The Power of Craigslist

My house is a little different than everyone else's... we dont have tv. Well, we dont have cable anyway, we do have tv's. They're the large clunky older ones and they date the space. When moving in to our house I knew the wobbly old wooden bench I had the tv on wasn't doing it for me anymore. I didn't have extra money to spend on furniture, but I kept my eyes peeled and a television hutch in the free section of Craigslist appealed to me. 

You have to have a little vision when seeing it for the first time. 

I bought a can of chalk board paint and got to it.

Cue my friends making fun of me for the Diet Coke cases used for edging material.

Spraying on the chalk board paint. It needs a few layers sometimes.

Pro tip - put something down in front of where you'll be spraying.

Mom tip - give your kid the camera. 

He gets some really good photos.

The finished piece. 

In it's final destination! What an upgrade! 

This was such a win. I paid less then 10 dollars for the paint, and nothing but my time and talent to transform an old tv hutch in to something a little more modern and useful again. Inside is a behemoth television, and underneath the tv shelf is storage space we use for toys and things. It's great to be able to shut the tv off and put it away. One day I'll upgrade to a flat screen, but for now I'm keeping what works and making the most of what we already have. 

May there only be a shower in the bathrooms

When I first bought this house I knew the soffet on the roof's front was worn. I knew we'd need to have that redone, so I did it. Then, a month later, there was an active leak in my living room. >.<

I had done some research on the house, the only time a permit had been pulled on file with the city was in 2009 for a roof permit. Well, the previous owners said there was a new roof, it was actually just a second layer of shingles. It was time to get the whole roof redone.

Every time it rained I looked at the crease in the ceiling in the living room with disdain. I didn't know how old the original roof was, and the second layer of shingles on the roof didn't fix any underlying problems. It was time for a new one. I did my research and found a great company with a competitive price. I told them I was going to wait for tax time and then pull the plug so I could pay them in cash instead of taking out a loan. Well, they came back to me after Christmas and asked if I were still interested in getting the roof done. I said yes, but again told them I wanted to wait, I was short a few thousand dollars, but if they could come down a thousand bucks I'd do it.

Well....a week later I had these guys at my house. I'm glad I haggled down the price, the cost of wood replacement past what they contract in to the sale drove my price up about 700 dollars. They also told me if I had tried to make it through the rainy season this year, there would have been a shower in every room of the house. There was just no knowing how old that original roof was, but it was bad.

They are laying down black paper that goes under the shingles here.

I posted this on Facebook and my friend thought I painted the house pink. It's just the reflection of the tarp. Doesn't look bad though...

The packages on top are the new shingles placed and ready to go.

The little Royal Palm in front of the house was getting awfully big. They usually grow 40-50 feet tall, way too tall and big to be 10-15 feet from the house. Palm fronds falling from 50 feet on a roof can cause damage. I gave it away to someone for free on Craigslist, the tree was re-homed, and the service was done for free. Win win for everyone!

This is what it looks like right now with the new roof and no palm tree. It's a little naked right now, but I'll fill in the rest soon. Next step, paint the house. You have to dig back the dirt to paint the house. So no putting the rocks down for the landscaping in front until the house is painted. All these steps!!! Moving forward!