2014 - New Rules to Live By

Pennydropped

An odd thing to be considering at length, but I'm thinking about kettles today.

I've always had an electric kettle. There was this feeling, I suppose, that it was easier (and possibly cheaper?) to just use the electric kettle rather than turn on the hob and heat up a kettle that way. But my counter is rather cluttered. And moving the kettle from the counter to the hob would mean less clutter on the counter. And I hardly think one solitary kettle sitting on the hob would make it look cluttered.

Heating up water for tea or coffee is usually done just once (sometimes twice) a day here. That's not to say I don't drink a good four cups of coffee or tea a day, mind you. But I generally heat up a kettle full of water, pour my first cup, and then pour the rest of the hot water into a thermos to use for the rest of the day. Then I don't have to keep reheating the kettle.

So I think in the interest of decreasing the kitchen counter clutter (that sounds a bit tongue-twisterish!), I am going to invest in a hob kettle at some point in the future.

I've not been doing much DIY lately, due to numerous appointments, the car needing repair again (tyre and realignment this time!), and a particularly painful recovery (still in progress) of the surgical extraction of a tooth. Trying to do anything that involves leaning over (such as wallpapering, working on the skirting boards, or flooring) makes my jaw ache and throb horrendously. More appointments and meetings this week, and then hopefully back to things as normal by end of week. Fingers crossed anyway.

parsniphead

Pennydropped, I have just read through your diary and feel very inspired. If only I was as organised.

I really link the idea of skimming money from your account into saving and might steal it (the idea not the money).

Keep up with the good work. It sounds like you are making a lovely home for your children.

Pennydropped

Parsniphead - thank you. I've been derailed for the last week due to a surgical tooth extraction (ouch!) that developed dry socket, requiring further treatment. Not fun!! But hopefully I can get back to work on things in the next day or two!

I've been doing little things as and when I can. I'm mulling over what to do in my dining room now, as I'm almost done with the living room. I always struggle with colour schemes, and this is no exception. I'm debating putting one wall of narrow shelving to use to put books and pictures and such on. If I painted that wall a dark colour (I was looking at red), it would be broken up quite well, so I'm seriously thinking along those lines. Dark wood shelving to match the dark wood flooring, but then using cream to offset it, with some lighter wallpaper with red accents.

The children are split on the colour - one wants green, one wants blue. I would like something bright, bold, and cheerful, so am leaning towards red.

Pennydropped

The living room wallpaper is now (finally!!) completely up! Hoorah!! :j

It looks amazing! I am really pleased with it. Much like any of the other DIY projects that have taken me awhile to get through, I am now finding myself just looking at it - and mentally thinking "wow, it looks so different."

I've been sticking to the budget, although my car hasn't. A new tyre was needed, along with front realignment, which dragged £78 from my careful budget. Now I'm just juggling a bit to sort it. I could drag it from my savings, but then it seems to never get put back into savings later. So I will trim expenses here and there where I can and absorb it over the next few weeks instead.

parsniphead

Pennydropped wrote: »

The living room wallpaper is now (finally!!) completely up! Hoorah!! :j

It looks amazing! I am really pleased with it. Much like any of the other DIY projects that have taken me awhile to get through, I am now finding myself just looking at it - and mentally thinking "wow, it looks so different."

I've been sticking to the budget, although my car hasn't. A new tyre was needed, along with front realignment, which dragged £78 from my careful budget. Now I'm just juggling a bit to sort it. I could drag it from my savings, but then it seems to never get put back into savings later. So I will trim expenses here and there where I can and absorb it over the next few weeks instead.

A fantastic feeling, enjoy it.

Pennydropped

Huge panic today. Could smell damp smell from a cupboard yesterday, so pulled out the washer and the pipe/connector was dripping. No idea how long it had been dripping for - possibly ages, as the floor had obviously been damp back there for awhile.

So... not sure precisely what I can loosen, undo, plumbing wise - I rang a friend. She then asked another friend of hers to stop over and take a look at it (as she can is more knowledgeable about plumbing), and thankfully, it was a very quick (and cheap) fix. The little attachment to the inside of one of the connectors had broken loose. I dug out the connector from my old washer and she used that to replace it. All sorted. (good thing I held on to it!!) I did feel a bit foolish that the fix was so easy, but live and learn I suppose. Incentive to learn a little more about plumbing, right?

A couple small purchases this week - a new diary (2014/2015 academic one, but I need to start putting things into Jan/Feb so this will do for now as it was just £1), some index cards to put more recipes on, and a new small grater for the kitchen (old one finally unusable). Probably the cheapest I've ever gone through Poundland. :cool:

Pennydropped

Logic has won over "coolness" today. I really loved the look of the cordless rechargeable upright vacuums. Not so fond of the price though. I do think it would be so convenient to have one as it would be easier to vacuum the house without getting behind things to the outlets to plug it in over and over (not to mention easier to get it up the stairs!).

