While the bathroom renovation project has lingered on in the background, we’ve found time recently to tackle a few other home projects, in addition to all the other things that keep us busy like work, bike riding, organizing all my winter clothes which included finding eight pairs of gloves and seven without a mate, voting in the unprecedented mayoral caucus, scheduling a big party and then getting sick at the last minute and postponing it, and kegging my brown ale that’s been in primary fermentation for a few months.

Here’s just some of what we’ve accomplished on the home front recently. ALL of these projects fall into the category Why the heck didn’t we do this a long time ago?

1. Having the chimney cleaned so we can use the wood stove/fireplace as a heating source. But you already knew we did that. It’s not perfect, as in, the blower fan doesn’t work on the wood stove so we sometimes end up with more smoke than heat… Still working out the kinks I guess.

2. Rearranging our living room furniture. Now the living room is finally a separate defined room, with better furniture layout, surrounding the hearth.

3. Cleaning behind the stove and fridge (which, I actually have done before thankyouverymuch) AND plugging the mouse holes with steel wool (whytheheckdidn’twedothisalongtimeago?)

From this welcoming passageway:

To this “closed for business” sign:

One day we’ll also have to nail a piece of spare trim back there too, just to make sure the little critters don’t make their way through the other drywall sections. Oh, and in case you were wondering What’s with the mice? Don’t they have a cat? The answer is yes, we have a cat. I have witnessed Trixie: watch mice from afar, run away from mice, and play her own version of “catch and release” in which she lets go of the mouse that she’s already caught. The mice haven’t packed up and moved out yet because I think they like mocking Trixie.

4. Upgrading our living room window coverings from the semi-functional slatted-stick-through-which-the-neighbors-can-still-see-you kind to the kind that offer insulative value in addition to actually providing privacy. Great idea!

5. Installing a new kitchen faucet. Really, this is the one item on the list that we would not have done sooner unless you had paid us. We waited until our old faucet had sprung a leak, and even then we didn’t replace it for weeks (while we shopped around for a new faucet). Got this one on clearance and it works great so far.

6. Putting plastic on the windows and adding an insulative curtain over the office bay window. The plastic goes on the windows at different times each year. It’s always a toss up: Do I put up the plastic to save on heating needs and risk not being able to open the windows on a warm fall day or do I wait until I’m absolutely sure winter is here and we won’t be opening windows again for months? We’re somewhere in the middle this year. An important note on window plasticking: I don’t recommend plasticking over a bathroom or kitchen window. Always good to have additional ventilation in those humid spaces. Also, is plasticking a word?

7. Painting the trim in the kitchen white. This small change has made a BIG difference in the kitchen. It feels bigger, cleaner, and brighter. How does paint do that? I guess I bought the magic paint. Now, I’m not only beating myself up about not having painted the trim earlier but also Why the heck didn’t we paint the cabinets white, too? Put it on the “To Do One Day” list. Seriously, we have such a list.

Here’s one shot out our kitchen windows after one of the coats of paint. Also, notice the cool ladder on the ceiling that we use as a potrack? It’s my grandfather’s ladder that used to live in my garage as a kid. My mom’s partner lovingly cut and refinished it as a housewarming present. Best housewarming present ever!

Scroll back up to #5. Note the color of the trim behind the faucet. Yep, that’s white now, too.

Want to know one of the other things on the To Do One Day list? See that exposed insulation around the dishwasher? Wouldn’t it be nice if there were a wall there to enclose it instead?

8. Painting the front door.

Before – A boring green door:

During:

After – A door that pops, yet is also incorporated into our space much better:

Red. Barn red. Oh yeah. And guess how much we spent on paint? Zero dollars. Mark got a  free sample of an awesome local recycled paint. The sample will get us through two coats on the front door. The back and side doors might have to wait til we can scrounge up another sample can or two. (Unless we build a barn in the backyard we don’t really need an entire two gallons of barn red paint!)

So, that’s a little of what we’ve been up to. Anyone else having fun with plasticking their windows or painting things barn red?