New laptop and new 'ventures

I bought a new laptop this morning (my Christmas present).  I'm so excited to have a machine that can actually browse pages faster than 1 page per minute (or 2).  I chose an HP Laptop from Costco but it has been a 2 month process figuring out what I want.
Ways to research a laptop/future computer purchase:
1.  Visit an electronics focused store.  We visited Frys.  I talked to a couple salespeople and finally found one I was comfortable with and "spoke my language".  Maybe he just had the gift of being a great salesman but he was very informative and helped me decipher processors, hard drives, memory and pricing.
2.  Have a budget but know what your money can buy you.  We had a budget of $300 ish dollars.  Black Friday makes you believe that you can buy a brand new laptop for under $200.  When I told the salesman at Frys what I use a laptop for and that we needed to replace our currently slow laptop... he told me the $300 laptops will continue to be slow for what I want to do.
3.  See the dream and find the compromise.  I walked away from Frys wanting a Surface Pro 3.  I-5 processor with a Flash drive.  We didn't buy a computer that day, but now I knew what I really wanted.
4.  Research and Price Compare.  I Googled every price match site I could find and Frys was definitely the best price for the Surface Pro 3.  The issue I had, the Pro 4 is coming out sometime by mid-2015.  I don't like that you have to spend an additional $125+ to buy the keyboard.  I would want a large external drive since the Surface was only 128 gig.  By the time we walked away with a new computer - if it was a Surface - we would spend over $1200, when we started with a $300 budget.
5.  Be Realistic.  Because I had a toddler in tow, it is hard to concentrate on all the minute details when picking out a computer.  I took pictures of the specs for each laptop at several stores and then  went home to review the details before deciding what my options were.
6.  Eventually you have to just jump.  I researched when computer prices are cheapest (April, End of Summer for back to school, and Black Friday), I looked online and offline.  I considered waiting until after Christmas, in case there is a crazy new deal... but eventually, you have to just make a decision and go.  I made a decision, found out it was now out of stock at my local Costco and started on my search for other local Costco stores.

Long story short... I'm happy to have a new laptop.  Now, I just have to learn Windows 8 (had Windows 7 on my last laptop) and how to navigate with a touchscreen laptop.

Product Testing: Step2 PlayHouse Toy Tester

image from Facebook.com/thestep2company

If you are a parent like I am... then you have built in product testers in your house.  Why not get rewarded for their talents?  I found this opportunity to be a Step2 Toy Tester through ThrifyMommaRamblings. I've applied and hope I get it.

I have over ten years in the child tech education sector but the last 18 months of being a parent have opened my world to all new products and brands.  If you want to know a brand for kids that makes educational and safe products then Step2 is a brand I would endorse (not paid to say this). I am constantly searching for their products on Craigslist and OfferUp.  We check out their section in ToysRUS.  So, if you're interested in testing something out...  sign up.  You have only FUN to gain...

To go directly to the application: Click here.

Paint your Interior doors...Black, white, yellow, blue, green.

Currently our interior doors are flat doors with a light wood color stained/painted on it. I'm assuming they are the original 1959 doors. I just came across a great article: 11 Reasons to Paint Your Doors Black by Fred Albert at Houzz. I love all the picture examples of the black door options in his article. Some of the reasons I found interesting was it helps make the ceilings feel taller and helps things feel cleaner. I like that the crown molding in most of the pictures remains white - it's just the doors that are black. I've even wondered if I'd be bold enough to paint our doors a fun color. Have you seen that done?  Here's one of my favorite pictures from the article:

Picture by Phillip W. Smith General Contractor, Inc.

Here is a sample of a Blue door

This is similar to the door color we currently have

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If I painted my door this color of green - I know it would make me happy everyday.  

But would I want every door this color?  I'm guessing this is the interior color of the mud room and that it's probably white on the otherside.

Have you painted your doors a fun color?  I'd love to see what you have painted a unique color or design?  

7 rug designs to paint/upcycle canvas - DIY Rugs

I want to paint my own rug - not only because it will save me 100s of dollars - but also because it's fun to say "I did this".  Here are the top 8 rugs I want to paint right now.

