On Replacing a Faucet

When I saw that our laundry faucet was leaking copiously, I surmised that the fix was a new faucet. The old one was as old as Genevieve, who is turning 18 any day now (my stars! that's a different post). Then, I further thought in my new pragmatic way: I bet replacing a faucet is just a bunch of screws and matching up connections. I prefer to save my money for skills and professional services I cannot hope to duplicate with a YouTube video. So I checked with my dad who is the ultimate handyman if he would be present while I crawled under the sink and matched things up. I wanted to free up my husband for other house repairs - he also is a handyman, but he works fulltime, unlike my dad who is retired and enjoying himself hugely. 

Guess what? It went great. I bought a faucet for about forty bucks, my husband bought new hoses for a few dollars more, and I changed that faucet with my dad's excellent guidance. The only glitch was that the hot and cold water got switched, which meant another tedious session under the sink switching them.  

As a professionally trained and experienced teacher, I was impressed with my dad's patient, positive approach. He gave some low-key guidance, never critical, and he did not show impatience as I struggled with the bolts and figuring out which tool to use, sometimes getting my righty-tighty and lefty-loosy mixed up. It's not easy to be the expert being patient as the novice hacks and bungles through the job. He just fetched a work light from his truck. He really had me do the work and sat back in full confidence that I could do the job. It was a delightful, empowering experience for me. I have more respect for my dad's life work and knowledge. 

I gave him concord grape pie - sort of a thank you gift but truly, I love to share my homemade fruit pies with my parents anytime. They are so appreciative.

In this phase of my life, I am looking for ways to cut through the patriarchal, traditional approaches to distill the problem and see what solution I can offer. I don't always have this confident, pragmatic energy, but when I do, I lean into it hard. It feels great. 

Up on the Ladder

One of the areas my husband and I choose to be thrifty is painting.  We do all our own painting, inside and out.  If you have a fixer-upper house, you have to decide how to maximize your dollars and your time.  I know painting is time-consuming, but we need to save our money for plumbers and electricians and other skilled people with specialized tools and licenses. The way we save time is by ignoring some of the shabby paint!

Of course, we did have to acquire some painting equipment over the years, but this has easily paid for itself as we have used our own time instead of hiring painters. We also buy quality paint (Benjamin Moore) from a local store with wonderfully helpful, knowledgeable staff (locals, email me for my recommendation if you want).  It's not worth it to me to have cheaper paint, especially coupled with the hit-or-miss customer service you get at a big box store.

For example, I've been painting exterior surfaces recently, and I was asking the local paint store

guys for advice on how to paint my Victorian porch railing with its terrible-to-access curls.  We talked about custom spray paint, paint mitts, sponges, and a dab-dab (I bought a dab-dab for $1.89 and it works somewhat better than a paintbrush and isn't splaying out bristles). Over the years, I have picked up lots of professional tips and practices from them.

So when I get down off the ladder (soon! the porch floor is the last hurdle!), I will have some sewing projects to show you and some thoughts on food preservation.

Peeks into an Old House with Its Old Life

My in-laws bought an investment property, a house that came along at the right time and they are up for the renovation. This is not new turf to them and they're good at this.  This time, my husband is also involved as the design professional.

The other day, I finally paid attention and asked to see the house.  I'm not sure what my father-in-law and husband thought went I went ga-ga over the sinks - I don't think I want to know.  But I came back the today with my camera because something caught my heart when I looked at that old house.

I wanted to make a nest in it with all the dear little cubbies and nooks and closets.  I wanted to have an aqua tiled bathroom.

Also, if I had paid more attention to what my father-in-law and husband were saying instead of stroking marble sinks, I could tell you which exact details and items are staying.  Most of them are, I think. I only took photos of the parts I loved, so you're not seeing the 1980s kitchen with the rooster wallpaper border, the odd purple front door, or the carpeted "den."  Pretty ugly, really.

All I was concerned about today with my camera were the images, the light, the pathos.

