Shed Building Plans

Time for another installment of 2013 in Review!

2013 was the year that I found "The Look" I wanted for my home.  I thought the rule was 1 year in your home!!  Oh well, 3 years is ok by me - I now know exactly what I do and don't like and this year I was able to put it together in a way that pleased me.

This was also the year that rooms came together.  I finished the 2nd bathroom (thank you God!), guest room, laundry room, master bedroom, living room and dining room.  Yay!!  I also made over the main bathroom for the 4th time. Yep, I change my decor like I change my clothes... well, almost!

Here are the before & after shots:

Max's energy levels never seemed to wind down much. He was bright-eyed and bushy tailed and interested in EVERYTHING.  He spent a lot of time following me around.  If I made the slightest sound while in another room, he pounced.  He was quick to wake up and jump in with all four feet whenever anything might be going on.  This was cute for a short time but I am a DIY blogger and without DIY'ing, my blog would cease to exist.  Max was preventing me from getting any work done at all!!

My kitchen remodel project took on a new life when I installed the butcher block countertops. Love is too weak a word for how I feel about them!

When I left you in Part 2, I had just ripped a hole in the wall to create a passthrough that would allow more daylight into the room from the adjoining laundry.  It's been so nice to use the kitchen without turning the lights on all the time.  The project got bumped up a month when a friend offered to pick up the butcher block from Ikea for me (a 10 hour round trip).  I left the counters in the spare room for a few weeks to acclimate to the house and then got to work cutting them down to size for the new layout.  In the meantime, I continued to work on removing the old countertops.  Max decided to get into the act by chewing through the exposed dishwasher hoses.  GAAHHH!  Bloody cat!

I've been working off & on for the last 4 weeks on my kitchen remodel project.  It's been an eye-opening experience...

I don't know if anyone really likes these progress posts, but here goes!

Here's the kitchen "before" shot:


and this is the inspiration shot:

Chapter Six – Cat on an Asphalt Roof

Mercifully spring finally arrived and Max was allowed to roam around the yard and learn the ropes of being outdoors. He scampered out the door every morning and investigated the fence line. I always let him and Eloise out right after getting out of bed so they could get some fresh air before I went to work and brought them back inside for the day. The weather was frosty but there was no snow anymore.

I mentioned a few months ago that I bought a new truck, a 1998 F150 to be exact.  I got a great deal on it, but the truck had several mechanical problems.  I finally got everything fixed and it is running smooth now.  So this weekend I decided it was time to start overhauling the interior.

The trucks carpet was completely trashed.  It smelled of smoke and dog mixed together and was covered in white dog hair and dirt.  I read online that you can remove the carpet and clean it with a pressure washer and it can breathe new life into it.  

I started by removing both seats and trim panels.  I then removed the carpet from the truck.  I scrubbed the carpet with powder Tide detergent and a push broom.  I took my pressure washer and blasted the carpet clean.  I am super impressed with how clean and plush the carpet is now.  It isnt perfect, but it is 100% better than before.  I am going to let the carpet dry for a few days before reinstalling it.  This method didnt cost  me a dime except my time, which was much better than replacing the carpet.  I highly recommend trying this method rather than replacing the carpet.

This is my new truck all waxed and shiny.

Here is the interior, doesnt look too bad from this angle but it is.

You can see how nasty the carpet was.  This was after I removed the seats.

The truck interior completely stripped and carpet removed.

Here is the carpet before I cleaned it, the clean parts are where the seats were.

Here the front of the carpet after I cleaned it, looks brand new.

Back side of cleaned carpet.

No, I'm not finished... is anybody ever finished?? lol I still have two walls & the ceiling to paint and the floor to refinish BUT pretty much everything else is done!!!  WOOT!


Welcome to my quest to create a light, bright farmhouse kitchen from a room with no windows, 4 doorways, un-salvageable original cabinets and a miserable 3' of counter space.  The only thing going for the space was the oak floors.

Last winter I had moisture issues in my front entry which is a covered porch that someone enclosed somewhere along the way.  I've actually had issues for the last few winters but couldn't figure out exactly what was causing them until this past winter...

What's been happening is that the ceiling would leak water.  There's an attic vent to the outside that would frost over when the temps dropped during the coldest months.  I thought it was air leaking through my door and focused on weatherstripping and sealing, but that wasn't it.


I knew something had to be done when puddles appeared again in February this year, so last month I tore down the ceiling.  My beautiful, 85 year old tongue & groove original fir ceiling.  Wah!   What I found was a complete lack of insulation behind the 6" trim boards which clad the upper portion of the walls, no vapour barrier and someone had thrown extra insulation into the attic space which had completely covered the soffit vents.  This was a recipe for disaster!!!