1.  This is from HGTV's site. Picture By Jennifer Berno via HGTV Magazine

Credit: David A. Land. Source: http://hgtv.sndimg.com/HGTV/2013/06/03/RX-HGMAG012_Patterson-Backyard-113-b-4x3_lg.jpg

2.

3. Chevron-like rug. 

Have you noticed a theme?  Yes, I think I'm on the stripe kick.  So the below uses my other favorite shape - circles.  These are dot designed rugs.  What do you think of the orange?

4. 

5.  

6.  

7.  

For more diy rugs - go to my pinterest links and see how creative others are!  http://www.pinterest.com/upcyclehouse/rugs-to-diy/

New Twitter Account: https://twitter.com/365WaysDIY

Today, I started the new twitter account:  https://twitter.com/365WaysDIY.  The purpose of this account will be to figure out how to get #HGTV or DIY Network or anyone to help us to remodel and update our fixer-upper.  We need EVERYTHING.
1.  Income Property and Scott McGilvry would be great because I want to add an income suite in our garage.
2. We need to add on to our house - we need an architect.  We'd like to add an addition/ master suite above the garage.

3.  If these walls could talk... this house only had one owner.  Ask any neighbor and they will tell us this house is a Frank Lloyd Wright.  I have theories about this.  The owner was a master cabinet maker.  We use his table saw that was left behind.  But what is the history of this house?  How do we expand while staying true to the history.

4.  Ugliest House contest - we win.

5.  Ugliest landscape contest - we win

6. what not to do as a DIYer - I chopped off my finger in february when I was 7 months pregnant.  I was cutting crown moulding.

I can and will go on - especially through twitter... Look forward to 2014 being the year I target #hgtv for help.

Floored!

Well, at 8 months pregnant, we ripped out our crappy laminate flooring and found a great deal on high-quality laminate at ifloor.com.  They are an internet based company but have a warehouse in Tukwila, a Seattle suburb.  The people were great to work with and with a sale ending that week, we were able to buy 600 square feet 10 mm, dark beautiful wide plank laminate.  We ended up choosing a subfloor underlayment of cork.  This is supposed to help with moisture absorption, sound and insulation.  Since our basement is underneath, I think it is important to "insulate" as much as possible.

After ripping up the flooring, we installed plywood subfloor and then started installing the floor.  I have to say I was pretty good at making the floor planks click together.  7 days after buying the floor, we "finished".  We had to order the transitions but everything else is installed.  I can't tell you how much I LOVE my flooring now.

The background:
In June, I gave a down-payment to a local small-business flooring company for an 8 mill handscraped oak flooring.  I chose the flooring based on the strawberry blond hair of my dog and myself.  I don't want dirt and dust to show right away.  That was my deciding factor for the floor - beyond matching it with my cherry cabinets and making sure it would flow really well with the vinyl flooring we had installed in the bedroom area.
In September, I called Liz, the floor company owner and let her know we were ready to install the flooring. Liz told me that she had a larger sample of the floor that I chose and she didn't think it was what i originally told her I wanted.  When she brought the sample, she showed me a sample that was grey with no strawberry coloring at all.  It makes no sense to me that a large sample could vary that much from what I remembered choosing.  She had brought a couple new options and based on those, I chose something.  I didn't love it as much but I also was locked in on pricing and believed Liz that these were our best options.

It took her install guy 5 days.  He didn't finish - needed to come back and do the transitions but I was going to be traveling for the next 6 weeks and Dr. M would be drywalling our bedroom - so the living room became our bedroom for a few weeks.  Right after Dr. M moved the bed out here, we realized we had the same ant problem we had had in our bedroom and would need to seal each crack in the wood paneled ceiling and then paint the ceiling white.  we covered the floor with paper and got to work on other projects.

6 weeks later, when I took the paper up, we noticed the floor was warped in several spaces and it even was "bouncing" by the fireplace - due to too much expansion and the floor guy not putting enough space around the edge of the house.
In December, the installer came back to the house and spent 5 days "fixing" the floor.  2 weeks later, over Christmas break, we found more bubbling and I "lost it".  I started balling in frustration and told Dr. M that he had to call Liz and put his foot down about fixing the floor.

