Around the house

I found a grey linen duvet and sham set at Homesense on clearance, it took me nearly three years to find something I really liked...I see its time to give it a wash and iron but I am not looking forward to that task...

 Currently my dining room project is on hold, I needed some time to recover from the flooring install but I am hoping to get back at it early next week...

 After dealing with insane amounts of dust during the flooring install I decided it was time to get some dust collection, I found this beginner unit second hand. I am hoping it will really help reduce the mess...I have yet to decide how I am going to set it up, it is moveable so it can be used inside on occassion also...kinda excited to give it a spin.

 I was killing time the other day at Winners and found this fun marquee sign...aren't they all the rage? It was even in my shade of  deep blue so I didn't hesitate to bring it home.

 I moved the black media cabinet out of the living room, I am trying out this lovely dresser instead I love this piece as I've said before...I plan to mount the tv on the wall ...the sign is a fun touch it is battery operated.

I moved this cabinet from the living room up to our bedroom where it fits in beautifully with our black bed.

This cabinet has had many transformations, it was a hand me down piece from my in-laws, I think it is maple, it had other shelves and a lot of curves and a shelf with a little fence type detail, over the years I have transformed it into what it looks like today which to me is kind of a Pottery Barn style media cabinet which is more current and clean lined, I suppose I up-cycled it.

I searched for an early photo of it and this is all I could find an old photo of our old house...circa 2007 wow I sure over did it with the accessories back then...

So that's what has been going on around the house...oh and more importantly please pay attention to your breast health, if you have them...I know it is the last day of October but it is still officially Breast Cancer Awareness Month....I had my first mammogram last week and its not scary and painful like you may think it is....check your self and get into the Dr asap to have anything suspicous checked out....OK that is my little PSA.

Lot's of love, 

Chris 

Bringing in the new light, trying out LED bulbs

I was approached to try something new recently. I have partnered up with Home Depot to switch out all of my light bulbs in the house with new LED bulbs.
I was a little hesitant because when I hear LED I think of the early Christmas lights from oh 6-7 years ago , you know what I mean those glowing blue neon looking lights that people were putting on their trees. They were to save lots of money on the electric bill and were going to last a long time but if they looked like that who cares.
Here's the thing Canada has banned the sale of incandescent bulbs so when they are gone off the shelves they are gone....did you know that? I didn't know that until recently.

You can check out Home Depot's selection of LED bulbs HERE or check them out in store.

I know we have all tried the compact florescent bulbs right! I don't know about you but I have always gone back to the incandescent bulbs.

I was being offered a great opportunity to try out the new LED bulbs by partnering with Home Depot and so I accepted the challenge as it was offered.

I have now replaced 95% of our houses bulbs(we have a lot of bulbs) with LED bulbs. I selected a soft warm color light for all of our lamps and hanging fixtures as well as bathroom fixtures, and bright white for all of our pot lights.
I have to say I am very pleased with all the new light. The bulbs are all dimmable so I will be installing lots of dimmers ASAP.

 Lasts 22.8 years wow I won't miss changing those pot light bulbs, I have already changed all of our kitchen bulbs twice in 2 years.

 Over the next year I am going to see how these new bulbs impact our electric bill, this should be interesting to see. This pkg says saves $231.00 well that sounds great to me.
It's amazing how new lighting and better lighting changes a space, for instance our basement is no longer a dingy space. I had thought to replace some of the builder basic single bulb fixtures in our unfinished basement with track lights to gain light but it turns out just changing out the bulbs has made the basement much brighter and lighter which is so nice. The change in the bathrooms is amazing it is so nice to have the perfect lighting for make-up even on those dark winter no sun days which we have had a lot of lately.

 Here is the before of our pot lights

And the after ...the light is bright and clean I like it.

When you go to choose your new bulbs bring in what you are replacing and ask the Home Depot associates for help because you may need some help getting the right bulb the first time. 

They have a great display set up in the bulb dept to showcase the different colors and bulbs, everyone has a preference and it makes it easy for you to select what you like. 

