Uh oh!

Hello dear readers,
A fellow blogger recently got into "trouble" for using a photo on her blog that she found using a Google image search. She, like many people out there, assumed if she found it on Google and it didn't have a watermark or copyright on it that she was free to use it. She found out that that is not the case. She was sought after by the photo owner and was forced to pay for use of the photo on her blog. A blog much like mine where she posts about things that interest her and her day-to-day doings. A blog that makes her not one dime.
Because there are people "out there" whose personal and professional photos show up in search engines for all the world to see but who do not wish to have them shared on peoples blogs without fair and adequate compensation (which does NOT come cheaply) I have decided to do some editing on my blog to remove any photographs that I have not personally taken. It might take the "fun" out of a few posts, and a few post may have to be deleted altogether, but it beats being tracked down and forced to pay out hundreds of dollars that I don't have to the rightful owner of the photo.
So be warned my dear readers, either be the photographer of your blog photos or be prepared to pay for the use of other peoples work should they object. I for one would be thrilled that someone wanted to use one of my photos on their blog, but I'm really good at sharing. Momma taught me well :-D
That is all...
Have a lovely day!

Actual photo taken by your's truly. If someone "out there" wanted to use it on their blog, unaltered of course, I would be honored. Shocked, but honored!

Answering a reader question

KB asks:  "Hey, when you do your remodel projects, how do you budget and know what to buy, like how much paint to get and stuff. I need to start getting mine ready for the bathroom. Can you help a reader out?" 

Great question KB. Here is a rundown of what I do when I'm planning a remodel project:

First, I decide on the absolute maximum amount of money that I can afford to spend. Then, I take that amount of money and divide it into thirds and write down 2/3 of that maximum amount.  That number is my starting point. (More on this in a minute.) For purposes of my example we'll say my max budget is $600, so 2/3 of that would be $400.

Next, I get myself a notebook and make a list of everything I want to do in the room. For example if I'm updating a bathroom, the list may look like this:

• paint
• faucet
• towel bars (2)
• shower curtain
• window covering
• towels
• rug
• wall art (2)
• accessories

Now I take my notebook to the local home improvement, big box and discount stores and start pricing out the materials I want to use. I can do the pricing online, however doing it in person means that I can take advantage of any scratch and dent or clearance merchandise that my stores won't have listed online. I also list the name (or initials) of the store I want to make the purchase at.

• paint -$35.88  per gallon for wall $16.88 per quart for trim -1 of each(HD)
• faucet- $74.95 (HD)
• towel bars (2)- $34.99 each (HD)
• shower curtain-$39.95 (Target)
• window covering $24.95 (BBB)
• towels  $4.99 each x 4 (Ikea)
• rug  $12.99(Ikea)
• wall art (2) $9.99 each (HL)
• accessories  $22.50(BL)

Adding it all up I have $373.90 for basic materials This amount falls within that 2/3 budget amount so for now I'm good to go. Just remember to mark down the actual costs after tax of your purchases, keep a running tab and don't forget to keep all of your reciepts. I tape an envelope to the inside cover of my notebook to keep them in so I won't lose them.

So what becomes of the leftover 1/3 of the budget money? It's left in reserve for unforeseen purchases:

• I don't own painting supplies so I need to buy rollers, brushes, trays, drop cloths and tape.- $25
• I installed the faucet but noticed I have a leak under the sink so I need to replace the pipe-$30
• I went to put up the shower curtain but my old rings look ugly with it so I want to replace them-$15
• The rug isn't large enough so I need to exchange it for a bigger one that costs $10 more
• The new towel bars are larger so I need to buy spackle to patch the old holes-$5
• I love the wall art, but there is still one blank area that needs something $10
• I forgot to put a new trash can on the list-$10

It's amazing how quickly those unforeseen purchases can add up. Just that little list alone is over $100. 

Let me address what happens when I spend more than the budgeted amount. Well, I have a long discussion with Hubby about what made the project go over and we decide if we need to cut items off the list, exchange something we've already chosen for something less expensive or do we increase the budget. Doing the 2/3 main budget 1/3 reserve really helps keep this from happening very often and I know that I can "dip" into the reserve if I need to.

Now to address the paint part of your question, here is how I figure how much paint I will need for a room:  A gallon of paint will cover roughly 350 square feet per coat. Yes, you can do the math or you can do what I do and punch my numbers into an online paint calculator and it will give you a really good idea of how much to buy. Any of these will work fine or you can do an online search for one of your own:

Benjamin Moore paint calculator

Lowes Paint Calculator

Home Depot Paint Calculator

Sherwin Williams Paint Calculator

I hope I was able to answer your questions KB. Let me know if there is anything else I can help you with. Happy Remodeling!

Autism and Awareness...

This is a re-post of a FB status update I posted on April 2nd:


Today is World Autism Awareness Day. I could ask you to change your profile picture, put a blue light bulb in your porch fixture, don a blue shirt but if you REALLY want to show your support then find a family living with Autism (I'm sure you know at least one) and do something to show them you are thinking of their family today on a personal level: 

*Surprise them with a gift card for their favorite restaurant or store
*Buy the family some movie tickets and spring for the popcorn
*Take them a plate of fresh baked cookies or muffins-Gluten/Dairy free if their child follows a special diet
*Offer to entertain their child for a hour while mom (or dad) takes a nap, reads a book, runs to the store, etc.
*Offer to wash their car and spring for a few gallons of gas
*Come by and mow their lawn, weed their flowerbed or plant some spring flowers
*Offer to do some grocery shopping for them
*Swing by and offer to vacuum, dust or fold a load or two of laundry
*Take mom or dad out to lunch-your treat. Or take them both out to dinner.
*Offer to pick up the tab on a therapy session if they have out of pocket costs
*Come by just to visit and lend an ear for listening (calling first of course!)