Liz told us that we would need to do a moisture test.  The moisture test consisted of taping plastic on the floor all in different areas and waiting two weeks.  We took pictures but moisture never showed up in the plastic.  Liz filed a case with the floor company and she told me the floor guy would be out in 2 weeks.  2 weeks came and they were supposed to show up one Friday afternoon.  Instead, I get a call that afternoon telling me that they'll just have the floor representative go to their warehouse and look at the warped boards that they had uninstalled the first time.  This was all in the beginnning of January.

We waited weeks.  Liz told us it would take 3 weeks from their claim being filed to get a response.  We called on a regular basis, we complied with everything she had us do.  We even left plastic on the floor for two months...  Mind you, not having your flooring done in the main area of your house, holds everything up - toe kicks in the kitchen, base molding and door moldings...  furniture being put in.  After moving in this house in June - 7 months of waiting to "finish" our home took it's toll.

With a baby coming, we have a hard deadline of having our house completed and made into a home.  In fact, with Dr. M's 40th birthday quickly coming in March, we set the deadline of having the main house done by his birthday.  We let Liz know that at the end of January.  Well, the end of February was approaching and we gave up on working with Liz.

When I talked with her, she implied that we would have to pay for install above what the product replacement was.  Also, the product replacement would only be from the same flooring company.  But after reading the manufacturer's install instructions and warranty info, we know that there were install errors along with manufacturer defects.  Our trust for Liz, her installer and company was spent.  We gave up.  We let her know we were done waiting for her manufacturer to respond.  I even called the manufacturer but never received a response (they are Canadian based).  So, I bought the new flooring from ifloor - our overall costs were over $1000 cheaper than what Liz charged us and the product looks nicer, is higher quality and I LOVE IT!  It's dark.  it doesn't match my hair and shows footprints easily but I love it.  It makes the kitchen shine even more...

Small Claims court is our next option with Liz.  They never finished installing the floor either time and they gave us an inferior product.  we have samples and have over 80 pictures documenting install and defect problems.

BACK TO OUR FUN NEW FLOOR:

As we finished packing my car with over 1500 pounds of laminate and underlayment, the ifloor.com guy let me know that there was a contest starting in 7 days and if we submitted our picture, we would have a high chance of winning (due to small numbers of submissions).  Well we rushed to meet that deadline and at 2 AM Thursday night - 7 days later, we "completed" the floor.  We staged an area of the room.  Since the picture would be on Facebook and Pinterest, I decided elements beyond the floor needed to be in it - so Charlie, our Golden Retriever is front and center and my DIY knock-off Pottery Barn painting of Santa is in the picture with our leather couch (hiding that we didn't have the baseboards installed yet).  I knew DIY needed to be in the picture to hopefully get more Pins on Pinterest - to help it go viral.

Well, the contest started and our picture wasn't there!  I emailed the ifloor people and there was some sort of glitch.  I don't understand it but the long story short is we are in the contest.  Our picture is online and we are in stiff competition with about 3 other posters.  There are a total of 35 pictures but 3 other people that are getting lots of votes.

We will continue to fight for our friends (or guilt them) into voting.  I have lots of friends spreading the word to family and spouses.  We are winning on pinterest with 48 votes. The most someone else has on Pinterest is 10.  We are behind on votes on Facebook but not by much.  I posted on a listserv that gets votes and that might be our saving grace.  I'm trying everything I can to get votes and maybe am a little too obsessed with winning but oh well... it's nice to have a chance.

The contest ends March 31st.  If we win, we will get $750.  It's worth the money in return - especially since we had to pay for this room to get flooring twice.

I am not paid to be an ifloor endorser but I am an ifloor endorser.  I am in love with some cork flooring they had that would be awesome in our sunroom and basement... and it was .99 cents a square foot...  someday we'll do that.

Okay - long saga explained.
Going to bed and hoping this baby inside me lets us sleep.  

