Home ownership is fun and daunting all at the same time. All the time. I would probably rather be relegated to only being able to drink Miller Lite for the rest of my life than rent again, but some days it would be really nice to not have to worry about stuff breaking, failing, leaking, or disintegrating to name a few. Or wondering what any of the previous owners were thinking when they did things like paint over wallpaper or install the dimmest lighting possible in a dark basement.
This year one project that has been at the top of our list is updating our basement or “lower level” if you will. It is comprised of a small family room, a bedroom, and an unfinished area that houses utilities and our beer supply. Technically the bedroom isn’t a bedroom, as the egress window is not adequate for current code requirements. The family room and bedroom are finished being blue/gray carpet from the late 80’s, white walls, and cheap, dim lighting. We started last week with the paint. We painted both rooms the same pretty basic beige color to keep it neutral. The color is Behr “Castle Path.” ( I would post a picture here, but do you really want to see a beige wall?) It already feels so much warmer and inviting down there. Not to mention removing the cover on the dimmest light ever brightened it up about 500 lumens. Next up is ordering new carpet, having the old removed, and the new installed. For not a lot of square footage and not choosing a very expensive carpet, it will add up pretty quickly. Still, I believe it’s one of those smaller costs in the grand scheme that you will see a return on at the time of selling. We are really doing it for ourselves though. Adding essentially another living space will really make the house seem bigger.
And now for the piece de resistance….
Hello gorgeous.
You may think I am crazy for being this excited for a dishwasher. Let me explain. The dishwasher that came with the house was one of those portable units. It was plumbed in, so it essentially act and felt like a regular unit. I don’t remember exactly when it stopped working, but I think it was in the fall of 2009. It would run, but not really wash. Since I wasn’t working in 2010 we figured the expense of having it fixed wasn’t worth it, and living without a dishwasher isn’t the end of the world. About 8 months later, Mr. BKL had had enough and called to have it repaired. Success! And it only cost about $100. I hated the idea of putting any money into it at all, but $100 wasn’t terrible.
Fast forward to December of last year and things started going downhill. It would sometimes work, but sometimes it wouldn’t leaving you to roll the dice on whether the dishes would come out clean or not. If they didn’t, you had to hand wash them anyway. Occasionally, it would sound like it was working at the beginning of the cycle and then just sit there making noise. On those occasions I would add water manually to get it going again. Another problem was that it wouldn’t drain when it was supposed to. If I could catch it at that time, open the door, and start it again, it would drain. Sounds like a lot of work for a modern convenience that is supposed to be, well, a convenience doesn’t it? If you know me in real life, you know I fixate on these little things in life and let them drive me crazy.
One night I had enough and declared we must buy a new dishwasher. Now we just need to learn how to install it! have my Dad come and help us demo the cabinets and install it.
Updates to come!
