simple changes that make a big difference

WARNING: you're in for a long post today!

Sunday was a day filled with projects for Rob and I. We tackled some of the shorter, simpler projects that we had been delaying on because we never wanted to open the can of worms on these projects (which was silly because the proverbial cans were all so tiny). Well, now they are finished very nearly finished and what a difference some simple changes can make! Let me just tell you - things are feeling fresh at the Rebhan house - woot!

We completed three tasks:

1. filling nail holes from previous owners curtains, etc and our decor changes
2. taking the inner molding out of the old bedroom doorway (that is now the secondary entrance to the dining room)
3. repainting the inside of the front door and all of the door's trim

We started the day with projects one and two, three was added on as we started patching and painting and oh my, what a difference that painted door makes!

Project 1: 

There were lots and lots of holes around the house from temporary decor solutions and "mis-hung" pictures/frames, as well as from all the old curtain rods the previous owner had installed.

Now when I say "curtain rods", I use the term loosely because they were more the bracket and telescoping rod variety that end up being covered in six layers of paint before they are ever taken down or replaced. Needless to say, it was not easy to get the 10 brackets (whose screws were completely stripped) down off the wall.

Once we managed to get everything removed, we used putty to fill all the holes. I prefer the kind that goes on pink, that way I can and make sure that I filled everything properly. I also use my hands to apply it to the wall for nail holes, but a putty knife does come in handy when you are really trying to smooth out a divot!

After we spackled everything, we waited for all the pink to turn white and then we sanded away. It doesn't take much power to sand these little areas so we just used a couple scraps of sandpaper and hand-sanded. I always like to hold a damp paper towel under my spot sanding so I don't have to clean up after! After the sanding, I just painted over the holes and "waaaalaa!" clear white walls again. It really is the simple things.

Project 2:

When we took down the wall to create the walkway (you can see that project here) between the dining room and the living room, we also took down the old bedroom door. We figured that eventually we would refinish the doorway so it no longer looked like a doorframe, but a walk-through; no one would ever know what we had done (hee hee). Well we have been done with the walkway for about two months now and well, we just got around to refinishing the trim. Thankfully the way door frames are put together, it's not hard to take them apart!

Rob only needed a hammer, a crow bar and some sand paper to get this job done! Now that we have done some projects around the house, we always appreciate those that don't require many tools and tricks!

 

As you can see from the "action shot" above, a few swift hits with the hammer and that molding was popping right off. Sometimes it amazes me how easy it is to take apart a house, ha! It took Rob about five minutes to get the molding off the sides and top of the door frame. Once the big pieces were off he had to go back and get the little splinter leftovers that were being held on by the layers and layers of paint that doorway had seen over the years. As you can see in the picture below, there was a lot of paint scrap left behind!

Once Rob took all the scraps off, all that was left to do was sand! Again, it wasn't a job for the power sander; he was able to take the remaining paint bumps and smooth them out to be level with the frame just by hand sanding.

After that, all there was left to do was paint the frame white! For now, we have sanded down the hardware "holes" and have painted them white. We are eventually going to fill them with wood, putty and paint over them again but we didn't have time this go round. Honestly though, even though we have one more step in this project, we are happy that we got what we did out of the way - it already makes a big difference! We will take a picture of the finished project when all the paint has dried and the holes have been filled!

Project 3: 

Project three snuck up on me while I was doing project #1. I was painting over a hole next to the front door and it hit me how ugly and tan/brown/yellow the front door was - yuck! So without thinking twice I just ran my paint brush over the door and now, the rest is history as they say.

The lighting in these pictures isn't great but it doesn't take great lighting to see how ugly and dirty our front door looked from the inside... not only was the door an ugly tan color, the molding around the windows (which is plastic, ew) was completely yellowed from years of sun and wear. I had never painted a door before so I wasn't about to try and paint around all the knobs and locks. After removing the lock and door handle, I also removed the plastic frame from the inside.

Here is an up close view of the window molding... can we all say it together now? EW! So yellow and so dated looking because of it. To be completely honest, I hadn't really looked twice at the front door before because there were other things to be done - but boy am I glad I looked a little closer on Sunday. After removing all the molding, I painted the door with a paintbrush for two coats and then rollered on the third coat to make it nice and smooth! I used an eggshell white that I had laying around the house - same as the walls - so it just blends right in!

I didn't want to hand paint the molding, figuring the plastic would get all streaky and that would frustrate me to no end. So I chose to spray paint... I love spray paint! Let me re-phrase, I LOVE spray paint, but I hate the spray paint that I chose for this project. It had a terrible sprayer and my table in the basement as well as my arm got covered in paint. boo!

Even though it was messy, it was worth it because the frames look 100x better than before! So crisp and clean, with a little sheen to boot!

After letting the spray paint and the door dry for about two hours while we went out and celebrated with some friends on their engagement (shout out to Jordan and Danielle, congrats you guys!!), we were ready to put the door back together

The window glass is actually just held between the two plastic panes (one on the outside and one on the inside) with a bunch of screws, so the process to take it apart and put it back together is not a hard one! 

After everything was put back together, it was an amazing difference! What was once blah and brown is now crisp and clean! Thank goodness for a little white paint :)

We hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas with your family and loved ones and we wish you a prosperous new year! As always, thank you for following along with us! 

Until next time, Lindsey and Rob

out with the old

For a while now, every time we would walk by the "Nest" display at any store Rob would express his intense interest in having this new thermostat for our home. I mean, yeah the thing looks a LOT better than the old yellowing one that we have on our crisp white wall in the hallway but who needs a thermostat that learns your patterns? Well we did I guess.

