I have always been very concerned with the quality of the products that I purchase.  Sure, you could argue that I would have to pay more for something that is of higher quality, but I feel that it is worth it - I have bought so many things that were very poorly made only to throw them away and, in turn, throw my money away.

When I moved to my new house, I looked into karastan rugs, as I heard that they were very high in quality and what I found is that these rugs were exactly what I needed.

I bought a karastan rug for several of the rooms in the new house and I was quite pleased with the results. The rugs did not shed little fibers everywhere and they looked great.

I have had several compliments on them and I do not think that I would buy anything but karastan again.

I would have to say that I am one of the least handy people that I have ever met.  If you have had the opportunity to see anything that I have ever built, it either just falls apart, or is crooked.

But even though I am not the handiest person in the world, I have been very interested in learning how to do our own home renovations.  I know that I should be able to learn how to do them, so I have been taking advantage of the courses offered at the local home improvement store.

For example, I was able to attend a course today on showers.  Specifically, we were discussing the benefits of electric showers, and we were able to see how shower cubicles are installed.  It was definitely easier than I thought, but there is a difference between watching someone install something and doing it yourself.

But, I feel that each course that I attend takes me one step closer to being able to renovate our bathroom on my own.  The hardest part will be convincing my wife to let me do it.

The movie “The Money Pit” was such a hit because so many people have sunk dollar after dollar in one home repair or home improvement project after another, in what soon becomes an sick kind of comedy of errors.

I suspect that might be the case should I ever be in a position to afford all the renovation and repair work that needs to be done on my mother’s house. Sister Big Bucks has already paid for a bathroom remodel and three vinyl replacement windows in the living room and kitchen. To be fair, that’s all that was really needed for Mother’s sake.

We’re talking major repairs still needing to be done in the rest of the house, though. Aside from replacement windows in the rest of the rooms, the laundry floor must be reconstructed. The kitchen needs redesigned. The front porch needs replacing. Obviously we need a lot more than more vinyl windows, but it would be a start…

I have designated today as my house cleaning day.  Alright, I am really not doing it because I want to, but the real reason behind the cleaning is to make our home presentable for the people that are looking to buy it.

I know that I wouldn’t want to buy a home that is really cluttered, so I thought that by getting the cleaning done, we would have a better chance of selling our home.  We really need to get top dollar on the sale so that we can buy a bigger house.

I started by cleaning the common areas of the house such as the kitchen and bathrooms.  Now, I am working on my bedroom, specifically in the closet.

It is amazing at the amount of junk I have in the room.  I have thrown out many things including some worldwide travel guides that I picked up back in the day before we went on a cruise many years ago.

I should quit blogging and work on the house - I have a lot to do.

I have a friend that has a ton of clothes.  When I say a ton, what I am trying to tell you is that all her clothes don’t fit in her two closets - she has way too much.

So, when I suggested that she could donate some of her clothing to charity, she thought it was a good idea - provided I helped her go through it.  Since she is my best friend, I was happy to help her out.

On the day of the cleaning, I sat there and helped her decide what should stay and what should go.  She even did a little fashion show for me on things that I knew would look good on her or were just plain ugly.  For example, she had some nasty plaid stockings that we both decided that they needed to go.

In the end, there was a lot of clothes, some bras, and tons of socks.  I don’t know what she is going to do with all the free space in her closet now.

When I was looking into making my home more earth friendly, I came up with a lot of good ideas. I decided that I was going to start out small and work my way up. I started my using rags instead of paper towels and by buying organic cleaners, rather than using chemicals.

The next step was to buy organic clothing and bedding and eventually buying organic furniture as well. Every time I made an eco-friendly change, I felt good about myself, but I also knew that there was a lot more that I could do. Thus, I kept on my journey of finding new ways to be earth friendly.

It took a lot of work and a lot if invested time, but I finally just had a solar panel manufacturer at my home to start the conversion of making my home completely solar powered. Once that is finished, I will move onto something else that will do the world some good.

It is the second year that I have had a deck, and I love it.  There is just nothing like going out on the deck to barbeque, or watch the kids playing in the yard.  In some respects, I feel like the king of the world, looking out over my nicely groomed yard.

But, owning a deck is not always a rosy experience.  There is some maintenance involved that I am just starting to get into.  Things such as staining, cleaning and repairing are words common to the lives of deck owners.

For example, just last weekend I was at the local hardware store picking out which wood stains I would use on the deck.  Yes, my deck is two toned, don’t ask me why, but it was like that when I bought it.

I was also looking at the available deck sealers on the market to see if I could find one that would reduce the amount of my life that I would have to devote to maintaining the deck.  I was able to find one that will require that I wash the deck once or twice per year and that’s it.

Even though it does require work, I wouldn’t trade my deck for anything.  There is just nothing quite like sitting out on your deck on a warm summer’s day drinking lemonade.

I was wondering if there was any way of making custom decals from home. I know you can make pretty much anything if you have a computer, but I wanted to know if you needed a special printer to print of heavy duty items, or if there were just a certain setting one could use to make these. I decided to ask my brother in law, as he is a bit of a computer guru.

He told me of some special paper he had used to make some personalized bumper stickers. He informed me that it had not done any damage to his printer, but the stickers were of a high enough quality that they were still adhered to his car. They had withstood rain and snow and carwashes. He suggested that I use that type of paper to print the decals onto.

I found some of the paper and was amazed at how much it cost. But, I decided if it worked, it would be worth it. I decided also to make some window stickers for the house. I knew the kids would love this and it would look good. I tried it all out and it went through my printer just fine. I am glad I have someone so knowledgeable to talk to.

I am a goal setting person.  What I try to do is make a list and follow it - and reward myself if I accomplish my goals.  This method has always worked for me and by getting those little rewards, I have some incentive to get things done.

For the longest time it has been my dream to go to a store, look at the bathroom suites and pick out what I want - without worrying about the price.  Alright, I might worry a little bit, but I would have sufficient money set aside for my spending spree.

Without fail, I have been saving money from every paycheck in hopes of attaining my dream.  I am happy to report that today is the day that my dreams came true.  I finally had enough money saved to buy one of those whirlpool baths I have always wanted.  I also picked up shower baths for our other two bathrooms in the house.

And how did that feel?

Don’t ask me yet.  Ask me when the new baths are installed and I am sitting in a tub full of bubbles.

It seems like forever since I bought furniture.  I was just out of college, starting my career, and I used my second paycheck to buy my current couch and bedroom set.  Years later, the age of my furniture is starting to show, and I am so tired of sitting on this old stuff.  I’ve decided that it is time for a change of surroundings: it is time to get some modern furniture.

So, this morning I went out to some furniture stores to find some new, contemporary furniture to spruce up my place.  Money was really not a concern, as I had set aside a little fund to pay for my purchases today - besides the money in my bank account was rotting away where it was.

I had no problems picking out a new sofa, but while looking at the contemporary bedroom furniture, I had a little more difficulty.  There were some options that were amazing in terms of their look, but others were just plain ugly.  I think it took over two hours to finally make up my mind on the bedroom set to go with, but I finally figured it out.

They should be delivering the furniture before the end of the week, so I need to round up some friends to help me take out my current furniture and take it down to the Salvation Army.  I am sure that someone else could use my old furniture and I would hate to just throw it out.