Another Finished Project..One Step at a Time.

Yesterday I blogged about my dad and all of his DIY skills and talents. Today I thought I would spotlight my hubby. He has definitely got enough know-how and Honey-Do skills to do many things around our house and save us much money. It is beyond valuable to have that blessing in these times.



I get the Everyday Cheapskate newsletter (online) and she noted this week.. "2013 has the potential of being a financially challenging year for many people."  With all of the increases being taken out of people's paychecks for increased SS deductions, and extra healthcare deductions, and cut hours, and people having to buy their own uniforms, the rising cost-of-living, and all the other things I keep reading about...ay-ya-ya. It will be very hard for some people, and all of us will have to embrace some changes in our budgets to be prepared and ready for things yet to come.

If we have repairs and maintenance that need to be done on our house, which would be, for most of us, our most hefty investment...anything we can do ourselves is a HUGE plus. This GUY IS AWESOME! (just sayin')



Since moving in, Da Man has...


repaired the leaky handles and replaced the rotten material behind it.


Installed doors on the Master Bath. (there wasn't one??!!!!)

WIRED and/or HUNG new lighting In:


the Master Bath


Kitchen Windows


Hall Bath


Dining Room


Front Entry


Installed a new microwave.


Wired a ceiling fan for Kam in his room downstairs.

I so appreciate his electrical savvy and knowledge!

He has torn up the carpet in the three bedrooms and refinished the wood floors underneath. LOVE those hardwoods.












Dug Up and Reworked the Front Entry flower bed from THIS....




To THIS!...





Winterized the Screen Porch.

Also wired digital antenna hardware ...but I can't show that. It involved drilling and fishing wire from the crawlspace all the way up through the house and into the attic. Such a TIME-Consuming job!! rah!


And the list NEVER ends. There is always repair work... maintenance work...update work...Our latest project was this one.



When we purchased the house, the sellers had put new carpeting in the finished part of the basement. However...it was NOT good quality carpet. AND...the installer had not put ANY padding underneath. As a result, every time one used the stairs, their toes or heels were hitting TAC STRIP!!...*&%$#@ OWWWWWW! I got quite a few bloody punctures before I finally learned to step only on the front edge of the step. I hated always having to warn my guests to be careful if they were in stocking feet. (which this Southern girl almost always is) Old habits die hard.

It was one of the top project goals to get completed in the first year. We got the carpet ripped up first, and then got a peek at the retro/vintage linoleum with metal trim across each step.



OH THAT STUFF WAS A PAIN to get off the steps. All the tack strip was pulled up first thing after the carpet was gone! Happy Dance...

Then the slow work began of  ripping/ pulling/ scraping/ hammering away at the linoleum and then sanding off the old glue residue. BLEH!!! VERY DUSTY job...

When that was finally accomplished....here is what we were looking at.



These stair steps were not pretty oak or hardwood underneath. Just plain old pine lumber. This was one of those projects we decided we were NOT going to invest a large sum of money into. For the type of stairwell it was, leading down into a basement...we decided to pretty it up, and simply improve the overall look. And so after more sanding, and prepping and trimming in glossy white, and painting a lovely chocolatey brown, we were ready to find the stair runner.

SISAL was the choice we had installed on the stairwell in the Cottage on Woodberry, when we pulled up the old carpet and refinished the steps there.  That runner lasted SO EXTREMELY WELL, and showed no dirt and little wear over the years.

I couldn't find a photo of the actual stairsteps there, but found this photo in the archives. If you look closely, you can see the brown steps with the khaki/sage sisal runner.



And so, I had my heart set on this same style. And we looked and looked until we finally found ONE runner that was Sisal, and hallelujah, it was just the right colors to co-ordinate with the step color and the basement.



Just before we left in December to go welcome Justin home, we wrapped this project up! I was tickled pink.

One step at a time...One project at a time...slow and steady...Wins the Race!



NEXT PROJECT???? The Hallway flooring leading to the Bedroom Wing. Carpet Already Pulled up.

Thanks to any stopping by to visit today. Another entry into my Project Journal of the changes here in the Cedars Rapid Nest.

Have an outstanding Day!! Do you have some To Do Lists??? Never be AFRAID to take on something new!!! You might surprise yourself. Do-It-Yourself Tutorials are in abundance on the Web. :-)



add-on **I actually loaded this post last week as a Draft, and ran across THIS POST yesterday when I was reading a few blogs and saw the thumbnail pic. It goes right along with this post of mine, so I'll include it for FUN, for you to scroll through and see all the pretty staircases...Evidently Sisal is quite popular right now. Who Knew??? I just thought it was DURABLE! ;-)

http://www.mydesignchic.com/2013/02/sisal-staircase.html