Happy New Year!

Ah, the holidays, filled with family, friends, and too many cookies...hope yours was the same!  We drove to Canada (avec le puppy!), and survived to tell the tail (oops, the tale!)  I guess I already did somewhat of a yearly wrap-up with my 100th post, so I won't bore you with a recap of the year that was 2010...

Instead, here's what lies ahead in the not too distant future:

1.  Basement redo, in progress
2.  An energy audit, and probably an insulation upgrade
3.  Finally replacing that bathroom fan
4.  Once spring is here, working on the backyard (deck?  more patio?)
5.  New water heater (tankless?  any thoughts?)

Happy New Year to you and yours!

it's cold outside -- replacing recessed lighting housing

The holidays are fast approaching, which means we're spending a lot more time in the kitchen.  Baking cookies is not as fun when there is a cold draft coming from up above.  Our recessed lights (and we have a lot of them) were installed with a housing that allowed cold air to blow in from the attic.

See that gaping hole?  Air was just streaming through from above.  A few Google search terms later, and here's what we came up with.

We checked that this type of 'air-tight' trim kit was okay for our type of recessed light (ours are IC rated).  Here's a side by side comparison of the old trim (a sort of bowler hat shape), and our new witch hat trim.  As you can see, the hole on the top is much smaller in the air-tight trim.

Replacing the trim kit was as easy as unscrewing the light, unsnapping the old trim out, and clipping the new trim into place.  Just in case, we did turn off the power to the lights before we started.

Here's the view from beneath--no big air gap!

All there was left to do was to replace the light bulbs.  We've been replacing our light bulbs with energy-efficient bulbs in our recessed lights, so that should help with the utility bill, too!  Is the cold weather prompting you to tackle any weatherizing projects, large or small?  

basement reorg -- the plan

Here's the space plan of the basement as it is now.  Conor made the diagram using graph paper and a peel and stick home planner he received for his birthday.  Pretty nifty!

Before looking at the plan, I never realized why the future 'kid playroom' was such an odd shape.  During the flip, they must have added a closet (labeled as 'Conor's closet') in order to be able to count Conor's room as a bedroom.  That's why that wall is drywalled--the rest of the basement is painted paneling.  Aha!

We've moved some of the furniture and clutter out of the room.  We've decided on a budget of $500 for this space.  We're hoping to save money by using furniture we already own, and (of course) doing any work ourselves.

100th post reflection

When I started this blog almost a year ago, I was looking for some distraction from a much too hectic life (two jobs, two kids, a house in need of TLC.)  Many things have changed since then:  minus one job but plus one puppy...but the house is still here, and I'm still enjoying tackling new projects and writing about them (as incentive to actually *finish* what I start!)

Here are some of the bigger projects we worked on this year:

1.  Adding a new light fixture in the dining room

2.  Dealing with a leaky basement

3.  Instead of merely fixing problems with tile in the bathroom, retiling the bathroom wall

4.  Getting a new fence and shed installed

5.  Switching bedrooms & offices with Conor

6.  New patio and benches in the backyard

7.  Installing new flooring in the sunroom (my favourite DIY project of the year!)

Along the way, we also made a few smaller-scale updates (too many to list them all!), including getting a new rug for the living room, new chairs in the dining room, and updating window treatments in the living room and Julia's room.  These small projects helped keep me going during the times when the large projects were feeling too overwhelming.

What's on your agenda for the new year?  Lots of little updates, or fewer, large-scale projects?  What would you like to read more about here?  Don't be shy!  I've appreciated each and every one of your comments, it's great to feel like a part of a "DIY community" of sorts.  Keep 'em coming, don't make me beg!

Making new stockings

A quick and fun project with the kids--making new stockings out of fabric from old curtains.  We traced the shape of our old stockings, adding extra width for seam allowances. Then, we folded over the top to create a finished edge.  Next, we pinned wrong sides together and sewed the front and back together.  Easy peasy.

 Conor learned how to sew in life skills last year, but I did stand right next to him to make sure that no fingers were harmed in the making of the stockings, plus I had the sewing machine speed set to "turtle slow", so that even if he pressed the pedal all the way down to the floor, it would not speed up to the frantic tempo I usually use!

Here's the finished product--not bad for an hour's work, really, four new stockings using repurposed fabric from "the stash".  

New project: basement reorg!

Watch your head!  We're heading to the basement today to check out our least 'finished' space.  The door you see at the bottom of the stairs is the laundry room, and to the left is our bathroom.

Once you're downstairs, look to the right, and you'll see the newly replaced door--we're so lucky to have a walk-out basement, it really makes this space light and cheerful.

Not nearly as cheerful once you see the scattered mess that is the main living area of the basement.  How did it become such a junk pile?  The white door in the pic on the left leads to Conor's room, and the half-door in the pic on the right leads to the dark and scary crawl space under our main living area.  

Looking back toward the bathroom does not reveal a prettier picture.  So, my next project, on a limited budget (TBA) is to turn this neglected space into a fun and functional space for the kiddos.  Stay tuned for floor plans (courtesy of Conor), and feel free to pitch in with ideas and inspiration as we tackle this newest decorating challenge!

dressing up the chandelier for the holidays

A lot of our decorations have come with us from home to home, and are starting to show a little wear and tear.  I got this cute silver and white garland many years back, but it's starting to look a little tired.  Instead of throwing it back on the tree (or throwing it out!), I thought I'd give it one more chance as a decoration for the chandelier.

Here's another take on decorating the same light fixture from Nicole at Making it Lovely.  While you're there, check out her great holiday decorating posts!

The other half of the garland is now living on the fireplace mantel, held up by our stocking holders.

This snowman from Pottery Barn is an old stand-by--we even made a DIY version as gifts a few years back!  The grass and pinecones are from the garden.  

No tree yet, though!  Am I the only one?

snowman door quilt

I'm procrastinating again.  I haven't even thought about decorating the house for the holidays.  The extent of my holiday decorating so far is pulling out the snowman quilt I made a while back and popping it up on the door with magnetic clothespins.

I love this project, it was quick and easy.  The pattern came from Celebrate! with Little Quilts.  In fact, I made two of these with scraps from my fabric stash (and buttons from my grandmother's button jar), and gave one as a gift.  Small quilts are a really accessible first project for those of you who might have a secret desire to quilt.  Plus, it uses iron-on applique method, so if you have an iron and you can cut, you can get that snowman on the background in no time flat!  I made my own binding, which is the only tricky part of the project, but you can also purchase binding at your local fabric shop, which would save time and effort.

Maybe this will inspire me to drag out the rest of the holiday decorations.  I'm not thrilled with hanging it with clothes pins--any other suggestions?