Small fixes.

Is it bad that it’s Friday and I’m still updating the blog from things done this weekend? As mentioned Tuesday, I tackled some minor projects around the house this weekend – not including the big fencing duo. After my success as an amateur electrician, I had enough confidence courage to try to replace some of our yucky outlets & light switches. All our switches and outlets are off white & most have layers of paint and dirt covering them from the previous owners. So I picked up some new, bright white, clean replacements for about $20 at Lowes.

After being a bit too courageous dumb & thus getting shocked once, I got smart & turned off all our electricity in the breaker box. Then it was simply a matter of removing the screws fastening the switched to the wall, loosening the screws on the side {remembering which wire was connected to the top vs. the bottom}, wrapped the wires around the screws on the new switch, tightened the screws and refastened it to the wall. Add the cover plate & it’s instantly prettified.

 

 

I went with the slightly fancier flat switch version for the dining area. Oh, la, la! ;)

    

I also sewed another panel for my curtains above the kitchen sink. My mom mentioned that they looked a little sparse, and she was right.

{Before}                                                                     {After}

The thicker curtains look much better {and less homemade.}  :)

 

I also added a quick fix to my DIY roman shades, as time’s gone by, the ribbons have caused the centers to sag a bit, so the sides aren’t staying right against the windowsill like the are in the original picture below…

I just used a basic sewing pin to pin the side of the fabric into the wall & bent the pin to hold it in place. Worked like a charm! Plus, no one will notice the small pin…well except all you out there who’ve read my blog.

Other quick fixes included painting the hallway a second coat to cover where one of our new drywall patches went…

…painting both sides of our new & improved wider entryway between the kitchen & dining room…

 

We went from this:

To this.

Ah, {so much} better. Other than a ton more outlets replaced, {including the bare one in the picture above}, that about wraps up our weekend’s quick fixes… just in time for another weekend of projects!

On a different note, Eugene teaches at a local Catholic middle school {no, if you’re curious, we’re not Catholic.} His eighth graders had their graduation program followed by a dance on Wednesday night, so I headed over to spend some time with my husband since he was stuck there all night.

 

The graduation was in a beautiful church, and boy did my husband look handsome. Such professional. ;)

He has a reputation as being a really hard teacher, but it was clear to me by watching his interactions with his students and their parents that he’s great at his job.

I’m so proud of his successful completion of his first full year of teaching. Yes, it’s been a ton of work, many many late nights, and some sacrifice, but he’s certainly done a wonderful job. I loved hearing first hand by his principal & coworkers how much they value him at his school. {Atta boy, Eugene!}