My Dormitory Styled Life

As I have mentioned before, we are three years away from our master bedroom renovation.  Too much needs to be done to make it worthwhile to spend any real money or put any substantial effort into it now.  The totally blank walls, however, were driving me a bit crazy so I decided to drop a few bucks to hide at least one of them.  This hanging map blanket/tapestry will work for me for the next couple of years.  I would like to be industrious and paint the room, dressers and night stands, but I just don't have the gumption to take on that sort of project. If there is any money left over after we tackle the exterior of the house, we'll ask our contractor to paint it.

My Life of Pottery

 So, I've decided to indulge myself.  While I won't go over-board decorating with objects, I've decided I want to use a little bit of pottery to accessorize the living and dining rooms.  This "Black Betty" style teapot seemed to fit the dining room.  I can use it for flowers too.  I found it at a flea market this weekend for five bucks.  It is in perfect condition.

Storage Wars

 

I have been conscientiously working to organize our clutter in the master bedroom.  One problem was not having enough room for TBGs shoes.  He doesn't have too many pairs, but they are a size 11.5 EEEE.  They take up a lot of room.  The solution was to buy cheap shoe racks from Wallies.  I put one set set together to clear up the space around the central AC register.  I had extra room from relocating the cedar chest to the hall.  One problem is he had no place to set his overnight bag.  Spare clothes and the bag ended up on one of my hampers or my dresser.  Not anymore.  Now there is a place for it.  There is also a spot for him to stash his bi-pap carrying case.

Beating the Heat

The sudden onslaught of summer and 90+ degree temps has made life at Chez Petite quite uncomfortable.  Our early 1800's house has central AC, but there are no return vents upstairs to suck the hot air out.  That means the downstairs stays cool while we steam on the second floor.  I slept in the basement on a futon the past few nights, which was hellish. My back has been bothering me and the futon does not help.  Luckily, we found a solution!

The Back Side

I had to take pictures of all four sides of the house in order for the architects/designers at work to help with our face-lift project.  Most of our effort is taking place in the front, but it's the back and the West side that look the worst.  These are the sides that get the most abuse from the weather.  The shingles won't hold any more paint, so all of it will need to be stripped and the entire exterior re-sided.

Summer Quilt

I have been looking for a vintage/thrifted quilt or bedspread for the summer but have had no luck.  As a result, I had to suck it up and shop retail.  A lightweight plush blanket has been on my bed all winter, but because it is all synthetic, it is too hot in the summer.  My goal was to find something 100% cotton with a flamboyant pattern.   While I had been looking for something more tie-dye or psychedelic, nothing along those lines was to be found.  I settled on a paisley pattern that I can live with, but I choked on the price!

Loose Ends

We donated the old cabinet that used to be in this corner this evening.  It was a bit of a chore getting it downstairs and into the truck, but it finally freed up the space for the chest that I have used to consolidate the towels and  bedding.  The space is still not very "styled" but at least now we can open the window and appreciate a breeze and also have something to sit on in the hallway.  The challenge will be to not let it turn into a dumping station.

Consolidating

I have consolidated all of our linens into a cedar chest.  This contains a couple of sets of sheets, spare pillow cases, towels and bath mats.  Quite a lot of stuff needed to go in order to make this single source of storage work.  We decided we don't really like king sized pillows and no longer have any.  So those pillow cases went.  A number of top sheets went too.  Anything that was ripped was cut into rags. I don't like to donate damaged goods -- I think it sends a negative message.  I think people who  buy second hand deserve to buy good stuff.

Baking Soda Obsession

I use baking soda multiple times per day.  It is probably my most used household item.  The best thing about this product, is that it is cheap.  It is also gentle and an effective cleaner.

More Light!

A third lamp has been eliminated in the master bedroom.  I decided not to be matchy-matchy and purchased a different style.  This was very economical.  The mason jar shade and black corded light set me back about 13 bucks since they were on a 40% off sale at Michael's like the other lamps.  We don't have any "traditional" bulbs in the house so a modern "pig tail" style will have to do for now.  I am thinking I may now use a few mason jars on the vanity to store make-up tools and other things like barretts, scrunchies, etc.

Let There Be Light

I wanted to surprise TBG with new lighting in our bedroom.  He is out at camp de-winterizing.  This is something he does so I don't have to.  On the other hand, I decorate so he doesn't have to.  The decor in our master bedroom is sadly lacking and that room will not be renovated for another couple of years.  This year, it's the siding, next year it will be the kitchen.  After that, we will knock down a wall and improve the bedroom.  For now, I just try to do little things to keep it from looking too crappy.

