Random Product Endorsement

Kwikset Smart Keys

You’ll never have to call a locksmith again. The locks come with a nifty little tool that let you reset the lock to whatever key you want. Those Kwikset people – they’re thinkers!

Finally: Day Three

Day Three started the same as one and two, with yet another trip to Home Depot. Sunday mornings at Home Depot are very quiet, in direct contrast to Friday and Saturday, which are really busy. So, Home Depot, in all of their infinite wisdom, opened 6 checkout lines on Sunday for the 3 customers who were in line, because in the land of the Depot, the only time to have more than two checkstands open is when there is no one in line. The red carpet treatment almost makes you forget about the two checkout lines that were open on Friday and Saturday for the 25 customers in line. Almost.

After the trip to the Depot day two progressed very similarly to day three. I painted all day, and Jeremy installed things. Except while attempting to install the new light fixture in the guest bathroom, Jeremy realized that it was going to be a bigger project than we thought. Ripped out drywall, new junction boxes, and the installation of an electrical outlet – SCORE! After a new light fixture and some paint, well, a lot of paint, what was formerly the equivalent of a bat cave is now a welcoming bathroom. Because there's nothing like feeling welcomed when you're answering the call of nature.

Bat Cave Bathroom, Before:

Bat Cave Bathroom, After

And then: Day Two

Day Two began with the second trip for things we can’t live without at Home Depot. This included new deadbolts – (when you buy a foreclosed home, not changing the locks is a little like Russian Roulette) two new ceiling fans, lots of paint, a step-ladder, and a new light fixture for the guest bathroom.

While Jeremy scrapped and patched the walls throughout the house, I became intimately acquainted with CLR (Calcium, Lime, and Rust, for the uninitiated) Remover. Noxious, burning, cleaning fun ensued, and at the end of it, there were bathrooms that I felt comfortable allowing guests to use, and more than that, bathrooms that I felt comfortable allowing ME to use.

Seth, our new pool guy (yes, we have a pool guy) came over and gave us a class in pool maintenance 101, at the end of which we said, “how about you do it for us?” Now, we are the proud owners of a weekly pool maintenance agreement.

After Seth the pool guy, we started our long afternoon of installing various things and painting, and painting, and painting. It was during this process that we realized that successful home repair for us will include each of us focusing on where our strengths lie – Jeremy in brute force and a love of all things electrical, Sarah with the paintbrush. Garlock decided to lend a hand, or a backside to the effort, and has since walked around with yellow paint all over his rear.

And so it was: Day One

Day One of homeownership entailed partaking in the long tradition of all homeowners – spending way too much money at Home Depot. But, before that outing, we journeyed to Sears, where, with the help of three very eager salespeople, we purchased a new fridge, a washer, a dryer, and a stove. If you’ve never purchased appliance from Sears, you may be wondering why it took three salespeople to accomplish this task (insert light bulb joke here). Apparently Sears’ philosophy of selling is highly specialized, and the each area of the home for which appliances are being purchased needs a very particular salesperson. The end result of this was making three different purchases, signing three different receipts, and coordinating three different purchases for one delivery. Efficiency in action.

From there, we ventured to Home Depot, where Round One of “things we can’t live without,” started. In this first trip, we purchased a garage door opener, various cleaning supplies, pool equipment (for the above-mentioned pool), weed-killer (for the above-mentioned weed jungle) and many other things, which are all running together in my mind. It was during this trip that I started to get a glimpse into the Home Depot business model – but more about that later.

After this first trip to Home Depot, we went over to the house, and found a lovely welcome home present from our Realtor, Jason, and his girlfriend Cassie, who happens to also be a friend of ours. Margarita makings for Sarah, and a bottle of Scotch for Jeremy – just what we needed.

Part of this blog will be tracking the “befores” and “afters” of our home improvement projects. To get the party started, I’m posting a bunch of “before” pictures. Revel in the glory of a house where every single room is painted a different color, and for extra giggles, many of the ceilings are painted as well. As Jeremy said, if you spin around too fast in the hallway, you’re liable to give yourself a seizure from all of the colors. To combat this rainbow of ugliness, I’ve settled on one color, called Butter Cookie, with which we will be painting the entire house, with the exception of Kali’s room.