And we're finally unpacking again. I have my computer back, as of tonight! While we worked, our office stuff (and our gazillion boxes of books) got moved to the garage, where it took up a lot of space and looked a little like this:
Needless to say, we're pretty stoked about our office no longer being scattered across three or four rooms of our home. It also gave me the chance to sort through the stacks of random junk mail we always seem to have lying around, and which we can never seem to get rid of effectively.
Rebuild and Seal Crawl Space Door
Our crawl space door was a piece of plywood that wasn't weatherproofed at all. Not energy efficient. So Chris inverted it and added some trim so that it keeps more air and critters out of our home. 'Nuf said.
Jar Project #8:
Clean and Line Crawl Space
With the great stair re-build (see below), Chris had the chance to clean stuff out from under the house and sprinkle some laundry detergent around to kill certain odors. We're hoping this means good things, including his being able to line the space with the ground cover he bought for that purpose last spring. It would be great to have that space a little cleaner to use than it has been, and it will be better, too, for our furnace (which is located down there under the house) to not have all that dirt lying around - just ready to be sucked into the filters.
Jar Project #9:
Re-seal Sliding Door and Dog Door
This has been a long time coming. We initially bought the dog door in September when I went to work full time, so that the pups could go in and out for the 8-10 hours each day that we would be gone. The weather stripping that came with the kit wasn't quite sufficient, and we tried to supplement it only to have some major gaps that made the door incredibly inefficient energy-wise. The end solution was to use packing tape on the gaps, which meant we couldn't go in or out of our back door. We finally fixed that problem with the correct materials and cutting down the security bar. So nice!
Jar Project #10:
Replace Filter on Furnace
Another project a long time coming. When we first had our system cleaned out about a year ago now ("Days Sixteen & Seventeen: Little (Exciting) Things"), the tech reminded us to change out the filter on our furnace. We forgot. Then, Chris was cleaning out the crawl space this weekend, saw all the old filters scattered under there, and realized that we really needed to replace this key component of the furnace. So... we bought new filters. And we will try to remember to replace them more regularly.
Jar Project #11:
Hooks, Pegs, Bins in Laundry Area
I tried to install some hooks in the laundry area, but what I wanted them to hold was apparently too heavy, so they fell off the walls (those sticky hooks - you know what I'm talking about). Instead, I found a great deal on some small bins at Walmart maybe 6-8 weeks ago, and got some nice spiffy ones to hold light bulbs, extra toilet paper and paper towels, and the miscellaneous collection of things that always end up in a laundry area. They are working really well for our purposes. We might, some day far in the future, realize that we need more storage in here, and we'll just add another shelf - but, for now, we're good.
Jar Project #12:
New Floors in the Office
This has been a task we have long desired to complete, but haven't had the available money or time to do so. The carpet in this house is nasty. We can't wait to replace the stuff upstairs with new flooring, but we're just taking things piece by piece as we can. We installed the same type of laminate as on the main floor of the house, which we really like a lot and which has held up really well with both of the dogs running like maniacs over every square inch. It'll look particularly cool when we have the funds available to finish out the office with new bookshelves and some new furniture (desk, possibly a couch or some chairs), but we aren't really even close to that. Regardless, it's nice to be rid of just a little bit more of the nasty, nasty carpet. This also included a threshold into the garage, which is super-nifty. My husband is pretty awesome with the handyman skills. Jar Project #13:
Fix Stairs
Our stairs were in bad shape from the beginning. We knew that. Then, Chris took off the carpet to see what we were working with a while back and realized that they were in really bad shape ("The Task Jar & Jar Projects 1-6"). So, we bought new treads and figured we would eventually get them back into place. When the rest of the treads finally came off, however, Chris and his dad realized that the stairs really just needed re-building altogether, so we also bought new risers for the job. What should have been a simple job was complicated by the ever-surprising non-square nature of this crazy home that we bought. Nothing is level as it should be. The stairs actually get narrower as you go down them. So... it took a while to re-build them. But they're sturdy and beautiful. We plan to paint them and maybe install some type of runner but, for now, they are all that I need - especially since going out the front door and in the garage door to go downstairs isn't really all that great for everyday life.
Jar Project #14:
Re-hang Ansel Adams Picture
Not as big a task as we originally thought. Jimmy had just knocked it down in a fit of excitement with his tail. We got a new strip to hang it back on the wall. No biggie.
Jar Project #15:
New Baseboards in Office
We figured this one was coming because we were putting in a new floor. They look like the rest of our baseboards, which should be no surprise.
Bonus Project: New Shelving for Storage in Office
We bought a 4x4 Expedit shelving unit from Ikea for use in the office. Really stoked about that since our previous unit was 2x2 and made up of those wire connect-a-shelf things. Not very sturdy. It has already been a great storage addition for our home. See the picture for Jar #12 for a visual.
Upcoming Projects:
Since summer is coming, we're definitely starting to consider ideas for landscaping, paint and/or new siding for the outside of the house (since it's ugly), and new windows. A lot of those things, being larger tasks, will depend on financial stuff, but we're excited about the possibilities that await us!
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