Fall Cleaning

Things around the Bennett house have been pretty quiet on the whole "DIY our house and make huge changes" front. There are a lot of reasons for that (shoulder surgery, budget, weather), but mostly we are going through our first fall season in this house and have noticed a few of the more boring things that need to be done.

Cleaning Out the Gutters... Multiple Times

The front of our house has two beautiful trees. And they are HUGE.

Said big beautiful trees now look like this:

Hence... gutter overflowing crazy time.

Tree Demolition

We are getting this pine tree taken out in a week! We've been saving up for it and are finally ready to yank it on out! I can't tell you have valuable having this post was. I would call different places to get quotes and email them the blog post while we were on the phone. They then knew exactly which tree(s) I was talking about and could come out on their own and give us a quote. Amazing. The guy we went with is a friend of a friend and the cost? $675. We got bids from $600 all the way to $1200 for this tree, so we feel pretty good about the final cost. We also feel good that this dead, I shed pine straws like crazy little beast is going to be gonezo.

Clothes Organization

I make use of those space saver bags for summer- winter clothes and so it was time to clean out my closet (thanks Eminem).

Before:

I also went to Nordstrom Rack with my Sammie and did some birthday damage in the clothes department. LB helped me reorganize my closet situation and it's looking a lot more accessible, spacious, and I-can't-reach-above-my-head-yet friendly.

Bids

We have gotten two bids to take out the wall that divides the living room and the kitchen (the one with the mirror): one was $1800-2500 and the other was $750-$1000. We're going to contact a few more contractors that we found through the NextDoor App and hopefully pull the trigger on this shortly into the new year.

Dryer Vent

Hey you! Yes, you! Get your Shop-Vac out and vacuum out that dryer vent. It takes maybe 15 minutes and might save you from a house fire. Uhhhh DO IT!

Wedding Photos

I am finally putting together my Blurb wedding book and getting all of those beauties organized is making me feel so much less stressed!

What do y'all do to prepare for the onslaught of winter?

The 10 Things You Need for Painting (Plus Two Bonuses!)

Whenever I am starting a wall painting (as opposed to a furniture painting) project, there are at least 10 essential things that I try to procure. Also, you smart Alec's you, I know that the graphic says 10 and I only pictured 3 things, but if you are running low on budget or patience to buy everything, these are my top three that I just plain won't do a painting project without. *Don't forget to hop down/over to yesterday's post to enter the giveaway for Volume 25's house prints. Painting a wall and NOT getting new art work is like buying a fancy new dress and wearing Old Navy flip flops with it (the $4 ones).

I've broken down the supplies by category: cutting in/edging, rolling, and sanity savers (organization & mess containment). Paint brushes up!

CUTTING IN SUPPLIES:

• The Best Brush: the Wooster brush pictured above is a requirement for every painting project. Painting cabinets? Use it to brush in around the moldings. Painting anywhere on a wall that requires edging or cutting in? Use this. Once you get comfortable with it you CAN use this to cut in without taping off (just dream about the time savings...)
• The time/life saver: speaking of time savers... see that little square red thing above with rollers? This sucker is a MUST for painting a wall. The KEY is to dip the pad in the paint LIGHTLY while the wheels are up. Flick the wheels down BEFORE you put the edger up to where the wall meets the ceiling and then slowly drag it across. The only time this thing messes up is when you get too much paint on the pad OR forget to flick those DAMN wheels up. I also give the front of the wheels a quick wipe before each paint swipe.
• Backup pads for the life saver: you'll want more than one edger pad for this rolling edger deal. That way, if your painting project goes over a day, you've got extras.
• BONUS! A corner cutter inner: if you're really getting after it (i.e., painting a whole living room with a ton of corners and such) this thing is nice to have. Plus, it's like $4.

ROLLING:

• Rollers: you can really go cheap on rollers, but I always make sure to use some frog tape to de-lint-ify the rollers before diving in.
• Rolling Handle: get a cheap one-- it won't matter because you MUST buy an extension pole...
• The best extension pole around: this thing is the Cadillac of rolling extension poles. It is so comfortable and saves your arms a ton of pain (and since I tore my shoulder a week ago... yeah...being kind to my arms is my newest pastime).

MESS & STORAGE CONTAINERS:

• Touch Up Paint: these freaking things are all about planning ahead and realizing that you WILL need touch-up paint down the line. Kids, dogs, you mis-firing with the hammer just a smidge (not that I have EVER done that.) You can also buy new tiny rollers if you use the built-in roller and it dries out before your next round of touch-up love. They're cheap, they're worth it and they are easy to fill with a paint can lid...
• Paint Can Lid: if you don't like to waste money and you don't like to clean up avoidable messes, buy one of these per each paint can you have and enjoy your brilliantness.
• Drop Cloth: just cover your damn floors with SOMETHING
• Frog Tape: I just saw the other day that they are selling this goodness at Costco!
• BONUS! Ziplock bags & a refrigerator: This trick has saved me hundreds of dollars on paint brushes and HOURS of washing paint brushes. When you are done painting for the day, take a ziplock bag, but your wet brush in it, and put it in the fridge. Pull it out the next day and sing my praises while you paint. No, really. I want songs with words that rhyme with Treana. This demand is totally reasonable because this fridge trick is the best ever.

What did I miss that you can't live/paint without?