2025 Update: In the initial installments of my DIY wooden playhouse adventure, we covered the first four steps of building a backyard playhouse from scratch. First, imbue yourself with self-confidence. Then imagine, plan, gather your materials, put on your work pants – and start building. At the end of Step 4, we left the playhouse […]
Electrical
How to Replace a Ceiling Fan
2025 Update… Sometimes, you just need something new – and for me, it was my bedroom ceiling fan. A 52-inch, LED light replacement for the Hunter ceiling fan I had installed when we first moved in almost 20 years ago. That’s a pretty impressive lifespan, and while I probably could have fixed the Hunter – as […]
Quick & Easy LED Light Fixture Installation
It took me about 25 minutes to install a new LED light fixture in my bedroom walk-in closet. I’ve been converting each of the fixtures in my house to LED lighting over the past few months. Lower electricity bills. Less maintenance. And crisp, clean light. This closet, though? This closet had the original fixture from […]
Grouting Hell – For a Natural Stone Mosaic Backsplash
If there’s an afterlife, and if I somehow end up in hell – I’m certain I’ll be grouting for all eternity. Grouting, for me, combines the worst of all things: the time crunch, a horrific mess with risk of ruining all the tile work you spent hours (or days) doing just prior, and the nightmarish […]
My DIY Powder Room Rehab
My DIY powder room rehab took time out of every weekend over the past 4+ months, and I think it came out great. (Far better than I expected, actually!) Imported beveled subway tile halfway up the walls, topped with a mitered glazed ceramic chair rail. A colorful, but not overwhelming, floor tile from Spain – […]
Installing LED Wafer Lighting
So, I just discovered a new favorite project: installing wafer LED lighting – which I’ll convey mainly in pictures, below, as I continue with the construction of my new upstairs office… Now, this is a working space – and it’s not huge, but the dimensions for the lighting layout matter a lot. Since it’s not […]
My Wireless Waterproof Doorbell Epiphany
2022 Update: What I needed was a waterproof doorbell. All along. Repairing the classic mechanical door chime worked for me – carefully troubleshooting with each of the components: the transformer, the door chime unit and the doorbell push button. But after the repair, it was only a year or so before I had a new problem: […]
Recent Comments