Monday, April 14, 2014

We Had No Clue What We Were Doing......

Yeah, my first and last post was in August 2012, 20 months ago. I've already failed as a "blogger". But I'm back at it and I'm here to share what we did in our living/family room! We tackled a little board and batten project and I'm here to show you that you can too. I'm not kidding about being clueless on how to do this. Seriously. Three of us worked on this together and none of us had ever used a miter saw before. Or a nail gun. People, I'm not kidding. We jumped in feet first on this one. Here's the long story long: We wanted to paint the living/family room but we have a 16' ceiling in our staircase which is part of said living/family room (can I just call it FM now? Good!) So neither the hubs nor I wanted to climb on a makeshift scaffold to get up that high to paint so I got an estimate from the same painting company that painted our home when we built in 2007. I asked for a price breakdown and ended up just having them paint the walls because the trim was going to be another $300! No way Jose'! We're so glad we had them paint the room and staircase because they were finished with everything in less than 4 hours. It would have taken us 4 days. The day before they painted we made a trip to Ikea to buy the couch I've been coveting for a few years. The Ektorp sectional in Risane Natural. It's still in the garage in boxes because I didn't want it in the way or get something on it until all the painting and our little project was done. So back to the painting; I had the painters paint one of our walls white (high gloss) on the bottom (58" from the floor) and the top of it my paint color (Revere Pewter by Benjamin Moore). The white part is where the board and batten was going. The hubs and I went to Lowes and bought 3 pcs of 1" x 3" x 8' finished pine and 9 pcs of 1/4" x 2.25" x 8' lattice wood. All unprimed because we couldn't find it primed. We used a laser level to mark where the "board" (1x3) would be installed to make sure it was straight and two of us held it in place while another used the nail gun at each of the studs. Let me back up and tell you a couple things. That third person is my awesome son who is my Mr. Handy Man. The boy can fix things! He's an appliance repair tech in his real grown up life. He's always been intrigued how things work. He was the nail gun user and the miter saw man. He wouldn't let my hub and I even try out either one! He's a tool hoarder. But I'm not complaining because he did a great job. We did have some nail gun issues but that could have been because no one knew what they were doing. It also could be because the wood was too thin for our manly nail gun. Who knows, but it's done and I don't care. Once we had all the boards installed, we moved to the battens (lattice wood). We measured 52 inches and some change from the top of the baseboard up and that's how long we cut each pc of lattice. We had to cut a little off some of the battens to fit under the board running horizonal above it. My baseboards do not have a straight edge (more of a curve) but I still placed the batten right on top of that curved pc and nailed it in. Once all the wood was nailed up, my son installed a 1 x 4 finished pine piece that we bought a few days later to make a ledge. Then it was time to prime all the boards that were installed before I could prime (I tried to prime as much as I could before they were installed on the wall)and then I painted everything with the high gloss white. I love it! Here's some before and after pics for your viewing pleasure:
The picture above was the before shot.  This was before we took that big hunkin brown leather couch to the basement where it will stay and will be used once we finish the basement.  Couches that big and brown deserve to sit in the basement ;) Oh, and that really ugly brownish recliner to the left? That's getting burned in our next bonfire!
This is what I had the painters do with the high gloss white paint.....


Coming right along......see the "board" at the top and two battens so far!


Moving right down the wall.....I was really getting excited at this point!


Ledge is attached and first coat of high gloss white applied to everything!  Just need to apply one more coat and this baby is done, done!


I just had to throw this one in here for good measure.  This is how we've been living while this "little project" is getting done!  Like bachelors/frat brothers!  I can't wait to show you the finished FM soon!  This week is operation clean the floors/put down the new rug/assemble new sectional!  I'll be back with a new update and pictures!

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

My 1st Post!

Wow! My first post!  I feel so "vulnerable".  My intention of this blog is to share with others how I save money and also how I avoid spending money. I'm not one of those super coupon savers or a dumpster diver.  Nothing I do is extreme.  I just love finding ways to pay less for things I need and finding out I don't need most things after all.  I'm all about simplifying life.  I'm hoping to share my ideas and at the same time learn from others.  

I'm also wanting to use this blog to write about everyday life.  My life.  I thinking writing is so therapeutic.  I look forward to sharing my story with others.  As boring as it may be.....

I'm no writer, so please excuse my grammar, spelling, and run on sentences. 

I'll start by telling you a little about myself.  I was born and raised and still live in the same city.  I've never lived more than 5 miles from the home I grew up in.  Some may say that's sad, but I think it's great.  I married my high school sweetheart and we have two sons.  One is all grown up and lives on his own and our youngest son is in highschool.  We have a dog and cat inside and we feed three outside stray cats that have all been fixed.  We also feed a groundhog and racoons, but that's only because the cats allow them what's left in the dish.  I work full time outside the home. 

So there it is....my first post.  I hope I didn't offend anyone or lose any readers already!