How to Paint a Room for Less

Our walls have been looking HORRIBLE. There are scuffs, scrapes, food smears, grime, and pen/pencil/crayon marks. I blame the kids...in part.

I also blame the guy who built the house. When we got this house, it had just been constructed. One of the many things that the builder promised he would fix before we moved in was the paint. There was one thin, cheap coat of an eggshell finish and that's it. He never did paint properly, and needless to say, what we have hasn't stood the test of time.
Here's one of the worst spots:

Since it has gotten to the point that I am embarrassed to have people over, I thought it time to paint.

My husband and I are teachers and it's summer break. This means that we have lots of time right now and no money. Thankfully, if done right, painting can be an inexpensive way to totally change any living space for the better.

Hiring a professional painter to do our whole downstairs (which is small) would have run about $1500. Instead, we chose to do the work ourselves.

We invested $130 for five gallons of paint. We saved money by going with the Valspar Ultra, which is a paint and primer in one.
Equally as important, this paint is low VOC. For the first time in a long time, I was dealing with paint and didn't need Benadryl or an inhaler. After about a day or so, there was no paint smell left AT ALL.

Since it also has the primer in it, it covered brilliantly. Here's one wall in progress:

While at Lowes getting the paint, we also got rollers, tape, etc. bringing our bill up to just under $200.

There are a few things to remember when painting a room.

1) Prepping is more crucial than painting.
If you do your prep work well, your ability as a painter just isn't as important.

Use low tack painter's tape to mask off trim, heaters, etc. Take off all outlet and switch face plates, and tape the outlets and switches themselves. Remove or cover furniture. Roll up any area rugs. Tape down drop cloths over carpets and floors. TAKE YOUR TIME. We started our taping two days in advance, so it didn't have to happen all at once.

2) If you need to hire extra hands, hire people you know.

I guarantee that you know someone who is unemployed or underemployed. If you're going to shell out to have help, give $50 for a friend to join you, then make some lunch and make a day of it. It's a good way to spend time with a friend, help them out, and save yourself buckets of cash. Friends will either do a good, careful job, or risk hearing about it at every barbecue for the next three years.

Our efforts look wonderful. We went for a light, warm yellow that makes our whole place glow. Total investment: well under $300. Compare that to the $1500, and we made out like bandits.

Lovely, isn't it?

It looks all beautiful with our new rug. Now I just have to refinish the end tables and lamp, and figure out how to re-tile the downstairs bath. I think we'll have this place ship shape by fall, and on a shoestring!

P.S. We got a satin finish paint because it's not too shiny, but still supposedly cleans up well. Two hours after the paint dried, we had to put this to the test. I discovered a smear at toddler height that I fervently pray was chocolate cookie. It cleaned up no problem with a wet wash cloth. The smear disappeared and none of the paint came off with it! VICTORY!

How to Remove Latex Paint

We're painting. It's sort of a desperate attempt to undo the damage that the children have wrought on our home. It has been a long time coming.

The problem is that paint splatters, no matter how careful you are.

Take a look at this kitchen chair.

Thank God it's vinyl!

Funny story, when we first married we were young and stupid and bought kitchen chairs whose seats were covered with a lovely white fabric. Then we had kids. Then the chairs had peanut butter and jelly and juice and cookie colored fabric. We fixed this by buying a couple of yards of vinyl, and re-covering the chairs. I love things that clean up with a sponge.

What can you do to remove dried latex paint? Simple! Spray on some rubbing alcohol, wait a minute or two, scrub with a sponge, and repeat as necessary. This can be done on any surface that won't be harmed by the alcohol, including clothing (be warned, some of the color may leave the clothing with the paint, but I'd prefer faded jeans to painted jeans, so whatev.)

Voila!

It's beautiful, isn't it? Too bad it won't stay that way for long. We still have to give the walls their second coat.

The Saga of the Rug

When we bought the house six years ago, we were thrilled at the hard wood floors downstairs. In an effort to make it feel a little more homey (and a little less echo-y) we put area rugs in the living room area.

For all six years, it has looked like this:

What you see there are two 5' x 7' area rugs from Target. They took a lot of wear. Those light squares were originally a cream color. Not so much anymore. Also, since there are TWO rugs there, the one not anchored by the arm chair is constantly sliding off at odd angles when confronted by running children.

At the time that we bought these rugs, we also bought a couple of smaller ones for the front hall.

These also slide all around, especially when Toddler Terrorist "helps" me by dragging the vacuum around on them (which you can see happening over by the front door).

In addition to constantly spot cleaning, I take the rugs outside once a year, put them in the driveway, and use Oxyclean and a hose to clean them as best I can. Afterward, I leave them on the lawn to dry in the sunshine and hopefully lighten some of the really grimy areas.

I have wanted fervently to change out these rugs for something else for over TWO YEARS.

