Moving, renovation, home updates.

I’m a regular handy man (or so I’d like to think). My parents have been helping me a great deal to settle into my new place; and my dad has been instrumental in guiding me through the home projects. I just might be starting to get the hang of them.

Projects completed:

-Painted all rooms (Butter, walls; Innocence, ceilings & trim)

A bit about Paint: not all paints are equal, my sister-in-law taught me this. I used Benjamin Moore paint, which although it isn’t inexpensive is worth the cost (it helps to dress poorly in work clothes when you go to buy, apparently I passed as a contractor and received that discount — yippie). Nicer paints require less coats, spread more smoothly, and hold richer color. Yes, I’m now a paint snob.

-Electrical

Replaced electrical outlets, switches, and heating conduits. Old color: ivory; new color: white. The problem is that when you just want to replace the outlet / switch cover it doesn’t match the unit itself. So I learned that I can rewire, and ended up replacing all the outlets and switches in the unit (to white). This included adding a couple GFI switches. The heating units contain the thermometer; I replaced the old turn-knob +/- 5-degree units with more accurate and energy efficient Cadets.

In other electrical, I replaced a few ceiling lights with more energy efficient and modern [read: better looking] units. I read that 13-watt fluorescent bulbs produce the same temperature and are equivalent in output to 60-watt incandescent while consuming a fraction of the power.

All products purchased from Home Depot.

-California Closets

Perhaps closet organization is a better name as California closets are a specific brand; I went with Rubbermaid Configurations from Home Depot (check under Storage & Organization > Closet Organization). These closets essentially convert a single rail and shelf to full vertical as well as horizontal usage. They greatly increase storage capacity and organization functionality.

At first these things were my bane, but then I got the hang of them and they were easy and quick to install (if you ever do ask for tips). I did both bedroom closets, the entry closets, and the linen closet. See how nice they make things?

-New Things

I’ve done a bit of Internet shopping lately. New 2″ wooden blinds should be in next week to replace the ugly and not-so-working metal ones I have now (ordered from ShadesShuttersBlinds.com, they have been nice; we’ll see how the product is when it arrives). Some curved shower rods (they make the shower more spacious), my brother has them and they’re pretty cool. I bought another computer desk from Dania for Arzhang’s G5 to match my own, as well as a tv stand (well, it was a standard night stand but it looked nicer as well as being more sturdy than any of the tv stands I found). Then, I ditched the old un-framed mirror vanity in the second bathroom (the ones that has the mirror above the mirrored-cubby; it was fastened by only three screws and I didn’t want to put it back up after painting) for a mirror / shelf unit. I’ll install a medicine cabinet above the toilet later after I dig more into the bathrooms.

There might be more, but for now that’s all I can think of. Future (not-so-distant) purchases to be some new track and vanity lighting, maybe a couple of new Panasonic fan / light ventilation systems for the bathroom and then probably a break for a while. Here are some recent pictures.

Help me decide: here’s the track lighting I like, but what about the vanity lighting (bottom two). I’m leaning towards the first. Anyway, more soon…

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Some great home improvement sites (the list so far):
Do It Yourself
HomeClick
Home Depot
Lightology
National Kitchen & Bath Association
Pottery Barn
Restoration Hardware
ShadesShuttersBlinds
Tech Lighting