So far my opinion is that I am pleasantly surprised with the new LED bulbs , big thanks to Home Depot for asking me to try them out... now how do I get them to let me try out a new HOT TUB!!! kidding....

click here to more on LED bulbs

DIY workbench/island for under $150

 So I have now solved my dirty little secret basement mess. I have spend three days purging and organizing the basement which lead me to build this "island" style work bench it is 40"x 67" by 36" high.
It is not totally complete but it could easily stay as is a be a great work space. I would like to add big "pot" style drawers to both side to hide away the clutter. That will come soon, I am sure...
I was thinking I may even include a long drawer to hold big rolls of wrapping paper , what a great spot for gift wrapping.
I thought just in case someone is still reading this blog and my posts I would include some details on how I built this project.

Here is how it all begins, I bought 6-2" x 4" x 8' studs, I cut each piece into 3' and 5' lengths. I connected them as shown with my Irwin corner clamps. 3' x 5'3" approx is this frame. Then I pre-drilled the butt joints and attached them with 2" wood screws.

These Irwin corner clamps are amazing for built-ins and drawers it keeps corners square and it acts like that third hand you can always use in carpentry. 

 When the frames are constructed set them aside for a little later. Oh dear you can see our gym, pretty fancy right?

 This is my new favorite tool my Ryobi impact driver. I wanted one for Christmas but I mistakenly asked for a Ryobi mini driver , it is nice but does not have the strength of the driver, it is what I have been looking for all along and it's even cute and a bright happy color. I got it and then picked up the Ryobi Combo kit with drill and circular saw as well as the battery pack and charger. Ryobi is my go to brand for tools since we have moved here almost 2 years ago , great tools at fair and affordable prices.

 I have been using this quick change bit holder by Dewalt which I like very much. Nice fast bit changes I can go from drilling to driving in a flash.

 After the 2x4 frames are completed I then moved onto the legs. I had 2" X 6" x 8' boards that I was trying to use for a workbench so I used them and cut them down into the legs. I cut each 8 foot length into two 36" pieces, leaving me with 2' lengths left. I set the 2' lengths aside and clamped the corner legs together with the Irwin clamps. I used 4 screws evenly spaced along the one side to join the boards , I did not use any glue , it was not needed and it was a good thing I didn't in the end.

 I then placed one of the 2x4 framed on the floor and placed the corner legs in place and attached them to the frame with three 2" screws.

 I then used the 2" scraps to use as spacers for the lower shelf. I screwed them into the legs so that I could easily slide in the next 2x4 frame. Then I removed the 2" scraps.

 Then my daughter and I flipped it over and I added the next 2x4 frame. I used clamps to help me hold up the frame to allow me to screw the next frame in.

 I then went off with my finished dimension for the shelves to Home Depot to have 1/2" pine plywood cut for me.
That's where I realized I could not just slip the plywood in because the frames were in the way, silly me. But luckily I didn't use glue so I could easily remove the one side of the corner legs allowing me to just slide in the plywood and re-attach the legs. Easy peasy. Although it wasn't a step I thought of ahead I would construct it differently. I then went back off to get the top cut just slightly larger than the frame. 40" x 67" , I attached each shelf to the frame with 2" screws 8 of them evenly spaced , at the half way point and the corners. You could use thicker plywood but I didn't see the point. It is as strong as a can be .
We will soon be carving pumpkins down there...it's a great space to spread out and get things fixed , created and repaired.

So there it is again for just about $130 before taxes I built this island workbench.
You could do it for less especially if you use chip board or OSB, knock off $60 . But like everything materials may be more or less where you are.
If you would like to make it with wheels just make the legs 3" shorter , you will loose a little shelf depth keep that in mind. I like I said before I will be adding drawers where the shelves are to keep things out of sight.
It is a pretty easy project and will allow for ease of creating lots of other projects in the future.


Materials
4- 2"x6"
6-2"x4"
3 sheets of plywood
2" wood screws medium size box 80 screws or so

I would love to hear your thoughts about my latest project....and thank you for stopping by.Just to be clear this post was NOT sponsored at all , this is just my project using the tools I have bought and the items I like to use.
Chris