Links to contest pictures: Pinterest and Facebook

xfinity Comcast Review -

I am extremely unhappy with my Comcast bill.  I am past the 6 month "honeymoon" period where the bill is cheaper.  I spent 20 minutes on hold and after listening to periodic "Thank you for continuing to hold....your call is important to us" messages, I was hung up on without talking to a live person.  I called back for a 3rd time and finally got a hold of someone. She couldn't help me.  Apparently, I signed a contract that makes it so I have to pay $170 a month for the 3 services - we don't even have the phone hooked up because the Comcast service person didn't do it right.  Comcast and xfinity have been the worst experience I have ever had with customer service.  I don't recommend their phone or internet chat customer service.  If you want an example of great customer service - talk to Tmobile.  They are great!  The operators there will bend over backwards. I wish Tmobile could be my internet/tv service.

When I originally signed up, i used the online chat. I assumed (wrongly) that the online forms would be faster.  THEY WEREN'T.  I had to answer the questions in the online form, then I had to answer the questions with the chat person who didn't speak English.  She/he didn't even get my order right.  When the installer came, he told me he had heard multiple complaints (he's a contracted company that installs the service).  I was on chat for over 90 minutes. I was supposed to leave 30 minutes earlier.  Even when I told the person I needed to be done quickly, they still took an additional 90 minutes in processing my order.  IT was a HORRIBLE experience.

Well, the 3rd time, I talked to person and he promised he would transfer me to a live person.  I am on hold for 7 minutes and counting at this point.  My total phone call time is 18 minutes (for the 3rd).  I asked that he promise that I not get hung up on.  I was emotional and let him know that I'm upset but to no avail.

PLEASE DO NOT SIGN UP FOR COMCAST as your SERVICE!!!  IT'S NOT WORTH IT!!!!

20 minutes and counting...
30 minutes and counting

while waiting, I have found the following site:  http://www.pissedconsumer.com/

I logged my complaint there. They even send a letter to the corporation for you. I don't think it will do any good. I've submitted my bad reviews and complaints in the past and Comcast ignores them. There has never been a response.

I think I will log my complaint with the Better Business Bureau too.  COMCAST IS HORRIBLE!!!!  They are not worth your time in trying to work with them.

38 minutes and 33 seconds before I got help.  She knocked off $20 but I have to go to slower Internet.  Otherwise, i'm stuck with Comcast for 18 months or I pay $120 to cancel - which in the long run, if Verizon/Frontier was cheaper, then it is worth it to cancel.  We'll see, I'll do the math another day.  Over 1 hour total on hold to talk to Comcast is beyond ridiculous.  The last operator I spoke with was very kind and I let her know I wasn't frustrated with her - I was frustrated with the Comcast system.  I will continue to post other places to complain and let your voice be heard as I find them.

http://reviews.gethuman.com/complaints/Comcast-Xfinity/ is another one I found. I haven't posted my complaint there yet but I will.

Ultimately, because the operator that I worked with online in May when I signed up for Comcast didn't speak English, I think I was swindled into a contract that I'm either stuck with our I pay to get out of.  We'll see, but you'd think Comcast would want to keep their customer's happy.  Apparently, they are too popular to care.  I hope some day that I can say Kharma is a B..... to them.

Top-Down/Bottom-Up Shades

I've spent hours thinking about the shades I will make for the 6 large (over 70 inches wide single-pane) windows in our living room.  My mom sent me photocopies of a pattern from years ago that describes how to make top down shades.  I originally was just going to use canvas drop cloths (the only fabric I can find in one piece that wouldn't require piecing the shade together) but decided to insulate.  I've bought a darkening insulation fabric (40% off at Joanns), batting that is fusible iron-on to minimize the sewing I need to do and rings for the string to go through.  I made a pinterest board for roman shades here, (creative I know). The problem with most of the links under there is they aren't instructions, they just describe the multiple options you have in creating Roman shades.

I will attempt to document the stops I take in creating our own version of Top-down (and hopefully bottom-up option too) Roman Shades.

