazy... these are the things you can't control, they are just based on luck, and so far (knock on wood) we had fairly good luck here, so I don't want to jinx it.

I have always been one to surf MLS and Grapevine listings in and around the neighbourhood because A. I'm nosey like that and B. I like to see what's out there.  Its kinda of the theory that when I least expect it, something is going to catch my eye. Lately... I haven't found anything worth a real look. The homes in our neighbourhood are going for a good chunk of change and we stand to make some decent cashola on a transaction of this magnitude, but at the same time, purchasing a home on this market is pretty pricey too and when I boil it down, we aren't getting much more than we already have, but we'll be spending a lot more to get those few little extra details I'd like to have.  Slowly I have been compiling a list of must-haves for my next home... and frankly, its going to be hard to find it in this neighbourhood... but the great part about this ever-expanding community, is that new homes are always being built, and somewhere along the line, my affordable dream home is going to become available, I hope!

It's a constant back n' forth in my head... sell and move, or stay and laze?

Do any of you ever get the moving itch? How many times have you bought and sold? Was it worth it? Are you happy with your decision?

Home Project #307: Kitchen Countertops and Backsplash!

This post is long over due, but thought its still worth posting because everyone loves a little makeover reveal!

We've been in our house for 5 years now and when we bought the place, one of the MAJOR drawbacks from me was the nasty dark green countertop... I hated it. But PC reassured me that changing the countertop was a simple/cheap thing and once we moved in we could just choose what we wanted - pop it off, and voila - we'd have the perfect kitchen.

What a theory... 5 years later we just got around to the revamp on the kitchen countertop... plus the backsplash! It took me a while to actually figure out what I wanted. I knew I wanted ANYTHING but dark nasty green, but I didn't realize the options were endless as to what the replacement would be. In the end, we chose to replace laminate with laminate but to get a corian edging to prevent chipping, etc. Since we don't plan to be in this house long term, the investment Granite didn't seem to have as many rewards as a cheaper reface to get me through another couple of years. The countertop, with the choice of blacksplash had me excited for the reno, and once the countertop was installed, PC stepped up to the plate to do the backsplash.

It turned out exactly how I wanted, and better! It has given our kitchen such a face lift... I even blurted out 'I think I could get another 5-8 years out of this house now' - however, that was BEFORE I knew The Sequel would be born in 2010.

Either way... I love the update and wanted to share PC's handy work.

BEFORE THE BACKSPLASH

PC APPLYING THE GROUT

GROUT ON AND WAITING TO BE SEALED

THE FINAL PRODUCT: I LOVE IT!

Household Appliance Meltdown

Isn't life lovely?

I mean when things are going well... they are really going well, and then there is just the opposite - one unfortunate thing can lead to another and the next thing you know you are 2K in the hole.

The weeks leading up to E's birth, I noticed our washing machine was acting up.  It would wash things fine, but would not spin them.  Heavy items were always soaking wet and had to be spun three or four times, and lighter items would spin but not to the previous performance ability of the machine.

Our washing machine came with the house, and since our house was only a year old when we bought it (in '05) and the appliances were bought brand new by original owners, you would think this machine should have had another 15 or so good years left in it... but OF COURSE, the week E was born, the damn thing was really on the fritz, so we had an appliance guy come and assess the situation for $50. His recommendation was that we needed a $300 part + labour, so our best bet was probably to replace the machine, since there was no guarantees this repair would last for 5 years or even 5 weeks.

So.. week 2 with E in the house, we trucked all over the city shopping for a DEAL on a washing machine, and dropped $1200 on a good one! $1200 I could handle... I mean we have an emergency fund for exactly this, unexpected events that require money. I actually really like the new washer and chalked it up to: 'these things happen, could have been worse'.

Apparently, it really can get worse... as now the damn dryer is acting up, as our low heat setting (which I basically dry all of our clothes on) is on the fritz. On of the selling features of the super duper washer we got is that its suppose to super spin the clothes now at x more amount of RPMs, making the clothes virtually dry when you take them out of the washer... requiring less drying time in the dryer, but now my stupid dryer can't even keep up with reduced need for drying. It's upsetting because when we bought the washer there were so many washer/dryer combo deals, but at the time we didn't need a dryer so paying an extra $500 for something we didn't need seemed stupid.  Now... I am not definite that the dryer has to be replaced, but I am confident that something is wrong with it - and if we have to go out and buy a new dryer 2 months after the washer - heads will roll (somewhere!).

