Rug Love

I love RIT dye. I really do.  Some of life's problems would be not so bad if we could just put RIT to it for a remedy.

When I redecorated my daughters' bathroom, they wanted hippy Beatles fare and I obliged.  Yellow and black seemed the colors that dominated. For whatever reason, whether it was a tumor on my Mom Judgement gland or temporary insanity or sniffing paint fumes, I chose yellow bath mats.

I'm better now.

With all the make up and hair dying that goes on in that bathroom, the bright yellow bath mats got freckled with a rainbow of color. And mama wasn't happy.  Enter - RIT DYE.

Rit Dye has a multitude of uses from carpet, clothing and upholstery to the more popular Tie Dyed garb.  Years ago I dyed some bath mats from orange to black ....once again for the girls' bathroom.  Apparently I don't learn my lessons.

So, here's the yellow rugs. All spotted with multiple

colors of hair dye.

The RIT Dye site will tell you exactly how to

dye your particular fabrics, for mine

it was with salt. 

I added salt to dissolve in one pot of water, while another

was getting ready to boil to ensure I had enough water

to cover the rugs. 

You can use a bathtub, sink, washer or as I did a

bucket to soak and agitate whatever

you're dying. 

*Make sure you follow

instructions as per the website HERE *

Then I threw them in a cold wash cycle for rinsing.

And they came out of the dryer like this!

And they look like this now.  Very cute!

I have totally forgotten to show you all the cute knobs I got at

Michael's a while back.

They were on sale a couple of bucks each.  

The girls think they're just awesome, and I agree.

Coming Soon!

I have decided that I'm going to re-finish the countertops in the bathrooms.  I pondered this for many moons.

I've researched and thought I had the PERFECT idea.  Until I took a chance and Googled something.  I worked with a paint in the past...and by the past I mean over 15 years ago.  It was a cool paint, with a cool effect.  And then I wondered - with the correct sanding, priming and finishing...could I use this for countertops?


The answer, my friends, is yes!

Instructions and photos to come soon.

Back Yard Love..Summer Edition

It's hot.  I cannot even describe how hot and give the heat justice.  We have had heat indexes from 109 to 115 degrees daily for the past few weeks. I try to not go outside at all unless I just have to.

The landlord promised years ago to remove a tree who's roots have grown almost to half the yard and into the foundation. Needless to say, these roots have killed and injured our mowers. Besides that, the brick that is laid to the side of the patio is next to impossible to remove and re-lay. Roots have grown under those bricks and all I can really do is keep it all 'tidy'.

Leaves have overcome the yard from the same tree

the landlord said he would remove. 

Yes, 2 BBQ pits. 

The UNEVEN brick-ness drives me crazy.

There it is, yall. 

  

A few months ago this was so pretty.

Thanks to the heat it looks like this.

I'm surprised they're even still alive!

My Snow White Carpet and Butterfly 'garden' is dead.

Unless I want a $600 a month water bill, something

had to go. 

Ugh.

It takes a lot of time to get rid of the leaves

from that tree. Sweeping and hosing the

bricks to at least make them appear nice

There's one dead mower the tree killed. 

Bathroom Love

The first thing I did in this bathroom was paint the walls.  When re-doing my girls' bathroom the first time, I just wanted the wallpaper wall gone.  It was peeling and bubbled and missing in some parts. I painted the walls originally the same brown, matched at Home Depot with their paint department. But white seems logical for how small the room is.

Then I painted the standard cabinets in white...which basically looked like THIS when we moved in. Instantly it made a wonderful difference. There were stains and chips and just worn down. So clean, so fresh.  And painted the baseboards...that were doo-doo as well.  I added hardware.  NOTHING in this rent house had hardware, which is awful for wear and tear on any cabinet or drawer.

Then I laid the floor.

So here's the first 'AFTER'..that's actually this posts 'BEFORE' :

We found a Yellow Submarine shower curtain.  I purchased it HERE.  Then I found a Beatles print at Walmart and framed it and put it up.

This is before I painted the walls white. 

Another view - doo-doo- brown. 

I want you to notice the door.  This is one door not painted since we moved in.  

Imagine the entire house like this, when we moved in.

This is the TYPICAL of each door in this house upon move-in.

And at the bottom of the door is all damaged from the 

prior tenants that I can only assumed

locked a pet in here. 

I spent the 4th of July painting that bathroom.

Hardware Love

I found the drill!!!  In my daughters room, of all places.

So with the drill found and charged I started to install the hardware in the kitchen.

This is what happens when my battery runs out on the drill.  Hahaha!

Dishwasher LOVE

....or should I say Dishwashergate?