However... the good ones start out at about £200. That's a pretty steep price to me. Especially when I see that I can get a Henry vacuum, which has stellar reviews as well as a recommendation from a friend of mine who is very particular about her vacuum, for a little over £100.

So I wrestled with this overnight and decided that I can't really justify the £100 difference. Half the price at £1 or £2 is not a huge huge issue. But half the price saving £100?? I can't really ignore that, even if I do have to find the outlets in the room when I vacuum. It's only an extra minute to two each time I vacuum, in order to save £100.

And my wallet won this debate. The Henry vacuum it is. At least it's bright and cheery looking. :cool: And I will be too, since I'll be spending £100 less!

Pennydropped

Henry vacuum purchased and delivered. It was a tenner cheaper from John Lewis (than from Argos) with free delivery, so I opted for that. A tenner is a tenner, right? It picks up brilliantly and isn't too heavy or bulky to carry upstairs, so I'm happy with that.

Today started some extra work on the bannister. Sanding. Good thing I had a mask to wear - dust everywhere!! But I got a fair bit done with detail sander. I've already got most of the large sections done. Right now I'm working on the smaller sections and between the railings.

I'm still thinking about whether I want to do the carpet squares on the stairway or a carpet runner instead. A friend has recommended someone that does carpeting (I've seen some of the work they've done and it's well done) so I will ring them and have them give me an estimate and go from there.

Pennydropped

One of those busy days today. Loads of things to get done!


I've got a number of things I'm still working on. Sanding the bannister bit by bit, getting all the little nooks and crannies of it. Determined to do a good job, so I can then proceed with the staining/varnishing. Then it's finishing up the painting, pull out the last of the carpet tacks (still slowly working on them! goodness there are a lot!! way more than was needed, I suspect), and then make a decision on the carpeting. Runner or squares. Before I install it though, I need to finish up the top section of wall at the top of the staircase. As soon as that is done, the wall can be either painted or papered (still mulling that over) and the trim put on. Then the carpeting on the stairs can go down.


It sounds like a lot but it's really just quite a few smaller jobs, one right after the other.


As soon as that's done, it's on to the children's rooms. I've finally decided that they're going to have wallpaper (beadboard?) on the bottom half, with a chair rail, and painted the colours they've chosen on the upper half, with narrow trim around the top (painted the same as the beadboard/chair rail). New curtains, some framed pictures/posters each, and a new bed for ds2, and that's pretty much their rooms done. I can add little things later, or buy them a nice item to add to it for Christmas.


Then it's on to the dining room. I know, I was going to wait until after the holidays, but if I get the time, I'm going to plunge ahead and get the dining room done. I've already figured out what to do, it's now just a matter of sourcing the wallpaper I want, the paint I am hoping for, and finding curtains to match. The fire surround will definitely have to wait until after the holidays as that is more expensive. But yes, I am rather excited about getting this all done. Fingers crossed.


If I'm not cracking on with the dining room by November first, then I won't start it until after Christmas. I know how other things can mess with even the most flexible schedule.


The children's rooms shouldn't take more than a week. So that leaves me two weeks to finish the hallway and entryway. Eeeek! Best get moving this weekend!!

Pennydropped

As the children are home from school today and tomorrow, and I want to get on with my DIY work for at least some of the day, I am currently taking a quick coffee break from stripping the walls in their bedrooms. Starting in ds1's room, I've taken everything down (except the clock!) from the walls, muttered in irritation at the blue tack that brought down bits and chunks of plaster with it :mad:, and scraped off any sticky residue that I can find. Next (after my coffee of course, I'm not insane, you know!!) I will be filling holes and gouges in the walls. Then I will move on to ds2's room and do the same (most likely with another coffee break, as caffeine is a vital food group! )

Then tomorrow I foresee a quick trip (quick because the dcs will be with me - I tend to browse more when by myself, but rush in, grab what I need, and rush out when the dcs are with me!) to B&Q in the morning. I will be picking up the paint and supplies tomorrow so that I can get right to work Monday morning after school run.

I have been seriously considering giving each of them one big wall of chalkboard paint - so in essence one huge wall they can draw on or make notes on or what have you. I'm still mulling this over and need to come to a conclusion tonight ... either that or leave the one wall unpainted on Monday until I decide.

Either way, tomorrow (after the run to B&Q) is going to be filled with making a roast dinner and sanding any rough spots on the walls and making sure it's all ready for painting. As long as I don't get mixed up and sand the roast chicken, I'm sure it'll all be fine. :rotfl: