This Is Shambles House

Want To Check Out My House?

2008-06-27T09:18:00.000-07:00

The Secret To Stripping Wallpaper And Other Tedious Household Work...

2008-06-27T09:11:00.000-07:00

Is listening to The Savage Love Podcast.

Seriously, there's something about listening to the sturm and drang of other people's freaky sex lives and personal problems that makes the tedium of household fixing go faster.

I'm Pretty Sure I'll Never Own Another House

2008-06-26T21:58:00.000-07:00

But if I take the plunge, especially out here, I will want an outdoor shower.

For a bit in the late 80's-early 90's, my parents owned a vacation home at the NC Outer Banks. This was a miserable experience except for the fact we had an outdoor shower. No, not the ocean access steps away, crabbing, bewitching views of dolphin pods. Owning a vacation home is a particular kind of self-deprivation--everything is much nicer than what you have at home, and has to be kept so, requires a lot of worry, and is done for people you will never meet. Screw that, in my opinion.

But you cannot imagine the sensual delight of an outdoor shower unless you've experienced it: the naughtiness of being nakey outside, the juxtaposition of hot water and cold air (or hot air and cold water) and fresh air.

And environmentally conscious too!

Just Wait A Second While I Spackle That Dent From Hitting The Wall With My Head

2008-06-08T14:14:00.000-07:00

So, if a neutral decor is so important for resale, why buy property in the first place? Wasn't one of the reasons/pleasures of owning your own place supposed if you wanted an orange room, you could go ahead and do it? Those home shows on cable, they are all about the splashy decor and color.

Personally, agonizing over nine shades of white makes me want to slap people. Yet I can do it just as well as anyone!

Having just neutraled up Shambles House a bit for sale (pictures to follow), I'm of mixed thoughts on this. I'm someone who just lives with decor--it's one of the reasons why I'm a lousy homeowner. So I kinda like the neutral look, bit on the other hand I have a strong Slovak side that likes some SW Lime Rickey and other bright colors. There's a sizable contingent of buyers who immediately seek to change their surroundings and put a stamp on their new home, so neutralizing is sort of useless, no?

Product Recommendations: Mr. Clean Magic Eraser

2008-04-05T13:10:00.000-07:00

If you have mildewed grout, the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser for Kitchen and Bath does an AWESOME job cleaning that up. Except since it's infused with some sort of Febreeze citrus scent, it smells like you have 9,000 baby asprin in your bathroom.

Freecycle: Pledge

2007-04-10T15:32:00.000-07:00

So I cleaned out the metal cabinet where I kept the cleaning supplies. I had 3 cans of Pledge in there. Why do I have Pledge? I was not raised to use Pledge. Hell, I'm so shanty I wasn't even raised to use soap to wash the floor (no kidding!) To Freecycle it goes.

Snow Photos, Part 2

2007-02-18T09:29:00.000-08:00

Lots of Snow

2007-02-18T08:38:00.000-08:00

More photos later.

I will say, I think this snowstorm was it for me.

Clocky Lives!

2007-02-11T10:15:00.000-08:00

Last year I heard about this fabulous prototype alarm clock coming out of MIT called Clocky. An alarm clock on wheels that moves around beeping, annoying you to the point you have to rise, chase it, and turn it off? Put me on the list to purchase! I have sleeping/rising issues--I've gotten to the point where putting the alarm clock in the kitchen so I have to walk downstairs to turn it off is the most viable option to get me to wake up.

I am pleased to let you know Clocky is now on the market.

Okay, and I also want to see if the cats adopt it and treat it like a kitten. Will they groom Clocky? Will they play with it? Will they figure out how to turn it off? Because I can't use them as an alarm clock anymore--they've decided morning is sleepy warm time. Cain lays on my chest to trap me so Sidecar feels safe enough to lay beside me. Mencken contemplates making coffee, but eventually decides I am not worthy of such courtesies.

Product Recommendations

2007-01-21T15:25:00.000-08:00

Another product that I adore is "Krud Kutter Brand Brush-Wash," which is invaluable if you are a sloppy and forgetful painter like me. This stuff is practically magic in the way it restores brushes gloppy with paint and perhaps a little caked with the dry stuff. If you put it in your paint caddy with some water, you can peel the dried on latex paint off in a solid piece. An awesome product that I have only found in the paint aisle of Target (What? Target has a paint aisle? Indeed, I was a little surprised too. More like a paint accessories aisle.)

