August 20th, 2010
That’s how I’ve been feeling about pretty much everything around the house. It’s been a chore just to keep up with the mail.
I think I get this way a lot around this time of year. I get fed up with summer. It just seems to zap my energy. I can’t wait for fall — the [...]
April 16th, 2010
UPDATE: As of around 12:30 p.m. half the rebate funds are gone. Do NOT wait until tonight to buy!
Illinois residents: if you’ve been thinking about taking advantage of the 15% Energy Star appliance tax rebate that starts today and ends on the 25th (or until funds run out) RUN, don’t walk to a participating retailer. [...]
April 2nd, 2010
Before we moved into the bungalow almost three years ago, the kitchen looked like this:
Shortly after we moved in, one of the first projects was to get rid of the half-assed screaming yellow paint job (yes, the PO painted only parts of the walls before running out of steam).
Since we weren’t going to tear out [...]
April 1st, 2010
As part of Apartment Therapy’s Spring Kitchen Cure, we were to choose a special project to work on, something that would improve the kitchen aesthetically. This prompted me to put the kitchen wall repair on the fast track, something I’d been wanting to start on anyway.
To refresh your memory, this is how the wall looked:
(You [...]
March 27th, 2010
With our kitchen wall project in full swing, I fell behind on the weekly assignments for Apartment Therapy’s Kitchen Cure.
While week one’s assignment, Clean Out Pantry, was complete, week two’s assignment, De-Clutter & Reorganize Tools got pushed back to week three while we worked on the wall. The wall project however, fell into another [...]
March 26th, 2010
How time flies when you’re thoroughly sucked into a project on top of work and life! Doesn’t leave much time for blogging, so I’m going to attempt to catch up this weekend.
When I last posted about our kitchen, the drywall was hung and I had just begun to tape and mud when I wrenched my [...]
March 7th, 2010
Coinciding with my participation in Apartment Therapy’s Kitchen Cure, replacing one of the damaged plaster walls in the kitchen has become part of my “special project” to improve the kitchen aesthetically. I’d say this wall definitely needed to improve its look!
Although the original built-in ironing board cabinet no longer existed in our bungalow kitchen, [...]
March 7th, 2010
Although I completed Apartment Therapy’s Week One Kitchen Cure assignment last weekend, I’m totally behind on my posts.
First I removed everything from the pantry, wiped down the shelves and got rid of things I hadn’t used in ages, like the corn syrup I used to make ice cream fudge sauce for Christmas gifts one year.
Then [...]
February 26th, 2010
As I mentioned a few days ago, I signed up for Apartment Therapy’s Kitchen Cure, a four-week program to designed to whip your kitchen in shape. It kicks off this weekend, so if you’d like to join me and over 2,000 others, just follow the link above.
This afternoon I received my first assignment: Clean Out [...]
February 22nd, 2010
A number of months back, I tore open a section in our kitchen wall in the hopes I would find the remnants of the original built-in ironing board — I thought it would be cool to turn into a spice rack. No such luck.
It wasn’t a lost cause, however, because the ultimate goal was [...]
January 19th, 2010
Last week the kitchen was relatively spotless so I quickly snapped a few photos. It doesn’t stay that way for more than a few minutes, unfortunately.
This is the view from the back of the kitchen, near the back door. The fridge is to the left with the pantry cabinet to left of the fridge (not [...]
January 16th, 2010
I love carbonated water. I’ll drink much more water if it’s the carbonated variety and we all know we’re supposed to drink lots of water. But even though we recycle, I hated all the liter bottles of Poland Spring Sparkling Water we went through.
So I was ecstatic when I received the Sodastream Penguin Starter Kit [...]
November 17th, 2009
Oh dear, another week and a half gone and I haven’t been a good blogger. Once I get through a tight work deadline over the next week, that should change. Of course on top of work and teaching I also have Thanksgiving to prepare for, and the house needs more tidying up before next Thursday.
We’re [...]
September 17th, 2009
In addition to the major DIY project of tiling the master bathroom, we’ve also been working on smaller projects in the remodeled attic space (installing ceiling fans and closet systems) as well as a slightly major project in the kitchen, which was also greatly affected during this remodel.
I haven’t even touched on the kitchen [...]
July 1st, 2009
If you grew up in the 1960s or ’70s, then you must remember Captain Kangaroo’s sidekick, Mr. Green Jeans, who would bring cute little animals on the show?
Well, this post isn’t about him, but it is about being green with jeans, as in Bonded Logic UltraTouch Natural Cotton Batt Insulation, made using the by-product of [...]
April 18th, 2009
We’re 99% sure we’ve settled on our contractor for the attic remodel. It was a tough decision, but his prices were right in the middle and he was recommended by someone we trust. We went over any discrepancies that may or may not have been included in his estimate, so we feel confident that we’re [...]
September 13th, 2008
I received some fantastic suggestions for our kitchen layout — a very big “thank you” to my readers!
Here is the proposed basic layout again.
Some of the suggestions were along the lines of what I was thinking as well, such as Cheryl’s suggestion to “wait and see” about the island. I would still love to have [...]
September 11th, 2008
Because we will have to widen the second floor staircase to meet code for our attic remodel, we have to steal a few inches from one of the rooms that adjoin the stairs: the kitchen or dining room. The architect suggested taking it from the dining room, thinking that it would be cheaper than removing [...]
April 4th, 2008
Last Saturday we were the first delivery of the day from Abt, THE place to go in Chicagoland for appliances and electronics.
Good-bye crappy old Caloric-brand “Heritage Series” range — you’re not going to turn yourself on whenever you want any longer.
Hello, beautiful new Frigidaire slide-in range.
The fried eggs came out perfectly, and [...]
March 22nd, 2008
For at least the second or third time now, our oven has just switched on by itself. I was standing next to it this morning, I heard the “whoosh” of the oven starting up, and then I could smell the gas. I looked at the knob, and it was turned to off, and then I [...]