In addition to the washer/dryer issue... our hot water tank busted last night.  I had been home with E all day yesterday and finally when PC got home, we ate, and I escaped the house for 30 minutes to go to Shopper's Drugmart. I am not there 15 minutes when PC calls my cell and leaves an emergency message 'the hot water tank busted, and I need help at home with E'.  

HONESTLY!

The hot water tank... WHAT? I get home to PC mopping up water from all over our laundry room. We call our water tank rental supplier and they can't come to look at it until today at 2pm.  After the inspection today, the tank needs to be replaced which is free of charge, but since the tank was installed the piping needs to be redone as the building code has changed, which comes with a small fee of ONLY $300, and the earliest they can get here to do all this is Saturday between 12 and 4pm.

A month ago I had a hard time wondering what I wanted for Christmas, but with the appliance meltdown we've been having, my Christmas list is all taken care of! 

AND to boot our stupid Christmas lights that PC put up a month ago... well we turned them on this week and there are shorts in every strand, so PC had to rush out to Cdn Tire to buy new lights (or risk being the eye sore of the neighbourhood ... but that's a whole other blog). Apparently they don't make the same colour of lights we had bought 4 years ago... so we had to get all new lights - OF COURSE!

What a week its been... I think I need to get out of the house, but since I haven't showered today and won't get to until Saturday night, I don't think I am going anywhere soon!  

Oh the joys owning a house! Has anyone else experienced the 'when it rains it pours' with unexpected household expenses? What do you do to keep yourself sane in these situations?

The Big Storm

I am not sure what the grand total has ended up to be over the weekend, but it is upwards of 50cms of snow here in E-ville. We didn't leave the house all weekend, not because we didn't want to, but because we couldn't. This morning at about 11 am is the first time the town plow has come down our street since Thursday. It was an absolutely crazy weekend for snow.

PC has to ref in Ottawa this afternoon so he has been outside working on the driveway with the snow blower for close to two hours, and still isn't half done. I remember snowy winters when I was a child on the North Shore, but I have to admit, this winter takes the cake for me!

Wow!

Will we ever get back to this?

The Updated Living Room

Finally... I have gotten around to posting some pictures of our newly updated living room. Since the basement is now three-quarters finished, I've moved the old furniture downstairs, and purchased some more grown-up, conversational-type furniture for the upstairs.

I have to admit we haven't sat it on it all that much. My parents were down a few weekends ago and we got to use it a bit, and last night we had some people over for a potluck so it got a little more use then. However, when we have used it, we've really like it - so this is a good thing!

I am hoping to get my Christmas tree up soon, so I will update you then with new pictures of the furniture among the more seasonal decor! Until then, enjoy photos of our current living room!

Mission accomplished, but West Nile looms

This weekend, I had one goal (actually, last weekend I had one goal, but it rained all weekend), so last weekend's goal turned into this weekend's goal, and I am happy to report this weekend's goal was accomplished.
I have been after myself & PC to get motivated to do our flower beds in the front of our house. After all, we practically live on Wysteria Lane, and the majority of our neighbours (the competive ones) have had their beds done for over 3 weeks.

Finally... we got a weekend of sunshine, but of course we were also busy doing other things throughout the entire weekend so it didn't leave a whole lot of time to devote to our (my) goal. However, I wasn't about to let the nice weekend go without some heavy duty digging and planting.

So... PC and I got down to business in the late late afternoon of a very busy day. Being the smart homeowners we are, we waited just until the sun was beaming on the front of the house, and then we began the intense labour session of expanding our flower beds. With the sun beaming right on us and PC sweating off a few pounds... it wasn't long until we both started getting tired and cranky (I don't know what it is about me, but I hate having dirty hands - it makes me irritable...very irritable, and might I add, a pleasure to work with). Once the sun went down, I expected the labour to go smoother but then out came the mosquitoes.

Yes...our flower beds look lovely, but we have probably been exposed to West Nile due to the fact the mosquitoes had a field day on my legs and arms during the last hour of our mission. PC claims he probably didn't get West Nile because he was too busy working ALL THE TIME (constantly moving), while I on the other hand probably do have the virus because my work ethic apparently isn't up to snuff with Mr. Coleman's standards! Geeeeeeeesh!

Whatever the case may be...West Nile or perfectly healthy, our flower beds (the perannials) are a done deal for this year. The only thing left to do is get our annual pots going, perhaps our my next mission for next weekend.

However, what I should be concentrating on now is tonight's mission, which is to continue scratching away at my bites and waiting for West Nile to take its full effect on me (perhaps it will be worth a few sicks off from FRENCH training- pray for me....please pray for me).