Inexpensive Kitchen Remodel

When you own a fixer-upper, there is always something that needs to be repaired or upgraded. Or added. 

Most of these jobs aren't fun, like the new roof or the anti-termite treatment. 

However, in the long list of never-ending, ever-multiplying, must-be-done-now jobs, my favorite to date has been my cheapo kitchen remodel. 

When we bought our house, the kitchen had decent builder-grade oak cabinets.  They weren't what I wanted or what fit the era of the house, but it was too expensive to change them out. I left them for a couple years while we tackled more important projects. 

Finally I decided to jump in and fix up my kitchen. After lots of research and some advice from a helpful Home Depot sales person, I got a Rustoleum Cabinet Makeover kit. 

I followed the directions on the kit from start to finish. 

The job took me a really long time. The instructions on the package said that you could finish a smallish kitchen in a weekend but I'm not sure that would really be possible if you did a good job. Anyway, for whatever it's worth, painting my kitchen cabinets took me about a month. 

This job is not for the faint of heart. However, it's definitely a great way to cheaply get an updated kitchen. 

I could have sped up the process by skipping the insides of the cabinets, and the doors would have been so much easier to paint if I could have spread them out in a garage. By the end of the summer I was sick of painting, but I would totally do it all over again if I had to. 

Here's the sink area ready for a party I threw. I can't believe how much brighter and cleaner the place looks. 

Here's by the door that leads to the back yard. I love it!

So, if you have a kitchen that isn't exactly what you want, but don't have thousands of dollars for a complete refitting, consider painting your cabinets. You'll be surprised by what a huge difference it makes!

5 Areas to Improve in My Home

When you move into a fixer-upper, there is a never-ending list of things that need to be updated, repaired, or made.  My husband and I have made lots of progress, but we tend to get snowed under with all the jobs that need to be done NOW! 

Periodically, I take inventory of all the things that still need to be done.

Then I get completely overwhelmed and have to take a break and have some coffee (if only!). 

What works best is to take a step back and choose a handful of areas to improve.  Here are my 5 major areas that need help:

1.      Back Yard: (the job that never ends!)  When we moved into our house, the back yard was ready to go in a lot of ways—for a much different family than ours.  There was a nice big porch (which I love), a paved patio, a pergola, a postage-stamp-sized lawn, and tons of gravel.  There was no usable space for plants, flowers, and the huge garden I had been dreaming of.  (There also were no weeds back then). 

 3 and ½ years later, we’ve made lots of changes.  We’ve moved miles of gravel, hauled several trucks worth of compost, and built raised boxes for my garden.  I’ve planted a lot, mainly vegetables and herbs, with a few roses thrown in.  We put in one irrigation system, and have plans to add another.

 We’ve also added to our collection of patio furniture so we have a comfortable place to hang out during beautiful Napa Valley weather.

 I still feel like we are fighting a losing battle in the backyard.  I have dreams of it being a beautiful, peaceful place where we can relax, entertain, and grow lots of food.  I also want it to all be easy to maintain, since we both work long hours and don’t want to spend every waking minute weeding. Sadly, the weeds grow sprout almost as quickly as I pull them. 

2.      TV room:  This is definitely the Man’s room.  It’s not pretty.  It is hard to keep clean.  There’s lots of computer equipment, weights, and guy stuff in there.  I don’t like it.  ‘Nuff said.

 3.    Spare room:  Other than the bathroom, this is the only room in the house that I have not really changed in any way since we bought the house.  I hope to turn it into a nursery soon, so there just has never seemed much point in decorating it at all.  However, I have found that a room with no purpose quickly becomes the junk-dropping zone.  Not good!

 4.      Laundry Room/Hallway Pantry: My nemesis!  Yes, I should be grateful that I have a dedicated room for laundry (I really am grateful), but this room is dark, dingy, and humid.  Plus, it’s usually a lot dirtier than this.  I really hate laundry, and this room has not made it easier.

 5.      Shed:  When you have no garage, you either need to have very little stuff, or good storage (or preferably, both).  Our shed is tiny, has very little shelving, and is sort of a black-hole for our belongings. 

     The best solution I can think of, short of another shed, is to install lots of shelving and other forms of storage.

So, there are some of the major areas that we need to improve. I'm not sure where we'll start working. Now we're building a run for the chicks so we'll see what we feel inspired to begin after that's finished. 

Weaning Off Coffee

Kicking the coffee habit has been a beast.

I had no idea I was so addicted.  I see myself as a person with few vices (chocolate doesn't count, right?), so realizing how deep my dependence on coffee has been has shaken some of my personal confidence.  I want a cup of coffee more than a lot of things, and that's saying something.

That being said, I have been off coffee for about a month now, and I feel like I have finally broken the physical dependence.  The mental/emotional need for coffee is still strong, and I'm anticipating it will be a few more months before I can get through a full day without longing for a cup, but physically, I'm fine.  Not happy, but fine.

I didn't research weaning off caffeine until late in the weaning process, but my progression was some of what I read.  Here is how I weaned off coffee:

Days 1 and 2:  1/4 decaf and 3/4 regular coffee.

Days 3 and 4: 1/2 decaf and 1/2 regular.

Days 5 and 6: 3/4 decaf and 1/4 regular

Days 7 and 8: 100% decaf

Day 9 and beyond: cold turkey! 

This formula is not for the faint of heart.   I still had some headaches, and my energy was very low.  However, I got through the process quickly, which was what I wanted. 

Keep in mind that your body will be going through a tough time during this approach (or any weaning time).  Make sure you drink extra water, get lots of rest, and eat well.  Your body will need some babying as it is working hard!

Beginner's Guide to Raising Chicks

I don’t claim to be an expert on raising chickens (the first night I had my girls, I kept asking my husband every 10 minutes if he thought they were all right).  However, I have discovered that there are some important things you need to have when you bring those cute little balls of fluff home from the farm supply store. 

 

 

Here is my current must-have list:

1.      A large container.  Right now I’m using a Rubbermaid tub from Home Depot.  The walls are very tall in comparison to the width of the box, so the chicks won’t be able to jump out for a while (I hope).  Eventually the chicks will need more space, but right now they’re doing well.

2.      Bedding material:  The feed supply gave me a huge bag of lovely sweet-smelling wood shavings. 

3.      A small water dish:  I got a large water container from the feed store (the red and white dispenser above) , but it was way too big for such tiny babies and their cozy box.  So right now I’m improvising and using a glass snack container.  It is short enough so the chicks can get the water easily.

4.   Food dish:  This has been my biggest frustration.  Like the water container, I got a container that will work really well in the coop once the chicks are grown up, but it was ridiculous in the current box I’m using.  So, I tried a plastic one-cup container that is used for freezing jam.  That was ok, except the chicks liked to sleep in it and occasionally stood on the edge and tipped all the food out.  Then I tried an ordinary saucer.  That worked for about 5 minutes.  The chicks scratched all the food onto the floor of their box and then pooped all over the plate.  Ewww!  So my current solution is a plastic sandwich container sans lid, with a rock in it to keep it from tipping over.  So far so good.
 

5.      Chick food:  I got 25 pounds of what the feed supply recommended—the medicated kind.

6.      A heat lamp or warm place to stay:  Ordinarily, I would use a clip-on shop light to keep the chicks warm.  However, we’re having a mini-heat wave in Northern California, and there has been very little need for any extra heating devices.  I do have lamp I can use if I need to.  My chicks are already two weeks old, so they are not as cold-sensitive as they were.  Hopefully I won’t need to use it. 

Last but not least, I have a chicken coop ready to go when the chicks are old enough.  For me, that was the most important part.  I'm ready to go!