The problem comes down to money. To replace them with more Target rugs would cost $129.99 EACH. Getting two of them now puts us at $260. Add to that three rugs for the front hall (two longer for the hall way and one welcome mat) brings us up another hundred or so. Let's round down a bit and say approximately $350.

Hm. That's a lot.

Instead I went to the big floor covering place down the street. After talking with the sales woman, I picked out a rug that I liked that was supposed to be durable and good for high traffic areas. Then I stupidly and asked how much it would be to get a 15 x 8 piece. $907. NINE-HUNDRED SEVEN DOLLARS.

Seeing the horror clearly visible on my face, this nice woman mentioned that they had an outlet in the next town where I could get a remnant for cheaper.

I thanked her, got in my car, and drove off at the speed of sound.

It turns out that this outlet was on the way to my son's school. I stopped in and looked, but didn't find something that was right. I continued stopping there and looking every other week or so since October. Last week, just as I was really starting to despair, I finally found it.

It's the middle, sand-colored one with the pretty design. It was 15' x 11', which means it could be cut down to 15' x 8' for the living room with the rest as the hallway runner. Talking to the guy there, I learned that this is a remnant from a high-performance, high-traffic, Stain Master carpet.

STAIN MASTER, PEOPLE!! STAIN! MASTER! And it's designed to take abuse and keep looking good! And it's already close to the color of peanut butter, which just saves my kids time staining it that way!

IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL!

We bought it for $180 ($194 after tax).

The man asked me if I wanted it bound, and I said that I refuse to pour money into anything more expensive until the boys are in college. He totally understood, and advised me to get a fray-stop type adhesive from Joann Fabric to prevent the edges from tattering.

Five bucks for the adhesive.

Two days later they cut the rug down for free, and I got both pieces home in the Subaru.

This morning we put it in. I cannot explain to you how happy I am. It's not only beautiful, and designed to last, but I saved a lot on it!

Now I just have to put the Fray Block on the edges, cut down the hall rug a little to make a welcome mat for the front door, and convince the boys that terrible things will happen if they do anything to harm this rug. That goes for Husband, too.

See more cool stuff here!

DIY Marble Pastry Board

I would love to be a baker. My cookies are good. My breads are passable. Next, I want to learn to make PASTRY. It's like the holy grail of cooking abilities. I think if I can finally do that, make decent pastry, maybe I'll start to feel like I can cook. Maybe.

As I watch the Food Network, cruise the internet for tips and videos, and generally dream about flaky pie crust, I keep seeing marble pastry boards.

Pastry dough, in general, has more butter or shortening in it. This gives it the light, flaky texture that makes a good pastry. The problem is that you have to chill the dough before working with it, or it can get very sticky and fall apart. The idea behind something like a marble pastry board is that you can chill it first, then roll your dough out on it. The dough stays nice and cool and easy to work with.

These pastry boards are pretty much a big slab of marble, usually cost from around $25 to $150.

I wanted to see if I could get one for under ten bucks.

My inspiration was my sister-in-law. She uses a big section of countertop as her bread-kneading board. With this in mind, I went to a local place that makes custom marble and granite countertops. The very nice man in their front room was very approachable, and I asked what usually happens to the sink cut-outs. He told me that they often break and are just thrown out. I mentioned that if he had a reasonably whole one, I would be interested in buying it.

He told me I could have it for free.

Next thing I know, I am leaving with TWO cut-outs: a smaller marble one, and a bigger granite one.

Here's the marble one:

As you can see, it is toddler approved - so much so that I couldn't convince him to stop petting it long enough for me to take a picture.

It has a couple of scratches, but it is still perfectly suited to my use. All I did was wash it, and go to Joann Fabric looking for some feet to put on it.

The rubber feet are to keep it from scratching my table. I love my table very much and will protect it at all costs.

This pack of grippy circle things cost me five bucks, and has enough feet for both the marble board and the granite one. That's $2.50 for each board.

The only effort involved was turning the heavy thing over, and sticking on the feet.

Here's my brand new marble pastry board, complete with table-protecting rubber feet, for only $2.50 and almost no effort.

I'm feeling awfully proud of myself right now. I might celebrate with pastry.

More cool stuff here!

Simple Summer Dessert

This crazy hot weather has me barely wanting to cook, and absolutely not wanting to bake. This does not mean that I don't want to eat baked things. I want something sweet. Possibly chocolatey.

Looking through my cupboard, I am again reminded that my husband is a brilliant man. He bought marshmallows, chocolate bars, and graham crackers. Genius! Microwave s'mores!

It's dessert in less than a minute with no clean-up.

If you've never tried it before, just do this:

1) Break a graham cracker in half.

2) Put a piece of chocolate on half.

3) Put a marshmallow on top.

4) Microwave for 15 seconds (or until your marshmallow is all poofy).

5) Put the top graham cracker on, squish, and enjoy!

