Monthly Archives: January 2010
Stove Issues
I didn’t think I would have a reason to use my home warranty that I purchased with my house. I just didn’t have many things to use it for. I thought maybe a water heater has an issue or maybe the pool pump?
But now I am having issues with our stove cooktop. One of the burners isn’t working at all and another one is just acting wacky and burning food and my pots.
I was trying to figure out what to do to fix the stove when I remembers the warranty.
So I called the 1-800 number and a service guy is coming out Wednesday. I will have to pay a service charge of $60.00 – which if they just replace the burners should cover it.
I am excited to see if the warranty service works out for me. it’s much better than buying new stove parts myself in hopes I fix the problem.
Feline Friday – Reindeer Kitty
I scored this wonderful hat in the clearance Christmas items at Target. Loki modeled it for me, but he wasn’t happy about it.
New love: Pokal Tumbler
Stopped by IKEA this week and found these lovely Pokal Tumblers. They are $1.99 and available in three colors – white, pink and beige. I picked up a pink and white one.
The tumblers are thick like a mug so I have been using mine for coffee and tea. For the office its great. Minimizes the trips to and from the kitchen quite well.
Working off the rust
You may remember our cute cast iron stove. In its original location, it was a fire hazard so we decided that when we painted the great room we would move it.
Well, when it was finally moved it into the back porch it began to rust. Its a natural thing – rust – but not something I really wanted to have on my new outdoor fireplace.
All untreated iron rusts or oxidizes. The trick is to coat the iron with something that is air tight. I decided to use Rust-oleum’s High Heat spray paint which is made specifically for this purpose.
I started by sanding down the rust and cleaning the stove as much as I could. Then I sprayed a coat of the Rust-oleum and let it dry before applying a second coat and letting it dry overnight.
And then it sat outside for a week and rusted again.
So I guess I need a few more coats! I’ll report back on how many coats it really takes.
Great Room Reveal
Here’s a more detailed first look at the great room.
We still need some key items like a rug, but just haven’t found the right one yet.
At our two days before Christmas IKEA trip, we bought two pieces for the great room. The Besta Burs TV Stand and the Malm Dressing Table (pictures forthcoming).
We have a few headaches with each.
The Besta TV unit stand takes TIME to put together.
Nate worked uninterrupted on it for six hours or so. Let me just say the hours were full of expletives and throwing screwdrivers so please be forewarned. BUT, and I say but in bold uppercase letters for a reason people, the piece is beautiful.
We bought the Malm Dressing Table to put along the back of the sofa. Unfortunately, the back of the table is exposed particle board so it didn’t work behind the sofa. We instead put it along the back wall between the cabinets and sliding glass doors. Luckily it fit. It does annoy me that the back isn’t finished, but we didn’t have enought time to take it back before the holidays so it stayed.
Beach-a-riff-ic
Yep. That’s our front room.
Beach-a-riff-ic.
Beachy.
Beach-a-boom-boom.
Something like that.
We started with a room (20′ 5″ x13′ 4″) that expands into a long dining area (11′ 5″ x 33′).
We had creepy wallpaper and old carpet to deal with, but once they were gone we had a blank slate.
I knew that we would move the white linen couch and chair into the front room so I decided to go super organic and beachy through the space.
IKEA became my #1 contributor with a new coffee table and rug.
Accessories ranged from thrift store finds, travel goodies and etsy finds.
Morning meditation
A photo I took on the walk from the house to the breaker box during the electrical plug and light switch installations. A reminder to enjoy the small things!
Photo Reference: Dogwood Berry
