Washer Dryer Miracle

Every new thing we get feels like a miracle. And the washer and dryer to me felt like a miracle of biblical proportions. For over five years of my life I’ve been lugging laundry to the laundromat. Down stairs, up stairs, in hatchbacks, backseats and over shoulders. Maybe I’m being dramatic. But I threw that first load of warm, fresh smelling laundry on the bed and fluffed it around like it was a big pile of money.

There was a problem though, and that was that the beautiful closet doors we picked out didn’t fit over the washer/dryer setup. So they had to move the door track out several inches to where it extends beyond the door frame. It looks pretty DIY and slightly wonky but I don’t think anybody will notice. Whatever. I’m just thrilled to have LAUNDRY in my HOUSE.

Project Minimalist

It’s not natural for me to want to be a minimalist. My mom was a garage-sale aficionado who once left an eleven year-old me in a rolling car because she forgot to put the car in park before she jumped out to shop at one. I can still see her green eyes twinkling and hear her saying “it might be valuable someday,” clutching her latest find.

She’s been gone for almost five years and every time I hear her voice come out of my mouth (which happens a lot) it’s like she’s with me. This happens frequently at the flea market when I’m haggling over a treasure that I’m positive will be valuable someday. Up until recently I’ve spent most weekends at the market, looking for stuff (the older & creepier, the better) to fill my spacious 1,000 square foot apartment. And by the time Chloe moved in last Fall, my collection had reached its tipping point. There was no need for the 17 half broken vintage dining room chairs, or the broken treadmill or the stacks of dusty magazines I’d been saving for future art projects. In fact, I hadn’t even looked at most of the stuff in the hallway that stretches the length of the apartment in years. It was just one long storage space. I called it my attic.

Chloe was born with what I consider to be a super-human gift of organization. Like how RoboCop can scan with his robot eyes to see where the good guys and bad guys are in an instant, she can scan a room and shuffle everything into piles that make sense. I’m positive she could make it big as an in-home organization specialist. I can just see her in a cute vintage dress with a clipboard creating order from the chaos in other people’s homes the way she did mine. She’s truly amazing – methodical, efficient and compassionate.

Phase One of Project Minimalist happened before we even bought the house. The mission was to get rid of anything broken or of no use in order to make room for Chloe’s things for when she moved in. We put most of the stuff up on Craigslist for free (the broken treadmill made one guy very happy). I filled the dumpster behind my building with trash (the dusty magazines mostly) and took three carloads of junk to the thrift store.

One thing of no use to me anymore was something I’d held onto as a grief object after my mom died – her purse. After she was gone, I could go to her purse for ibuprofen when I had a headache or use her nail clippers if I had a hangnail. It was as though she was actually there, taking care of me. But the medicine inside was long expired and the leather had started to deteriorate from sitting at the bottom of the closet untouched for several years. It served me during my early phases of grief, but it served me again when it was time to let it go. I poured over everything inside as I dropped it into the trash the way I did right after she died- the old CVS receipts, lipstick, her hairbrush, nail files, lighters, nicotine gum and the rest of her everyday ephemera. Like the turning of a page or the lighting of a candle. It was a ritual. A turning point. A moving forward instead of a looking back.

I read a quote during my research on minimalism (since I research everything as means to procrastinate) and it said something to the effect of “it’s better to have a few things you love instead of lots of things you just sort of like.” I’m really into that sentiment and am adopting it as my new minimalist mantra.

Phase Two started after we found the house. We had an indoor moving sale and I posted a lot of the good stuff I had on Craigslist for sale. An electric guitar that I hadn’t touched in over a year, wilderness tapestries, over twenty vintage apple crates, and lots of other stuff. I even sold my TV and bought a newer, slimmer Smart TV to conserve space at the new house. What surprised me the most was that I enjoyed selling my stuff as much as I enjoyed buying it. Talking about my stuff and entertaining hagglers let me say goodbye to my stuff in a way that felt respectful. The more stuff I got rid of, the more I wanted to pare down even farther. It became thrilling to let things go. What was incredible about the organization and subsequent purging of 75% of my stuff was that I actually made money on a lot of my vintage pieces, and for that I know my mom would be proud. My stuff actually is valuable someday. And someday is right now.

