When I was about ten years old, I found a super cool button on the street. On it was a picture of a smiling balloon surrounded by hearts. It didn’t make a lot of sense to me, but not much back then did anyway (it was the late ’80s). Despite this, I decided to pin it on my jean jacket and wear it around town. It wasn’t until about five days later – days in which I had gone to school, grocery shopping and to the mall, and attended a friend’s piano recital – that my mom finally noticed what was adorning my jacket. And just like that, my button of the friendly balloon – which turned out to actually be a smiling condom with the caption “No Glove, No Love!” beneath it – was yanked from my jacket and whisked out of my life forever. [click to continue…]
DIY Discussion
In a lot of ways, the first winter months are like Tuesdays; you tend not to have “wild Tuesday nights” where you go out and get crazy and spend a lot of money. Tuesday has typically been the slowest day of the week when it comes to leisure spending, which is why restaurants and movie theaters often have Tuesday specials to lure you out. January and February are similar; people blew their budgets and waistlines over the holidays and spend the first few months of the year recovering, being a little more sensible and paying back credit card debt. (Well, that’s the theory, anyway.) And it’s for that reason that some of the best deals in home improvement, home furnishings and tools can often be found across the board in these months-of-the-doldrums; retailers are just dying for you to part with your dough again. Care to know what’s for sale this season? Here’s our list! [click to continue…]
Repaired cracks before sanding
If any of you are as sick as I am of dealing with stress cracks, mudding/taping over and over again, and worse yet, repainting every few years, then this may be a solution for you. Stress cracks in sheetrock (which is what we’re dealing with in our second story bedrooms), or other building materials don’t necessarily indicate a structural issue. As is my case, they may be a recurring problem due to high winds and the natural, resulting movement of the structure. That doesn’t mean I have to like having to touch up and repair on a regular basis. I’ve had it, so my answer to the problem is faux beam work. [click to continue…]
You know all those sayings about the second time? Second time’s the charm, second come first served, anything worth doing twice is worth doing thrice, and do it right the second time. They are mainstays of our American lexicon. What’s that? They aren’t? Are you sure? I know I have always used second come, first served… Actually, come to think of it, it may have been first come first served. In that case, why is that with so many home repairs, we decided to not fix it right but fix it right now. [click to continue…]
Faux paint techniques are a cool way to make something look like something it’s not. You can make simple drywall look like it’s stone or stucco, or as if there are leaves embedded in it, and so on. But, faux painting isn’t just artsy and decorative. No, it can also be used to hide all sorts of imperfections and is an easy out for people like me who don’t want to be bothered with filling, sanding, mudding and re-taping or any other unpleasant, repair related tasks. [click to continue…]