 

 

 

 

I was on my way to a banquet when I squeezed in this photo session. I didn't want you to think I wear that much jewelry around the house.

 

the mother's dressing room

a pencil sharpener in the dressing room?

lavender glass doorknob

We Have Achieved a Pink Living Room

Well, the flu did get me, and then we painted our living room pink.  It's nice to be back on the blog!

 

 

Around the time Genevieve was born, we painted the living room a mushroom color, which I chose because it was between brown and gray and might go with anything.  It did look nice with the creamy trim and the stone fireplace.  My  husband and I figured we'd get a vision for the living room sooner or later.

Then we got our twin red sofas and I sewed chartreuse drapes.  The mushroom walls did not assist the aura of the room, you know?  We wanted a wall color that played nicely with the drapes and kept the focus on the red sofas.  Pink!  Very pale pink, like the inside a seashell.

My husband and I, with help from friends and family, have done all our own painting over the years on our fixer-upper.  We save our home-repair dollars for the projects we don't have the expertise for.

But there was a lot of choreographing to get this room painted, let me tell you.  We arranged babysitting part of the time.  I made sure the freezer was stocked with easy food to keep our morale up and dinner for our Sunday guests.  I made a list of every task that needed to be done, what day it needed to be done on, and possibly how long that task might take.  The idea was to have the children around as little wet paint as possible, and to have the room torn apart for 2 days only.

We did it.

We're exhausted. 

The living room looks fabulous. 

But I must say, as we applied the first coat of paint (Benjamin Moore's "Gentle Blush"), the living room looked scarily pink, like a little girl's nursery. We were dismayed, but we painted doggedly on and reminded ourselves how rigorously we had chosen our color. Amazingly enough, once the dropcloths were put away and the furniture and drapes were back in place, the pink settled down into the background where we wanted it.

We were only planning to touch up the trim, but our standard trim color (Benjamin Moore's Navajo White) suddenly looked sickly green next to the pink; we wanted creamy white.  So I made an emergency trip to our paint store, got their expert help, and we painted the living room trim Mascarpone.  Much better.

The 50-cent Tapestry

I think it was priced fifty cents because it wasn't technically finished - I think those yellow Xs are basting stitches.  There was also a spot, a tiny spot, that looked to be moth-eaten.

 

 But I had eyes only for the rich colors, so I brought it home.  I mean, really, fifty cents.

 

After about two years of closing the drawer wistfully on the tapestry, I bargained with my husband:  he could hang his three Roman soldiers and I could hang my tapestry.  Both of us tolerate the other's picture.  But at least mine is cheap!  I got the frame with a coupon at AC Moore for something under $5 - I think the frame gives it an elegant, minimalist edge. 

 

the soldiers

 

 

An oil painting by a local artist who is also our friend; I do clean up the mantel sometimes, but I rarely "decorate" it.

We're gearing up to paint our living room next week while the children have an overnight at Granny and Grandpa's house.  It's taken a lot of color swatches and scheduling plans to get to this point - we are so excited!

Shelves in the Bedroom

I petitioned my husband to put up some shelves in the bedroom.  Considering what he's got on his plate right now, I felt timid asking. But I had this idea for these shelves for a long time, and Leila issued a challenge to tackle the master bedroom (I never, ever, think of this as the "master bedroom" - why is that?  I'm bossy enough to be the master).

But my husband did the shelves!

And I got it photographed - only one week late for Leila's bedroom spiff-up (linked up with pretty happy funny real).

 

Used to be storage boxes with hats flopped on top.  They were hard to sort through, looking for belts, scarves, tights, and shoe polish.  Now it's easy and the hats even look artsy. 

I like to think each tiny project brings us closer to being done with the house; I'm not so naive to think we will ever have a perfect house, but I do think there's a baseline that we haven't reached yet.  Old houses have lots of projects!

There's Been a Move

Over the weekend, we switched rooms.  The children are now in the former pale green workroom.  I am in the former pink and yellow nursery as I type, in a room of my very own.  It's going to be lovely when it's all done, but in the meantime, oh man, I hate the moving chaos and the way it spreads to all corners of the house.  I even skipped Sunday school to whisk around at it.

