Welcome!

Well, I've been threatening my husband that I was going to do this for quite a while, so a slow day at the office coupled with a chai and a diet coke have resulted in this. If you've gotten to this blog, you're either bored, desperate, or actually interested in DIY projects. Hopefully, it's the latter, but if it's either of the first two, still stick around!

So, DH and I have now purchased two homes that have all the charm, character, and associated headaches of a century home. OK, so technically our current home has 8 more years to go, but who's counting? Our first home was truly a charming Sears catalog home (no, I didn't make that up!) built in 1903 in Colorado Springs. We really did love it and, given that it was relatively small in size, we figured we couldn't screw it up too badly, although we put in the good ol' college try. Most of our projects in that house were the direct result of fixing something "those people" did in the house. You know who I'm talking about. "The Former Owners." (Cue scary music and flickering lights)

Every time we would come across something that was, quite frankly, asinine in the house, we'd say, "what were 'those people' thinking?" Or "why would they do something like that?" Or the always eloquent and colorful, "What the $&@* were they smoking?" That last one didn't come out frequently but, when it did, you could bet we were in a cluster.

The projects started innocently enough. Painting a room here, changing out light fixtures there. You know, pretty benign stuff. We were in our first house and began to feel a little cocky. Strip entire rooms of woodwork with Dremels, heat guns, and paint remover? Sure! Run a 220 wire across the room to move the stove? Absolutely! Gut the kitchen and completely move everything (except the kitchen sink)? Sign. Me. Up!

Along the way, we've had some missteps (someone HAS caught their latex glove on fire while stripping wood; someone has also almost been electrocuted - that someone may, or may not, have been the same person), but over the years we have become more savvy about our projects and more adventurous.

So, what's in store? Well, we've been in our current house in Northeast Ohio for 7 years and a few projects have taken place. In no particular order, we'll have blogs about the following coming up:

An outdoor firepit
A retaining wall/flower bed
Installing flooring
A family room remodel
A 'tween suite upgrade
Poor man's kitchen upgrade using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint
How to build a lounger for the 'tween suite
A bathroom remodel featuring a penny floor

We'll also talk about disasters, such as when the third floor radiator leaked all day through our daughter's bedroom into the kitchen. That. Was. Awesome!

So come back and visit and let us know what you think! Less words, more pictures in the future. What's not to like?

Spackle on!

Maureen