Alright so why is it that every year something has to go wrong with something in my kitchen right around the holidays?!?! Typically it's been a clogged sink (never put sweet potato peels down the drain...major clog, major problem), an oven that won't turn on (Thank God I had a double oven but it took twice as long to cook) and this year my refrigerator is on the fritz!!

I originally had appliance insurance when I bought my home but for some stupid reason I didn't renew it this year (for now I will feign ignorance because of the pregnancy hormones). So here I am, no insurance and needing a new fridge with no clue of what to buy and what's the best thing for me.

For those of you who aren't aware, I wanted to let everyone know that we have a new addition to the Jane family. Just over 2 weeks ago I gave birth to my first child, and yes it was a little girl!

I can't wait until she's old enough for me to teach her how to use power tools!!!

Hugs 'n hammers,

Heidi

Little Annoying Projects

I was on the Rolanda Show this morning and in chatting with her I heard her talk about a few small annoying things that she had around her house that needed fixing. All of the problems seemed very easy to fix but things that she was afraid of tackling herself.

We hear it all of the time from the women in our community on how scary it is to call in someone to fix things unless you feel comfortable with them and that they won't take you for every penny you've got. I also used to worry that I was going to pay an arm and a leg for just one thing so I would wait until they all piled up and then I'd have a handy man come in and fix them all at once. The funniest part was that I didn't realize that I was going to have to live with all of these "broken" things in my house for 3-4 months before I would get them fixed.

An Unsung Hero...

Recently I was watching something on PBS about an amazing woman named Lindy Bog. She was married to a congressman from Louisiana in office in the 60's and 70's. She was the perfect mate for a congressman's wife as she had a sweet, southern way about her that one one could ever refuse. People knew that when Lindy came to ask them something, they were going to give it to her regardless of whether they wanted to or not. She was just that good.

Her husband passed away in the early 70's and Lindy was still a young woman. Having gone through several terms in office as the first lady, she decided to run to be a congresswoman, politics was all she knew and her one true love now that she had lost her first true love. To no one's surprise she won and remained in congress for several terms. Even though this was an amazing feat considering the day, it's what she did while in office that amazes me.

"Green" paints for your home!

Okay, I know I'm jumping on the green band wagon and I can honestly say I didn't think that simple little things made a difference but thank to Al Gore I now look at everything I do. As you can tell by the title of this blog, I just checked out paints.

I must have been living under a rock because I had NO IDEA how many companies out there are adding lines of paint that are healthier for your home!!

(In case you are asking yourself what does VOC mean, most paints and primers contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs). VOCs are common organic substances that readily evaporate (usually at room temperature). VOCs hold the paint in a liquid form, and, once applied, aid the paint in rapidly drying from a liquid to a solid by an evaporation process known as off-gassing. Off-gassing adversely affects indoor air quality, and may continue for months or even years even though the paint or primer has dried. A primary goal in the creation of healthy buildings is to generally reduce the overall amount of VOCs.)

Domestic Gurus?

Moms have many jobs that aren't on their resumes. While cook, maid, chauffeur and nanny are all fairly obvious, most of us have never thought about domestic guru. Think about it, in most homes it's really the job for mom to help with the direction of their families. A mom can take a home what feels cold and empty and change it into a warm, welcoming place, updating it from time to time with something fresh and new. While this may seem only cosmetic at first, think a bit deeper on how your family now relates to one another because of them. Does the family play games/spend time together in the family room now that it's done? Is recycling a big deal for the entire family now that mom has created a simple way for everyone to do it? Does the entire family find cooking dinner to be a nice way to catch up at the end of the day now that the kitchen is conducive for everyone to help?

Mom: A home improvement resource...

Alright I have to be honest, when I was working on my house my mom wanted to come over and help me on my current project, redoing my kitchen cabinets. My mom is incredibly talented when it comes to finishing any room beautifully in a way that I have never been able to do. She puts in the finishing touches I would never even think about.

When she came over to help paint my cabinets, I had more than a bit of trouble with her technique. I'd already spent considerable time stripping these cabinets and wanted them to be perfect. She came over to help and I wish I could have just been grateful but I wasn't. All I could think about was having to live with each drip and brush stroke she left behind. So in my home improvement perfection haze I snapped at her. I wish I could blame it on the paint fumes. She was very sweet and said she wanted to help but realized she didn't have the skills, gave me a hug and kiss good-bye and politely left.

Great way to cover Formica with stone...

I went to my mom's house for mother's day this past Sunday and got to see her finished kitchen for the first time. It came out absolutely gorgeous and she did the most ingenious thing with her countertops...covered them with granite tiles.

She has always wanted to have stone countertops but wasn't able to afford the slab. So she was talking to a girlfriend of hers who recommended she lay granite tiles directly over her existing countertops. At first I thought she was crazy but I have to say that they did a beautiful job and you would never guess that the countertops weren't solid at first glance. She told me the trick was very thin grout lines with non-sanded grout that matched the stone very well and a stone with a decent amount of pattern to it.

MAKING YOUR HOME YOURS

When I bought my first place just over 7 years ago, I didn't understand the concept of my home being a reflection of me. I knew I would add some paint to the walls, new carpets and change out a few lights and I figured I'd be done. I don't think I've ever been so wrong in my life. It didn't take long to see that these small changes weren't near enough to make my house feel like my home.

I started on projects that made changes not only in how my house looked but that also changed how I felt and lived in it. (This was totally not something I'd ever expected to come out of doing home improvement.) Some were simple like adding a dimmer switch for ambiance, and others were more complex like creating my own personal spa in my masterbath.

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