Appliance Deathwatch

2007-01-18T14:54:00.000-08:00

Okay, so in the past month I have had the following items die on me:

the washer
my digital camera
my VCR

I swear, it's like I've got some bad appliance mojo going on here.

Anyone care to bet on what will go next?

Just Pick Up A Paintbrush

2007-01-18T14:37:00.000-08:00

Okay, all I have to say is that the people who say "It's so easy! I just slapped a new coat of paint on the walls and it completely changed the room! Just took a weekend! Cheap! Easy! Wonderful!" are smoking crack.

Painting is hard. And the prep work and the waiting for the paint to dry and the cleaning up the splatters (which go everywhere, because I have almost no fine muscle control, plus the kitties tend to be very, very interested in the stinky paint stuff). And I'm convinced that Goo Gone really kills the brain cells, even with an open window.

I will say that the room is really pretty and upbeat though. Lime Rickey is much better than Wheatgrass. I have a couple things left to handle and It's completely finished, but I'm happy. I'll post pictures soon.

Snow!

2007-01-18T13:48:00.000-08:00

We had snow this week--I got about 1.5 inches over here on the western end of Cleveland. More's expected tomorrow out in the snow belt. They're predicting 6-12 inches out there.

However, it's time to plan the garden! I've got the Burpee catalog, and it all looks gorgeous. I think that I'm giving up on veggies in the front yard bed, except for cucumbers. I love cucumbers. I'm planting the lemon cukes again, even though I was not real successful with them last year, and a regular long green. But that leaves me open for flowers! I like orange and red and yellow ones. I think they look best up against the toad color of the house. Snapdragons are my favorite, but I also love marigolds, zinnias and the like. I also need a ground covering for the backyard since it's so shady that it's nearly impossible to grow grass.

Mantras

2007-01-08T19:31:00.000-08:00

Along with "It's good enough for now," I have a couple of other mantras that I've taken to repeating as I do things around the joint. "It's an old house. It's a used house. It's not perfect, and it's not new." And I also have "It would look better in a magazine" in the back of my head.

What I should also do is go to some open houses in the area. It's always good to groove on the crappy design choices of others.

Light Shade Update

2007-01-07T11:12:00.000-08:00

I just put the light shade from Schoolhouse Electric--received on Tuesday and up on Sunday? It's a record for Kerry Enterprises! Looks great, and Schoolhouse Electric has great customer service. I called them because after measuring the fitter 3 times I was conviced it was 31/2" which no one had any record of existing, much less in stock. Jill assured me that fitters are the devil to measure and that it was almost certainly 31/4". She was right.

Input Requested!

2007-01-07T10:40:00.000-08:00

I'm requesting input from my dear readers: up in the attic, I have a bunch of plastic dairy crates. You know, the heavy duty kind that are so valuable when you are in college for their stacking and organizational ability, but in the adult world? Not so much, and rather ugly. Considering that I'll be moving within the year, should I keep them or freecycle? On the one hand could be useful. On the other, maybe not and are just hanging around the place. They have slight sentimental attachments--no, I did not steal them in my halcycon (ha!) youth, my mom would get them from the deli that delivered sandwiches to her department. I said slight sentimental attachment. That deli had excellent pickles and good free sandwiches that she'd let me have in the car on the way home from school.

So: stay or go?

I was up in the attic to retrieve another object d'freecycle: a 6 foot cardboard standup promoting the release of "Moulin Rouge" on Cinemax. I picked it up off the treelawn some time ago, and I must confess I never properly capitalized on the spirit-lifting possibilities of having Ewan McGregor in the house.

Design Inspiration

2007-01-04T17:10:00.000-08:00

Do you think I subconsciously adopted this book jacket for my new workroom? I wish it were in better condition. I'd frame it. I just like the color/font combination.

By the way, my digital camera broke in transit to Phoenix, so there will be few pictures until I get it fixed.