This move involved drywalling and its attendant dust. Then we pushed all the furniture to the middle of the rooms and painted them with the help, in various forms, of both our families.

 There were numerous trips to Home Depot and even a midnight trip to Walmart.

That's Benjamin Moore's Eccentric Lime in the children's room.

My room is plain, pure white.  With a paper lantern and bamboo shades.  It's so absolutely lovely to not share this space with anyone.  Don't worry - I'll share it with you via photos.  Soon.

Blue Progress in the Office

Every week, the office is a little closer to done.  The walls are deep grey-blue, with black furniture and cool lights.

I'm learning another side of my husband by seeing what he chooses for his space. I think I could have predicted most of it, but it's still a side of him that I haven't seen since we started sharing living space eons ago.

This blog helps me focus on progress in our home life. I take photos to illustrate posts and I realize, hey, the walls are painted now. Actually, the shelves went up, too, since I uploaded these photos. I don't dwell on the undone, which is my pessimistic nature.

My Christmas Gift from Mr. Thrift

Under-cabinet lights in the kitchen!  I'm so pleased.  Ours is the third kitchen my father in law has installed under-cabinet lights in.  He and my husband planned this, but my father in law did the work.

I am so thrilled.  Light!  in midwinter!

And, a startling side effect:  obvious smudges and fingerprints everywhere my pretty new lights shine.  There's a spiritual metaphor there.

When I Shall Have a Room of My Own

Renovations are underway in our house again.  Our house is complicated because it's a big house with three apartments.  We nip away at the second-floor apartment now and again, and add rooms to our own living space. 

The last nip, two years ago, brought us a big room, a balcony, and a little galley kitchen.  We finally figured out how to use the space.

Soon I will have a little workroom to myself!  I'll make it a sewing room, but also my desk space where I deal with the day-to-day finances of our household.

I'm excited, but I'd be untruthful if I didn't tell you that I hate the process.  I'm not very fond of changes to begin with, and when dirt and chaos are in the mix, I can be very cranky and yelly.  An orderly, peaceful house gives me deep serenity. 

But it's coming along nicely, thanks to my handy husband.  At this point, my contribution is picking up his household responsibilities so he can put that time into the renovation.  I'll keep you posted!

That Cozy Feeling

the delicious weight of blankets at night. . .good warm breakfast smells from a hot oven in the morning. . .jackets and sweaters and lovely leather boots. . .cold noses and red cheeks. . .smoky air. . .warm home, chilly air and the desire to be at home with a mug of hot tea and the umbrella dripping in the corner, drawing the curtains against the winter that's coming on.  Home is such a cozy place in autumn. 

I love how the sudden brisk air prioritizes our house projects.  Suddenly there's a flurry of outdoor painting, quick, or we'll have to look at that helplessly until next summer. . .

Heatproofing with Curtains and Blinds

I recalled the nailing heat of the sun last summer after our neighbors removed some trees that shaded our house.  My husband and I decided to try to block the sun as much as possible in this old kitchen space that leads out onto the balcony.  It's a mess and we haven't decided what we're doing with it yet.

We bought 2 outdoor blinds for the balcony ($80), and then I made curtains for the windows (free!).  This was such a satisfying project because the blinds were the only new thing.

My friend Kim had just helped her parents empty their attic in preparation for moving, and she gave me some fabric and dresser scarves her grandmother embroidered.  There were panels of this great home dec fabric - I didn't have to cut a thing.  I just sewed them together and backed them with old white muslin curtains in my stash.

Unfortunately, I measured the length for a pressure rod and even bought said rod, and then my husband found a regular curtain rod in the basement.  I cleverly forgot to adjust my math, so the curtains on the wall window are a bit short.  Tra-la, they're in the box room anyway!

All this sun blocking has made the upstairs noticeably cooler . . .and the only thing we bought were those shades.