One set of instructions I found is on Terrell Designs at this link.  I'll let you know as I follow these instructions and the pattern my mom sent me.

What is different about a Top-Down shade?  
The Top-Down/Bottom-Up shade opens from both directions, giving you lots of flexibility.  You can't hide the hardware with the Top-Down shade.  In order to do that, you have to include a valance.  I haven't decided what I'll do about that yet.

Well, I've tried to go through Terrell's info and I've now got 20 pages of "condensed" notes.  I'll go through the pattern that my mom sent and then based on that, I'll have my list of what else I need.  So far, Terrell's list of materials needed is complicated and long.  I'm not sure I can afford all of the pulleys and things the sites lists I need.  The point of making these shades myself is to save money.

I'll keep you posted.

Painting a vintage door

In planning the painting of my 3 panel door, I drafted up the following using Publisher.  What color combo is your favorite?  

magnetic paint

For my magnetic chalkboard door or refigerator panel, I orignially planned to buy metal magnetic sheets and paint over those.  After visiting several stores, it was determined I would have to go to a metal store to have them cut the sheets to size.  Instead, I decided to do the harder but maybe cheaper task of using Rustoleum Magnetic Primer - it states that the paint needs to be stirred - they aren't emphasizing this enough.

I should have had Home Depot shake the can for me.  When I opened the can up, it was very liquidy on top but I could feel clumps at the bottom.  It took a lot to stir the quart.  it also was difficult to do this cleanly.  I am still not convinced that I was able to stir it completely.  After mixing it up for almost 10 minutes, I finally decided to try painting.  I poured it into a small tray and started rolling the paint onto my door panels.

The other thing you should know to do before painting with this magnetic primer, wear gloves!  my hands were covered in black primer and it isn't typical paint so it is sticky and harder to get off.  I ended up using a scrubby sponge to get most of the paint off.

How many coats?  If you believe the can, you would only paint 3 light coats.  If you read the blogs and pinterest, you paint the project multiple layers.  I'm going for a really strong magnetic board.  Also, I have several clumps that showed up on my project that I plan on sanding smooth.  With that being said, I plan on painting the panels a minimum of 6 times.  In between coats, I put the paint tray and brush in plastic and put it in the fridge for safe temporary keeping.

Chip It up - A fun tool

Last night, I was watching HGTV Design Star and fell in love with the blue color that Britney used in her room challenge.  The problem is, I wrote the show and found out that the paint color used is only sold in California, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Lebanon and a few other countries.  That's nowhere near to us here in Washington state.  I decided to try the Sherwin Williams tool "Chip it".  http://letschipit.com/  It's a tool you can add to your browser tool bar (Like the Pin it button).   This is what it created - with a couple options of colors with the SW paint #. I'm excited to go see them at the store and see if it lives up to what I like on the tv.  I'm excited to keep using the chip it tool on all the houzz.com pictures I love too.  

Month 2: Living in construction

We've had the house for two months.  The craziness has continued.  We now have all new plumbing.  New electrical wires are throughout the walls. We even have a new water heater.  The latest discovery of which we're still trying to figure out how to take care of:  We have carpenter ants.  They are living in our ceiling between the ceiling and the roof.  Unfortunately, when the new roof was installed, they didn't dry it out - so we have carpenter ants living in a moist environment and being able to burrow into the wood.  We've looked up lots of methods and companies.  I will dedicate a blog posting to the following things we've learned:
1. Installing drywall
2. Mudding and Taping/sanding
3. Killing ants and spiders
4. Plumbing for old houses
5. Choosing a hot heater
6. Landscaping to deter bugs
7. Cleaning a flat roof
8. Choosing a Dehumidifier/ Portable AC Unit
9. Recipes for living without a kitchen
10. Drywall texture
11. Refacing a brick fireplace
12. Gravel driveways
13. Killing weeds
14. Blackberry bushes
15. salesmen and windows



The lessons are coming everyday. The biggest thing I've learned from the reno of this house is that the lessons are plentiful and there is always something to figure out.  The hardest thing about this blog is having the energy to write about the lessons learned.  

