Many of you guessed correctly that I would be scraping my own popcorn ceilings.

It wasn’t hard to do, but it also isn’t for the bad neck or bad back sufferers. Normally I hire out this job — but because our laundry room is so small — it seemed silly to pay someone else to do the work. Now that it is done, I’m really glad I decided to tackle this project. The sense of accomplishment and the resulting smooth ceiling is HUGE!

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you live in a house that was built around 1978, take several small samples of your ceiling and test it for asbestos before you begin. Even though the cutoff date for asbestos in popcorn texture was 1978, the inventory could still be bought from store shelves well into the 1980’s. Do yourself and your family a favor, If you have asbestos popcorn contact a professional who is trained in asbestos removal to handle the job. If you want to learn more, you can read more about our experience with asbestos remediation.

 

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This past weekend I was able to make some serious progress on our laundry room. Yeehaw! Sometimes in order to make a room pretty, you have to make it uglier first. That was certainly the case with this project. If  you are just joining me, a few weeks ago the nice folks at Flow Wall sent me a custom wall system to install in the laundry room. The FlowWall system of storage will look something like this: Read more

You know that beautiful laundry room I showed you last year? Yes, this one:

Well, it isn’t so pretty right now, and honestly I strategically didn’t photograph the ONE wall in the laundry room that isn’t….so….pretty. Can you blame me?!

But, that is all about to change! I’ve been working with a Flow Wall System representative to come up with a plan for my laundry room wall.

Flow Wall Garage and Home Storage Solutions

Within half an hour of sending him my measurements (of my laundry room, not my body measurements – LOL), he sent back multiple possible configurations for our room.

I can’t even begin to tell you how fantastic it is to turn over the planning to someone else for a change! Of course, being the planner that I am, I had to tape up a few paper templates to help visualize how they would work in my space.

The Flow Wall System looks like it is going to be a snap to install (and I will definitely let you know for sure!) Here is a short 60 second video to show you a little more about Flow Wall System:

Here are my beautiful plans for the laundry room using the Flow Wall System sketches as inspiration.

1. Flow Wall medium wall mounted storage bins to hold the iron and ironing supplies

2. Flow Wall small storage hook to hang ironing board on

3. Flow Wall white coated wire shelves for extra storage and drying clothes

4. Flow Wall jumbo decor bins in cream to corral detergents, spot cleaners, etc

5. Waverly Pom Pom Play Spa fabric for a faux roman shade

6. Spray painted brass chandelier inspired by Modern Parsonage

7. Flow Wall cabinets to hide my unsightly mess

What do you think? Do you like the design? I’m probably going to scrape the ceilings and repaint in there too. The exact wall color will have to wait until I get the fabric. I’m particular about color like that. More on my color snobbishness next week. Until then, I hope you have a great weekend.

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post for Flow Wall Systems. I have been compensated for my time and will be receiving some complimentary products. However, the ideas and words are all my own. I was not told what to write or what products to write about. I believe you have the right to know when a post is sponsored. Regardless of whether a post is sponsored or not, I believe in honesty, truthfulness, and complete transparency in my posts.

I know that no one likes to take out the garbage in my house. How do I know this? I know it because we seem to be able to push our 9 gallon trash can to hold 12 gallons! Don’t do the math, it is just one of life’s unsolved mysteries.

When this mystery trashcan reaches these epic proportions, the bag of trash resists all efforts to remove it from the can. It holds tight to the can liner bringing it up with itself. I’ve only known one other thing in this world that can hold on this tight. And that would be my son at age two as he death gripped my shirt while the babysitter tried in vain to remove him.

Releasing the trash’s grip takes some practice, I use the this little dance I call the Can Can Jig. (Not to be confused with your parent’s Can-Can.)

Here is what it looks like:

One foot on the floor, the other raised over your waist height trying to keep the trash can liner from coming with the trash bag as it is extracted from the can. Yeah, I’m still working on mastering the move myself. It is not for amateurs.

Okay, all kidding aside, I found the cure for the stubborn trash bag who didn’t want to be emptied. I’d heard about this trick a few times but never tried it until now.

Materials:

  • Drill
  • Drill bit – medium size (approximately 1/4″)
  • Safety glasses

Step 1. Empty the trashcan (less you drill holes in your bag of trash. Gross!)

Step 2. Take out the plastic trashcan liner if you have one. If not, this will work just as well if you have a plastic trashcan without a bucket liner.

Step 3. Drill 3-4 holes into the bottom of the liner (or can if you don’t have a liner).