Rewards....

Busted!  OK, I have been known to tune in to Dr. Phil.... It's on when I get home from work and I watch it while I eat my lunch.  It makes me feel better about my life to know it's not in the least messed up or dysfunctional.  A wreck I can't help by drive by and look at...

Porch Dreams...

We will be re-siding Chez Petite this summer.  At that time, we are going to build a new porch.  The stoop we have now is annoying.  With no over-hang, getting inside in the rain is a very unpleasant exercise.  The screen door also is not fitted well and it blows open in high winds -- a very frequent occurrence in Western NY.  The stoop is a poured concrete mold.  It is in good shape, but the stair slabs on top of it are beginning to crumble in spots.  The entire "presentation" is underwhelming, with the small light and hard to read house numbers.  The Federal pediment over the door gives it a nice colonial look, but that is cracked and will be removed.

Here We go Again!

The house next door is on the market again.  It sold last time for 77K, which was about 40K more than it was worth.  After spending too much and not being able to sell their old house, the owners gave up.   They had torn out the kitchen and bathroom (all rotted from a massively leaking roof and vandalism), and installed really cheap vinyl windows.  The town made them do that because I complained that the existing windows were either broken (glass) or wouldn't stay closed so birds were in and out.  It has been vacant the entire time -- since it was first in foreclosure two or three years before we moved into our house (which we are now coming up on six years).  They also tried to do all the work themselves and didn't file for any permits, so the town told them they had to stop work.

Today Was a Good Day to...

... do laundry and clean!  My 401(k) and Roth IRA checks came in on Monday, so I had to drop them off to my financial advisor today in order to put the money into my own IRA.  Once home, I still had time to polish off a few chores.  I'd wanted to do a load of laundry yesterday, but got behind because pup and I took a long walk.  It was good to have 13K steps and ten flights of stairs!

Small Things

The best thing about my new part-time work life, is that I can get to the small tasks that just never got done.  Things like vacuuming the stairs.  Of course, now that I got to that, I realize I need to actually clean/shampoo the carpeting.  I did this task in ten minutes after work today.

Mop It Up

After having broken the floor attachment for my steamer, I decided to purchase a mop.  Being the TV shopping addict that I am, I bought one on-line.  I had purchased an "As Seen on TV" mop at Big Lots, which I promptly returned, and decided to try the real-thing it was trying to copy -- the Joy Mangano "Miracle Mop."  It was on sale and I got it for 13 bucks, along with an extra mop head.  I only purchased the mop, not the bucket. We don't have room for another bucket and I wasn't sure I wanted to spend on it in case I did not like the mop.  The Miracle Mop was cheaper than the "As Seen on TV" copy-cat version -- even with shipping and handling.

Friday Night Splurge

We ate in Friday night, as is my plan from now on since we are scaling back.  That didn't mean we didn't splurge.  For dinner, we had lobster, with shrimp & crab ravioli on the side, along with a fresh garden salad.  We washed it down with champagne.  Rather than spending over a hundred bucks on a meal out, I cooked at home and spent under forty dollars.  The big spend was on the crustaceans --  but they were ten bucks a piece, frozen, from Aldi.   I wrapped them in foil, crammed them with lemon and added some butter.  They were baked at 425 for 25 minutes.  I used the carcasses and drippings to make a stock which I will use for either a lobster chowder or bisque next week.  I also logged the meal and only ended up 123 calories over budget.   It was a smart splurge!

It Starts with The Tree

 

We did not decorate the house last year. This year, I put up the tree right after Thanksgiving.  I had wanted a "pencil" tree and scoped one out at Big Lots.  It was $75 and that was the price I was looking to beat anywhere else. I went back to the store on Black Friday and it was on sale for $50 -- so it came home with me.  There was no need to buy any new decorations as I like what we have just fine.  Many of the ornaments were too big for the "white princess" tree I had been decorating in the past -- so I'd hang one in each window.  This year, they are all on the tree, which will make putting it all away that much easier.

Shredded

We have been in our "Small Life" house for just about five years now.  There are still boxes in our garage that have not been moved inside.  I am trying to get stuff cleared out before I attack what's left in boxes and one thing I needed to do, was shred old documents.  There were multiple tax returns well over ten years old, and all of the pay stubs and financial material that went with them.  We also had paperwork from two old mortgages and a number of loans.  None of this stuff could go out in our recycling bin.