October 2015: Blackout shades for the bedrooms

So this was a short project but a satisfying one.  The window treatments throughout our house have been languishing.  Out of sheer laziness, we left the ones that were there when we bought the house (most of which were probably installed in the 80s or earlier).  Our children's rooms had those ugly metal horizontal blinds that (a) do not block any light so are pointless; and (b) are a strangulation hazard to babies and toddlers.  So out they went, and I installed these cordless (i.e. child safe) blackout cellular shades instead.  I did it all by myself while listening to the Serial podcast, and only needed a handheld drill/screwdriver!

Note: yes, unfortunately there is light coming around the sides of the shade.  I bought shades off Overstock.com rather than spend $$$$ for custom shades, and so they're not a perfect fit.  But they're a lot better than what was there before!  And as a bonus, I get to feel both thrifty AND handy!

October 2015: Bidet in the master bath (enough said)

So this happened.  I did it all by myself, with a glass of wine and a flathead screwdriver.  It is so amazing.  I would go so far as to say: game-changing.  I can't believe I didn't install one years ago!

April 2015: Toddler's Closet

Our son's closet was pissing me off.  It was a jumble of crap on the bottom, and the hanging rail was too high for him to see his clothes (which started to matter when he turned two and wanted to start choosing his own clothes for the day).

A trip to Home Depot and $89.00 plus tax later, and we were armed with a closet organizer to install.

Here are the after photos!  Our son loves the double rail so he can see what's hanging on the lower rail, and all the crap came off the floor and onto shelves.  Only took an hour or two to install!