When You’re Sliding Into Home and your House is Full of Foam…

We went over to the house today after work to bring in the recycling bin, and saw that the insulation people came today! We went with the spray foam insulation because it’s what all the hosts on our favorite HGTV shows use and say is the best. That’s the extent of my research on the subject but I think it legitimately is the best choice. Just look at it! I think it’s going to keep us toasty.

4 Ways To Save During a Foreclosure Renovation

Online Shopping Perks

My employer uses Insperity HR services and they have a service called Insperity Marketplace. Anyway, they award points (they call them WOW points) for every online purchase you make through their portal. So far I’ve pocketed a prepaid Visa card for $50 just for going through them when I made my appliances order through Home Depot. And I’m using the portal for all my online purchases moving forward so I can keep earning points. If you’re reading this and you’re one of my pals, I have four invites. I’ll send you one!

Discover Cash Back Bonus

Since I didn’t have several thousand dollars lying around to buy the appliances and heater, I did something I never said I’d do (not since the great credit card debt that 18 year-old Megan racked up and carried for over ten years). I used one of my credit cards! I shopped around my various accounts and found the best deal through Discover. They offered 5% cash back bonus on all purchases up to $1,500 AND 0% APR for the first 12 months. By using the Discover card I’ve gotten about $50 in cash back (that I then applied to my balance). 2015 will be the year of aggressively paying down this debt!

Black Friday 

Home Depot was running an amazing Black Friday sale on appliances. The offer was actually live for a few weeks so I had plenty of time to research the products and make decisions with Chloe before clicking buy. The best part was that we didn’t have to brave any nasty crowds for door busters or anything. The drawback with this is that there was a LONG wait period for getting the appliances but that worked out well for us since we wouldn’t be ready for the appliances until February anyway. We ended up getting over $5,000 worth of appliances for about $3,000 for a total savings of over $2,000!

Movers Coupons 

We got tons of moving coupons in the mail from when Chloe changed her address to my apartment so we had those in hand when it came time to buy stuff like the toilet, the ceiling fan, the bathroom vanity and shower fixtures. These were for 10% off at Lowes and Home Depot. These coupons are gold so don’t toss them when you get them. Even if you can’t use them, one of your friends probably can!

4 Reasons We Chose A Gas Stove To Heat Our Tiny Home

So our house isn’t technically a Tiny Home. But at 656 square feet, we consider it borderline. Chloe has been interested in tiny homes for a while now, and though I’ve resisted (because really, aren’t they just trailers? And haven’t non-privileged folks been living in them for ages?) I do think there’s a lot to learn from them with regards to design. Heating is one inspiration we’ve gleaned from them.

The existing heat in the house was a putrid, band-aid colored gas wall unit. Having lived with one of these beige beasts in my previous apartment for five years, and struggling to design a room around it, I knew it had to go.

How cute would a little wood stove be? Our pals Kim and Amy have one and it’s transformed their home into a cozy paradise (perfect for sitting around sockless on a winter’s eve with a big bowl of ice cream). But once we looked into the price of wood and researched the upkeep on them, we realized we aren’t so cut out for the rugged task of hauling logs in and sweeping up ash. If there’s one thing I hate more than manual labor, it’s splinters.

Then we found out about gas stoves that look just like wood stoves. We settled on the Regency Hampton 27 (H27), after reading a lot of reviews and checking one out in the showroom at Wright’s Hearth Heat & Home. For us, this is the best way to heat a tiny home with less than a thousand square feet.

4 reasons why we think a freestanding natural gas stove is the best way to heat a tiny house:

1. Aesthetics 

We love the timeless look of a wood stove and were blown away by the realistic fire and craftsmanship of the Hampton 27 (we LOL’d at this guy showing one off on YouTube). Plus, it has a small clearance so we can install it close to the wall to preserve space. There’s also the added bonus of no unsightly registers in the floors.