More Little Changes

2007-01-04T08:43:00.000-08:00

In my bedroom, I have a very odd closet. Actually all the closets in this house are a little odd--2 have windows, and the other has a built in seat and possibly removable floorboards. Anyway, this one is about 6 feet long and 3 feet wide, but it's a laid out like a little room. You could use it as a nursery, I suppose. But I was looking at it and the holes in the woodwork that the ex hadn't bothered to fill in when he painted*. And I had these hooks I had bought to put in the other closet but hadn't bothered....

And some drill time later, we have the above result! Not bad! I stripped screws as I was screwing them in with the drill, but I just continued repeating my new mantra, "That's good enough for now." And it is good enough. I also put the vacuum cleaner and my dirty clothes basket in there, along with the home repair stuff and the Christmas storage.

*There's two types of people in this world, those who do prep work like that, and those who don't. Guess which kind I am and why I'm a superior person. Or annoying details nazi, depending on your point of view. Ahem.

Closing In On A Finish Here

2007-01-03T19:12:00.000-08:00

Christmas was tsunami of loneliness, PMS and sadness. So I tackled the rest of the wall. One more layer of drywall compound, sanding, and paint give us the above result--you can see in the 2nd photo there's a bit of a bump. Not the best result, but it will do. It's better than having a two foot crack forming an x-y axis with additional cracks that would make a geometry student cry over its slope. The bump is due to the fact that we had this weird layer of chicken wire-like stuff on the wall. I later figured out that part of the wall had its original plaster repaired--the plasterer would have nailed this stuff to the lathe to provide a base for the layers of new plaster that matched up to the old. You can see some of it in the pictures of our excavation.

I start on the trim tomorrow.

And did I mention my washing machine broke on Christmas too? Geez Louise!

Ripoff Alert!

2007-01-03T19:07:00.000-08:00

I have a tub of this in my project room at the moment. I guarantee you, it did not cost $18. Nor did I have to order it over the web from Restoration Hardware. I think I got it at Home Depot, and it was less than $10 (probably closer to $5).

All Hail The Tibet Almond Stick!

2006-12-25T08:22:00.000-08:00

I've got issues with Apartment Therapy, but sometimes they really come through on their recommendations. I first read about the Tibet Almond Stick there last summer--a magic product that hides slight scratches in furniture. You buy it through old-timey hardware stores or by mail from its manufacturers, Zenith Chemical Works. It's only $5, including shipping. And it works! I swiped across some scratches left on the floor from moving the furniture, and they instantly vanished. Excellent! Because nothing drives me more nuts than minor imperfections.

Schoolhouse Electric

2006-12-22T18:01:00.000-08:00

Earlier this year, I had a boneheaded moment--I had replaced the lightbulb in the overhead light in the 2nd floor hallway, but I couldn't get the shade back on the fixture. Then I had it hanging around the bedroom for a while, when it got accidentally shattered. Crap. I managed to destroy the only item original to this house. I cannot have nice things. It was really pretty--round with slanted swirls, crystal etched. I looked around at various reproduction and old light fixture dealers, but I was always torn. There's really beautiful shades out there, but frankly, I didn't want to pay $90-$150 for a shade when I haven't got a firm design sense and will probably sell the house anyway.

Well, this week I broke down and finally ordered a new shade. I picked this one. I hope it looks good. I love opal and milk glass.

Wow. Just, Wow.

2006-12-22T16:42:00.000-08:00

Last night I accidentally spilled my virgin cocktail on the floor. Yes, how pathetic am I, spilling drinks on the floor when I'm not even lit? Consequently, this afternoon my to do list included the entry "Wash living room floor."

Pain in the ass, because this activity requires moving furniture and vacuuming. But as I was getting started, I went "Hmmmm....what is it they say about making little changes making a big difference?"

I'd been meaning to bring this desk up from the basement and paint it SW Brevity Brown and install the new knobs, hang the mirror, and establish a little corner were I can charge the computer and ipod and camera (because as you all know, I tend to lose things) and maybe put the mail down, and stop piling everything up on the poor red chair. But it just seemed like such a big, messy project. But if I just didn't paint....

