Master Bedroom Make Over Complete - For Now Anyway

So I began this blog with my master bedroom make over. And I'm happy to say it is done for now anyway. I have a couple of things I would like to upgrade or improve but will not be tackling it anytime soon. So here are the before and afters. Changes included - flooring - paint - area carpets - bedding, bed and night tables - window treatments.

 

 

 

 

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Canvas Floor Mats

So I had bought these cushy, soft and EXPENSIVE floor mats from bed bath and beyond. They weren't in use for more than a day before I understood a major problem with them. They attract dirt like crazy. And that dirt sticks, like micro fiber clothes. Completely bummed with my failed purchase at this point, I again begin to brainstorm. How can I possibly salvage the situation. So after looking at the construction of the mats...they have a rubber under coating, cloth topped and edged with a binding sewn through all the layers. So I decide that I can get canvas material from the fabric store and new binding and makeover these mats into a stain resistent and easily clean funky mats.

Here are the original mats.

after ripping of the binding, I cut the fabric to size and and spray glue the new fabric in place

carefully sewing both the front and the back of the binding. This was a slow process but well worth it. And the rubber backing was making it difficult to maneuver but with patience I made it work.

 

Loving my new mats.

 

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How to Fix Ripped Drywall

I am currently cleaning and reorganizning my office AGAIN...and after removing a storage container that I had stuck to the wall I ripped a decent chunk of dry wall. I knew I could fix this as I had done some repairs around the house earlier but it wasn't until then that I finally figured out how to fix these issues properly. So I'm passing along my info to you.

Drywall tears don't fix the same as normal dents or holes but it is really very simple.

This is what you will need.

 

I'm all about convenience so for almost all wall repair I use poly fill in a tube, yes premixed and easy to use but for drywall rips you definitely need a compound that you mix yourself. The consistency is much finer and will clean the fine details of the rip that you need to hide under paint.

 

Next you will need a decently large putty knife blade. The longer the better.

 

Here is the rip I was repairing. Ist remove all the loose bits. You don't want anything that can flap or move left on the wall. Sometimes this means making the rip bigger. If its getting out of control use an sharp knife or blade to put a cut in the wall where the rip is heading. A blunt cut will still be better to repair than a very long tear.

Next you will need a temporary small container for mixing the dry wall compound with water. Add enough water to make a consistency that is not runny but not thick like peanut butter. It needs to be easy to manuveur.

put a decent amount along the top edge of your blade and turn the blade to face the wall with the putty side towards your tear. On an angle smooth over the surface until you get a clean thin cover over the whole tear. Try not to muck with it to much at the drywall is susceptible to the moisture. On or two quick runs over and leave it to dry. It drys quick. After its dry run a slightly damp spong over the surface or give it a very quick sanding. If its not smooth to the touch repeat the putty steps. After it is dry its ready for paint.

 

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How to Install a Dryer Heat Saver In a Cramped Space

We recently replaced our washer and dryer. And we wanted to take advantage of a heat saver on our dryer again as we had one many years ago in our old house. This is the one we bought.

 

Our little laundry room is quite small and we are a large family so space and organization are extremely important. When the new dryer arrived I was excited to get going and get it installed but immediately noticed my first issue. As you can see in the photo the dryer vent comes out of our wall very low, probably like most situations. Our new dryer sits on a pedastool and needs the port to be up higher. Not a huge issue we could run 2 elbows to bring it up and lie up with the new dryer, right, wrong! Because our room is so small and the new machines are so big they already block the doorway somewhat, but to add another 7 or so inches out from the wall to accommodate the new running of vents, no way. I grumped like I usually do when presented with a less than ideal situation, then I think. And this is what I came up with to give me everything I wanted.

 

I decided in is case I was ok cutting up the wall. I mean it's behind the dryer right? No one will see it. Still a bit nervous.

This is the mess I made. Actually its perfect. I dismantled the elbow coming into the room and installed an extension, the vent saver, and then a new elbow.

 

 

The final end result isn't too bad. These machines are huge compared to what we had. We now have enough room to reach around the side and behind to empty the grate on the heat saver and are able to run a fan that helps push the heat into the hallway.

Check out my next post where I go through how I keep 6 people organized in this tiny space.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Yay I Get To Do Laundry!

That's exactly what I was thinking when I decided it was time to do mine and my husbands laundry. No believe me I can't believe that I wasn't being sarcastic when I thought it. But nop I am happy to do laundry. Mostly because I think I have finally gotten this laundry thing figured out with a win win situation. It goes quicker, with no stress and energy efficient.

It all started with a broken washing machine. This machine was only half the age of our dryer as it was going on 20 years old. Both of our machines had lost their door handles and we had improvised with shoe laces and bungy cords to be able to open them. We had been thinking about replacing our appliances for ages now as we have spent way too many times taking the washer apart and cleaning out the pump. It's dirty, messy, stinky and an uncomfortable time consuming job. Yuck all around! Anyways over the end of the holidays the damn pump quite AGAIN! Staring down another pull apart (only 2 weeks from the last time in which we found nothing and yes the damn thing worked again after we out it back together!) ...we caved! Not the most ideal time to buy a washer and dryer from the pocket book standpoint but none the less we decided to jump.

 

Just for the record washer and dryers are the absolute cheapest on Boxing Day! We were Shopping after that point but not out of the sale category. Also note that Sears will forward their up coming sales and reimburse you cost on those dates. Yay! We ended up with a great deal and opted for the insurance on the washer. Yes we have lost faith :(

So pleased with our purchase this was the beginning of a beautiful relationship. And the beginning of a laundry room overhaul.

 

I had overhauled the laundry area several years prior with shelving and bars for hanging and drying laundry but now it was time to step it up a notch.

Here's a before.

 

Here is the after!

 

Check out my next couple of posts where I talk about installing a heat saver vent for the dryer and how to organize a small laundry room for aLarge family.

 

 

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