Wednesday, March 28, 2018

Flooring Options for Your Bathroom - Home Improvement – Today's Homeowner

Laying mosaic tile border on bathroom floor.
Watch this video to find out about all the different flooring options available for your bathroom from tile and stone to vinyl and wood.

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Living Room Refresh – Adding a New Sofa

Our living room is getting a refresh!

Since our renovation, almost three years ago, our living room has barely been used.  Although I love the bones of this room, I didn’t put much thought into the use of this space, nor did I invest in any proper furniture.

If you’re following my progress on Insta Stories, I’m trying to make this space a little more practical for both everyday living and entertaining. The first thing I’m addressing is the lack of seating.

Currently we have two club chairs in this space.  Adding a sofa to our existing layout would be beneficial in so many ways. Since the living room is the first space you see when you walk through our front door, I had two requirements. ONE. It has to look stylish; and TWO. Comfort is a must!

Meet the Kits Cascadia Blue Sofa.  This velvety blue goodness is from Article, an online-only retailer of modern furniture.  What I found intriguing about this Company is there’s no showrooms, no sales people, no middleman, which helps make their pricing very competitive.  I was beyond excited to partner up with them to make my living room dreams come true.

So, are you curious on how a single push of a button, no heavy lifting, mail-order sofa works?  Here’s my personal experience.

Shipping is a breeze. Delivery fees for any large item on Article’s site is just $49, and there’s no additional duties or taxes to be paid at the door.  The delivery team schedules a date and time that works for you.  The sofa arrives in a giant box, and if you opted for the inside room + assembly service as I did (Article has three delivery options at different price points) they’ll remove your new furniture from its packaging and set it up where you’d like in your space.

I will admit, at first, I was kind of skeptical of the quality and thought “I hope this isn’t going to be one of those low-grade sofas”.  You know, the ones that you have no problem lifting with one arm to get the vacuum cleaner underneath.  After all, I did order a sofa off the Internet, right!?

WRONG.  All I got to say is this ain’t no budget quality. It’s a legit heavy duty-sofa, (which for your information, cannot be moved solo).

But judging the quality of a sofa goes much deeper than its appearance and weight. One of the most important aspects to look at is how the frame is constructed. The best frame is made out of kiln-dried solid wood, which this particular sofa is made out of.  The process of kiln drying removes all moisture from the wood, enabling it to retain its shape and stability over a long period of time.

The brass cubic base and blue velvet combo gives off a luxurious feel and the 42″ depth makes this the perfect lounging sofa. The blue velvet cushions (six to be exact) are all included with this item. These are not attached to the sofa and can be arranged to your preference. I absolutely love the fact that I’m able to put my feet up and curl into a corner with a book.

Article does provide a 30-day return period if you’re not completely satisfied with your purchase.  Just an extra piece of mind especially when it comes to larger pieces for your home.

Overall, I’m quite happy with my newest addition for our living room. It’s a great start and I can’t wait to finish this space off with a few other items. Be sure to follow me on Instagram for updates!

 

Disclosure:  This post was done in partnership with Article. As always, this post reflects my honest thoughts and opinions. 

 

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Tuesday, March 27, 2018

An Easy, Beautiful Bathroom — for under $850 - Home Improvement – Today's Homeowner

Alani 921 glazes
The “Today’s Homeowner” crew helped AJ and Alani Rodgers turn their teenage boys’ “lockerroom-decor” bathroom into a retreat. We covered these projects in this episode: Painting the walls Framing the mirror Building a window seat Glazing the woodwork Replacing cabinet hardware Replacing plumbing fixtures Check out the Easy, Beautiful Bathroom episode article for more information […]

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Monday, March 19, 2018

Building My Shop – Installing Lap Siding and Board and Batten

The shop is coming along, and man is it kicking my butt! Admittedly, the building process is a labor of love and I really do enjoy it to the fullest. This week I installed all of the lap siding and board and batten siding. I was inspired by a fellow builder who designs and builds a lot of structures with a wainscoting on the bottom third of the exterior walls. My wainscoting features a board and batten style which I suspect will look incredible once it’s painted. The lap siding seemed never ending but with good help and a rented sissor lift, it was knocked out in only about 2.5 days. If you haven’t already, check out the video below to see how it all went. As always, thanks for stopping by. – April

The links above are affiliate links. If you make a purchase using one of these links, I will get a small commission from the sale of the products.  In a small way it helps to keep this website alive and kicking and I appreciate your support in this way. Cheers – April

 

 

 

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Friday, March 16, 2018

How to Convert Flat Cabinets to Shaker Style - Home Improvement – Today's Homeowner

How to Convert Flat Cabinets to Shaker Style
Adding plywood trim is an economical way to convert plain or outdated cabinets to shaker style. Here's how to go about it.