But once I'd moved the bookcase that sat there (which had hardly anything it in anyway) and brought the desk up from the basement, dusted it off and changed the knobs--even with having to locate a screwdriver, it only took 15 minutes. Finding my level and sinking screws for the mirror took another 20 minutes. Relocating the "Love Over And Over" album cover and the picture of my dad's family circa 1963---30 minutes.

Now I'm all organized! I have a place for the computer, the mail, my pens, my bags, my hand weights and the "To Be Read" pile. I can put on lipstick before leaving! Ponder the words of Andy Warhol! Doesn't it look awesome? I keep staring in wonderment.

* Said cocktail was Trader Joe's tangerine juice and ginger ale, because I couldn't find my prosecco to make a mimosa. Pretty dang good, though!

All The Little Hepcats Jump For Joy!

2006-12-12T14:41:00.000-08:00

Trust me, they're excited on the inside.

What I Bought At Ingersoll's Today

2006-11-28T12:14:00.000-08:00

Technically, last week:

1 24 inch bamboo rake
2 sets of lawn bags (5 in each pack)

What I'll Buy At Ingersoll's Tomorrow

2 packs of lawn bags, at least.

Stove For Sale

2006-11-28T12:09:00.000-08:00

So, the January 2007 Domino is all "vintage stoves! hot, hot, hot!" But does anyone want to buy my vintage stove? Noooooo! What a disappointment.

What I Bought At Ingersoll's Today

2006-11-19T17:51:00.000-08:00

Because this needs to be tracked:

1 jar of silver foam for polishing my silver fork and compact
1 wrench

Progress, of Sorts

2006-11-19T08:34:00.000-08:00

Here at Feckless, Lazy & Cheerful* we have fallen a bit behind due to nice weather and general anxiety.

However, knowledge of the fact that Patrick & Genevieve will be coming to visit next Friday has spurred some progress. A couple of weeks ago I bought curtains for my bedroom. They are the thermal kind, to cut down on the heat loss. Then I had to buy curtain rods and hardware. And yesterday? I finally put them up. It was nerve-wracking, the whole figuring out the drill and tunnelling into the wall. But they're up, and they look nice, although they also make the room 100 times darker. Which will soon lead me to some home electricity experiments (the outlet by the bed does not work, which is frustrating), but not today.

No pictures, because I want it to be a surprise.

Also curtains impede the daily Squirrel Patrol! Squirrel Patrol! watch, in which the cats all sit on window sills and the bed waiting for the squirrel to jump from the top of the roof. Then they promise that it's only a matter of short time before they get out and rumble. After morning nappy, you know.

Also, this week Paul addressed the leaking bathtub faucet. Which was an adventure that lead us to Ingersoll's, where the hardware guy admitted that even he did not know quite what was up with the innards of my tub's water supply. Plus, we touched other items in the water supply and disturbed the ecosystem.

So now I have a leaking hot water valve in the basement. Again. However, having been rooked to the tune of $140 last year to replace a washer--there, I admit it!--I feel confident that I can fix this myself. Even if the screw is so rusted from corrosion that I needed to buy a new wrench because we are going to have to bypass that and take off the whole handle.

And when I saw "we", I mean me, at least until the point I start crying in frustration.

*A Kerry Enterprises subsidiary

REStore Cleveland

2006-11-11T15:46:00.000-08:00

This morning I went on a home renovation related field trip. I went to REStore Cleveland. This is Habitat for Humanity's retail store operation, located on Union Ave. It's open 9am-1pm on Saturdays. I had been meaning to go for a while, but had never carved out the time.

The selection wasn't as extensive as I had been lead to believe, but they had a totally cool set of vintage beige metal cabinets with shiny metal drawer pulls. They had a upper corner mount set, two wide cabinets that set on the floor, and a four stack narrow cabinet set (about 6 feet high). I wish I had had the camera to take a picture. They were so sweet!

Aside from the cabinets, they had a nice selection of doors, but everything else was just odds n' ends--some vintage, some overstock donations from business, some wallpaper and lighting, the cabinets, some windows.