There are so many things that families living with Autism do without so they can make sure their autistic son or daughter's needs are being met, these small gestures can make a big impact on their quality of life!

Even though my 15 year old son is High Functioning, we still have challenging days. Yesterday was one of the most challenging days we have had in a long time, by bedtime last night I was physically and emotionally wiped out as was my 20 year old son who spent his day off work helping me manage his brother's behaviors.  What our friends and family don't see are these kinds of days, it seems that they happen to be around on his "good" days which, thankfully, are many. But our family is fortunate, I know some families that have 365 challenging days a year. Regardless of the number of challenging days, Autism Moms and Dads can benefit so much from just the smallest gestures, so I'm asking you to remember these families, not just in April, but every month of the year and reach out to them (don't be afraid!) as we often feel so alone in our struggles.
Thank you.

Kitchen: Phase 2

The Hubby and I have now completed Phase 2 of our kitchen update. As you recall we left you with new countertops, some paint on the walls and hope, a whole lot of hope. As you can see, we have made some dramatic changes in both decor and now functionality.

I didn't realize how ugly the before was until we got going on this project. I designed the color palette for the before....Hubby is responsible for choosing the colors in the after. Let's face it, Hubby has much better taste than I do and I have no problem admitting that.


As you can see we painted the lower cabinets and added hardware, installed upper cabinets on both sides of the window, painted the window, installed new curtains, installed a new tile backsplash and installed the microwave into a hole we (meaning of course Hubby) cut into the wall.

Cutting the hole in the wall should have been an easy task, and I blocked out a 2 hour time frame from our busy day for it, but being that this house was built in 1921 and added on to numerous times there is no such thing as either standard lumber sizes or standard building materials. I often joke that this house was built from lumber that fell off the freight trains as they traveled through town. Our 2 foot, 2 hour hole it the wall took 5 1/2 hours. I know what you're thinking, what crazy person decides it's a good idea to cut a hole in a wall 24 hours before they're about to have a house full of company? I do. I had faith that Hubby could get it done...and he did!

Considering all that Hubby had to cut through-drywall, wallboard, a pine board and some paneling to get this done I think he did an amazing job! And yes, the cord hanging out there is a bit of an eyesore, but I have an electrician that will be coming to do some work at a later time and he can put an outlet on the back side of that wall which is the inside of a shelving area we store some of our many small appliances and Tupperware in. I have too much of both. Or at least that's what Hubby tells me.


You know you drink a LOT of coffee when you have dedicated a corner of your kitchen to it!

I fixed up our "Coffee Center" a bit by reusing the shelf that used to hold the microwave. I painted it with the same chalk paint as the lower cabinets and gave it several coats of wax.
See my KitchenAid mixer hiding out down there? During the holiday season the coffee center becomes the baking center which is why my canisters live on the built in shelf on the left.


Hidden behind the microwave wall is our laundry area:

As you see Hubby put up a wall cabinet. I hasten to call it a laundry "room" as it's just a little space on the inside service porch. See the built ins on the left of the upper photo-that's where I keep, hide, okay, HOARD my craft supplies so there was no room in there to put laundry soap, cleaning supplies, etc. We've only had the cabinet up for 2 days and I already love it to pieces! As for the Gingham Curtains, I've been hesitant to change them so I've decided to leave them for now. The new kitchen curtains I made have a tiny touch of gingham check in them so I'm using that to justify leaving the gingham ones up. Work with me on this, pleeeeaaaaase!!!

I took my daughter's suggestion and painted the fronts of my cabinets using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint using Pure White and clear wax. They came out looking not like brand new store bought cabinets, but more like a hand-crafted, hand-painted cabinet, which is the kind of look I was going for. When your house is pushing 100 years old, brand spanking new looking stuff can look a bit out of place, plus I like the more vintage look, it suits my personality better.

I have to say I am very happy with how it turned out. And yes, that is a package of Red Solo Cups on the counter, I always have them on hand...just in case a party breaks out! What? Like that never happens at your house? Okay, so they're really there to hide the fact that we haven't put the faceplates back over the outlets yet, as is the roll of paper towels. Hey, I had to stage for the photos so don't like judge me, okay!

There is still my food pantry to deal with, so there is a Phase 3 in the planning phases. It still looks like this:

What I really want to do is to frame it in and add shutter doors to match the utility closet, but my dear, sweet Hubby needs a rest after all the hard work he's already done. In the meantime I'll finish touching up the paint (I have a few "oopsies" that I didn't see until I had a kitchen full of company yesterday!), and hunt down a set of matching shutter doors- I think I saw some at the Habitat For Humanity Re-Store last time we were there. I love that place!

Hope you've enjoyed this makeover as much as I have! Watch for Phase 3 in the near future.

Until then,

Laters!

Updated to add: It occurred to me that I forgot to take photos of the new light fixtures we put in. Suffice to say they are flush, round and brushed nickel with bulbs in them! :-D I'll get the photos up when I have a chance...I'm such a blonde!