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Repairing a Door that Won’t Stay Open - Home Improvement – Today's Homeowner

Repairing a Door that Won’t Stay Open
A door that won’t stay open due to an out of plumb door frame can be very annoying. Watch this video for a simple tip on how to adjust the hinge pins to keep doors open without a doorstop.

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Tuesday, March 13, 2018

7 Tools – 1 kit – DeWalt Has You Covered.

If you’re looking into a package deal on tools to save some coin on your tool budget then you may consider one of the killer package deals offered by DeWalt. My seven piece kit retailed for  about $300.00 cheaper than buying each piece individually. These kits really are ideal for someone just getting into building and looking to start a tool collection or a contractor who needs to add an all in one grab bag of tools which is fit for tackling nearly any job they may run into.

The kit I’ve been beating on since the tail end of last year has really been surviving the test of time on the job site. I questioned whether or not there would be a drop in quality because the tools were packaged together compared to individual tools off the shelf but that certainly has not been the case. My kit came with seven tools; a drill and impact driver, high speed oscillating tool, a reciprocating saw, a flash light, an angle grinder, and (my absolute favorite of them all) a miniature circular saw.

The first tool I test drove was the cordless circular saw. Man did this thing really come in handy during my shop build. A/C power on the job site was not readily available which is where this tool really shined. The 6-1/2” blade had zero issues chomping through treated sill plates, 2”x12” header boards, and through corrugated asphalt roofing material. Suffice to say it’s a helluva powerful hand saw for it’s size.  It’s laid out well for a right handed person; as in, holding it right handed, you can see the blade side of the tool and not the motor side which is preferable in my opinion. Even if you don’t seek out a full blown tool kit like this one, I would encourage you to at least get your hands on one of these battery powered circular saws.

The drill and impact driver have been used throughout the entire build. These units have handled everything from 9” Timberlock screws on the trusses to driving somewhere around 5,000 or so roofing screws for the roofing panels.

I found the impact driver worked best for the larger Timberlocks but used the drill with it’s slipping clutch for setting the roofing screws to the ideal torque. The impact is such a brute, it would easily overdrive the roofing screw if I was not careful.  The clutch on the drill really makes repeat screw driving a no brainier and keeps you from accidentally over-driving your screws. 

The grinder is a rowdy little tool I’ve outfitted with a wire wheel to clean up some of the MIG welds on the Grenade Stools I just released to market; if you’re interested, check them out HERE. Ultimately I find the grinder to be very handy since I do not have to wrestle a power cord around the table as I weld parts up. Fewer cords is a good thing in my line of work!

When installing trim work I found the high speed oscillating tool to be a real gem. There have been many times when I’ve left a piece of trim long and then cut it to length once it’s attached to a surface. It has also worked really well for flush cutting wedge material during a recent door install. Basically, if you need something small and precise, the oscillating tool will get the job done with little to no collateral damage. DeWalt featured a quick release blade change lever allowing you to swap out a cutting blade without seeking an allen wrench to back out your center bolt. I’ve said it before but I feel tool-less is ideal for the tool industry. Touche DeWalt. 

On the other end of the spectrum we have the reciprocating saw – it can cut material as smoothly or aggressively as you like. With a progressive trigger I found the saw which comes with this kit surprisingly balanced. Outside of using the recip. saw for site work, it really makes a damn good branch trimmer lol.  I like to plug in a large demo blade into the keyless blade clamp and trim branches back on the trail. It’s much easier than toting around a gas powered unit and it makes less than half the noise…total win!

The flash light that comes in the kit works exactly as we would expect. I can say it will easily cast a beam from the house to the my shop which is about 200 feet. Not long ago I used it to spotlight a small pack of coyotes crossing our property – spooky! As a work light however, it works great since you can easily rotate the head of the light to point directly at your work piece.

The Home Depot offers all of these tools in one kit. I’ve noticed their “kits” change over time to include different options such as small radios, soft cases, hard cases, different numbers  and sizes of batteries and so on. If you keep an eye out, it’s not hard to find these tool kits on sale which makes for more money saved on top of the bundle savings….not a bad deal at all.  Again, these tools work well for anyone looking to buy once and have multiple tools to cover a variety of work requirements.

I appreciate you stopping by to learn more about this kit from DeWalt.  If you’re interested in learning more about this product feel free to use this link or one of the links from above. This review was provided in support of the ProSpective Campaign sponsored by The Home Depot. They supply the tool and I supply an opinion. The links in this review are affiliate links and provide a small kick-back to the website which helps to keep the wheel turning. Regardless, I genuinely appreciate your support.

Cheers – April

 

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Tuesday, March 6, 2018

Making a Walnut Bath Caddy

Well I’m side stepping from the shop for this week’s video to bring you this bath caddy. It’s made from spare walnut I had left over from the table I finished earlier last year. I first designed the bath caddy in SketchUp which really helps me to visualize my work before cutting any material. Even if I’m not working with something as precious as walnut, I still prefer this method of making my ideas come to life. Check out the video down below if you haven’t already to see this project take shape. I had a load of fun building it to custom fit my Chromebook, Kindle, iPhone, and a glass of wine – you know, all the essentials for a long soak in the tub. : )

Things I used in this project:

The links above are affiliate links. If you make a purchase using one of these links, I will get a small commission from the sale of the products.  In a small way it helps to keep this website alive and kicking and I appreciate your support in this way.

