I like closets, at least in my mind, but often they get forgotten. Like mine did. Shortly after Christmas I had an issue with my hot water heater that is stored in the downstairs closet. The hot water heater definitely had to go, but once I removed the junk that our closet held, it got me looking at how awful the closet actually was. Closets in general seem to get the very least attention of any space in the house. You throw in your clothes or shoes, a random vacuum cleaner, odds and ends, the occasional tool, etc. They really are the junk drawers of the house. Because of their red-headed stepchild status, closets tend to be neglected and can fall into disrepair quickly. As I see it, there are at least three reasons why you shouldn’t neglect your closets.
Decor
Normally we’re talking about brutish power tools and rugged home improvement projects. But occasionally, we like to tap into our inner Christopher Lowell and get our decorator on. So today, we’ll be talking tapestries baby! Just to stay grounded in our HomeFixated roots, our little tapestry project also involved some optional metal fabrication with a grinder. More on that to come. Tapestries can be great decorative items, but in our case we were installing them to deaden the sound in a plaster-walled office. Without soft surfaces, a plaster room with hardwood flooring can sound more like an echo chamber than a cozy room. Since I don’t consider myself an expert on tapestries, I embarked on my typically obsessive hunt for tapestries and installation methods online. In the process, I learned a few tips and tricks I’d like to share with you. [click to continue…]
I don’t know about you but my home desk is a mess and no it has nothing to do with my messy tendencies or lack of organizational skills, but the wires, oh the wires. What do you do with them all, I mean for an ever wireless world how does one explain the amount of wires required to make everything wireless? But there is a solution (and no it does not include adapting a troglodytic lifestyle and moving to a cave) and it’s done artfully with Caretta Workspaces. [click to continue…]
Talk about a distressing situation! We are expecting our second child, a girl, in the beginning of August. Thank you very much. In case you were wondering, yes we did register at several places; dewalt.com, lowes.com and rockler.com. Anyway, our first child, a boy, is now old enough to move out of the crib and into a real bed. So, my wife went down to a ‘professional’ yard saler who has a lot/carport/shop just down the road from us. This woman buys anything and everything that she can from yard sales and auctions, and then sells the stuff to others for profit. I’m not sure if you’ve ever heard of a racket similar to this one, but apparently it’s a pretty good system of business. With that said, my wife bought an old twin sized sleigh style headboard for about twelve bucks. This thing had a little water damage and was missing most of the bolt button caps but otherwise was in great shape. All it really needed was a new paint job and voilà – good as new-ish. [click to continue…]
Last year my wife and I purchased an older home with the intention of fixing it up, and, well, it’s been a slow process. I’ve painted and in some cases repainted everything, and we’re about 75% through the job of updating the wiring from the old knob and tube. For the most part it’s still an old house in need of some TLC. It’s drafty and because of our geographical location, it is always very humid, especially in the summer. [click to continue…]