After receiving a generous gift to the Home Depot from one of my (Lindsey's) aunts as a housewarming gift, we went to the HD to buy some salt and a new snow shovel (without-a-huge-crack) to deal with the recently fallen snow. Well we weren't the only ones who thought to do the same thing that day; when we got there this past Sunday evening, there were no shovels left. So on our way out with only some puppy friendly ice melter, we passed by the Nest display once again. It didn't take long to weigh out that since we had the gift card (that would take care of practically half the cost), the updated look would give the hallway a quick pick-me-up, and not to mention the Nest would save us money on our energy bills - it was a good time to finally get the Nest. The nerd inside of Rob was pleased.

Sometimes when I look at something that is small but can do so many things, I get overwhelmed thinking that the task is going to be hard. Thankfully, I was totally wrong this time. Everything you need is in the well-designed package and it installs with no problem. You even check the compatibility with your system before you break the plastic seal on the package so there will be no problem returning the unit, very thoughtful Nest team, thanks!!

As you can see here the lovely unit that we had before was sparkly and shiny dull as can be. It may have been cool back in it's day but those days are long gone. The dingey color didn't help the poor thermostat one bit; honestly, it just didn't stand a chance of lasting too long in the house.

After shutting off the power to the hallway and the HVAC unit, Rob detached the wires. Ours were color coded which made life really easy. Once the old unit was down, it was just a jumble of curly wires sticking out of the wall. To attach the nest, you use two screws (provided) and the level that is built into the unit's base (we thought this was so clever!!). Once attached to the wall you insert the wires into the correct latches and away you go.

I wanted to give you a visual of how the wires pinched into the appropriate places. Obviously, the wires were bent to fit into the rectangular area, but we didn't take a picture of that step so here is just a representation. Forgive the quick edit!

Unfortunately for me and my paintbrush, the nest is much smaller than the thermostats of days gone by. When the old unit came down and the Nest went up we were left with paint drippings and holes and just a mish-mash of ugly wall (see the photo above). It would have been a short little project with some sanding and white paint etc. but just wasn't something that I had thought of prior to this install. Well, the Nest team must have known people like me wouldn't think ahead because as I was dipping my paintbrush to paint, Rob offered up a wall plate that comes with the Nest. PERFECT! A crisp white wall plate that actually made me like the Nest more than before.

All in all, I just have to say that I am most impressed with the quality of the unit itself as it has already started to learn our habits only five days after install and the thought that went into the packaging (seriously, a built in level, people!) It was also fun to finally have something that Rob had wanted since we were in the home buying process!

It's only been about a week but I would definitely recommend this product to anyone. It's so simple to set up and it feels a tad bit futuristic, making anyone feel cool! ha!

As always, we had our little helpers who just like to remind us that they are there and require mid-project "pet-me-please" breaks! ;)

Thanks for keeping up with us! Until next time, Lindsey and Rob (Oswin and Harlee too!!)

it's the most wonderful time of the year

Christmas is one of the most charming times of the year. It was so fun decorating our new home to make it reflect the holiday cheer that we love being a part of. We put the tree up the Saturday after Thanksgiving, the earliest we've ever decorated, but we were so eager we just couldn't wait! It was fun to find a full sized tree this year, we've never had one before - it was cold and we weren't prepared for the wait outside but we had fun while we waited!

We picked a Frasier Fur, a type of tree we have grown up with, and while they were trimming our tree to fit into the stand I was able to get some extra branches for our front porch pot. If your Christmas tree spot lets you take the extras it's a great way to save about 30$ on front porch decorations! 

After we rearranged the furniture a bit to make room for the tree, we were able to light her up and decorate with our eclectic bunch of ornaments that remind us of very fun memories of the past! For fillers on the tree I always shop the after Christmas sales, that way we can have a fully decorated tree without paying an exorbitant amount of money for the ornaments, garlands and lights (Target is usually my go-to for Christmas sales!)

I found a nice looking fake wreath for only 8$ and was able to decorate it for "nothing" with purchases I had made in the past (woo hoo sales!) I didn't have to use anything to secure the garland (it is just tucked between pieces of the wreath) and the two "love birds" are just sitting atop with their toes for balance. 

We don't have any type of a mantel so we hang our stockings with care on the buffet we use as a tv stand! The stockings are cute pottery barn stockings that we received as a christmas present the year we were engaged - thank you New Jersey Brands! 

I was able to change the table scape just by adjusting the arrangement and adding a filler to some of the vases. Everything was either purchased at salvation army or was at a huge discount (I think I got the two candle sticks for $12 each from Anthropologie!) I always just try and move things around with my dining room table so that I don't have to find storage for the pieces I'm not using and so I don't have to buy more decorations! The pheasant feathers are actually from pheasants when we went out hunting a while back! 

The dogs don't mind the tree one bit and haven't tried to eat any of the ornaments - thank goodness! They even have their own stockings that hang over their food bowls! Maybe they will wake up on Christmas morning to find a special treat! 

The littlest things can add to the holiday cheer around a home. We don't have the ability or space in our pocketbooks to change our whole home decor when Christmas comes around, so I make little additions and changes that can easily be manipulated into the scheme of our home! The little Santa was a housewarming present (thank you Aunt Mary!), the bells were $2 last year at Target's after Christmas sale, and the metal trees were a hand me down from Rob's mom (thank you Kristin!) Decorating for the Holidays doesn't have to break the bank, you just have to think ahead in order to save some green!! 

Well that's all for now! Merry Christmas everyone! 

Until next time, Lindsey