Getting to the point we can upcycle

One month of owning this house has been an adventure...

Day 1: We bug sprayed everything.  We found out from the neighbors that the occupants of this house for the past 24 months were spiders, ants and the occasional homeless person.  The neighbors would call the police when they noticed them but because the house was surrounded by trees, it was hard to tell if people were living in the house or not.

Day 3: My sister and 4 of the 5 kids came and helped me clean out the garage.  It was crazy dirty but amazing to get that done.  Having the garage cleaned - even at 70% - we still have cobwebs and lots of old stuff inherited from the previous owner, really has helped us stay organized these past few weeks.

Day 5: The day started early with Mike and I picking up a U-haul and buying a kitchen off of Craigslist.  It's a beautiful cherry brown kitchen from a very nice large house in Kirkland.  When we got to the house, we took out the kitchen and built-ins.  Well, we call the previous owner Gepetto.  I call him, Johnny - since that is what the neighbor called him.  Either way, it means that whatever was built by him was built strong and permanent and is IMPOSSIBLE to move!  We also discovered, after taking down studs that the wall was load bearing between the kitchen and living room.

Julie (my sister-in-law) and I were at homedepot and ended up buying 4x4 posts to prop up the house and replace the load that the chopped out studs were holding up.  Along with all the other smaller items we had to buy for whatever we were doing that day.  Home Depot and Lowes are becoming our daily stops.

For the month:
I've made multiple calls to all kinds of electricians, plumbers, HVAC peeps and there are a lot of people who are willing to help or recommend someone else that can help.  I had two HVAC people come.  I had called one just to be the comparison price and ended up really liking the salesman.  If I was choosing on personality, I would choose him.  He came and gave me ideas about the house and how to deal with inspections and then he gave me the name of a handyman that could help us get the cast-iron radiant wall heaters out of the house.  It was a job we were going to tackle but not looking forward to.  Well, this hvac guy got his handyman friend to do it for $400.  He was a crotchy old man but a great help!  He worked for about 5 hours and disposed of the cast iron for us.  Now, we may be naive but all I can find is that he would be paid about 20 cents a pound on that and I really think it was worth the struggle.  The cast iron was heavy.  He broke over 8 blades cutting all the metal and it was hauled away by him.

Lesson learned: Someone knows someone that would be good to work with or go with the A grade and multiple reviews people on Angie's list.

Electricians:
On Angie's list, we found a coupon to have the electrical panel replaced at the house.  I got the coupon and then had that replaced before we even had bids for everything else that had to be done at the house.  The first guy to do a bid for the house came up with $13,000!  EEEEEK!  Then, I went through a couple referrals but ended up going with the same guys who did the electrical panel for us.  I was swayed towards them partly because they already had the permit in process with dealing with the electrical panel and 2nd because they worked with us on the budget.  I had a contractor bring two electricians and they were the same price but the reality is, we ended up doubling what we had the electrician do because instead of just updating plugs, we ended up tearing out the bottom part of the walls in the living room and master and redoing all the wiring.  Ryan & Derek, our electricians are great!

Plumbers:
I've had referrals for at least 5 plumbers.  The crazy thing is I could never get them to call me back.  This last one, our electrician texted me a number for a guy named Beau.  The guy's voicemail box was full!  So, I texted him what i needed.  I felt like giving up on referrals and ended up calling Angie's list for someone to come out.  They came out and gave us a reasonable bid on Wednesday.  They could start this coming Monday.  Well, 24 hours later, Beau called me and he had a different guy, Bryan, come down and help me.  This guy bid $200 less than the plumbers we had agreed to have come the previous day and would do more.  I really liked how he explained everything to me and feel like he would do everything to code and the right way the first time.  Luckily, Mike had shown me the plumbing plan that morning and I was able to walk through knowledgeably about what we needed.  The reality is, if you watch Youtube videos, you walk away thinking you can do the plumbing yourself.  But timing and then talking about the pipes for the drain/sewer - it became too big a job and we have committed to have Bryan come.  He is here right now and doing the job today.  YEAH!  It's the last step before drywall.

