Figure It Out ONCE

It's spring break, so what does that mean?

Long days at the beach?

Mornings with tea and a book?

Afternoons at the mall?

Nope, it's...

HOME RENOVATION TIME!

The guy who flipped our house before we bought it, bless his heart,

evidently dealt with a hoarder-type situation. 

I appreciate the mountains of STUFF he cleared out,

but what I DON'T appreciate is that he used the cheapest materials to spiff up the place.

So slowly and methodically, room by room,

I've been using my Etsy money to brighten and liven the house.

I keep cost down by either doing the labor myself or

with the help of my amateur labor force, the Boy...

(It's handy having someone tall enough to get the top of the walls, without a stepladder.)

... and the Girl:

(Here she is, post - "Pi-VOT!" moment with the Boy's bed.)

Speaking of the Boy...this break, it was time to tackle his room:

Ugh.  Look at that sad carpet, those dirty white walls.  

It's not his fault:  like I said, the paint and carpeting were cheap, cheap, cheap,

so it doesn't clean easily.

But, look!

What a pretty color for the walls!  What a lovely, clean-looking laminate floor!

The Boy emptied most of his room in one day,

and the next the Girl and I took up the carpet, painted the walls,

and re-floored with a nice vinyl laminate.

(I'm not getting paid by the Allure people; I just really like their stuff.)

And what was the handiest tool for this renovation?

THIS BOOK:

Since my renovations are spread out,

I don't always remember details from each one.

So a few projects back I began this composition book.  Each renovation has an entry,

and each entry has very specific notes on what I learned.

For example, I had noted that old spools are perfect for painting baseboards.

 Unfortunately, I hadn't written down that the heavy tile scraper

was the way to remove those awful carpet nail strips, and I didn't remember

until after I'd slowly hacked and splintered a few with a screwdriver and chisel.

 

But I've made a note in my journal, so next time I'll be slicing away at those strips

from the very beginning!