Want some variations on the theme? Try one of these! Or all of these! (Probably not at once!)

1) Butter the top graham cracker with peanut butter or Nutella

2) Add sprinkles to your marshmallow just before adding the top graham cracker

3) Add jam or jelly for a fruity option

4) Add a slice of banana (it's goooood)

Do you have another idea? Share it in the comments! I have a whole summer and a lot of marshmallows to experiment with!

It's a Pre-Treater!!

In my efforts to try to have a healthier home, I have been making a lot of my own laundry and cleaning chemicals.

First, I made a spray cleaner that tackles EVERYTHING.

Then, I made cheap, awesome laundry soap.

Finally, I started using vinegar as fabric softener, and made a safe and effective bleach alternative.

To further my efforts, I have been looking for a replacement for Spray and Wash. My kids are murder on clothes, and I am constantly spraying grass-stained pants, or food-stained shirts.

My first attempt at this was a home run. Here's what I did:

1) Bought a spray bottle. ($0.97)
2) Filled it with the bleach alternative that I already made.

That's it.

It's wonderful! I tried it on a very stubborn stain on Husband's gardening/work shorts.
Before:


After:


I love how little things like this make me enormously happy.

Check out other great ideas here:

Pretty Summer Feet

It is the start of summer, meaning that I have officially abandoned socks (and for the most part, shoes at all) for the next three months. The problem is that I have pretty much ignored my feet since the conclusion of last sandal season. Eek.

Should I go get the $28 pedicure at the local nail salon? Tempting. Very tempting. Until I think of what I could do with $28. Time for an at-home foot make over!

There are some really easy things I want to share with you that can give you a salon-style pedicure for pennies on the dollar.

Step One - Epsom Salt Foot Soak
You know that nice swirly foot bath you get to soak in at the nail salon? Ever wonder what's in it? It's pretty much just a solution of epsom salt and water! Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate) is incredibly useful and incredibly cheap. I bought a four pound carton at CVS for less than 5 bucks. I bought the unscented kind, but you can find all sorts of scented bath salts that are just regular epsom salt mixed with essential oils.

You can either get a container big enough to put your feet in, like a bucket or basin, or just your tub with ankle-deep water.

I am using one of those plastic rectangle things that they gave me in the hospital when I had my last baby. I'm not sure what it's original purpose was, but for soaking feet and pre-treating laundry, it's stellar.
For a bucket this size, I used about a half cup of epsom salt and water as hot a I could stand it.

To really get the spa experience, sit back and relax (preferably in a comfy chair). Watch something you want to see on TV. Read a book.

Have a nice cup of coffee.

Or if you are so inclined, a nice nap.

After around 10 or 15 minutes, you are going to need a few things. I have all of these on hand, as I tend to like doing my own nails (the whole cheap thing again).

If you have cuticle gel, apply it now. While you are waiting for that to finish softening your cuticles, use a pumice stone or file to remove any dry skin and smooth any calluses. (It should be pretty easy now that the epsom salt has had time to work). Now you can push back your cuticles with...whatever that thing is called that pushes back cuticles. The thingy. If you feel like it, you can trim your cuticles with...that other thingy. Return your feet to the water bath, then make yourself a note to actually learn the proper vocabulary before posting something on your blog. (Sorry).

Note: if you are taking your sweet time with this, feel free to refresh your water bath with more hot water and epsom salt. This is your pedicure. Go at whatever pace makes you happy.

Once you are ready (and not a moment before), remove your feet from the water bath, towel dry, and apply lotion everywhere but the nails. Use the nail clipper and nail file to trim and shape your toe nails.

If your nails are stained from previous nail polish, there are a lot of possible remedies you can use to return them to their natural color.

1) Rub a slice of lemon on them.
2) Use an old toothbrush and brush them with toothpaste.
3) Brush them with a paste of baking soda and peroxide.
4) Soak them in a mild peroxide solution.
5) Buff stains away with a fine emery board.
6) Ignore it and just paint over them.

Finally, if you wish to apply nail polish, there are a few tips to make this easier and more professional looking.

First, take a cotton swab and gently apply some Vaseline to your cuticles. This will make it easy to later peel away any polish that gets on your skin.

Next, make sure to apply a base coat to your nails. Not only will the base coat protect your nails, but it will make the polish last longer.

When choosing a nail polish, save yourself some aggravation and choose a fast-drying type. I like Sally Hansen Insta-Dri. (I know it says one coat, but it looks much better with two coats, IMO). Remember, the faster it dries, the less likely you are to botch it up by smudging it.

Finally, apply a top coat. It will protect the polish and keep it from chipping, so it will last longer. I save money by making sure to get a base and top coat in one. This also means that I have fewer bottles to keep track of.




I'm actually posting this TWO WEEKS after giving myself this pedicure, and it still looks good!


Now, go use that $28 bucks you just saved for something better, like cute sandals.