Drill the holes about 1″ above the bottom just in case you ever have any leakage (just thinking about it makes me gag.)

Step 4. Insert the can liner back into the can. Put a trash bag into the liner. Now wait for that garbage can to fill beyond capacity again.

And voila! The bag slides out easily. I almost wish I had some kind of bet with Pretty Handsome Guy to see who could extract the trash faster. You know I’d time him before drilling the holes and then unbeknownst to him I would add this quick fix and let him time me as I whipped that trash out no problem.

And now for the dramatic before and after pictures! Ooooo and ahhhhh:

Which leads me to just one question: “How will I practice the Can Can Jig now?”

install weather stripping garage door

Last year I froze my handy buns off working in the garage. (This year they returned after eating loads of Christmas cookies! Ugh.) In all seriousness, while searching for bigger and more powerful heaters it occurred to me that I might want to try weatherstripping my garage doors.

seal garage door

When you have garage doors with no weatherstripping, you might have a gap as big as your hand!  Can you imagine? That is 68 linear feet (2 doors) of cold air rushing in. This is the equivalent of all the windows in your house being cracked open an inch. You’d never dream of doing that in the winter, and yet that was the situation in our garage.

Weatherstripping garage doors is a very easy DIY task that shouldn’t take more than an hour. Buy neoprene rubber stripping from your local hardware store or home improvement warehouse. (I purchased the Garage Door Side and Top Weather-strip Kit by Frost King for under $20.)  The rewards of this project are that you can take your garage from an icebox to comfortably cool in less than 60 minutes!

Here are my unscientific results of the temperatures in our garage before and after weatherstripping.

Before Weather Stripping:

Outside Temperature Inside Garage Temperature Temperature Difference
45ËšF 55ËšF 10 degrees
30ËšF 45ËšF 15 degrees

 

After Weather Stripping: 

Outside Temperature Inside Garage Temperature Temperature Difference
45ËšF 65ËšF 20 degrees
30ËšF 58ËšF 28 degrees

I was so thrilled by the difference it made that I knew I wanted to share the tutorial with y’all. But, sadly I didn’t take any photos. So, I asked my friend, Holly (the one with the adorable house that has loads of character and charm), if I could help her install some on her doors. Luckily I didn’t have to twist her arm too much. Here is how we did it (the super quick way, but not necessarily the “correct” way.)

Weatherstripping Materials:

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

weather stripping seal garage door tools

Open the package of weatherstripping and remove the bag of nails included. Put on your hearing protection and safety glasses.

garage door sealing weather strip

Unroll the weather stripping and pull the end up to the top of the garage door on one side. The short side of the foam strip should be against the frame of the door, and the longer side should be pressed lightly against the garage door.garage door weather proofing

Nail one nail into the frame of the door to hold the stripping in place.

weather stripping garage door

(Here is where we cheated.) Instead of using only nails, use the brad nailer to attach “U” shaped staples into the weather stripping. After every 4th staple, hammer another nail into the frame. By using mostly staples we were able to cut down significantly on the install time. Be sure to start and end with a nail.

applying weather strip to garage door

At the bottom of the door, trim the weatherstripping at an angle as shown. We left a longer tail on the door frame side to close up the gap under the door frame.

garage door weather stripping corners

Continue attaching weather stripping along the top of the door. Alternate between hammering a nail and then four staples.

weather stripping garage door top

When you reach the sides, cut your weather stripping so that it meets the side pieces. Do not let the weatherstripping overlap or it will create a gap.

cut garage weather stripping to exact fit

Repeat for the second garage door (if you have two.)

after garage weather stripping applied

Here are a few other bonus features of the weatherstripping:

  • Quieter. Which means I can get away with using power tools a little later at night.
  • The bonus room above the garage stays warmer. Before it was always chilly up there.
  • Less critters. Since installing the weatherstripping I’ve seen a lot fewer spiders and centipedes.
  • Now when I use the space heater, I can bump up the temperature in the garage by a few degrees per hour. Before the weatherstripping, the space heater really didn’t warm the garage because all the heat was being lost out the sides of the doors.
  • Do I even have to say it? Energy savings! We don’t have to pay as much to heat the bonus room. And I don’t spend hours running the space heater.

I should note that our garage has insulation in the walls. If yours doesn’t, you may not notice as big a difference as I did.

I’d love to hear from you if you tackle this easy project and if you notice a huge change in temperature in your garage too. I can’t tell you how excited I am with the results. I can continue to work in my garage/workshop in comfort through the winter now!garage door weather stripping tutorial