Lest anyone think we’re off our rockers for trying to do a quick fix on the upstairs bathroom before my brother moves in, I wanted to share with you the horror-show we’ve been using for the past year… Exhibit A: Twenty-year-old shag carpet that enthusiastically eats up germs and mildew, along with hair and toenail […]

So, how are we all feeling after a long weekend of house work? I know you housebloggers were all tinkering on something….. admit it. While everyone else was out shopping for Christmas presents at the mall this weekend, you went to check out the deals at Home Depot. Am I right? I’m feeling like an […]

We’re too busy working on upstairs “quick fixes” to worry about our kitchen progress right now, but that doesn’t stop me from daydreaming about my pantry – which is still lacking shelves, so isn’t being used yet. When we do get around to pimping it out, my top organization requirements are: 1. A place to […]

… it’s another. At least with this house it is. I made a depressing discovery last night. One of the tiles in the upstairs hallway’s ugly drop-ceiling was sagging in a funny way, so I hopped up to tap it back into place. As soon as my fingers hit the tile, it tumbled out of […]

Teague made out like a bandit this year. Even though most of his presents were work-related and not very “fun”, I think he’s a happy camper. Because, sadly, things like new ladders have become fun to us. We’re such grown-ups. Further proof – for Christmas, we’re DYING to get ourselves a dishwasher. DYING, I tell […]

Today, this handsome guy turns 25 – so if you see him, wish him a Happy Birthday! (In other news, since our blog was part of my gift to him last year, Fixer-Upper has turned 1!)

The problem: We’re paying out the nose to heat twice as much house as we need. We bought a big house (~2,200 sq. ft.) because we know we want a family someday, and we don’t want to have to skip from house to house as our family grows. There was some strategy to the decision. […]

We’ve been having unseasonably warm weather for the past week. Yesterday, it was once again 65 and sunny. As I scraped away at wallpaper upstairs (my motivation is back with a vengeance), I remember thinking “we’re going to pay for all this nice weather”. I really wish I had been wrong about that. At about […]

Oooooh. Ahhhhh. I’m pretty sure our french doors are the prettiest part of the house right now. I spend a whole lot of time admiring them. And now, with some embellishment, they’re even better. We had two leftover exterior brackets (from tearing off the old porch)that needed a purpose in life. Long ago we planned […]

We’ve all heard the frightening news reports about rising gas prices, and how we should plan on a 30-50% increase in our bills this winter. We knew it was coming. A week ago, I got a letter warning us that our “Budget Plan” (and certainly, that term deserves to be in quotations!) utility bill was […]