 HVAC:
Well, I ended up going with the 2nd guy.  I felt badly about that since the first one had connected us with the handyman who took out our heaters.  I found the 2nd guy through Costco and there was a deal to get this done and get a gift card from Costco.  Also, because I have the Costco card and Amex card, I will get a percentage back in the next year from my rebate checks.  That's what tipped me towards this guy.  It was future money.  We ended up having the guys put in the gas line too. They put in the gas line for a gas dryer, gas stove and future gas fireplace.

It's is moving along but other than buying the craigslist Kitchen and an outlet French Door Fridge - we haven't been able to upcycle much.  I'm painting the built in closet and have been cleaning lots.  We still have cobwebs in the places we haven't been able to clean yet.  It's a process but it's coming.

This will be a great house someday soon!

Spam and Non-stop calls!

Be wary of forms that ask for your info.  I was looking for Armstrong cabinets and ended up filling out a form for more information.  Little did I know that that form was associated with Service Magic and somehow I had signed up to have contractors contact me.  I'd made my cell # public.  For the past 5 days, I've received non-stop calls from numbers I don't recognize.  The problem is, I've also been calling contractors and people, so I can't ignore unknown numbers right now.  Finally, today, service magic called me and they've "changed my account".  It's been a frustrating couple days.  Actually, they started calling me within 1 minute of my pressing "submit".  So, watch out!  

Craigslist search list

I've created a Google Doc Spreadsheet with links to each of my searches of items I'm watching for.

The list contains items like appliances, tools, yard items, furniture, construction tools.  I've shared the link.  The links work for Seattle.Craigslist.com.  If you want to have this document work for you and your city for craigslist, copy the spreadsheet into excel, then search and replace "seattle.craigslist.com" and replace with ___________________ whatever your cities link is.  For example, if you live in Portland, you can replace it with "Portland.craigslist.com"

Here is the link to the spreadsheet:

How to Organize Wood Scraps

One of the things we "inherited" at the house is a lot of wood scraps.  The former owner was definitely a wood worker.  I've found a handy cart on wheels, a wood screen for the furnace in the basement I'll be putting it back there soon since it was found in the garage) and lots of scrap wood.  Our first order of business is to make room in the garage for all of our belongings, including the kitchen that I bought on Tuesday.  How are we going to do that when the garage is already full of lots of items?  


Here are the steps I've narrowed down for us to focus on:
1. STACK IT
For the large flat pieces, stack the wood in like sizes in a divided space/ possibly made of some of the scrap wood you have.  



2. BOX IT
use a bucket or box for the smaller scraps.  


3. PILE IT
Pile the smaller pieces that are bulky in depth in cubbies


When I started cleaning up on Tuesday night, I was "Stacking" the flat pieces and tall pieces against one wall.  I also boxed the smaller scraps but filled up two small boxes very quickly.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do when we find more.  That sounds like a lot of "small" boxes to move around.  I almost need a larger box to keep the scraps in.  


I'll update this post with pictures later.  

Heated floors

One of the reasons I keep going back to tile for our future floor is because I want heated floors.  I found this web site that lists they have "infrared heating" for laminate, tile and floating hardwood floors.  That's very cool!

http://www.infrafloor.com/?gclid=CLaVyJTb5a8CFYYHRQodnEzb1A

Give the Silent Treatment...

My mom told me that there is an article in Money Magazine about renovating your home and how to save money.  There are some interesting tips on dealing with contractors.

1.  Negotiate:  Let them know that they have competition.  - I have about 2-3 contractors for each project coming.  They all come recommended, either by Angie's List or through friend's recommendations.
2. Set a low bar: This says you should mention a price about 20% less than you're expecting to pay.  This will make the contractor scoff but it will also help him know that you're on a budget.
3.  Take a collaborative approach: My husband has a demanding schedule, so I'm the one dealing with the contractors.  They are going to know that, me, the female knows nothing about these projects and what has to be done.  But that also gives me the opportunity to ask about the process and each step involved.  It also gives me the chance to ask about ways we can cut the costs.  i.e.  for the HVAC guy, is it automatically in his plan to remove the old system?  We can do that ourselves and remove the wall baseboards all around the house.
4.  Give the Silent treatment:  This step is my favorite.  When the contractor gives their opening bid, be silent for a bit and if they have any wiggle room, they might come down before you even say anything.

