Why I’ll be painting my bathroom this weekend and other easy projects from Home Depot

Well, it’s Memorial Day Weekend, a time when people usually take some kind of vacation. Here in Michigan, it’s the traditional time to drive Up North and open the “cottage”, which can be anything from a tiny three-room house with Lake access to an entirely separate house on the beach. However, this year, with gas prices at an astronomical high, the Travel Industry Association has coined a new phrase for weekend plans, the “Staycation”.

More families are choosing to stick close to home this year, to explore local attractions in their own cities, and to choose activities that don’t cost a lot. Home Depot is taking advantage of that by suggesting great projects to do over the long weekend that won’t cost a lot but will help you improve your living spaces without draining your bank account.

I was the grateful recipient of a gift card that was meant for me to use for something special around the house, and I am using that money to make over our master bathroom, because it is UGLY. It’s a tiny rectangle, to get this photo, I had to stand inside the shower (there’s no tub in this bathroom, just a shower with glass doors):

Yes, it’s true, this is what I’ve been looking at every day for three years. Two boring white walls. I poked around on the Home Depot website and saw that Behr brand paint is on sale, $5.00 off on 1 gallon and $20 off 5 gallons, so that’s the plan, to paint the walls something other than white, but after that? No idea! Let’s say I paint the walls some nice bathroom-y color, and let me also add that I have NO IDEA what color a bathroom should be, but let’s say I paint. Then I’m looking at two boring painted walls! People, help me out here. What would you do with these walls if it was you? The wall opposite the toilet is tricky because if I put shelves or anything there, the males in this house will, um, bump their heads on them while standing there. So if anything goes on the wall opposite the toilet at all, it has to be something like a picture or something.

Is it appropriate to hang pictures in a bathroom? Something other than paintings of sad clowns, that is? What do you have hanging on your bathroom walls?

So, that’s what I’ll be doing this weekend, and I’ll take photos and keep you posted on my progress as I go. I’m also devoting this long weekend to CLEANING THIS DAMN HOUSE before the amount of clutter swallows me whole like that scene in Star Wars where they are in the trash compactor.

Not interested in changing your bathroom? Here’s three other ideas for weekend projects you can do that won’t cost a lot and will improve your home!

Clean and Green Your Garage:Take everything out of your garage and give it a serious cleaning.

Here’s some tips:

• 1. Give your garage a serious clean-up – think power washing and wiping down all surfaces. Product recommendation: New Husky® 2600 PSI Premium Pressure Washer. This heavy duty pressure washer is designed for homeowners and includes a 160cc OHV GCV160 Husky motor and a maintenance-free axial cam pump. Try using Greenworks Natural All-Purpose Spray Cleaner for all countertops, work benches and surfaces for the finishing touches.
• 2. Making simple, but different choices on your lawn care products can help reduce hazards in your garage when storing the excess over the fall and winter months. Product recommendation: Vigoro® Rubber Mulch is an innovative, non-toxic mulch made from 100 percent recycled rubber tires. Also look into switching fertilizers and pesticides that can be hazardous to your health. Dynamite® Organic All Purpose Plant Food is the only OMRI-certified (Organic Material Review Institute) plant food guaranteed to last up to three months reducing the need for frequent applications. Scotts® Organic Choice Soils & Fertilizers offer a few other options. Scotts® Organic Choice Potting Mix is made of sphagnum peat moss and composted bark fines, and the natural ingredients deliver twice the growth of ordinary potting soil. Scotts® Organic Choice Lawn Food is made from chicken litter and feather meal nutrients, so it is 100 percent storage safe.
• 3. To keep your garage clean, try sealing the garage floor (paint seals the floor so spills wipe up easily). Try new Freschaire Choiceâ„¢ paint for this project, the first-and-only tinted paint to contain no VOCs (volatile organic compounds). While you’re in clean-up mode, it’s also a good idea to dispose of old paints, which slowly release toxins into your breathing air.

Five Steps To Savings:

