My love...

 

My Kitchen aid mixer! 

Product review: Glidden porch/step paint

Recently we painted our basement steps. I really had no idea what color to paint them and could really care less about what color they were. I've been buying our paint from Walmart, purely out of convenience. If you know anything about our Walmart it's pretty ridiculous and doesn't carry much. So I browsed the aisle for exterior paint and found Glidden's porch/step paint in "battleship gray". It's interior/exterior so I was able to use it for both the basement steps and the porch, which is good because it only comes in gallon size and the steps didn't take much even doing 2 coats. 

This paint has tiny sand like particles in it to make it "slip resistant". I had a good friend tell me to get 'painter's sand' (not exactly sure one what the official name is) to put in the paint. He said that he did it for his basement steps and can walk down them with oily/greasy shoes and not slip at all. So I would recommend doing that if you want to have a different color paint rather than battleship gray. The Glidden paint that I used already had this stuff in it. I was worried about walking on it barefoot but you really don't notice it. 


Overall I was happily pleased with the results. I didn't have to tint the paint because our house is gray and the steps and porch were previously gray and I was fine with that color. I actually bought the gray because I thought that it would look best for the porch and decided that since it was interior/exterior I just as well use it for the steps too.  I think that it does come in white or tint-able, also. 


The down fall is that it only comes in gallon size so if you have a smaller project you might have a lot left over. Like I would have if I had only chosen to do the steps. I'm happy that I found this paint and didn't have to mess with adding the sand my self.

Glidden Website

Off to paint the rest of the porch!

**This is purely my own opinion**

Squeaky Clean

I guess some people might think I'm strange in that I actually enjoy cleaning some times. The joy of home owning. While growing up my mom would leave a note for me of things that needed to be done, dusting, vacuuming, sweeping, laundry ect. That's probably why I don't mind it, I know it has to be done and I grew up doing it. It's different when you own your own home though. No one is there to remind you to clean the bathroom if you didn't do it last week, or that the basement needs attention too, or you should probably vacuum the dog hair up a couple times a week. I have a hard time remembering the last time I did something sometimes. I work different hours every week so they have a tendency to run together sometimes. So I have created a cleaning schedule for my house. It's mostly just for me but I'm sure my hubby will help out with his part. He does most of the outdoor work and everything that needs to be done with the house, ie hauling dirt out of the basement. We work together pretty well. But the schedule will help us help each other out more. We'll know what we want to focus on for that day, and if everything is done in that room, the other rooms can be worked on.. Here it is:

Monday: Bathroom & Kitchen 

            I know it seems like an odd combination but nothing better than starting the week off with a clean bathroom and kitchen. Plus since the bathroom is smaller it won't take very long. 

Tuesday: Bedroom & Vacuuming

          The bed room & office are the only rooms that need to be vacuumed in our house, other wise we're blessed with hardwood. We have rugs though. So I figured I'll have the vacuum out, may as well hit everything the same day. 

Wednesday: Office, Kitty Litter, Gather garbage/recycling

Thursday: Living room & Dining room

Friday: Basement

Saturday & Sunday: Anything that was missed or needs hit again. 

Dishes and Laundry are done as needed as well as on Monday (dirty laundry is in the bathroom so it's the same day)

During the week we both do our part to pick up our own things and after each other. 

In each room the things that need to be done are the floor, dusting,windows & organizing. Additional 'specialty' things in each room, like the fridge/stove/microwave, couch, filing, ect. In each room I'll try to go through the drawers/cupboards to make sure everything is in the proper place. We also have a drop basket in the kitchen that will get emptied. The floor in the kitchen gets swept almost daily because of the need too but will get mopped on Mondays. My hardworking hubby takes his boots off there and gets dirt all over. Which is fine, because we don't have a "mud" room. The upstairs storage rooms, the garage and storage get done as needed and in additional time during the day.

Grocery shopping is another task but will be done once a week. I'm thinking maybe Wednesday, but again since I work different hours and am on call some days it really depends on the week. I try to go once a week or two weeks but things come up or we change plans and need something else.

So while this all sounds like an awesome fool proof schedule, the reality is I came up with it today. I'm thinking that putting it in writing will help and that I might be able to stick with it more. It will also help me stay busy during the week rather than cleaning the house top to bottom one day and then nothing to do the other days. Plus I shouldn't get overwhelmed with cleaning because it's really just a little bit a day. 

A alternative option would be to do one task a day. Like Monday: Dusting, Tuesday: floors, ect. but I think this plan will work better for me. I like to focus on one room and have it look good. I'll try it out for a while and hopefully get it to stick so that it'll be a habit and not work at all. :) 

Either way it's better than my other cleaning schedule. :) Here's to nothing! 

Any cleaning advice from you? What's your cleaning plan?

Home, Sweet Home.

Randy and I found out yesterday that the bank has accepted our offer! We are officially home owners!

Our closing date will be towards the end of November. So while we may not be in by Thanksgiving we are so thankful that this place worked out and we will have a place to call 'ours'! It has a 2 car garage AND a wood shop, so we will have lots of space! 

Because it was  foreclosure there is a little bit of work to do but the main floor is livable for the time being..  Nothing a little paint won't help ;)

We will be close to down town which means close to the fire station and the ambulance shop which means we will be able to make a lot more calls quicker! 

All in all we couldn't be happier and are soo excited.