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Monday, March 5, 2018

All-In-One: Jumpstart/Compressor/120VAC/12VDC USB – Check It Out!

Some of you may not know that my husband Cody is an avid racer of off road toys. In support of his hobby I do my best as his “go-to pit girl” : ) The role covers anything and everything it takes to get him and the machines race ready and offer support during the race for anything he may need in the pits. This can include anything from tools, compressed air, holding a flashlight while he turns the spanners, jumping off a dead battery for him or another racer, or making sure our camera gear/electronics are fully charged. This cool tool from Husky has helped out in that area with this compressor/Jumpstart box and I’d like to share the details with you.

The Home Depot provided me with this 8-in-1 Power Source / Jumpbox  product to use and abuse then share my thoughts on it. After a few months of use, here are some of the highlights I’ve learned about it. 

All of the things I mentioned above can be handled with this unit; Airing up tires, jump starting batteries, charging phones and electronics, providing a small work light, and even recharging the built in battery of the jumpbox with the generator cord –  pretty clever. 

Although it can air up a dirt bike tire in less than a minute, the dirt bike tire only runs on about 12 psi so it doesn’t provide much of a gage for how well it works on something like a truck or trailer tire. Well just the other day I had a flat on our trailer and this thing came to mind. This compressor took 4 minutes of solid run time to air a 10 ply trailer tire from 5 psi to 80 psi. The compressor unit has an analog gage that is easy to read and displays both metric and standard units.

Fortunately the only time I’ve needed the jump start was for jumping off the tractor after Cody left the key on all night long. Lol.  I’ve jumped off plenty of vehicles with cables before but I’m honestly not a fan of keeping up with the cable orientation between vehicles, having to have two vehicles placed nose to nose, and all the other stuff you get to avoid when you use a jump box. This unit made the jumpstart procedure super easy; just connect red to red and black to black, turn the unit on and bang – it does the trick.

The USB, 12V,  and 120 VAC outlets work exactly as they should. I’ve used the usb outlet several times to charge camera batteries as well as my phone while we are out in the woods without an electrical outlet. The 120 VAC outlet is rated at 140 watts or 1.2 amps of continuous duty. I haven’t needed to lean too heavily on the 120 VAC outlet too much but it certainly works well for charging a small rechargeable flash light I have.

The last thing worth sharing is the sneaky charging generator which is built into the back of the machine. If you find your self in a pinch and are not any where near a charging cord for the internal battery, you can feverishly yank on the charging chord and through some sort of electro-mechanical magic, charge the internal battery….simply genius : )

This product works well in several different scenarios; whether your in the pits, on the property, or stuck on the side of the road, having an all in one jump-starter/compressor unit is money well spent. Since getting this one we’ve decided to purchase 2 more to keep in the other vehicles in the “side-of-the-road” bag we keep in each vehicle. Good fortune favors the prepared : )

I appreciate you stopping by to learn more about this.  If you’re interested in learning more about this product feel free to use this link or one of the links from above. This review was provided in support of the ProSpective Campaign sponsored by The Home Depot. They supply the tool and I supply an opinion. The links in this review are affiliate links and provide a small kick-back to the website which helps to keep the wheel turning. Regardless, I genuinely appreciate your support.

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This LED bulb has a battery backup - Home Improvement – Today's Homeowner

Jodi Marks, Home Depot, Feit, IntelliBulb
Battery backup lights are required in most commercial environments, but now you can have the same convenience at home – simply by changing a lamp bulb. This LED bulb looks like a regular 40-watt bulb you would see in a lamp, but it includes an emergency battery backup that provides up to three hours of […]

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DIY holster lets you mow, multi-task - Home Improvement – Today's Homeowner

simple solutions joe truini lawn mower
Do you want to tackle lawn chores as you go and mow? Create a holster for your mower!

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Thursday, March 1, 2018

March Lawn & Garden To-Do List - Home Improvement – Today's Homeowner

Flowers blooming
March marks the arrival of spring, but depending on where you live, freezing weather can persist well past the official start of spring. Read more to find out how to get your lawn and garden ready for the upcoming growing season.

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March Home Maintenance To-Do List - Home Improvement – Today's Homeowner

Danny Lipford in attic to inspect roof for leaks.
This month's home maintenance to-do list will get your home in top shape for spring, including everything from roof repair and foundation drainage to checking for plumbing leaks and cleaning tile grout. Read on to find out more.

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How Covid-19 Affects the Housing Market in College Towns

The Covid-19 pandemic has led to major lifestyle changes. That could significantly impact the housing market in college towns, according to ...