2. Allergies (no duct system!)

Chloe has year-round allergies, and since there wasn’t duct work in place to begin with, we decided not to put any in since they (and floor registers/vents) can accumulate dust and other allergens over time. For an allergy sufferer, a home without duct work is an easy place to breathe.

3. Efficiency (cost & otherwise)

Natural gas is the cheapest way to heat, and the 25K BTU H27 can heat up to a 1200 square foot area – more than enough for our tiny space. The thermostat/remote has a timer function so it can be on low at night and turn up in the morning to heat up the house before we get out of bed. We’re getting spray foam insulation which is going to help keep the heat inside, and since the home has an open layout the heat will be able to flow throughout. Add to that a ceiling fan to help circulate, and I think we’ll stay good and toasty.

4. Safety

What’s great about the gas stove is that we can leave it on when we’re not home. Something we couldn’t do with a traditional wood stove. It’s vented to the outside of the house so it’s got a low risk of carbon monoxide leakage, and if the power goes out it’ll stay on.

Counters & Doors

Brad spent the day at the house with his crew. They finished the ceiling drywall texture, painted the front and back doors, added a deadbolt to the back door, installed the bathroom door, touched up paint and built the legs for the kitchen peninsula. 

They’re coming back tomorrow to plumb the kitchen, paint the ceiling, and install the front screen door. 

We should be making some home cooked meals by the weekend! 

   

 

I’m a handy ma’am

This weekend I used a hacksaw for the first time in my life. I made all new screens for every window in the house! I measured, cut, and splined the day away. 

I also repaired the broken screen on the back screen door and replaced the closing mechanism. It feels like a tree house with all the windows open and the fresh mountain air breezing through. 

The mailbox even got a brand new red plastic flag! 

   

 

Counters – We Have a Timeframe

We finally have a timeframe for the kitchen sink and counters installation. It’ll be sometime during the week of April 13th. 

In the meantime, we are sick of washing dishes in the bathtub! I snuck up on Chloe hard at work and took this… 



Kitchen Cabinets Before & After

The counters won’t be installed for another 3 weeks. So we’ve resigned ourselves to washing dishes in the bathtub & making some home cooked meals without them. Tonight I painted the first layer of top coat on the cabinets. After 24 hours we can do the final coat.

We used Annie Sloan Graphite paint, and are sealing it with Artisan Enhancements clear topcoat sealer. 







St. Patrick’s Day – GREEN

Thought I’d do a quick post about about the tiny step between the kitchen and living room. We had it painted green! We had the green paint anyway, and we think it adds a subtle design-y  element to the space. Plus, it makes the step easier to see, so it’s safer. 





We still have no idea when to expect the kitchen counters and sink. 

Happy St. Patrick’s day! 

Cabinet progress

Today we put on the first coat of paint on the kitchen cabinets. They’re coming along! 



HEEEEEAAATTTT

Today the heat was turned on. I’m writing this in my bare feet and I’m wearing shorts because we had to leave the Hampton cranked up to high to cure the paint for 6-8 hours (we made it 7). I’m sweating. It’s wonderful!

The dogs love it.

Kitchen

My fridge idea to box it in with cabinets didn’t work out. It would’ve cost us a lot more and we realized we wouldn’t have been able to reach the cabinets up there anyway.

We went to the Tobacco Barn and picked out a cabinet that Brad is going to make look like a built-in to disguise the fridge. So the fridge isn’t going to be enclosed in cabinets, just covered at the back by the cabinet.

They are in the process of re-doing the ceilings because the original job left the corner tape visible and it looked terrible. Brad’s a stand-up guy and is making it right which I’m grateful for. But we’re struggling slightly with the drywall mud mess on our stuff. The counters have been measured for and I’m now waiting on the designer to send me specs for the dining peninsula for approval before they’re ordered.

The guys were here all day Monday and will return next week sometime to finish up. They still have to paint the porch and do a bunch of other stuff. I’m glad to have a few days of quiet!

Here’s how the kitchen looks now. The small cabinet on the half-wall is what we’re going to use to hide the back of the fridge. It’s painted the same color that the cabinets will be.