• 1. Install a new hot water heater. Help save money and the ozone by lowering CO2 emissions with a tankless water heater. Tankless water heaters heat water only when needed, which can save you 20 percent on your energy bills. They also average a 98 percent efficiency rate compared to 80 percent for a standard tank, resulting in CO2 emissions savings. (PRODUCT RECOMMENDATION: Paloma® Tankless Water Heater)
• 2. Replace your light bulbs inside and out with energy-efficient CFLs. CFLs consumer up to 75 percent less energy and they last up to 10 times longer than incandescent bulbs. (PRODUCT RECOMMENDATION: n:vision® Compact Fluorescent Lamps)
• 3. Repair or replace doors and windows to prevent draft. ENERGY STAR qualified windows can help reduce your energy bill up to 15 percent. For a typical home you can save $125 – $140 a year when replacing single-pain windows, or $25-$110 a year over double-paned, clear glass replacement windows. ENERGY STAR qualified windows also contains low-emissive glass, which reduces facing by up to 75 percent. (PRODUCT RECOMMENDATION: Gila 4 Ft. x 15 Ft. Titanium Heat Control Window Film)
• 4. Install low-flow toilets, shower heads and faucets in your bathrooms. Toilets are the single largest user of water in your home, using more than 30 percent of you home’s total usage. Replacing a standard 1.6 gallon-per-flush toilet with a high-efficiency or low-flow model can reduce your water usage by more then 20 percent. Daily more than three billion gallons of water is used in showers. New high-efficiency showerheads use much less water without sacrificing pressure. (PRODUCT RECOMMENDATION: Pegasus 1.28 Cottage High Efficiency All-in-One Toilet, NEW Delta Amplifying Showerhead)
• 5. Replace your home insulation. Heating and cooling account for 50 to 70 percent of the energy used in the average American home. Inadequate insulation and air leakage are leading causes of energy waste in most homes. Blow-in cellulose insulation, made of 85 percent recycled materials, is formaldehyde free and safer for homeowners and the environment than traditional insulation products. It fills in gaps and voids in a home, creating a thermal blanket of protection, and the insulation reduces noise, airflow and energy loss. (PRODUCT RECOMMENDATION: GreenFiber Cocoon® Blow-In Cellulose Insulation)

Bring The Inside Outside:

1. Adding flowers will inject a new color palette to the yard. Make the flowers even more festive by placing them in decorative pots to line a walkway, front porch or patio.
2. Interior designers recommend adding colored appliances to the kitchen, so why not include them in your outdoor entertainment area? Replace your grill with the new Charbroil® RED 3 Zone Infrared Grill that not only looks professional, but also it provides a wider temperature range at a fraction of the cost.
3. Build a new deck or patio with composite decking, like Verandaâ„¢, which offers the beauty of wood without the drawbacks of corroding, splintering, termite damage or fungal decay. Plus, it never needs refinishing.
4. Outdoor furniture is adopting characteristics from the indoors, as trends in deep seating and wicker continue to grow.
5. If you have existing outdoor furniture and want to spruce it up, spray paint it a new color or add weather-resistant throw pillows in exciting patterns and colors.
6. Turn your landscape into a dreamscape by adding charming accents or a retaining wall that emulate stacked stone. Today’s homeowners can choose from decorative landscaping stones that are affordable and simple to install in one weekend.

RECOMMENDED NEW PRODUCTS:

1. NEW Charbroil® RED 3 Zone Infrared Grill. This new grill makes infrared technology an economical option for homeowners. The technology provides a wide temperature range for searing to slow-cooking, and this grill features an attractive red, black and stainless steel design. It’s also fuel efficient: it uses 1/3 less fuel than the average grill. (Price: $599, SKU 745-367)
2. Arrow® 10’x10’ Gazebo. This spacious outdoor structure includes luxurious elements not found in most gazebos in this price range, including a candle lantern and built-in adjustable side shelves. (Price: $199, SKU 625-683)
3. NEW Thomasville® Summer Silhouette™ Four-Piece Sectional Set. Made of powder-coated, rust-proof aluminum and featuring weather-resistant fabric, this new collection will stand up to the elements. The set includes one right-arm sofa, one corner seat, one left-arm love seat and one ottoman. (Price: $999, SKU 688-046)
4. NEW Hampton Bay® Kampar Five-Piece Dining Set. Besides its durability, this set will add design flair to the patio, with an attractive, ultra soft leather-look mahogany weave and striped breakfast pillows. (Price: $799, SKU 594-161)
5. Plantation Pattern Casuals Throw Pillows. Adding throw pillows to an old outdoor furniture collection will give it new life. These 16-inch square pillows will inject excitement and energy to any set. (Price: $12.96 each, SKU 763-647)
6. NEW Natural Impressions Riverstoneâ„¢ Garden Wall Block. Homeowners can create a wall that blends the beauty of a hand-laid natural stone wall with the ease and convenience of a stackable concrete retaining wall. (4″x12″ wall sizes priced at: $2.99, various SKUs)

Whew! Now, don’t try to tackle all of these projects at once! I don’t want you to spend Memorial Day Weekend just on home improvement projects! I want you to spend time enjoying your family and friends, maybe firing up the BBQ grill and cooking up some burgers and hot dogs, in fact, I’ll put up some recipes on MomCooks just for cookout food.

So please help out a home-makeover challenged blogger here and leave me some suggestions in your comment-what color should I paint those bathroom walls, and with what should I decorate them? It could be your suggestions that I look at every day for the rest of my life, so you know, no pressure or anything!!!

thanks my dears! Table for Five appreciates you!

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