In Which Kerry & Paul Take Down A Wall

2006-11-11T15:45:00.000-08:00

Home repair took an interesting turn on Friday. I cleaned off 6! layers of paint from the heating grate, bringing it down to the metal. And it wasn't evenly done--there's still bits where I have to get at it more with the CitriStrip and a scraper/brush. Nice tone to the metal though. I am undecided about whether to repaint it--the many paint layers obscured the detail of the grate, but I am not fundamentally against painted grates. I then spackled this huge crack in the wall and also went at the area around the heating vent where I took off plaster.

I was taking a break when Paul called. Those of you who read my other blog will know him as The Romance Heroine's boyfriend. When they came over for dinner last week, he offered to come and help me with any of my projects. And he followed it up with a phone call, proving that he is a nice guy! With tons of experience and ideas! He came dressed for painting (and agreed that the Lime Rickey was a bit vibrant but grows on you), but the first thing he tackled was the overhead ceiling fan. "Whoa! You know this isn't properly mounted, right?" Um, yes I had long suspected that.....

Not only did he get the broken lightbulb bit out, he also remounted the fan. Then he looked at my spackle job and pointed out that it's never going to be level--maybe we could cut out part of the wall and drywall it. It turns out Paul really likes to drywall. And he makes it seem so easy, even though we had to go to Ingersolls and two Home Depots to get the correct thickness of drywall and our other supplies. I also had to talk him out of buying extra drywall and a crazy plan of driving it back to my house with it balanced on the top of the car, but he was very reasonable about it.

It is quite fun to take a crowbar to a wall and take it down to the lathe. Super dusty, though. Scared the kitters too.

Behold the evidence!

We picked the Romance Heroine up after her tough day at wok and went out to dinner to toast the Marine Corps. We all went back to the house and RH really liked the green, and my bedroom (painted SW Chinese Red). Paul's coming back on Monday to finish up. He also like to peel wallpaper, agreed The Tuscan Nitemare Room is a huge mistake, and had some thoughts on my roof and the bathroom....I might have found myself a house guru.

Head's Up! Paint Sale

2006-11-09T14:28:00.000-08:00

The Lakewood Sherwin Williams store is having a 40% off sale on paint and stains this Saturday.

They are super nice over there. A fellow gave me 20% off on my dropcloth Monday. I am quite cute and was wearing lipstick, but still, I wasn't expecting that.

Project 1: Old Bedroom

2006-11-08T15:53:00.001-08:00

Project 1 is to finish up my old bedroom, move my desk and craft stuff into it, and have a logical and useful arrangement of those items.

As of this week, I had done bits and pieces of getting this ready. I had painted the closet, ceiling and upper trim, and primed the walls. Previously, the walls had been painted a SW color called "Wheat Grass" and the ceiling was "Butter Up." Perfectly fine colors, just please don't put them together or you'll be completely drained every time you enter the rooml. The closet was originally painted "Quiver Tan." This was not my doing, only my compromise.

What I have left:

repair crack on wall
repaint trim and windows, touch up ceiling
strip the heating grate
repair plaster around where I was able to pry the grate off the wall, after applying the miracle product CitriStrip in a spray can
put another coat of "Lime Rickey" on the walls (first coat went on a little unevenly)

Pictures!

Originally:

Now:

The "Lime Rickey" is a little...intense, but I like it. It looks like parakeets. It makes me smile involuntarily. It looks very minty in the can, and when I put it on the walls it looked lighter, sometimes like a soft olive.

No, I never try out a color on the wall before painting it. That just invites mindfucking.

I was stymied by today's fog and the fact that the light bulb burned out in the overhead fan. And it turns out it broke off too. I tried the potato trick, but it hasn't worked. So I investigated Home Depot's selection of wall patch stuff. I'll post on how it works out, since I'll need a ton of it.

How It All Starts

2006-11-06T12:47:00.000-08:00

I've lived in my house 5 years. It's still not pretty. It is a house of shambles, I'll confess. I doubt I'm meant for homeownership, especially as a single woman.

At the moment I am unemployed. Since one of the big things standing in my way of doing much to the house has been my lack of energy and the brain sucking of working full-time and part-time graduate school, it's time to tackle the house along with the whole finding a new job thing. Since I know I'll never get anything done unless I have an audience, it's time to start a new blog.

Look for updates on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays as I fix the place up. I can do it, right?