Into Every Life, a Little Clog Will Form

Mr. MJ's parents were visiting us last week. So that they would have a full Sow's Ear experience, we found a project to work on together: our washing machine had a clog, somewhere deep in its bowels, preventing it from draining out water. Me, Mr. MJ, and Mr MJ's dad flipped the patient over and commenced surgery.




The clog was in the pump. Works fine now.

Porch Projects: Objects to Paint

Here are a couple of other painting projects I've been working on on-and-off:



In the foreground are outlet covers and switch plates that I bought for super cheap ($0.10 each) at the salvage. They are just plain plastic, so to dress them up I'm painting them with the same oil-rubbed bronze Rustoleum I used for the ceiling fan makeover. A lot of ou covers are either missing or ugly, so this is my inexpensive fix.

In the background are our future medicine cabinets. These are also salvage finds; at $5 each, they were far cheaper than buying new ones (identical new ones would cost $60 each). However, they were in pretty sad shape, so I've been gluing, priming, and painting these as well. Ultimately, I think they will look better than newly bought ones, because the paint color will coordinate with the rest of the bathroom.

I guess the moral of this story is that cheap often takes work, but sometimes it's so worth it.

Saturday Salvage

This past Saturday we finally took the old sink to the Community Forklift salvage yard. A woman exiting the store when we arrived with it thought it was cute. Ha!



We replaced the sink with a box of old doorknob sets. They were half price, so it was hard to resist.



One of these days we'll get to this project...

Spider Bird

Thoughts on Paint So Far

So I've now used two different kinds of paint: the standard Behr paint and the No-VOC Freshaire, both from Home Depot. Smell-wise, they both did. Probably about the same amount. I was expecting to be overwhelmed by the smell of the regular paint, but it really wasn't that noticeable or bothersome. However, I know that no-smell is not the same as No-VOC, so I will try to use a less toxic paint in the rest of the house unless I find a color I can't live without.

Coverage-wise, I was, again, pleasantly surprised by the Behr. I was sure I was going to need three coats for the bright Cool Lava/coral color. However, after two coats (on top of one coat of primer), the walls looked great. In the other two bedrooms, I felt the Freshaire's coverage was not so good -- even though I was using light colors, I still applied two coats. Maybe I would have anyway though, because it does seem like that's what it takes to get the full impact of the color.

I really like the two-tone wall technique. Well, I like the results of the technique; actually going through the process is a bit of a drag. However, it seems like a good solution for rooms where you want to use a strong color but need to decrease that weird contrast that happens between colored walls and white ceiling. Since we have ugly textured ceilings with jagged edges left behind by wallpaper removal, I like to create as little visual interest up there as possible. I think I may try this again in the living room. After a break. :)

Let there be Art!

We finally got some art out of storage and up on the wall a few days ago.



It's so nice to see this painting again after over 6 months apart. Seeing it makes me anxious to find homes for the rest of our "collection." It's by Susanna Bluhm, a great painter I was lucky enough to go to grad school with.

Please!

Clean your air return register!



(seriously, the people who sold us this house were blind to their own filth. it was really gross up there.)

Please!

Clean the backside of your refrigerator.

When in Doubt, Buy the Broken Display Model...

Because it will cost less!



(you just have to fix it after you drag it home on the bus. no problem, right? it's a kitchen cart for the hole by the stove, in case you were curious.)

Other Doings

Mr MJ, the Kommodore of Kitchen Kleaning. There is a sticky, greasy, dusty mess on these cabinets from years of non-cleaning. Mr MJ is the boss, obv.



New toy:



Makes vacuuming fun!