To read the entire article - go to money.cnn.com

More Faith and Patience

Monday night I found a kitchen and Cate emailed me back on Tuesday morning.  She said she had a lot of interest so I committed right there and promised a deposit.  When we talked on the phone, she said she was fine with a $100 deposit.  We tried to figure out a way for Mike to come see the cabinets but she didn't want us coming late at night (her husband works nights) and Mike wouldn't get off work until after 7.  This is a big day, we're supposed to get the keys tonight but this kitchen sounds like too good a deal!  It's not quite the $500 but still...  on the phone call, Cate mentioned she had sold her fridge and stove already.  I emailed her after the call to ask if she had a dishwasher/microwave to sell and that we'd be interested in those.  She told me she'd tell me the price when I got to her house that afternoon.

When I got to her house, she told me other people offered to put down a $800 deposit but she had already agreed to sell the kitchen to me.  Also, the person who bought the stove offered to buy the dishwasher but she promised that to me too :) - even though she hadn't even given me a price yet.

The house is really nice and looking at the cabinets - they are very nice and a reputable company, I don't really understand why she needed a new kitchen.

To make it easier to see everything, she had the contractor set the kitchen up in the layout that it was in inside the house (it was already removed and in her garage).  A lot of people sell kitchens on Craigslist and a lot of those people require the buyer to remove the cabinets... so Cate had already done a lot of work for us.





This picture was the only picture she posted on the ad.

I committed without seeing other pictures and then she sent some that her contractor had taken.


Here are some of the pictures I took in the garage:

I love this kitchen!  It's very similar to the color and style I have in Portland.  While I was really excited and pretty sure we were going with the Cabinets to go Kitchen, we cannot pass up this opportunity to buy this kitchen.  I think there are more pieces that we can use but we can repurpose the other pieces for another space or re-sell them.  Either way, we have a lot of cabinets to work with and Mike approved them!  

We're getting a uhaul on Saturday morning and we'll pick them up then.  

Lesson learned: I need to continue to have faith that we'll find things instead of giving up and going retail.

When I'm disheartened... I turn to retail...

The whole point of this house and this web site, is to detail how we bought and renovated a house using Craigslist and other unconventional/non retail options.  I have found that I get disheartened after days and weeks of looking for something and finding that people on Craigslist and at estate sales (garage sales and other miscellaneous ways) sell items for the same price as new.  Why wouldn't I buy a new fridge with a warranty vs a refrigerator that is 6 years old and from someone's garage?  It's hard to justify.

Today, we went cabinet shopping and rehab store shopping.  We went to Cabinets To Go and found some great cabinets.  The guy in the store was very friendly.  They had several kitchen options on display.  Their standard kitchen is dovetailed drawers and has a lot of great features.  Price-wise, they end up being comparable with Ikea.  I think they are cheaper than Home Depot and Lowes based on what I priced out.  We really liked this one cabinet, the guy even gave us a sample door to hold on to and compare colors and quality as we shopped around.  He priced out the kitchen and mocked up a design in just a few minutes for us.  Now we have that print out to compare and use as we continue to shop around.

Why look at new cabinets when I found that one for $500?  Well, the guy emailed me that he had several offers and even an offer above asking price.  That's that.  Those cabinets are gone.  I'm sad (disheartened).  Mike is feeling the push to find cabinets because we have essentially 30 days to get the house to a point where we can live in it.  A kitchen is a huge part of that.

The reality is, we could get an Oak kitchen for free if we wanted but neither one of us likes the grain.  I looked into painting and it's a huge process to paint it to the level where you can't see the grain.  I'm picky about the grain.

If you're looking for a Craigslist kitchen and are on a budget, you probably shouldn't be as picky as Mike and I are.

I'll post about the rehab stores in another posting...  Happy Kitchen Shopping everyone.