We love the big stairway that leads to the second floor of the Dream House but we don’t always love how dark it can be. Yes, there’s an overhead light (actually, a ceiling fan, which will eventually get switched out for a standard light fixture) but there are times (like the middle of the night) when we find ourselves walking up or down a very dark stairway. To say it can be a bit treacherous is an understatement. Browsing around at The Container Store, I found the perfect solution: a motion activated and battery operated LED floodlight. And the best part is that it was super easy to install. Here’s how I did it:
We hosted a few guests at the Dream House over the holidays and there’s nothing like house guests to light a fire under my decorating ass! No matter where we’ve moved over the years, the bedroom has always been one of the first rooms I’ve put together. I reason that after a long day of unpacking, we’ll want a nice, comfortable place to retire at the end of the day. With the impending arrival of guests a few days after Christmas, starting with the bedrooms seemed especially important.
I had already bought a full sized sleigh bed at a thrift store before we even closed on the house, which is why it’s included in the “before” photo above. So the next big thing to work around was the color. Goodbye, mauve and navy blue walls!
The Dream House Goes 21st Century:
Installing the 2nd Generation Nest Smart Thermostat
01/04/2014
I have to admit upfront that I have wanted a reason to install the Nest Thermostat from the minute it first hit the market a couple of years ago. Alas, our city condo has radiator heat that is not individually controlled so no Nest for me. And then we bought the Dream House. Huzzah! An excuse to buy the Nest! But it gets better. As part of a holiday sale, Amazon offered a $40 rebate on a 2nd Generation Nest purchase. An even better excuse to buy a Nest!
If you’re not familiar with the Nest, it’s touted as a “smart thermostat.” What does that mean? Well, first of all, the thermostat can be controlled from a smart phone or tablet using the Nest app. Yes, that’s right. We’ll be able to control the heat at the Dream House even when we’re in the city. Or even when we’re upstairs and we don’t want to walk down to the dining room.
As if the smartphone feature isn’t cool enough, the Nest is also a “learning thermostat.” After a week or two of initial use, the thermostat “learns” your heating and cooling habits and begins using automatic programs that save energy (and hopefully a little money). After about a week of using it, I did notice that the Nest would automatically turn itself down to 67 degrees (the nighttime temp I had been setting) and back up to 70 (my daytime setting) in the morning.
With the hundreds and hundreds of projects that need to be done at the Dream House – not to mention the dozens that have been started but not completed – it makes absolutely no sense that I took time out of my day to decorate the mantel. And yet that’s exactly what I did on Christmas day. Hey, all work and no play make Mr. Blandings very sad!
Replacing a shower head is one of the easiest bathroom DIY’s you can do. I’m talking five minute project start to finish. Yes, it’s really that easy. I’ve replaced the shower heads in almost every apartment we’ve lived in. (What can I say? I like a nice shower experience!) So, of course, when we got our hands on the Dream House, it was one of my first DIY projects. Here’s a quick and easy tutorial for replacing your own shower head…