Well, more like husband love.

The mister went and ordered it and it came this morning! After weeks of reminding the landlord we need a new one and him ignoring us, we had to take action.

You do not KNOW my excitement!

Soon I will have a new dishwasher and no longer have dishes all over my damn kitchen counter tops!

**UPDATE**

The Landlord said NO to the dishwasher we bought.
(Not sure if I mentioned this before - we have no written lease agreement...so he makes up things on a whim....like the first $75.oo of any repair is on us.)

He said he would get one and have it put in THIS weekend.  I won't hold my breath...as it's been over 4 weeks since we first told him of the problem.

So now...my pretty NEW dishwasher must be returned.

I'm trying REALLY hard today to have Rent House Love.






**6-20-2011 Update**
Yesterday was Father's Day.

The Landlord decided of all days - to bring over his dishwasher that he purchased.  So that meant, on Father's Day, my husband got to spend it under the sink, cleaning leaks, uninstalling and installing. Poor guy.

Dishwasher Hate...er I mean Love

It's been 3 weeks without a dishwasher.

The landlord says - more than once now - that he'll get one and my husband can go pick it up.

WHEN!?!?

The mister is texting him once more.

Remember the dishes all over the sink in the kitchen update?  Yeah.  Dishes by hand, everyday, makes me not want to cook.  And I love to cook.

Grrrrr


****Update on the dishwasher!!**** 

Yesterday (6-13-11) the mister went out and got a new dishwasher! Well, not 'got' per-say...purchased. It may be delivered this week.

I cannot tell you the relief I am feeling. The broken dishwasher is smelling up the kitchen even though it's emptied of dishes and water!  My kitchen counters are constantly filled with dirty or drying dishes and I'm OVER it!

Kitchen Love

When we first moved in, one of the first things I did was paint the kitchen cabinets.  They were the hugest victim of the yellowing and caked in gunk.  Gross.

They needed another coating this weekend.  I took some pics of the inside of the doors because I have to show what I worked with prior.

This is pretty much what the outside of the cabinets looked like.  

Greasy, yellowed, dirty.   

Painting away.

I painted the cabinets when we first moved in...but I am about to paint again.

No hardware came in the kitchen either. SO, I have hardware to install

after I'm done painting.  

This is the product of broken dishwasher (hence piles of dishes in the sink)

and an insane person painting.

Fireplace Love

Ugly brick. Dirty brick.

3 hours later I had this :

 We had the house to prepare for our friend's 60th birthday.  

It looked great!

Back Yard Love

This is what the teenie bed looked like to start with.

The cottonwood tree out back wreaks havoc on the back yard. Well, the neighborhood, for that matter. I'm not sure what neighbor has the tree, but it does this every year to the whole street.


I cleaned the bed out and headed to Lowe's.  For about 30 bucks I got some plants, soil and edging.

Much better!  It's a teenie start, I'll admit. But it's a start.

Bathroom Makeover #1

Floors. The house is covered with these floors. Dirty, stained, pitted, scratched, dented.

With these gross, dirty, old and torn floors no room could EVER look clean and tidy.

I chose a darker tile for this bathroom.

I painted the trim in this bathroom as well.  Believe ALL the rooms in this house will soon have painted baseboards! I added brushed silver hardware because there was none.

Here's the 'AFTER'.

This was shortly after we moved in the home in 2008.

Peel N Stick 'Em!

When we moved in this rent house, besides the yellowing of what was once white paint, we were grossed out by the floors.

The man we rent the house from is of the mind "If it serves it's purpose, it's fine."  So, no frills here at all.  But we were given creative license to do any cosmetic things to the house we wanted. The floors in this house are damaged, gouged, stained and ripped.

These things are awesome.  So many patterns and prices are very agreeable....depending on where you're going.

I purchased peel and stick tiles at Home Depot. They're called Newport 12 in. x 12 in. Solid Vinyl Tile.

Here's the BEFORE of the entry tile :

The flooring that's there is the same flooring in the kitchen and both bathrooms.  it's torn, discolored and just looks dirty no matter how many times I've been on my hands and knees scrubbing like Cinderella.  

The installation of these tiles is so simple...even I could do it!  I started at the center of the door, lay the tile straight back, then on either side.  When you come to a place where you need to cut the tile, I used a backing paper from a used tile, laid it down and made a template.  Easy friggin Peasy. 

I also painted the inside of the front door and trim white.  Whatever is supposed to be white paint in this house is a gross yellow.  I am still not done painting all the doors and trim, yet.

Here's a partial on the kitchen tile.  I can't tell you the improvement just laying this peel and stick tile made!